Fantasia

Transparency

This was the first time Eddy let anyone inside his dormitory room. 

Brett whistled as he walked into a neatly organized room, with no speck of dust in sight. This was not the time to make small gentle talks though. Eddy immediately locked the door behind them, demanding an explanation.

"How?" Eddy asked aloud, facing Brett who was standing in front of Eddy's shelves already, taking out several scores of collections with amusement. 

"What do you mean how?" Brett raised his eyebrows.

"Am I... am I still dreaming? Why are you here, and why...are you in my dream?" 

"I didn't believe it when I first realized it too," Brett flipped through the pages. "I believe our dream is connected."

"Connected?"

"Yes, the forest of knives is my dreamland," Brett nodded. "And the gingerbread house standing in the grass field is yours. Our dream seems to be connected by a small patch that connects your field to my forest. I could finally walk over to your dreamland when you invited me."

"How do you know all this?" Eddy asked skeptically. 

"I've been around there for a long enough time," Brett shrugged. "It just made sense one day." 

"Well...what do we do now?" Eddy asked in a panic, chewing his nails. "Does that mean we need to see each other every night, in our dream? And...and you are going to be here, at my gingerbread house??"

"Not your gingerbread house, technically. It is the witch's." 

"Well, it is MY dream, so I basically own that place," Eddy snapped. "On that note, why don't you just go back to your forest and never interrupt my dream again?" 

"I told you already, it is incredibly boring in my forest," Brett whined. "You already invited me. You can't take that back. Remember I saved you from the witch that day?"

"That is not fair at all. You didn't invite me to your forest," Eddy remembered how the thorn trees were blocking the entrance to the forest like a great wall.

"There is nothing to see. It is just a plain old gloomy forest. Don't you understand?" Brett sighed exasperatingly. "I would rather spend my dream time bickering with you in that nice cookie house than walk around that forest in a circle the thousandth time." 

"I can't believe that this is happening," Eddy shook his head. "You can't...you can't just barge into my dream like that when I'm...when I'm-"

"When you are binge-eating the whole ass house away?" Brett asked on a sharp note. 

"That is none of your business," Eddy looked away, embarrassed.

"There is only one way out of this if you don't want to see me in your dreams again," Brett sat in Eddy's chair, spinning. "You said it yourself that you visit the gingerbread house when you cannot eat. So the solution is simple. You just have to eat." 

"You got to be kidding me," Eddy snorted. "If it was that easy, I would have-"

"Here," Brett cut through Eddy's word, rummaging through his backpack and handing him a small plastic container.

"What is this?" Eddy asked, surprised. 

"It is egg rice with soy sauce. Your safe food. I made it today."

Eddy blinked, wrapping his fingers around the warm container. Egg rice with soy sauce. It was a simple dish that his grandmother used to make for him when his father was too busy practicing the violin. He never really had the chance to cook the dish himself after his grandmother passed away. He was used to microwaving the frozen food out of efficacy during practices and classes. There was nobody to take care of him really, including himself.

The dish was one of the few foods that he could keep down. 

"How did you know?" Eddy asked slowly.

"I told you, I'm pretty good at eavesdropping from my forest. I know a lot of stuff."

"This is too creepy. I can't...I really can't take this-"

"You will see me at your gingerbread house tonight, then. Is that what you want?" Brett asked, crossing his legs. 

"No, but-"

"I personally don't mind seeing you in my dreams," Brett commented. "I just think if you are not awfully hungry and not too busy eating that house down, you can play me some more violin." 

Brett stood up from his chair and walked over closer to Eddy. Eddy instinctively backed away, pressing his back to the wall. 

"You want to hear me play the violin?" Eddy asked in a squeaky voice. 

"Yeah, why not?" Brett smiled. "I think I told you before. I have been awfully bored being alone in the forest by myself. And I like your music. Who wouldn't?" 

.

.

Even after the phantom left the bedroom in a swift motion, Eddy stood frozen in his room for a long time. Finally, when he carefully opened the box in his hand, he discovered a small spoon and a simple golden brown rice with an egg on top.  

A creepy weird guy. 

Eddy took a small bite with uncertainty. It was lukewarm, soft, and salty. Perfect.

A creepy weird guy. Not a bad guy though. 

"I liked your music too," Eddy muttered to himself as he chewed the food, a word that didn't dare to escape from his mouth when Brett was in the room. 

Eddy managed to finish the rice. To his surprise, the meal sat comfortably in his stomach as he went to bed, radiating soft warmth inside him. Eddy drifted to sleep, thinking about the mysterious phantom of the forest of knives. Brett, Brett Yang. The name was written in a lazy haze behind his eyelids and was erased and written again. 

He didn't dream of a gingerbread house that night. The first in many weeks. 

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<Author's note>

Thank you for reading! Comments/feedbacks are appreciated as always :)