Lavender

Anne suddenly sat up from her bed with sweat dripping down her face, most of her hair was stuck on her face. She was covered with sweat all over her body while breathing heavily. The first thing she saw was the room, it is quite familiar to her. The whitewashed walls with picture frames of their wedding photos were arranged neatly on the walls. She was confused when she woke up, she was sure she removed the photos the night before when she was drunk and having a fit of anger.

"Did I drink too much?" She thought to herself. She massaged her head from the headache she was feeling and felt something was odd. It was then that she realized that she still had two arms.

She was flabbergasted when she realized this, she removed the blanket covering her body. She stood up and immediately looked at herself in the mirror. Her body was immaculate, there were no scars and her figure was perfect. She was full of surprise while looking at herself in the mirror when the door suddenly opened.

Her husband, Timothy was carrying a tray with food and a single flower on it. He was smiling while looking at her, but suddenly frowned when he noticed Anne's expression.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked full of concern while gently approaching Anne. He placed the tray down on the bed and held her waist from behind while softly saying, "We still have time before your shoot." He insinuated then kissed her lips gently.

Anne could not believe her husband's words as she stood there confused with eyes wide open from surprise. She looked at her two hands and flexed them carefully. She could feel the movement of her fingers.

She thought to herself, "This feeling… I can feel my fingers." She was tearing up as she looked at her complete and flawless body.

"What's wrong honey? Did you have a bad dream?" Timothy asked full of concern for his wife who was acting weird. He kissed her cheeks and spoke once more, "I made you breakfast in bed. Why don't you eat it first before heading out?"

Anne could not help but stare at Timothy's charming smile while picking up a piece of fruit on her luscious lips.

"What's happening?" She asked herself as she swallowed the fruit in her mouth. The sweetness of the fruit and the crunchy feeling while biting on to it made it feel so real.

"This.. This is not a dream?" She had a puzzled look on her face as she had these thoughts.

As her confusion grew, the scene with her husband passed and she was on the set of her shoot. The photographer was one of the most well-known photographers in the country. She was familiar with him, they have worked plenty of times in the past. He was able to create masterpieces that were well known around the country.

The one in the most prominent city in the country was her pride and glory. She rushed to her phone and checked on it through the internet. She checked the date and found it was current. There she was on a billboard, she was advertising for an expensive product. Once she was done viewing herself with her phone, she checked her social media, nothing was wrong. On the other hand, her fans were fawning at her.

She was done looking at her phone and the other staff saw this. When they knew she was no longer busy they tried to approach her.

It was the same interaction that they used to have when she was famous. The people surrounding them were trying their best to get in her good graces. They acted dotingly as they carefully cater to her every need.

It all felt surreal that she was starting to doubt herself if she was still sane.

"If this was reality, then everything was just a dream… a nightmare." She thought to herself.

She was done with her job and the staff respectfully said their goodbyes.

She looked at the person who approached her to pick up her things. It was a tall and well-built man who she was not familiar with. It was supposed to be the driver's job to take care of her luggage. However, a different person was taking care of it which made her confused.

"Where is my driver?"

Once she questioned herself, her memories flooded her head. She clutched her head from the pain and looked around her surroundings.

This time, the people's faces were all blurred. However, their fawning smile changed into a disgusting smile pasted on their faces. She could not feel any emotion in them, as if they were dolls. They were nothing more than empty shells that move with her desires.

She ran once she saw the disgusting smiles on the doll's faces.

She was so scared, she ran as fast as she could. However, she suddenly felt pain on her right ankle.

She plopped on the floor with a heavy thud and looked at what made her fall. To her surprise, a hand sprouted from the ground and tried to pull her ankle and bury her under the soil.

"Gaaaaah!"

She was scared and put strength to her hand to grab whatever she could to get up. But, her right arm suddenly disappeared.

Her face became horrid as she discovered the changes in her body.

She returned to her usual self with baggy clothes and only one arm left.

"Noooooo!"

She shouted with all her might and her hand was not able to pull herself from the pit she was being buried in.

She was slowly buried underground while the hand was pulling her under.

Darkness covered her surroundings.

It became difficult to breathe or open her eyes as the soil covered her whole body.

However, once she was buried completely, her body started to free fall from the darkness.

She felt the air biting her face as her speed was so fast due to gravity.

She opened her eyes. It was hard due to the air, but she did her best to see.

However, she was more afraid than before as she was approaching the ground. It was only a couple of meters before reaching it.

"Aaaah!"

She woke up after she fell on the ground. That was the last thing she remembered. Her body is drenched in sweat, she felt a certain déjà vu from the whole situation. But this time, when she looked around, she was not in the room she was familiar with.

She felt pain in her hand as she looked at it, she saw an IV was connected to her veins. Looking around she found the half-drawn curtain as she could see the view from the outside.

She clenched her hand, she was back to reality. She was still thinking of what had happened, it felt so real.

"It was all a dream."

"I knew it was too good to be true."

She reminded herself that this is her life now as she continued looking at the horizon from the window. The sun was setting, she wondered how long she had been staying in the hospital, she remembered the same smell from the hospital.

She never liked the smell of hospitals. She was told that they use something as a disinfectant which causes that distinctive hospital smell that every hospital has. It was iodoform if she remembered correctly. She wrinkled her nose from the smell and laid her head back on the pillow as she felt tired from the dream that she had.

Deep down she knew it was a dream but she was still hopeful.

While she was lying on the bed trying to rest by closing her eyes, she smelled something different.

Curious about the smell she looked at her side. On the right side of the room, there was a desk, on that desk was a vase full of flowers.

"Lavender."

This distinctive smell which had a calming and soothing effect must be from the lavender. There was a time when she stopped noticing the flowers in her dressing room that fans gave her due to the sheer quantity of it. It has been a while since someone gave her something like flowers.

She continued to gaze at the lavender which also made her drowsy.

It did not take long for her to go back to sleep.

The room returned to its calm and quiet atmosphere.

Original novel by Chuchuwachuwa.

Hello readers!

I finally finished my exam, I will release chapters 2-3x a week depending on my schedule because I am currently editing chapters for book 1 for Don't fall in love with me Mr. CEO, and book 1 of my fantasy novel Another Chance in life: I am Alive Again.