Time and Dreams

The Past and Dreams

The sounds of Disney music filled my ears.

Ahh, this reminds me of that Disney princesses alarm I used almost 10 years ago...

"Snow white, and the seven dwarves," the voice of a woman sounded.

Wait, that's EXACTLY the sound my old alarm made.

I opened my eyes and saw the familiar blue ceiling of my old room.

What am I doing back here? This doesn't make any sense... I'm a university student right?

For some reason my memories of being a university student were fuzzy.

Suddenly, I heard the loud shouting of my father.

"Joseph! Joseph! Wake up! Wake up!"

It was in his usual loud voice. I felt so relaxed laying in bed, but I knew I had to get up or I'd be late for school.

I rolled out of bed and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. It felt strange being in my old home. 

Wait, old home? How can my current home be my old home?

"Joseph! Breakfast ready!" my mother shouted.

The familiar sound of boiling water under the steamer loaded with eggs and bao zi (a type of Chinese steamed bun) filled my ears.

Ah, I missed this, I thought, though I couldn't understand why I had that feeling. Hadn't I lived here for ... why can't I think of a number?

Everything was fuzzy in my memory. The only thing that was clear was my name. I grabbed the bao zi from the steaming pot using chopsticks and put it on my plate. I quickly gobbled it up and downed it with some orange juice. It was time to walk to school.

I got down and started walking towards school. Why does it feel so strange to be going to elementary school?

The path to the school was the same as always. I looked at the cut grass on the ground. It was so familiar.

I walked into the school grounds along with many other children of various ages. Many parents were sending off their kids with a hug or a kiss.

Why do I feel like I've been here for so long, yet also like I haven't been here in a long time?

I got to the school and saw my good friend Andy. 

"Sup nerd," he said to me with his usual smug tone.

I walked up with a smile and responded with a simple, "wassup?"

My other friend, Francis, was next to him.

"What's good bro," he said to me in his Italian accent.

The three of us would spend a lot of time hanging out together. Andy was a bit of a spoiled gamer boy with a strong passion for competitive gaming. While I always admired his passion for it, sometimes he could be a little too competitive. Francis recently moved here from Italy last year. We were all in the same grade 6 class together and became friends through our common love of Minecraft.

"Guys I got a good idea for our Minecraft world. What if we made some nether highways so that we can more easily farm basalt?" I told them, "I have a really cool idea for a dark castle but it needs a lot of it."

Andy looked at me confused.

"Uh, there's basalt in the game?" he said.

"I didn't know that," Francis added, surprised.

"Wait... huh, you're right. There is no basalt. Why did I think there was...?"

I suddenly got a huge headache.