She was afraid of a lot of things, her boyfriend being one of them.
"Bukas pa anniversary natin, 'di ba?" Mahinang sabi nito pagkaabot niya ng regalong ilang buwan niyang ginawa. It was a scrapbook of all their moments together, albeit having only a few good ones. Sanay naman siyang hindi laging nabibigyan ng atensyon, pero masakit pa ring marinig ang pagkainis sa boses nito.
She tried to smile at the man sitting in front of her.
"Ngayon kaya. Happy anniversary! Hindi ka ba natutuwa, hon?"
In her dream, her boyfriend scowled and grabbed her wrist. Naging dahilan ito para mabitiwan niya ang scrapbook, bigla na lang naging uwak ang mga pahina nito at lumipad papalayo. The girl yelped in fear when he glared at her, not minding the bruise he's gonna leave on her skin again.
Nagbago ang paligid.
Napalitan ng kulay pulang ilaw ang fluorescent lights sa silid.
Mas nagmukhang demonyo ang kanyang pinakamamahal na nobyo.
"Iniinis mo na naman ba ako?"
The tone in his voice instantly set off all the alarms in her body. Muling nabuhay ang takot at trauma nang tumayo ito at hinigpitan ang hawak sa kanya. The girl started crying all over again, hysterical. The marks on her skin glowed under the red light, reminding her of past and permanent scars she can't hide forever.
The red light flickered, reminding her of the red flags she's been ignoring for years.
"BITIWAN MO 'KO!"
Her dream morphed into a nightmare. She didn't even notice that the image of her boyfriend slowly melted away, replaced by that of a demi-god's. Morpheus stood in front of her, watching her shake in fear. Sa pagkakataong ito, malinaw na hindi na niya kailangan pang takutin ang mortal.
'May mga bangungot talagang hindi natatakasan, kahit sa reyalidad,' isip-isip niya bago humakbang palabas ng Dreamscape nito.
Agad na nagbago ang paligid, pero imbes na isang panaginip, natagpuan ni Morpheus ang kanyang sarili sa harap ng kulay puti at gintong palasyo.
Its architecture reminded him of the "Taj Mahal" in the mortal world. White marble walls and golden teardrop-shaped domes for roofs. Isang magarbong gusali na repleksyon ng karangyaan at kapangyarigan ng sinumang nakatira rito. But unlike the Taj Mahal in India that was built upon love, this one was built upon a millenium's worth of dreams.
'Sandman really outdid himself with this one,' Morpheus smirked and walked towards it with no hesitations.
Hindi na niya alintana ang paggalaw ng buhangin sa kanyang mga paa na para bang binabalaan siya nito. Indeed, even the sand didn't want him here, but he didn't care. When the demi-god finally reached the entrance, kumatok siya sa nakasarang pinto.
His one simple knock knocked down the entire door.
"You might want to clean that up later," kaswal niyang sabi nang madaanan niya ang cactus na nakadisplay sa may bintana.
"Magagalit si Master Dave! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" Pagwawala ni Coco.
Natawa na lang si Morpheus. A talking cactus? How fucking pathetic. Ang buong akala niya talaga kukuha ng mas matinong alaga ang Dreamcaster, or at least any other useful creature to guard this palace.
"Well, it's a shame your master isn't here. Hindi niyo ba alam ang kahulugan ng 'hospitality'?" Morpheus eyed the bookshelves and scattered tomes. "I guess I just have to help myself..."
Wala nang nagawa ang cactus nang magsimula na itong mangalkal sa mga kagamitan ni Dave. Coco yelled and tried to send poisonous spikes at Morpheus who was (not surprisingly) immune to them.
BINABASA MO ANG
✔ Dreamcaster
Fantasy"I am a Dreamcaster." "But you don't have any dreams?" "Does it matter?" He challenged. She glared back. "It does." After his mentor's retirement, tuluyan nang pinandigan ni Dave ang kanyang mga responsibilidad bilang isang Dreamcaster. As someone w...
