I Want To Dream Now

Chapter 17

"Robin, more cornflakes?"

Robin stares at his cornflakes. Completely uneaten. Undisturbed.

Nina comes over to hover over him. She makes a 'tsk' sound and grabs his bowl. "What the hell? Why aren't you eating your cornflakes?"

And now the baby cries.

Nina grunts out, wavering Robin off. "No, no. I'll get it. Don't rush or anything."

She stampedes out of the room, banging the door shut behind her. It's far more louder with the heavy wind.

Robin lets out of a grumble himself. He shuts his eyes, leaning his chin on his knuckles. 

What's the number again? ....086...

Robin can't remember. He doesn't even know for sure if he was given a number. It was all a bit fuzzy, wasn't it? How reliable are dreams?

He bashes his chin then off the table, as his knuckles slip.

"Ow!" He squirms just quiet enough that his child's scream is louder than his. Rhine is still screaming despite his wife's efforts. Robin confirms then his child has inherited more of Nina's personality than his. 

"Sssh," he breathes out heavily, squeezing his chin.

Then BAM.

0861047676

He remembers then. That's the number. For sure.

Write it down, write it down. He skids his chair back with a big screech. Stumbling over to the cabinet, he drags a door out with all his force, snatching a piece of paper. He grabs a pen on the counter, jotting the number down as promptly as possible.

"086...104...7676," He mutters. He grabs an envelope then on the same counter, scribbling the letter 'C' on it. He stares at it then for a moment. 

"I'll never know if I don't try," he says. "I just need to know the truth."

He slides his apple phone out of his pocket, and keys in the number very carefully. Every digit must be correct. It starts dialing.

"OK," Robin tells himself, feeling himself lose his breath. "OK, I will soon find out..."

He glances at the screen on the phone. Calling C. The girl in my dreams. The girl of my dreams? He isn't too sure. No-one is answering.

Robin can feel himself beginning to lose all-sanity. His palms are sweating, so it his back. There's a big lump in his throat, getting bigger and bigger by the minute. Charlene couldn't seem him like this. If she were even real, he reminds himself. Oh god, what is she is? What's his plan, ditch Nina and Rhine? Runaway with Charlene?

"I can't do this."

He quickly cuts the call, then switches his phone off. At least this way, he know the call is cut for sure and Charlene can't ring back.

"No more," he promises. "Charlene? Gone."

I need to look after my wife. My kid.

***

"Charlie, Charlie! Quick!"

Charlene tramples down the stairs, sliding her way off the last step. She hurries to her parents in the living, who have been calling her name out for the last 20 seconds non-stop.

Arriving in the room, she wears a puzzled expression. "What? What happened?"

Her dad spins around, grinning from ear to ear.