The Dreams

It was the summer after Jac's graduation from high school. His father had been back from his trip for a number of weeks now and his mother was always looking over her shoulder with the fear that Jac might disclose information about her affair to her husband. She was so afraid she would include herself in conversations where Jac and his father were bonding, Make certain that Jac is never left alone with his father and also with failed attempts try to talk to Jac about the incident. It started happening the night his father returned home from the trip, that night Jac stayed up late in the living room watching a Tv series called "Legacies". He watched episode after episode and without warning sleep crept up on him and he drifted away in the sofa, about 10 minutes in he woke up terrified, screaming to the top of his teenage voice waking the rest of the household. His father hurried out of his room to see what the screams was about, when he got their he found Jac sitting on the floor hugging his knees and trembling, his eyes where all over the place, his temperature had run cold, his behaviour was similar to someone who had just made eye contact with a ghost. His father sat and wrapped his arms around him repeating "it was just a dream, it was just a dream".

The next morning he woke up in his bedroom with no knowledge of how he got there, but the one thing about that night that stuck with him was the dream. He remembered it vividly, He was trapped in an unfamiliar place surrounded by nothing but darkness, he shouted "Hello" over and over again but there was no response, then he look into the distance and there he saw a beam of light. He started in the direction of the light, the closer he got to the light the more it resembled a small opening. "A way out" he thought to himself. When he got there he saw his father leaving through the opening he shouted to him over and over again but it was as if his father was unable to hear him. As soon as his father disappeared through the opening, the opening disappeared as well and the place started crumbling around him.

Jac sat at the dining table eating his breakfast with the dream replaying in his head. He knew that this dream was as a result of the dark secret he was keeping from his father. His thoughts were interrupted upon hearing his name being called by his father. He walked into the living room where his dad was sitting in the sofa reading a newspaper which he placed in his lap when Jac entered. "Do you want to talk about last night" he asked, " It was just a dream" Jac replied quickly. His father looked him directly into his eyes as if he was attempting to look inside his soul theh replied "okay" bringing the newspaper back up to his eye level, he continued reading. Jac could sense his disbelief but still he choose to not come clean about the events that might have been the cause of his dream.

What Jac was unaware of was that it wouldn't have been the last time he would be dreaming dreams of this nature, frightening and disturbing. In the days that followed he dreamt of being left all alone in the world with no family, he dreamt of his father getting old and sick and wanting nothing to do with him, he even dreamt of dying and being burnt in hell's fire. After each dream Jac would wake up terrified and have an episode, but not loudly just by himself on one side of the bed in his room. It got to a point where he was afraid to close his eyes, He was afraid to fall asleep so he fought it. The result of his fight was all over his person. He got weak and his face and eyes were swollen. He had reached the stage where his mind was not stable, He was unable to focus and Time And time again he would start drifting for no reason sometimes even fall. It was unbearable, he was tired of suffering so much for a crime he did not commit. He felt as if the secret that he kept from his father was slowly poisoning his mind and eating away at his soul bit by bit. Jac could no longer keep quiet.

It was the day before he left for college, he had spent his entire summer in extreme discomfort and had decided to no longer suffer. In the morning was his planning stage. He went out on the balcony his usual thinking place and sat, here his mind was free, It was around 6 am so he could here the birds chirpping, the air he breathe was pure and clean since the vehicles were not on the road yet to add to the air their daily polluted contribution , he felt calm and relaxed, the perfect environment for thinking. He carefully orchestrated a strategy which he would use to prepare his father for the terrible news he had for him. In the evening he told his father he wanted to go bowling with him his father agreed without hesitation. "I am going to get ready, I'll be out in a few" Jac's father said to him. " I'll bring out the car" he replied almost instantaneously. Jac's father got ready and they left for the bowling arena. It was a very enjoyable evening for them both. when they got back home, Jac sat his father down and told him about what he saw in full details. His father sat in the sofa speechless. Jac could see the pain he felt through his eyes, His face was so dull that Jac questioned himself " what if i shouldn't have told him, what if he hates me for now telling him" He thought. He wondered if he would be okay, he also blamed himself for telling him this late. His father looked into Jac's eyes and was about to say something when he felt a sharp pain in his chest, He grabbed his chest and squeezed while slowly sliding out of the sofa. Jac was terrified, He grabbed his father " what's wrong, what's wrong?" He asked. His father couldn't reply because he was in immense pain. Jac could feel him getting weaker, he could see his eyes losing their life, his breathing slowered until it came to a stop. Right there it happened, in the family's living room right after being told the painful news Jac's father took his last breathe, laying vertically on the ground, the upper half of his body laid lifeless in Jac's hand.