Finding Finn Reed

III

The dreaming incidents increased with every new day, each dream more lifelike than the last. Eventually, I learned how to play along. I realized that each dream had certain aspects to it, making it easy to point out the real from the fake. These incidents were only kept to myself, however. I never told Finn about the vivid dreams I had throughout the day. I wouldn't even know how to explain them to him, it was better to keep them a secret. And it worked for a short while, eventually Finn found out, and it sparked a cataclysmic shift in things. At the time, I wasn't aware that my vivid dreams had so much to do with Finn.

It had been roughly six months since my first dream. Since then, the dreams only grew more realistic, until I wasn't capable of telling the difference between reality and fabrication. For some reason or another, I had a feeling that all of these dreams were trying to tell me something, something I needed to know.  The hard part was trying to elucidate all of the surreal clues. I began to keep a journal, and marked down everything I saw. For a while, it was only trivial things, such as small objects that didn't pertain into reality. But after a few months went by, I started seeing something else, a dark figure. At first I assumed it was Finn, resembling that blurry figure of when I first encountered him. But this dark figure felt different. It gave off a malignant ambience. No matter where I was in the dream, the figure was there too. At first, I chose to ignore it in hopes that it was just apart of the obscure scene. But after countless times encountering it, I reached towards a rather foreboding conclusion. This dark figure wasn't fake. The dark figure that followed me into every dream, was as real as I was. After realizing that it wasn't apart of the dream, I tried to make contact with it, however it always ended with my awakening. Perhaps it didn't want to talk.

Since the dreaming incidents, my life in Intemilly grew sour. It took a toll on my body, everyday I grew more tired. It felt as though the life were being sucked out me, and transferred into the dreams. I felt more cognitive asleep than I did awake. Finn also began to notice my behavior, and he began to question it. "Melanie, I think we should go see a doctor" he'd say. However, I always ignored his request and went on with my day. I felt a responsibility towards the dreams, I needed more time. But even time has it's limits to what it can do.

Finn was sitting on the dining table, flipping through old magazines and drinking coffee. I was in the kitchen, unpacking boxes of utensils and pans. The weather outside was always the same. Rain and snow, along with unrestrained winds, violently scraping against the outer foundation. The atmosphere in the room felt heavy and awkward, so I tried to lighten up the mood. "So I found a couple neat things in one of my old boxes, I think you'd like to take a look at them" I said as I continued to unpack boxes full of utensils. Finn kept flipping through magazines while tapping his foot on the floor. "What's in them?" he asked. By the tone of his voice, I could tell he grew irritated from my enervated behavior. However, I ignored the tone and kept talking as though everything were fine, despite things being the exact opposite. "Well, I had forgotten all about my collection" I said, "Just like you used to collect gems, I collected lightbulbs". Finn's foot tapping subsided, and he turned to look at me with a sort of confusion. "Lightbulbs? You collected lightbulbs?". "Not just any lightbulbs, old bulbs" I said. The memory of my childhood was a little fuzzy, and I often forgot about all the things I did.

Collecting lightbulbs was something I did with my father, and we did it all the time. My father had a vast collection of old Knick knacks he'd like to call "Gray findings". When he wasn't home, he was always out looking for gray findings. Most of the time, he'd be out in a large field that was located a couple miles away from our old house. Almost everyday, he'd bring something back. "What'd you find this time?" I'd say holding a large smile. My father would pat me on the head, and proceed to show me his findings. "This is a lightbulb" he'd say while holding up what appeared to be an old lightbulb. "A lightbulb? We have those inside the house, what makes this one so special?". "This is a 60 Watt Edison style bulb, Melanie" my father held the bulb high in the air, revolving it as he examined it. I shook my head in confusion, and looked at the bulb. "So because it's a Watt Edison it's important?" I asked, still in a haze of confusion. My father chuckled and looked down at me, his hand resting on my shoulder. "It's because it's a remnant of the past, Melanie" he took a deep breath, "You see, in todays world, people are starting to forget the past, they don't care about it". My fathers face suddenly turned gloomy, and disappointed. "What's so important about the past? If it already happened, and you can't change it, then why bother remembering it?" I asked. There was a sudden pause, my father was thinking about what I just asked. The past had meant so much to him, I just never understood why. My father stood up, and set the lightbulb in a box on a high shelf. "It's just the way things are. When you're older, you'll understand why the past needs to be remembered". And with those words, my father went inside the house, and I was left with the burning question scorched into my head. 

"Any reason why you collected old light bulbs?" Finn asked, now standing up from the chair and walking over to the pile of boxes. "No reason in particular" I said, "Just to remember". Finn looked at me the same way I looked at my father when he first showed me the lightbulb. He proceeded to walk towards the box, and pull out a bulb, a 60 Watt Edison bulb. "Remember what?" he asked, holding up the bulb in the exact same manner as my father once did. "I forget" I laughed. My goal of lightening the heavy tension worked. And what's more, is that Finn started talking normal. "You forgot what you wanted to remember?" Finn chuckled as he set the bulb in its respected box. I took a break from unboxing utensils, and walked towards the giant window that observed the entire town. "I guess I just enjoyed collecting bulbs". And it was true, I did enjoy finding lightbulbs. After my father showed me the Watt Edison, I became set on finding more like it. I found it rather odd that I'd forgotten something so important.

"What're you going to do with all your bulbs?" Finn asked. I paused for a moment, thinking long and hard about the question. When my parents left the town, I had planned on giving my father the boxes of bulbs, but the thought had slipped my mind. "For now I guess they'll just have to lay dormant in their box" I said, now turning my body towards Finn. "Kind of like you?" Finn asked, his face becoming rather heavy. I knew exactly what he meant by that, yet for some reason I acted like I knew nothing of what he said. I gave out an awkward laugh, and ran my fingers through my hair. "What are you going on about?" I asked, still playing with my hair. Finn gave out a long sigh and looked at me, examining my entire self. "You're a shitty liar you know" he laughed. He was right though, I was never really able to conceal a lie, and it often led me in situations like this. "I've just been tired. You try unpacking box after box everyday, I mean, why do we have so many god damn boxes?" I said in a defensive tone. I didn't mean to say it in such a defensive tone, however I began to tense up and out of impulse I began to have an averting body language. However, Finn wasn't buying any of it. He now had a sharp look in his eyes, almost determined. "You've been spacing out a lot, and it worries me. You've been acting weird lately, distant" he said, now pointing his direction to the window. My voice began to shake and cold sweats accumulated. "Everybody has their days, Finn" I was now afraid. I didn't want to confront Finn about the dreams, and every fiber in my body was telling me to walk away and forget the incident ever happened. "Not for six months, Melanie" he said, "I don't know, maybe it's the weather or maybe there's something going on inside your head that you're not telling me about". He knows, I thought to myself. "You're overreacting, I'm fine. Can we just drop this? It's getting pretty late and I think we shou-", "I think we should leave" Finn said. My heart suddenly sunk in fear. Finns words pierced through my very soul, and my heart began to beat fast.

Suddenly, I began having flashes. The flashes consisted of running somewhere, but I couldn't map out what. "You're doing it right now!" Finn shouted, bringing me back to reality. I felt hazed, I didn't know what was happening. "I'm sorry , I'm just feeling a little-", "This is exactly why we should just leave" Finn said, "This place isn't good for you, this town isn't good for you. Listen, I think digging through all of these boxes is making you miss your parents and I think we should just-" the flashes began to come back. The running was me, I was running somewhere. I clasped my head and let out a painful screech. "Stop talking for just a second" I said, still clasping my head. Finn let out an angry grunt, and said "No, now it's your turn to listen to me. I don't know how much I can take this! I want  to help you, but all you do is push me away!" he began to shout even louder, causing my flashes to worsen. I'm running fast, and I'm sweating beyond reason. There's something ahead of me, something dark, and something light. "Then just go! Finn, I don't want to leave this town, I'm almost done unpacking and you just want to get up and leave, did you think I would just gladly agree?" I began to grow impatient. Finn laughed in a sarcastic tone, and banged his hands on the table. "This town is poisoning you!" he shouted and he paced to and fro. The violent visions began to burn, I felt immense heat from inside my body. Everything became distorted, the visions were no longer clear, the black and white had mixed and all I saw was grey. "Maybe it's you!" I clamored, "If you really want to leave then the fucking door is right behind you!". Finn's eyes widened, as if his heart was shattered.

Before I could come to my senses, the door had been violently flung open, and Finn was out on the streets. "Shit, shit, shit, shit" I yelled as I realized what happened. I tried to walk towards the door, but my coordination was slurred. Instead, I fell onto the floor and shut my eyes. The cataclysmic shift I spoke of before was now beginning to unfold before me.