I'll See You When I Fall Asleep

Chapter 5

It was finally time for Cammie to settle into her bed for the night. She was usually one to fall asleep quickly, but never on nights where a surprise waited for her in the morning. Until she was about seventeen, Cammie could only sleep for about four hours the night before Christmas. Her family joked that she never quite made it past the age of five.

She knew that it would be difficult to fall asleep tonight, but there was never a case of someone not being able to fall asleep on this special night; it was an insomniac's favorite eve, for more reasons than one. Somehow or another, everyone fell asleep. Perhaps the Sandman wasn't a myth after all.

She crawled under her bright yellow comforter and let her head be cradled by her orange and blue pillows. She had always loved bright colors.

Cammie reached over and turned out the lamp shaped like a sunflower and thought of Adam. Tomorrow morning, she would wake up and know for certain that she would be marrying him. They had talked about plans for marriage many times in the past year, and tomorrow they could finally take steps toward achieving that goal. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with that man. He would make the perfect father, a loving husband, and all of her dreams comes true.

In her pajamas, with the lights off, Cammie lit a candle by her bedside, a nightly routine that helped her settle into bed. She was notorious for having high anxiety due to a racing mind, filled with all of her obligations, goals, and expectations. The candle at night helped Cammie focus enough to fall asleep. The dancing flame eased her mind and allowed her to drift to sleep.

This one Dream replaced everything; there were no more "perfect matches" or percentage ratings on how compatible you and another person were on paper. There was no Bachelor to date around and find your soulmate. Dating was not really all that common now a days anyway, except among the younger crowds, mainly high schoolers, who felt that waiting until a person was at least twenty-one to date was much too long.

Cammie had been one of those few who chose to date prior to The Dream. But she felt confident in Adam and confident that he was her soulmate.

A small smile crept across her lips. She had been one of the few who saw no purpose in dating before twenty-one. Really, she felt it was a waste of everyone's time. But, she recalled, traveling back to the days on the soccer field, the hallways, the lunch tables, the stolen glances across the biology lab table, Adam had been different. Adam had changed her mind about everything and Cammie Driver was not one who had her mind changed easily, especially if she had already had an idea or opinion about a thing. Adam had slowly wormed his way into Cammie's heart and she, reluctantly at first, allowed him in. She had had no regrets in the four they had been together.

What am I scared of then? She asked herself when her thoughts were full of Adam. His bright smile, brilliant mind, and curly blond hair that he tried to keep as short as possible without looking like he was in the military. He was everything to her. He was her soulmate and she did not need some dream to tell her that. But it wouldn't hurt.

She rolled over on her side, gazing at the photo she kept of the two of them on her nightstand. Because she always slept with her blinds open to be greeted by the sun kissing her checks it morning, the picture was just visible in the moonlight.

She loved his smile, and that dimple in his check.

"Good night, my love," Cammie mumbled, losing herself to drowsiness.

It was completely white. There was no shape, and the world was formless. It was nothingness.

Cammie was walking through the world, feeling not pressure on her feet from the ground, yet she was walking through a world that seemed to be formed of white mist. She tried to speak but no words came out. She touched her skin but felt nothing.

She continued.

Suddenly laughter, like the sound of wind chimes twinkling in a summer breeze radiated through the white nothingness, giving the area dimension, bringing it to life. It was a sweet ripple through the universe that gave it life. The universe was fuzzy, as if distorted, as if by fog. The laughing radiated once again, and this time, the fog was transformed by the laugh. A face came into focus, as if being created by the fog itself.

The face formed in the fog from the outside in. A small, rounded chin and healthy a bow-shaped took their form in the center, followed by a small nose with a silver ring pierced through. As the face came into focus, freckles began to sprinkle across the nose, darker than the skin that began to color the face.

Thick, brown eyebrows accented the face, making the light brown eyes that shot open striking, almost looking gold like honey. The eyelashes were long and full, darkening the dramatic features of the face.

Dimples appeared when the mouth turned up in a smile from the laughter, denting the skin below the sharp cheekbones. The teeth were small and squared, perfectly straight. A mess of long, twisting brown hair fell all around. It ran down the face like waves of water, trickling down a waterfall. It tumbled down the newly formed body, tall and slender.

The laugh radiated again, and like using sound waves to create shapes, the laughter bounced off the now-formed body. A prominent collar bone protruded from just below the neck, leading into, toned arms and slender fingers. The nails were bitten down and the skin was darkened by the sun.

A final laugh and the fog seemed to roll away, holding the two in an intimate shared space. The curling, inky tattoos were not visible over the body, decorating the visible arms. Cammie looked at her Soulmate. She moved closer, but found it hard to move, as if under water.

She reached out, trying to speak, but no words would come out. Her Soulmate reached over, entwining their fingers. Cammie felt touch for the first time since she had entered this world. The touch rolled through her body and shocked it like electricity.

Cammie woke with a start, bolting upright in her bed. Her heart was hammering in her chest, threatening to burst free. She glanced at her hand, the one shocked in her Dream.

She immediately reached for her phone to check the time: it was after four a.m. She had a few texts, one from Adam.Adam.

She yelped and dropped her phone. A wave of nausea swept through her body as her head began to spin. The world seemed to be tilting and her eyes struggled to focus; her grasp of reality faltered and slipped through her fingers.

She did not see Adam..

"No, no, no, no." Cammie whispered, bringing her knees to her chest. She wrapped herself into a tight ball and rocked back and forth, squeezing her eyes shut. It has to be a mistake, Cammie reasoned. How could she dream of anybody but Adam? He was her Soulmate. He was the one she was meant to be with.

She opened her eyes, staring into the darkened room. Her candle had burned out and only the faint starlight draped her room. The darkness seemed to be forming a shape in delirious state. She began to see Adam's face. Maybe that wasn't the Dream. Maybe that was just some random dream filtering through her mind before the Dream came? It was only four am, there was still time to dream again this night. She just needed to fall back asleep...

The face transformed and she no longer saw Adam, but the person from her Dream, her soulmate.

Cammie threw herself back into bed and squeezed her eyes shut. She would shut out the memory, shut out the face. She kept herself curled into a tight ball, every muscle tense. Tears began to squeeze from her eyes and she tried to focus only on the backs of her eyelids.

But it was no use. All she could see was her.

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A/N

Thanks for keeping with the story so far! I know it kind of took a little bit to get into the Dream. If you liked it, please vote if you feel so inclined. :)