The Dream

Chapter One

As I woke up, I shielded my eyes from the sun that poured through the oak framed window. My body laid in crisp white sheets as flashbacks rushed through my mind.

"'…Do you want to?'"
"'…I don't know, I don't have a condom.'"
"'…We'll be fine, don't you trust me?'"

     I pushed myself up against the bed's headboard and rubbed my temples, I felt nauseous and sore. I climbed out of my warm bed, wrapped a bed sheet around my body, and twisted it into a knot above my breasts.

     Items seemed in disorder as I walked through my loft bedroom, something just did not seem right. While glancing around, I spotted a folded piece of paper leaning against the vase on the dinner table. I unfolded the paper and began to read the note.

                       "Dear Sherry,
                           Thanks for a great night. We should do it again sometime.
      Ps. Welcome to the world of HIV."

Thump thump, thump thump.

     I felt numb, there was something in my throat that I just couldn't swallow. The note dropped to the table, and things seemed to be so still. Like someone had hit pause. Once again, flashbacks raced through my mind from the beginning of the night to the end.

"'No, I don’t want to. Maybe you should go home now.'"
"'You know you want it, stop playing hard to get."

     Those three letters, "H..I..V." repeated in my mind. "Tommy? Tom? Thomas? Timmy? Troy?" I repeated to myself trying to remember his name, but the alcohol fogged my memory.

"'…Hi, I'm Tristan.'"
"'…Hey, Nice to meet you. I'm Sherry.'"

     I paced around the loft as tears moistened my cheeks. The bed sheet fell to the floor as I walked to the bathroom and started the shower. Immediately, steam filled the tiny plain room and fogged the mirror.

     I closed my eyes as the water poured from the showerhead onto my face. I can wash it away, everything will be alright. I kept repeating these words, trying to fool myself into believing them, even though I knew it wasn't true.

     When I was in the shower I felt pure. Turning the knob all the way to the right was the hardest thing to do, my moment of purity was over and I was insecure about everything.
I stepped out of the shower; right foot, then left, wrapped myself in a towel and wiped the mirror clear of condensations . While checking my reflection, in the smudged mirror, an unclear figure crept behind me and passed through the door. Puddles of water formed under my feet as I followed the figure through the open doorframe.

"Who's there?" I received no answer.

Thump thump, thump thump.

     My heart raced. I peeked around the wall that separated the bathroom from the living room, holding my breath. The floor creaked under my feet as I approached the dark figure that stood before me. My hand shook as I reached for the overcoat that covered a body with a man’s silhouette .

One, two, three. Swoosh, the overcoat fell to the ground.

     Beep, beep, beep. "Good morning New York City , you’re listening to W.T.B.A and it's 7:00 am. It's starting to feel a lot like winter with a temperature of 34° F, time to take those winter jackets out of the clos-"

     The alarm clock fell to the floor, as I slapped my hand on the off button. My body jerked up and I clasped my neck gasping for air. Confused and unsure of myself I climbed out of bed and inspected my loft.

 

“It was all a dream Sherry. It was just a dream” I said to myself. As I walked through the house.

 

I inhaled deeply with relief, sat down in front of my laptop and began to write my desperate email to Dr. Mills.

 

“Dear Dr. Mills,

It happened again. He is still haunting me in my dreams. It feels like I‘ve relived that night, every night, for the past two years. I don’t understand it. The dreams I have are never the same, they aren’t even like what happened that night. Dreams are funny things. I know, you’ve told me before in our meetings, “Sherry, you never know why they happen, what you are supposed to learn from them, or what they even mean.” So tell me, do you know what am I supposed to learn? The night has already happened, I can‘t stop it now, so what do these dreams want from me?”

 

Now all I could do was wait for her reply, her instructions on how to move past this dream. The clock ticked with every second that passed. Impatiently I sat there, waiting to hear the words “You‘ve got mail!”

Reviews

[Alex Thomas]

Vivid chapter. Leaves one with an eerie feeling especially the dream sequence. The ending leaves me to wonder what happens next. A very good start.