Awakening of a Nightmare 2

When the two of them fell, there was pain and darkness. Conrad, awaken to a sky, clear blue. He lied on his back on a field of grass. Next to him is a wide river the same color as the sky. On the other side, a dark brown horse with a long gray mane. At the end of the river, the full moon. The horse let out a cry and ran.

His mind was empty of thought, but he got the urge to run towards it, too. He tried to get up but realized he was holding a hand, thin but rough, attached to nothing. He held it tight. And he started running.

They both stood on the borders between life and death. There was no wind or the sound of crushing grass under his feet. Conrad felt as if he was carrying two bucketfuls of water as he ran. He went as fast as he could. It didn’t take long for him to catch up with the horse. Conrad reached the moon first.

The river disappeared into white light. The horse far behind cried as if to thank him for the race, as the light absorbed it.

Bruno sat up, gasping, drenched in sweat. The memory of his dream was a haze. He reach for his wife to wake her, but when he touched her he froze.

A scream of horror broke into the dawn. Conrad opened the living room window. He looked back, but before he could wonder about the sound. The eye on his forehead spoke in his mind.

“He must be overjoyed. Now that those pests are gone,” said Emma.

Conrad thought of the child he played within the dream. When humans sleep, they can sometimes go to the dream realm, where they have their own territory. In the child’s dream, they were as small baby chicks playing hide and seek in a large bedroom.

Conrad hid in the drawer and found the child hiding under a giant teddy bear. All the while, his mother kept reminding him to eat, and he did as they played. It didn’t take long for the game to end. The child’s dream became a blanket of white and vanished. It was the same for that lady. The only difference was he didn’t play with her.

Years after his death, he would have the day to himself while his mother slept. Sometimes for weeks, when she had a pleasant dream. One afternoon thunder roared as rain poured. Conrad walked along the tall house-shaped stores staring at the clouds. People went by him without noticing his tail waving back and forth. He heard a sniffle coming from the side of a building arch.

He peeked inside. A boy in brown lederhosen buried his face behind his knees.

“

Hello, why are you crying?”

The boy rubbed his eyes. “I am a man and men do not cry.”

“That’s not true. I’ve seen a man cry.”

“You are lying! My Dad said crying is for girls and women.” The boy turned to look at Conrad but saw no one. “Where are you?”

Thunder roared. The boy buried his face and covered his ears.

Conrad sat next to the boy. “What’s your name?”

“David.”

Within a dream, Emme held the hand of the man she loved. Bruno. They sat on a field of white doubled star flowers watching the horizon of snow-peaked Mountains.

Conrad sat on a swing hanging in the air.

“I remember this place. I took her here in my younger days,” said a low and husky voice.

The man Conrad met in the black-tail coat was now in dirty and tattered clothes. He held no emotion in his expression as he watched the ghost of his younger self. Conrad made another swing for the man.

“I wanted to show her a better place than the farm. I see that was a mistake. She became torn between what she wanted and her family. Then the fire happened. She lost herself.”

“What does that mean?”

“She became sick. I could not help. I left her with people who could.”

Conrad stared at Emme feeding the fake Bruno a plum dumpling. “Why did you come to the farm?”

“I was going to sell it…. I could not believe she was still there…. Conrad…. That's your name, right?”

He turned to the man. It was the first time he said Conrad’s name.

“I don’t think I can last much longer.” Bruno gazed straight ahead with empty eyes. “It’s been fifteen years. You are a man now. Even if you still look like a child.”

Conrad scratched the palm of his hand and wondered when the dream would end.

“Do you love your mother?”

“...Yes.”

“Then let her come with me.”

“Where?”

“To where her family is.”

“Can I go?”

Bruno turned to Conrad. “I think you already know the answer.”

They were taking Bruno’s body away. Conrad watched as he thought of the child, the woman, and others he fed on completely. How they looked, similar to the lifeless body in front of him.

His mother’s eyes opened.

“He’s gone.”

Her eye fixed on the body.

“That ugly old man is no one I know. Stop wasting time and go eat.”

Conrad came into David’s dream while he argued with his father again. In the restaurant, the tables and chairs flew around them and moved faster as the father got louder.

“David.”

The nineteen-year-old turned to Conrad and smiled playfully. Everything Shattered around him. The restaurant became a playground in the forest. Carousel of veins, trees in the shape of a jungle gym.

The nineteen-year-old David shrank into the nine-year-old boy he was when they first met.

“Conrad!”

“Hello, did you see your father?

“David grumbled. We ran into each other. No matter what I say, he never listens.”

“Does it make your father sad that you won’t take over the restaurant?”

“No. It makes him angry. That is why I need to prove myself.”

“Could you be a baker there?”

“Taking over the restaurant and baking are two different things.” David took Conrad’s hand. “Let’s climb the jungle gym.”

“What are you doing!” Emme hissed. “Eat!”

Conrad jumped off the carousel. He took in a piece of the dream, creating a dumpling in his hand.

“Conrad?”

He looked at David, an image of Bruno's dead body flashed. The dumpling disappeared. “Its almost morning. I have to go.”

“Eat! Eat! Eat!”

“Can’t we play a little longer?” David asked.

“You have work. ”

“Eat! Eat! Eat!

“Fine. You will come back, won’t you!”

“I. I will.”

“Eat! Eat! Eat!”

Conrad came out of the dream. He moved his hand away from David’s forehead. The young man slept in a small bedroom. The smell of fresh bread lingered. Conrad didn’t notice it. His mind raced with thoughts while Emme commanded him to eat. He didn’t hear the footsteps in the hallway. The turn of the doorknob. The moment the door creaked, he went invisible and ran.

Conrad walked farther from town onto the country road. His mother got tired along the way and closed her eye.

He did not know where he was going, only he didn’t want to be reminded of what he almost did. Along the path, he came across his old home.

The grass had grown taller and the roof of the shack had fallen, taking half of the building with it. The barn wood had turned gray. Holes in the ceiling, and barks of wood on the floor. Along with what remained of Miss. Moo a few bones.

He remembered riding on her back, her nibbling on his hair. She was his first friend. His eyes became hazed with tears. Conrad went into his Mother’s dream while she was busy talking with her parents. He tried to create Miss. Moo. A cow’s shape. It was white and faceless. He tried to imagine a new Miss. Moo. But the tear still came and the pain in his chest made him feel sick.

Conrad looked at his mother and her parents. “They are not real.” He turned to his creation. “This is not real.”

He went back to the real world and buried Miss. Moo’s remains. “Thank you for giving us milk. Thank you for being my friend.”

The town whispered of a monster killing people in their sleep when he returned. They were words he heard before. Now he understood them. He promised himself he would never do it again but among whispers came David’s name.

That night, he went back to the bakery. David’s window wouldn’t open. His nerves were telling him to run away. Conrad looked at the full moon. It had to be now when he was at his strongest.

Conrad climbed into the empty room above. On the second floor, a tall man tried to keep his eyes open with a rifle at his side, something Conrad had never seen before.

Emme screamed.” No! No, it will kill me!”

Wanting to dash for it but the cricks in the floorboards would give him away and, from his mother’s reaction, he needed to be careful.

He crept to the door. As he went in, the man saw his tail. Conrad Rushed to his friend and went into the dream.

Within in the dark void. David had not yet entered the dream world. He wasn’t dreaming. Conrad created their playground, but he didn’t appear.

“Good. Now you can eat,” said Emme.

“Sleep.”

His mother fell silent.

“David.”

His mouth quivered.

“David!!!”

“DAVID!!!”

The dream shook. “Why did you come?” He appeared in front of Conrad. He had an upset smile. “If they see you again, they will kill you.”

Conrad rubbed his tears away. “I want to play hide and seek.”

“This is not the time! You need to leave!”

“This will be the last time,” Conrad whispered.

“What?” David’s eyes closed.

They heard a mumbled voice outside. The dream rumbled and cracked.

“Let’s play outside,” said Conrad.

“No! Wait!”

The tall man stepped back with a face of fright the moment he saw Conrad. Before he could aim with the rifle, Conrad broke the window with his hooves as he jumped out of the room. Shots roared behind him and he disappeared into the night.

Above the water, footsteps stomped on the surface. A man’s face peered above.

“Conrad, I know you’re down there. You can come out now.”

He swam up to the surface and smiled at the young man, who wear brown leather trousers and a white-collared shirt. He had no boyish features, but a mature expression.

They found a place to talk in a dark corner between two buildings.

“Why did you do that?” asked David. “You could have waited or hidden somewhere.”

“I can’t wait or hide. I have to leave.”

“What But-” He stopped himself and sighed. “I had a feeling this would happen. But not like this.”

“How long have you’ve known?”

David bent down. He looked at Conrad with sad eyes. “When you started appearing in my dreams. I always have pleasant dreams when you’re around. That’s why I said nothing.”

“You can change your dreams or wake up.” Conrad pulled the hair off his tail. He gave it to David. “I have to go away.”

“Why are you giving me this?”

“Proof that we’re not friends. Humans have big imaginations.”

“I. I understand. Will I see you again?”

“It will be a long time before I can come back here.” Conrad reaches out and embraced his friend in a hug. “Goodbye, David.”

David does the same. “I won’t forget you, my friend.”

Emme wore a long white dress and kissed Bruno, who wore a black suit. They were in front of many people as they cheered.

Conrad faded out of the dream. He stood by the river. Where he had died and come back. He took out a sharp rock. Held it above his mother’s closed eye.

Tears drop from his cheeks.

“Goodbye, mother.”