Asleep

74 Outside

Charlie~~

Nora's hand clutches mine, but I squeeze hers tighter.

The doors that lead outside are shut. She waits for me to wave my hand over the sensor to open them. Most of the dreamers who did not want to remain in the dream have already made their rush for the exit and ventured out into the world, which is already sending the nation into a confused panic. Thousands of people who have been missing for years have suddenly reappeared on the same day. Others aren't sure if they want to return to the world and leave the marriages and friendships and careers they've built inside of Somnia, even though many of those relationships will now be broken. Waking the master dreamer was never going to be the right choice for everyone.

My hand hovers before the sensor, frozen.

Kiernan stands behind us, dressed in his new pair of jeans my brother Thomas gave him. Her father has been rubbing his palms over them since putting them on. I can't imagine what he's feeling. We're going to Nora's home, and Kiernan's about to see his wife who has believed he's been dead for sixteen years and has been remarried for most of that time. We tried searching for Nora's stepfather, but he's gone-silent since we woke Kiernan, not responding to messages from co-workers and was not where anyone said they last saw him.

Nora gently nudges me, brushing her arm up against mine. "If you want to see the sun before it sets, we should probably go."

"Right." I curl my raised hand into a fist. I don't know why I'm nervous. Maybe I'm worried the world won't be what I always dreamed it would be. Even if it's not, it's still freedom. A chance to be in charge of my life, a place where a city isn't all there is, where there's another place beyond every horizon.

I unclench my fingers and wave my palm over the sensor.

The doors slide open with a burst of air, revealing trees, green and vibrant and full of life, that cast shadows over the ground. In places sunlight trickles through the branches and leaves. Birds chirp ,and there's the buzzing of insects in the air. The air smells of dirt, but yet there's a freshness to it that fills my lungs like never before.

I inhale it. Air. Real air.

I step outside, feeling dirt, grass, and leaves crunching under my shoes. Sunlight hits my eyes and makes them water, even so I have a hard time tearing my eyes away from the artic blue sky. From the trees, a bird flies from one branch to another.

The dream captured all of these elements remarkably, but there's just something different, something that makes it all feel more real. Maybe it's the air. Drinking it in, I feel more alive than ever before.

Working together, Kiernan and Nora recall the direction we have to set off in. The trampled grass on the path we take, gives them confidence in their decision that we're going to end up somewhere.

The humid air is thick, and I can almost guarantee I'll be sweating when I meet Nora's mother and siblings. But knowing its real humidity that's incasing me in a layer of water makes it hard for me to care.

Nora pokes my pale bare arm that hasn't seen the light of this sun in ten years. "Remind me to make sure you're slathered in sunscreen anytime you go outside."

"Don't you think a little bit of sun is healthy?"

"Ask yourself that when you're pink and peeling."

We leave the forest behind and enter a small town that's filled with people congregating outside, many of them are in OneirTech dreamer uniforms. They talk and embrace those dressed in everyday clothes. The majority of people are crying. My dad and grandfather separated all these people.

Nora must realize where my thoughts are headed and tugs me through the crowd. No one recognizes me. Not that any should. I can't imagine what they would do if they knew who I was.

"You freed them, Charlie," Nora says, and Kiernan adds, "You made this possible."

I fight back my own tears as we pass by a bakery, the smell of bread filling the air around it.

Now that we're in the town, Nora takes over with confidence, leading us down different streets until we reach the one she lives on. She stops at the end of a driveway that's connected to a house I've seen before when she reconstructed it in the void. Orange chrysanthemums have replaced the blue ones. A red compact car is in the driveway.

Tears roll down Kiernan's face, disappearing into his beard only to dampen it. "You go ahead, Nora." His voice is thick with water.

Nora's eyes are surprisingly dry. She bites her lip, dread masking her face rather than excitement. "What am I supposed to say to him?" Though she doesn't specify it, I know she means her stepfather. She tightens her grip on my hand.

"I honestly don't know. But he may not even be here. Focus on your mom and siblings."

"Stay by me? If he is there, I'm going to need you to remind me he's not worth the tears after what he did."

I brush my knuckles against her cheek, relishing in the softness of her skin, the realness of it. There is a difference. "Of course."

Our boy got to see the sun *cries*