In The Arms Of Morpheus || CHOI SAN

XI

 

Quietude, silent and still. That is how Sieon would describe her situation.
She knew she was all alone in the village as she stood in the main market area.

The place was way to silent for her liking. She couldn't even hear the crickets or katydids.

Standing there, she felt at ease yet she was confused. It seemed late at night, the only source of light being through the moon. The moon, which stood high in the sky and mocked Sieon.

She looked here and there but didn't feel like moving as a sense of protection took over her. She felt like protecting herself even though she was completely alone.

A sound of moving cloth made her look at her right. She swore she even saw a shadow.

That made her move a bit ahead in that direction only to hear the same nose from the opposite side, but this time, there was someone standing.

"Appa?"
Sieon called out and moved backwards.
What seemed like a familiar figure was far from her, almost invisible.

She then heard the sound of faint footsteps and she looked at a figure walking from behind of one shop to another, on her left.

"Mama?"
She called out rather loudly bit this time, she followed it. As she followed, she glanced behind only to find that spot empty where once her appa was.

Once she reached behind the shop, there was no one there, even when there was no place to go any further either.

Even though for a second, when she had glanced at the women, she knew it was her mother. The dress, the hair, she knew it was her.

Tears pricked her eyes and she moved back, scared. Everything was dark and quite and it seemed more horrific now that she wanted someone else to be with her.

Sieon slowly walked back to where she found herself at first, "What is happening?
She asked herself, "Has everyone left me?"

She heard a faint noise again, she couldn't describe. It was different from the ones before. Before she could realize, she saw a figure, far from her but enough to observe.

It held an arrow and bow in his hand and wore a blood red sheet around himself. The arrow striked at Sieon and she let out a shriek, holding her arms above her in her defence. But she didn't feel any impact even after a few seconds

Sieon slowly, petrified, removed her shaky arms on a side, only to see her father above her in protection. Before she could let out a word or look at him whole heartedly, she woke up.

She woke up, sweating heavily, eyes filled with tears and face covered in the same salty water.

She aggressively in reflex, rubbed her face and stopped crying.

Standing up, she made her way towards her door and stepped out even though she knew it was dangerous. She had faced this before too. But she didn't care.

She came out of her cabin and instantly her back met the thin entrance wall and she slid down against it, crying again. She didn't even realize that the elastic band which kept her braid together had been dropped in the process.

She just sat there, feeling gratefull to the winds and the moonlight and tried her best to cry as silently as possible. She knew she wouldn't stop soon. Knowing she won't go back to sleep, she couldn't stop.

She tried to choke back her sobs but failed miserably. Why was she even crying outside when she had her cabin to herself? Did she want someone else to see her miserable and weak state?

But it was once again, one of the bell nights. No one had confidence like her to just come out like this.

Almost an hour passed and gradually, her breathing got back to normal and she stopped crying. Sieon sat there silently, her folded legs starting to get numb, but she couldn't care less. Everything seemed fine for now.

It was until she heard a sound. It was familiar to what she heard in her dream but only because it was the sound of someone swiftly moving.

Sieon abruptly stood and moved in the smaller room; washroom and very slightly opened the door, enough for her to peek outside, and what she saw next made her while body go numb.

She saw San.
He ran from left to right, coming in and out if her sight. But he stopped in the centre of the excess space between the lands. She saw him look here and there and then stare at her cabin.

He was there for less then two minutes before he ran somewhere, completely out of Sieon's sight.

She didn't know what to do or what to think. After starring out for a few minutes but not getting any response from San, she sat down in her room.

What was San doing out there?
Was he staking me?
Why would he be there, especially tonight?
Does he actually have something to so with the bell nights?
Is he a part of the group?

There were hundreds of questions Sieon wanted to ask but obviously, couldn't.

She had felt curious at everything, but San made her feel curious in a different way, and he was different too.

She hadn't gotten out of one trauma and suddenly other was there to bug her.

She sat there for almost two hours before she felt the lightest ray of sunshine enter the room. She stood up and made her way back in her house, mind still filled with unnecessary thoughts.


✂


Not all of Sieon's dreams had always been a nightmare. Yes, the way she woke up was always terrifying but some dreams were still good and some were blank.

This dream she had, she could fawn over it, telling Chaeyoung how she saw her parents for a brief second, how her father was there to protect her and how her mother still looked so young.
But she couldn't bring herself to do that. She didn't feel like it.

As much as she loved when her parents rarely appeared on her dreams –the only place they could meet her, she also wished they didn't.

The dreams, their appearance, only made her feel lonelier, less wanted and less loved then ever.
She just...just wished that her loneliness had a solution. An answer.

Marriage? Yes, it was an option. But an option she didn't want to choose. An option which wasn't even a guarantee of solution.

Who can even bear her propensities?
Who can love her with her flaws? A lot of them, at most...

She wasn't even sure if she'll be able to sleep again, how could she even plan her wedding with someone with that?