Only When I Close My Eyes

Liam closed his eyes, resting his head on his pillow after a long day at university. He was in his first year, in a business program. He had to take three melatonin to get himself to sleep, but finally the darkness welcomed him.

Liam was in the room again. The same loft apartment as before, posters for bands he didn’t recognize lined the wall and large windows opened out into the nothingness of.. wherever he was.

The space wasn’t particularly suffocating but at the same time, Liam felt totally confused by it. He walked his allotted twenty feet forward and walked smack dab into the glass that separated the room into two.

He never quite understood why the room needed to be separated… It was daunting that he couldn’t just freely adventure to the other side. It was his dream after all. But try as he may, the thing just wouldn’t budge.

This particular dream had been happening for about two nights now. Liam was rather bored of it because he had explored practically every inch of his side of the room. There was nothing special to it and he was starting to get a bit annoyed by it’s limitations. He hadn’t yet decided if this was a dream or an awful nightmare.

Liam was searching through a box of miscellaneous toys when there was thump from across the room, on the other side of the glass…

Instinctively, Liam dove behind a leather couch and breathed shallowly. He hoped that whatever was on the other side was not threatening to his wellbeing, even in this dream world. Dreams were supposed to be for healing, not for torment.

“Ow. I thought you weren’t able to hurt in your dreams.” An Irish voice complained from the other side of the room.

Liam’s breath hitched, it sounded like a bloke. Just a simple bloke. He peered over the top of the couch and saw a blond teenager sprawled on the ground. Liam had to clap a hand over his mouth to make sure the person didn’t hear him laugh.

 Liam remembered the first time he had arrived and how much it had ‘hurt’. On the second night, Liam had discovered he could configure his landing spot. He had proceeded to land on the couch.

The bloke slowly stood up and began to explore the room, his blue eyes wide in wonder. He ran his hands over the surfaces and over some of the posters.

Niall was utterly confused as to why he was here. He had been in the middle of a kick ass dream about defeating a giant Doritos monster and next thing he knew, he was here.

The room had a tall ceiling that Niall rather liked. It made everything small in comparison. He stalked toward a leather couch that looked particularly inviting and ran right into something.

As soon as Liam saw the stranger nearing the couch, he ducked back down and held his breath. He winced when he heard the guy collide with the glass separator. His head hurt just remembering the first time he had walked into it.

“Seriously?” Niall asked, rubbing his head.

He pressed his hands against the barrier and followed it all the way to one wall. He discovered that the room was cut in half, even though he could see across to the other side.Was this some kind of sick joke?

“Is anyone over there?” Niall wondered, knowing he probably wouldn’t hear a thing back but his own echo.

Liam heard the question and before he realized what he was doing, he answered, “Yes. Um…. I’m here.”

Niall was startled by the response. His imagination really was acting up tonight. But slowly, a figure appeared from behind the couch. The bloke was taller than Niall, with an athletic build and dirty blond hair.

“What the hell…” Niall muttered, shaking his head at the detail that his mind had created for the person in front of him.

“I know. I know. I don’t get it either.” Liam responded, smirking sheepishly.

Niall smiled, walking toward the glass again. “What I don’t get is the barrier. It’s a dream, you’re not real. Why do we have to be separated?” He wondered, pushing against the glass.

Liam was almost offended by what the blond had suggested. Liam was real, he had a life and a girlfriend. He went to school and even had a part time job. He was a real person. Was this person suggesting that he was real person as well?

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I am real. This is my dream. Not yours. This has to be some sort of game my mind is setting up for me.” Liam mused, flopping down on to couch.

He rubbed his temples in an attempt to coax his mind back into a normal dream sequence. But the room didn’t fade away nor did the bloke, who seemed to be pretty frustrated.

“Don’t you tell me that I’m a figment of your imagination, buddy. I am real person too. I even have a real name: Niall. So…. There.” Niall spat, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Liam chuckled at the blond before introducing himself: “I’m Liam. And.. I don’t know what to make of any of this.”

Niall was comforted by knowing what the stranger’s name was. He was less of a stranger now, more of a… dream acquaintance?

The whole thing was both unsettling and exciting for Niall, while Liam just utterly rejected the idea of Niall being a real person.

“I think that this is…” Niall began before Liam disappeared into thin air.

Niall was left utterly alone in the room. He missed his dream acquaintance already.

Liam woke with a start, in a cold sweat. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep for the rest of the night.

“You okay, mate?” Zayn, his roommate, asked through the darkness.

“Yah, I’m fine. Weird dream though.” Liam explained.

Before Liam could count to ten, he heard Zayn’s snores begin again.

“Niall…” Liam whispered, the name rolling off his tongue as if it were more familiar than it should be.

Liam sighed, before putting his head back down on his pillow.