Missing Pieces of Me

4 Dreams Aren't for Everyone

Alex

I woke up to the sound of the television, which was still on because Blanche refused to stop watching again and ended up skyrocketing our electric bill. I don't mind.

I feel her stir beside me; she is whispering something, like she was trying to call for attention. I gently stroke her hair which made her calm down as I watched her expressions changed from stressed to relax.

It was like she was dreaming peacefully again. She really is a night owl. I wonder what time she fell asleep this time. I carefully positioned her to lie on the sofa so that she can continue to dream . What could she possibly be dreaming right now?

Dreams are like her way of escaping the real world. She would get mad when her dreams get interrupted, not her sleep. She told me that dreaming is like making another world where you don't know how anything plays even if you do.

At first, it didn't make sense but as she explained it more, I began to understand. The human brain creates the dreams but it still doesn't know how it will play out. It is a little bit similar with the real world, in a way where there is an uncertainty on how events will take place but in a dream world, there are endless possibilities because no laws of physics or reality can hinder whatever event your brain desires to portray. Even though a part of you already knows what happens, you still get shocked on how you managed to create those images.

What interested me with regards to dreams is how the brain makes it. These dreams are just neurons firing up when we sleep but they seem real. Everything I sense seemed real to me at the moment but, by the time I wake up, sometimes they slip away.

I often envy how Blanche seems to remember each detail vividly. It's like her brain isn't challenged enough with just keeping her alive by monitoring all of the involuntary movements even when unconscious but it also has to throw in the bonus of creating and remembering all the scenarios it creates.

I, on the other hand, can only remember fragments at best. Sometimes, I don't even remember anything at all. It's like my mind manages on its own and somehow leaves me behind. I remember how she said that some dreams will haunt you for days because you remember them vividly but this only happens when you're lucky.

Sometimes, you get these intense feelings for a moment, thinking it happened for a long time and at a single snap of reality, it all fades away. Sometimes they come back, piece by piece through the course of a day but sometimes they're lost forever.

It was like being in the best movie ever and somewhat forgetting the entire plot except for the fact that it was amazing. It's like solving a puzzle but you only get two pieces at a time and they're both corner pieces which make no sense at all.

I remember the chills I got when I woke up. I was so scared about the dream but I never knew what it was. Now, piece by piece, through the help of someone else narrating their dream, things start to come back. Just like that fragments of my previous dream were coming back. It is a long process but I want to know.

When Blanche told me about her dream, it seemed to make me remember mine or it's what I like to believe. I felt my mind trying to piece together the jumbled puzzle pieces to make it make sense. I was injured.

I remember the way it felt fighting for every breath just to get a few more seconds to live. I felt my strength slowly leaving as I closed my eyes and trying my best to yell. I can't remember what I was saying but it seemed like it was in a life and death situation. It felt like searching for someone and yet you couldn't figure out where they were.

I decided to break free from my daydream and decided to make breakfast. I was feeling too lazy so my idea of a breakfast was pouring cereal in a bowl then milk. After my very tiresome cooking, I decided to catch up on B's episode. She always watches it without me so I'm catching up using my free time. I don't want to get spoiled just because she refuses to watch episodes again.

I finished my cereal while in the middle of an episode when I felt my phone vibrating. It was my friend, Bruce.

Bruce: Hey, dude. Do you have the notes from yesterday's chemistry class?

Me: Yup. Wait, you weren't absent yesterday. We left that class together.

Bruce: Yeah, I fell asleep. Can you bring it later?

One might say that he is an irresponsible person but I'll just say, "Don't judge people." He really is, though, but he can still pass his exams. No wonder he doesn't change. He doesn't need to.

I look at my schedule and noticed that I have a class scheduled in two hours. So much for binge watching. I haven't even prepared for that subject yet. I replied back.

Okay, fine. See ya.

I pause the show and went to my room. I grab my bag and syllabus so I can review while watching, as if that ever happens. Oh how I envy B, still fast asleep, without a care in the world.