Where the stars meet

☆Nightmare☆

Nightmare(noun)

a frightening or unpleasant dream.

"I had nightmares after watching the horror movie."

Celeste winced as the hot coffee hit his throat, his hands were now tinted in a shade of red from holding the cup too long. He shook it off and left the coffee to chill.

He had overheard a conversation earlier and supposedly, a series of surgeries were to be done.

He felt nervous but he knew it was for the best.

His health has deteriorated a lot since the past two days, however it wasn't something he wasn't ready to tell Zephyr even though he felt like, with each passing second it got even more difficult to hide.

Celeste felt tired, worn out to say the least but a part of him was afraid to fall asleep because of the nightmares that followed him into his slumber, the screams and cries, the burning fire, something Celeste could never forget.

Fear gets the best of him despite being aware that it is a constant hammer on the head but fear also evaporates like water under an early summer sun, because like the ghosts of children's nightmares, fear is an illusion.

Celeste felt the whispers of a thousand voices, but he knew it was a hallucination, he couldn't make out the words no matter how hard he tried. He lifted the blanket over his legs reaching for the coffee.

As he sipped on it he heard a gentle knock at the door. "Come in." He said. And in came a pretty looking woman,  her Auburn hair running down her shoulders. "Hey mom."

"Hello Celeste, I wanted to tell you about the-"

"Surgeries? I already know that."

"Well, I hope you are aware this disease of yours isn't that simple."

"Yes mom I know."

"Well, great then, I won't go into details. Do you want something to eat or drink, maybe?"

"No thanks."

Celeste watched as she walked out. He leaned back, 'not that simple'. He didn't want to think much of it.

He placed the empty cup on the counter letting out a heavy sigh, he wondered if the sky would be starry tonight, maybe he could catch a good glimpse.

He laid down on the bed and grabbed his phone going through articles on his phone.  Celeste clicked on one that caught his attention. He read through it with great interest. 'So the meteor shower is in late November .' he thought to himself. His mind felt at ease.

Finally, some good news.

Celeste shut his eyes, trying to fall asleep. The world seemed to be uninteresting. He tried to block out all the sounds and hallucinations trying to lure him into yet another sleepless day. He hasn't had a good sleep for God knows how long.

"CELESTE!" the voice screamed "RUN." The young boy tried his best to answer back, but his path was blocked by the fiery flames.

He made his way to the backyard gazing upon what he once called a house, now burning down, in front of his eyes.

The boy couldn't hold back tears anymore, there was nothing he could do, all his emotions now rendered into one, a feeling of guilt, and sorrow, whole. It felt awful but he was too terrified to even move a limb.

The heat waves hit his skin as he watched everything he once loved rising into flames. People started to gather around, some of them now calling 911.

They started asking the young boy questions just to get silence as a reply. In the end they figured he was probably the son of the two people inside.

Celeste felt everything coming to an end. All he could call his own, he felt as though he should've gone away with it as well, but fate decided otherwise. His heart pumped faster as people crowded around. "Where to now?"

Celeste shot his eyes open, sitting up, gasping for air. His cheeks were wet with tears. He looked around the room. A white bed, a white sofa, a cabinet, a window, a coffee mug, he was still in the hospital. "Must've been a dream." he whispered.

a nightmare.