Final Riff

Chapter 4

“Choices are hinges of destiny.”

                                                                                                                                                         -Phythagoras 

Never would Mami have imagined being in a situation like this. Fear crept into her as she finds herself not able to breathe. She clawed the air around her or was it water? She thought. This place, wherever she is, was dark, cold and lonely. She flailed her arms, confused on what direction she must go.

Her breathe was running out and panic sets in.In a nick of time, she saw the stray of lights radiating the ripples of water. She began trashing her head and body to get to the light but it seems like there was something holding her down, like a chain was bounding her and sinking her further to the darkness.

Somebody! Help! She pleaded inside her but salvation was not in sight. Her lungs started burning up. She could feel her body tensing and she have the urged to open her mouth but she clamped it with her hands, afraid that a small mistake like that will kill her. Her willpower to survive began to dwindle as she got lightheaded with the lack of oxygen. Her body fights for control over her weak mind and it won over her. With the last attempt to keep her alive, she opened her mouth involuntarily and she instinctively inhaled but it was a grave mistake and at that point, she knew she will never get out of there.

Water started rushing inside her mouth and into her already-deprived lungs. She reach out again for the surface but as the last oxygen she have in her mouth was replaced by water, her flailing arms started falling to her side and her mind started to slip. She felt herself sinking more and more to this dark, cold water and there’s no one there to help her. The light overhead started getting smaller until all she could see was the fading rays it left.

Somebody—with one final attempt, she weakly called out before the darkness consumed her.

--

Mami woke up with a start after that. She flung her blanket away from her and bolted upright, grasping her chest and taking big breaths of air. Beads of cold sweat ran down from her forehead to her face.  She looked around her, disoriented, and finds herself back to her room.

She sighed heavily and held her head between her head trying to forget what she just dreamt about.

Same dream. She said more to herself than to others.

It was the same dream that kept her awake for months now. Before, she can’t even remember the dream but slowly like a seed growing inside her head, the dream became more vivid and it scared the wits out of her. She sat motionless on the edge of her bed trying to compose herself. She took deep breathes and shut her eyes close, focusing on her pounding heart to slow down.

She sat there like that for a couple of minutes before she noticed that there was something off. With her vision blocked, her other senses had heightened and she could discern an unfamiliar smell that was creeping in the air. She sniffed a little and was trying to think what gave it off. She got up from her bed and walked towards her door and only be overwhelmed with a delicious smell once she had opened it.

Her mouth watered instantly and her stomach growled from the smell. Is that bacon and coffee? She asked herself and hurriedly went down the stairs to see if her guess was correct. Once she reached the door to her kitchen, the sound and smell of sizzling meat greeted her and she saw her brother standing at the stove holding a pair of tongs and the frying pan.

She was dazed for a moment and thought that she was still dreaming or she was in a wrong house. Then she remembered that her brother came the night before and stayed overnight. She almost slapped herself for forgetting but then, another thought came to her that left her dumbfounded.