Edge of Dreams

4✯

Edge of Dreams

My cries fill the silence of the room. Before long, I hear the footfalls of someone as they come crashing into my room. They switch on the light, and it's my mother. I'm sniffling as she climbs on the bed to cuddle me.

"Shhhhh," she whispers to me, kissing my head. "It's okay. It was just a dream. What happened?"

"I woke up and I was all by myself. You left me."

She rocks me back and forth. "It was just a dream. I would never leave you."

I hiccup and press myself into her further. "You will when I wake up," I feel her body freeze, before she begins to get under the covers with me. Her hand is shaky as she strokes my hair.

"It was just a dream," She whispers again.

✭✭✭

"Weird question, but why don't you have shoes on again?" I glance down pointedly to see her toes wriggling beneath her white socks.

Stephanie rubs her neck with an awkward laugh. "Yeah, I didn't exactly think it through when I dropped my shoe earlier on. I'll meet you in there after I get another pair. See you in a bit, Avery." She walks away down one of the many corridors.

I reach the doors to the cafeteria with the rest of the group and file in behind. The cafeteria looks the same as it did earlier, except more people are present now. There are four different long lines around the room leading to four stations in the walls, where I gather we collect our food. Patience, was never a virtue of mine.

Seeing an empty table in one of the far corners, I make a bee line towards it. The prospect of standing in line seems far too strenuous for me when I could wait for others to get their meals first. Dodging others and apologising I practically throw myself into a seat.

I slump down comfortably and I watch them all. They don't notice me as I observe them all silently. It's all going smoothly, with a constant stream of chatter going on through out the room.

Not even a minute later, I stand up from my seat. Well that was pointless.

I edge my way to one of the shorter lines to a food station. Peeking at others food as I pass, I'm confused to see that they all have different meals. Some have sushi, others have a lot of protein and some even have fatty foods.

Anxiously waiting in the queue, I'm happy to see it move smoothly. I watch the people in front of me type in their identity numbers and scan their hand before they are given their meal. When it comes to my turn, I nervously type in my identity number onto the key pad on the wall and scan my hand next to it. Within a moment after, a weird happy man in white scrubs passed me my food on a tray at the station.

I stare at it with narrowed eyes making my face spark up with a sharp pain. "Can I get some ice? For my face?" I gesture to my face, expecting a response, but the man just looks at me with the smile still in place with no indication that he is going to speak. "Or not..." When somebody clears their throat behind me, I pick up my tray and make my way back to my seat.

It's a bowl of vegetable soup with a bowl of fruit salad next to it and a bottle of water. When I finally make it back to my lonely table I am not in a good mood. I push the tray away from me when I sit down, only to reluctantly pull the tray back towards me when my stomach rumbles.

Unfortunately, I remember Ms. Hawks' words from earlier, that all the food must be eaten for our diets. With quivering hands, I pick up the spoon and scooped some of the hot soup up. Cringing, I bring it to my mouth and nearly gag when I see a mushroom in it. I hold my breath, scrunching my face when I feel the texture hit my tongue. With a quick chew, I force myself to swallow it, gasping for breath afterwards.