Chapter 4: The Nightmare

Many people said that sleeping was the same as dying. The only difference was, when we was sleeping, the heart and other organs in the body were still function properly. How that was great God's gift. Without being asked, everyone was still carrying out their activities.

While dreaming? Was it a dream? Why was 'that guy' present in the middle of sleep? People said that dreams were the flower of sleep. People said that dreams were a depiction of the activity of our soul wandering outside the body while we sleep. Did that mean if we dream of someone, that someone also dreams of us?

If that was true, it was means that right now, 'that guy' was dreaming of Eiffel, but of course, Eiffel was never think like that.

******

Black. Dark.

Where am I?

There was nobody by my side. 

  I was alone.

From a distance on a foggy street, a boy dressed in a white and blue uniform walked up to Eiffel. He was an imaginary friend, 'that guy' who always appeared in hiers sleep.

" Félicitation ! Finalement, vous gagnez la victoire, Eiffel !" (Congratulations! Finally, you get your victory, Eiffel!) His voice pounded in Eiffel' mind. However, she did not see him open his mouth. Was he speaking in his heart?! If that's the case, why can Eiffel hear it clearly?

"It's him again." Eiffel turned towards him. However, her imaginary friend ran away leaving her alone.

"Uh, wait. Do not go!" Eiffel shouted.

The strange figure faded away. However, there was another familiar person who greeted her.

" Eiffel..." he said softly.

Hearing this, Eiffel' expression brightened a bit. she raised his head towards the origin of the voice. She saw her father raising his hands. He wanted to hug his daughter.

Eiffel turned around and rushed to hug the owner of the voice. The fog was getting thicker. That's why she was no longer knows the whereabouts of her imaginary friend.

Unfortunately, before she was happy, the sound of a car horn suddenly disturbed her.

Then the father's figure blurred, blending in with the wind and the sound of the car horn.

Seeing this incident, there was nothing she could do but shout:

"DAAAAAAD!"

*****

"HAH!" Eiffel gasped again. She didn't believe that was a dream. All of the scenes in her head were so realistic.

Eiffel suddenly opened her eyes. Sweat was already drenching her body, which had not yet had time to change clothes after coming home from the awards ceremony last night. She dreams of her dad and her imaginary friends again.

Why do I often dream about it lately? Eiffel couldn't close her eyes anymore. Her heart was beating fast, it could be felt in her throat. Her hands immediately felt on the table beside her bed, looking for the glass containing water.

Eiffel finished a glass of water. Even though she had been asleep for a long time, she felt her body was weak and sweat continued to pour out. She felt exhausted. While asleep, her brain works hard to overcome nightmares.

Indeed, Eiffel has had strange dreams like this for years. Her presence wasn't every night, but when the surge of excitement for the theater was deep, that piece of sleeping flower would greet her again. It occurred to Eiffel that the solution to stopping these dreams might be to stop joining the theater world.

Of course you can't.

Eiffel's pleasure lied in acting on the acting stage. On that stage, she could release all the feelings that were suppressed on the stage of reality. So for the time being, let Eiffel think that it was her fate to have to sleep less soundly.

Am I actually depressed like my mother?

Eiffel was scared by her nightmare.

While looking at the cellphone screen, Eiffel surfed the internet, looking for articles about nightmares that she had actually read many times. According to articles about dreams that relate them to psychology, dreams that recure and give an unpleasant impression to the dreamer were said to be messages from the subconscious mind that hopes that all matters will be resolved. Eiffel should also communicate with her subconscious mind to find out what is really needed.

Or vice versa?

Eiffel really avoids dealing with her subconscious? Did she do this to avoid the various feelings of hurt that had plagued her past days? In fact, in the past days, it seemed as if Eiffel was fighting for the stage in Eiffel' heart and mind to get attention again.

Not only does it require attention, but it also gets done.

Oh never mind! Eiffel got out of bed. The poster with a picture of the Eiffel Tower that now caught her eye filled her heart with a feeling of calm. She tried to forget the dream she had just now. After all, the morning dawn was starting to break, showing off its beauty. Let's just say, last night's nightmare served to make her realize that there was a new day to live. Hopefully the darkness of the past will quickly disappear.

This was not the first time Eiffel has had a strange dream like last night. For approximately ten years, her sleeping time was invaded by fragments of images that filled her memory. Eiffel's breath roared chaotically every time the sleeping flower came. Her body also started to sweat. Eiffel was just afraid she was suffering from depression.

  Even if I'm depressed, what makes me depressed?

Eiffel asked her heart as she pulled back the curtains on her bedroom window. Outside the fence, her household assistant, Eli, was chatting with the janitor. Eli's behavior annoyed Eiffel.

BRAG!

Someone suddenly slammed the door to the house.

"Mama?!" Apparently, Mama Eiffel was already standing on the terrace. Her gaze was still as empty as yesterday.

Silent dominated the dining room. There was no sound around that. Eiffel looked at her mama softly. She wish there was no conflict or argue again in this house. She felt that she didn't have energy anymore.

"Geez! Madame?!" Swiftly, Eli ran to the terrace. She gasped so hard. "Madame, don't come out! Let's have breakfast first! I'm ready!" The stocky household assistant supported Mama slowly. After that, the two of them turned around to enter the house. Every now and then, Eli looked back, monitoring Eiffel. The girl was watching Eli and Mama with a pitiful look.

If you think about it, I feel sorry for Miss Eli ...

While watching the household assistant who had faithfully helped her family since childhood, Eiffel thought to herself. However, what else can we do? Never mind Eli, Eiffel, by herself iwasalso surviving in a situation like this.

Being alone...

Surrounded by sadness...

Shackled by wailing...

Without Eiffel asking, her right hand slowly clenched into a fist. There was anger trapped in the heart and her soul, but she didn't know what should she do. However, she himself didn't know who she should vent it to. She didn't know who was actually the victim and who was actually the perpetrator in all this unpleasant daily series.

Theater....

That one word echoed in Eiffel' mind. She remembered again that all this time, it was the red curtained stage called the theater that had helped him survive. The fist in her hand finally caught her attention. She took a breath and tried to shake off the fist. She had to restrain her anger. Even if she wants to let it out, she should know where it will go.

"Oh, yes, today there is theater practice again," Eiffel said to herself. Since she rarely found anyone to talk to at home, she mostly talked to herself. She himself once advised Eli to do it too. It's just that Eli feels that this method makes her even crazier. In the end, the janitor who passed by the front of the house and Finn, who often visited Eiffel's house, became the victims. 

Eiffel looked at the sky which hid the morning sun behind the clouds. She must realize that today was still a new day. The Interesting activities also awaited after this. So, Eiffel just wanted to think tomorrow. Yesterday was a history, but tomorrow would be a mystery. 

" ♫ Knock, knock, knockin on heaven's door..... ♫ " suddenly a snippet of the song entitled Knocking on Heaven's Door was heard, which was sung by Gun N' Roses and was famous in the past. "Mama put my guns in the ground. I can't shoot them anymore. That long black cloud is comin' down. I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door. ♫"

Eiffel was sure that she heard the song from Eli's room. In the end, everyone has their own way of pleasing themselves. Likewise with Mama, who Eiffel believed was having breakfast at the dining table. It's better now for Eiffel to accompany her mother to breakfast, then take a shower, and get ready to go to theater practice, her favorite stage.

For Eiffel, theatre kept her balance of life. She didn't want to say that her mom gave her a lot of negative energy, but in the end, she must to admit it. No matter what happened, that woman is her mom. 

"Don't leave mama alone!" said her mom to Eiffel.

Slowly, Eiffel nodded. She closed her eyes. For her, it was not easy to lie.