Dream of me again. [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3

4:00 PM. September 2, 2015.

"Hi mom," The boy removed his earphones then kissed his mother on the cheek the moment he entered their house. He just finished playing basketball with his friends and he can't wait to tell his mother a bunch of stories.

That was his usual routine: study, hang out with friends, greet his mother and tell new stories, do homework, and help with chores. 

Her mother has a visitor, he just noticed. He can see the look from his mother's face—happy and peaceful, just like the old times... very old times that he doesn't want to remember it again. 

He shrugged off the thought and buried it again at the back of his mind—to a place where he can't remember it anymore. That's how bittersweet the painful memory is. 

Her mother, Janice Yeong, noticed that her son was curious about her visitor. After all, it is very rare for her to bring home a visitor since she is always busy with her work.

She gestured her son to the visitor, "Ed, this is Cedric, my son."

The man offer his hand to shake hands with him, "Hello! You were still a baby the last time I saw you, ang laki mo na ah!"

Cedric's ears turned red. He's not used to compliments and attention. He just smiled at the man and accept his handshake.

Janice faced her son to introduce the man. She paused for a second, a bit hesitant on how will she introduce him. "Cedric, this is Ed... my childhood friend." 

Cedric nodded at him while the man's little smile turned into a serious face. 

"Akyat na po ako, Ma."

He went upstairs to his bedroom to get changed and to do his homework. When he reached for the doorknob, he suddenly felt dizzy as if something had hit him. His knees became weak that it made him kneel on the floor. His head thumped so loud that his vision became blurry and a screeching noise rang in his ears. 

In an instant, he felt like he was dying. 

***

"Where am I?"

That's the first thought that came to his mind. 

There was... nothing.

He could be dead, could he?

The last thing he remembered is he fainted in front of his room. 

Wait, he really could be dead.

But, no. That's impossible. He is perfectly fine. He doesn't have any illness. Besides, he can't die knowing that her mom would be left all alone. He can't. 

Well, is this the afterlife? It is quite different from what he imagined. 

Something must be wrong.

He saw a faint light a few walks away from him and decided to follow it. 

When he reached the light, he just realized that it was actually a girl—a sleeping girl wearing pajamas. 

"This is weird. Am I dreaming?" This time, he's sure that he is not dead. There's no person in the afterlife who snores so loud.  

He waved his hands in front of the girl, hoping to wake her up, but it seems that she's currently in dreamland. He sighed in disbelief, turned his back at her, walked a couple of steps, and lie down, on the cold ground.

"Ecosystem... hmmm... what time is it... evolution is...." He heard the girl mumbled to herself. 

This must be a dream. He thought. He closed his eyes and began to sleep.