He had gone to bed fagged out hoping he wouldn’t have to get up any time before 9 the next morning – and under normal circumstances, since it was a Saturday, he really should have been able to sleep in.
But he was too tired that he forgot to turn off his alarm set for 7 am which he had set so as to complete a pending project.
When the high pitched ringing went off, he was pulled out of a very pleasant dream. It took him a minute to remember where he was and finding himself alone in bed made him a bit sad.
Because he had been dreaming of Maya, a woman he knew only from his dreams but seemed to be a part of him. Like every other time she appeared in his dream, he always woke up feeling content. In fact, once, he dreamt of floating amidst the clouds with her beside him smiling and holding his hands the whole time. He had felt so much peace that when he woke up, he remained in that mental state for about 3 days.
Every time she showed up, it always brought a feeling he needed so badly in his life then.
But last night was different. The dream was slowly coming back now and he kept his eyes shut so as not to interrupt it.
She had walked into his bedroom with a framed picture of the ocean reflecting the sky. He took the picture from her and admired it. When he turned it over, there was a sticky note that simply read: there’s more.
He looked up at Maya. She smiled and pointed towards the bathroom. He got up and hurried into the bathroom to find another note on the mirror. It read: hope for the future.
He turned back to find Maya beckoning to him, he started to follow her when his alarm went off again. Apparently, he had hit the snooze button.
All attempts to remember anything else from the dream were futile. Exasperated, he gave up and got out of bed.
He paused as he walked into the bathroom. On the mirror was a green sticky note. This one read: the fridge.
Wondering if he was still asleep, he caught a reflection of himself in the mirror. But it wasn’t himself he saw. It was an elderly man.
He was twenty-five with a stressful job trying to find a balance taking a part-time postgraduate programme at the university, but this man in the mirror was at least twenty years older than him.
He relaxed a bit now, concluding that he must still be dreaming, then headed for the kitchen.
Everything on the way to the kitchen was unrecognisable. The house bigger and neater.
He smiled, not bad for a dream. It was an upgrade from his one-room apartment.
The fridge in his now modern kitchen wasn’t what he was expecting either, but he quickly noticed the sticky notes on it and decided to see that before exploring this dream house.
The first one said: Don’t freak out, you’re fine.
Then: I had to go to the market. Be back soon.
Then: Dad, do you remember?
The last one read: Check your phone.
Dad? Was he in someone else’s house. Even creepier, was he inside someone else’s mind?
He pinched himself and it hurt. Didn’t they say it shouldn’t if you were in a dream?
He went back for his phone and quickly unlocked it with his fingerprint. The wallpaper was the older man with a young lady
Dad?
Why had his fingerprint unlocked this man’s phone? What a weird dream.
He went straight to the gallery. In the camera roll, he saw more pictures of this man around the house, in a car, out, with the young lady.
Still, he wondered what the dream meant. Was he even supposed to know he was dreaming within a dream? Was this what lucid dreams felt like?
Then he found a folder in the gallery titled “The Accident“. Curious, he opened it.
Before he could view any of its content, the thumbnails showed wreckage that made him cringe. He felt his heart skip a bit as he played a video. In it, he saw the man being wheeled to an ambulance, covered in blood and another body, unrecognisable at first until the camera zoomed in. It was Maya. She was older and wasn’t moving.
One of the EMT guys shook his head, “no pulse,” he said.
The camera moved. There was a teenage girl crying. She was unscathed but for a cut on her cheek. Another EMT guy was holding her from going to May–
He dropped the phone. Something felt eerily familiar but he couldn’t place it. He felt his heart rate pick up and sank into the bed, willing himself to wake up from the nightmare.
It was too weird. Too sad. He didn’t want to be sad. He pinched himself again and shut his eyes. Yet, when he opened them, nothing had changed. He picked up the phone again and found another folder named, “Remember“
There was only one file in it, a video. He played it.
The young lady was standing by the fridge, “Dad, are you recording?”
The camera moved to show the face of the person holding the phone. It was the man.
“Yes, see?” He said and turned the camera back to the smiling daughter.
“Okay,” she started, “Hey dad, I’m recording this to help you remember. You’re fine now. But there was a tragic accident. That’s why you can’t remember immediately you wake up. The doctor said there’s hope so we keep praying. If you’re watching this, that means I’m not there. Just know that I’m okay. You’re okay. We’re okay. I love you.” She blew a kiss.
“Did you get all that? Oh dad, don’t cry.” She started walking towards the camera as the video ended.
He heard a door open then, “Dad, I’m back!”
He thought the voice sounded familiar. “Ana?”
“Yes!” she said, “Come help me with this, please..”
He got up and left the room, bits of memories coming back with every step.
