Tally

Chapter 1: The Dream

"Where am I?" was the first thought that came to my mind.

I'm surrounded by grass which is quite unusual as I would never want to go outside willingly. Looking around more, I get a heavy sense of a 'blast from the past as it feels familiar somehow.

Standing up from where I was, I looked around until I found something peculiar. It was a bench. Nothing seems fishy about it as it has an appearance of those cheap wooden benches you would generally find in a more only the thing is, it wasn't here before.

Two instincts came to my head. The first is to sit on it, and the second is to avoid it.

I'm a person who doesn't like taking chances. In all my life, every opportunity I took has never worked out as well as I thought it to be, but then curiosity kicks in. The idea of encountering something magical was more than enough for me to accept it as I'm not too fond of the reality I am in, but at the same time, I value my life very much to me jump into a hole of mysteries.

"Hey, aren't you getting tired standing up?"

Looking to where the voice was coming from, I saw a person in front of me sitting on the bench. I made a small yelp and fell onto the patch of grass. At this very moment, my heart was racing fast, so much that if there were a Guinness World Record for fastest heart rate, I would have been in at least the top three.

The person wearing a full black hoodie was dark blue jeans followed by a black mask. I couldn't make out much more about the appearance, but I am sure that he is a male by the sound of the tone.

Continuing my thoughts, I felt like I was going crazy. First of all, my environment does not make sense whatsoever. Second, why are random things popping out? Reality is a thing, yet it seems like every conspiracy theory is happening right in front of me.

"Hey, stop daydreaming," the man said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked up, seeing him face to face.

"Are you going to sit, or are you comfy on the ground?" the man asked.

"Is it safe?" I yelled my thoughts, wanting to know the answer.

"Bro, what harm can sitting on a bench do?" he replied mockingly.

Sorry for wanting to be safe, as he thought my safety was unnecessary. Regardless, the thought remains as an unknown anomaly is present before me, giving me a choice. After more thought, I just wanted to get it over with and sat next to the guy on the bench.

"There. Nothing funny happened, right?" the man said, but with the way it was presented, he sying 'took you long enough.'

"Whatever," I muttered.

After I sat at the bench, there was a long silence between the stranger and me. I was waiting for him to take the initiative as I was never good at starting conversations, and the fact that I was talking to a stranger, all the more reason I was waiting for so long. Eventually, the silence was killing me. I had probably ten to hundreds to thousands of questions in my mind that I wanted to speak about.

By mustering all the courage I had, I muttered these words, "Where are we?"

It was the first thing I wanted to know since being here.

I looked back and waited to respond, and he opened his mouth and said, "I should be asking you that?"

Frustrated and confused, I jolted up from the bench, saw his face to face, and yelled, "What is that supposed to mean!"

He let out a deep sigh and said, "As I said, I don't know where we are."

Tempting to fight back, before I let out another word, he continued saying, "Aren't you supposed to know?"

Confused by his reply, all I could say was, "What?"

"I'm only here because you chose this place," he replied.

As he said that, the area formed again. It was a plain grassland environment back then, but it has changed into a playground. There were multiple pieces of equipment, such as a giant slide with numerous swings and rideable fake animals, followed by a sandbox. Moreover, I can't help but feel somewhat nostalgic witnessing it.

Looking more, I feel something weird on my face. Touching where the sensation was coming from, I felt tears dropping. It was unexplainable as I do not understand the emotions I am currently experiencing.

"So, do you know where we are?" The man asked, snapping me from my thoughts again.

"I-I-I think," was all I could say.

I calmed down and sat next to him again. This atmosphere was all too familiar, yet my memory of it is very hazy. Continuing my thoughts, I asked another important question I was dying to know.

"Who are you?"

The man stood still and said these words, "Just think of me as someone relatable with you."

Confused by the statement, I stayed quiet and had another thought.

"Do I know you?" I asked, pressing the topic

"We are quite close," he replied

"Your name, please," I continued.

"You didn't give me a name, so I don't know what to say."

"What?" I said in confusion

"I didn't give you a name," I repeated.

"Yep, you didn't give me a name."

"Why was I supposed to give you a name," I asked back, wanting to know.

"If you want to call me something, you have to give me a name, right?"

"Can you show me your face, at least?" I asked my last question

The stranger removed his hoodie, revealing pitch-black hair that was messily arranged. Now that I got a better look at his face, I noticed that his skin was pure white with a few pimples on the forehead. Lastly, his eyes were in a black and brown tone, with it not easy to identify. While he was opening his mask, an intense feeling pierced my head. I heard strange noises while my vision got blurry and more blurry by the second until I could make out the sound.

Beep Beep Beep

Oh, it was a dream