Baby Blues, Snowy Hues

castles in the air

♪ On my pillow
Can't get me tired
Sharing my fragile truth
That I still hope the door is open ♪

A captivating sweet melody.

♪ 'Cause the window
Opened one time with you and me
Now my forever's falling down
Wondering if you'd want me now ♪

Someone is playing a piano.

♪ How could I know
One day I'd wake up feeling more
But I had already reached the shore
Guess we were ships in the night
Night, night ♪

Why, why is this making me so nostalgic?

♪ We were ships in the night, night, night
I'm wondering
Are you my best friend
Feels like a river's rushing through my mind
I wanna ask you
If this is all just in my head
My heart is pounding tonight
I wonder ♪

She jolted awake on white sheets. The room was bright, way too bright for her usual acquaintance with the darkness. Her eyes scanned the room which was vast and vacant except the bed at its center. There was a window and a door far off on two adjacent walls of the space. Her eyes landed on her attire; it was a baby blue flowy gown.

♪ If you
Are too good to be true
And would it be alright if I
Pulled you closer
How could I know
One day I'd wake up feeling more
But I had already reached the shore
Guess we were ships in the night
Night, night ♪

For some unknown reason, she was not feeling distressed rather she felt at peace.

Soon a frown formed on her profile upon realization.

♪ We were ships in the night
Night, night ♪

This is definitely a dream.

A knock echoed before the door opened revealing a boy in a baby blue shirt and ivory white trousers. A smile replaced the gloominess on her countenance as soon as she saw his grin.

"I apologize for disturbing you in your slumber-land with my show." He spoke in an eloquent tone.

"Oh, it's alright though I must say, you play really well and your voice is so mesmerising. If I may, who are you?" she asked.

Why do I not know him yet he seems so familiar?

"In case you are looking for a name, I really don't have one, I'm sorry. You see, I am just a concept─ your idea, to be specific. Fiction brought into existence by you, for you. As far as you have realized by now, this is a dream." He explained, sitting beside her.

"My idea? What─ Oh! Dreamscape and Utopia. You are the dream boy I wrote about." She thought out loud.

"Precisely." His smile faded as she became grim again. "You had been thinking about me a lot for quite a while now, so I came. Aren't you glad?"

"Glad? I am euphoric. This, you, is everything I had asked for but I can't have it." She caressed his cheek "Once I open my eyes, you will be gone. I hate it."

He placed his hand over hers on his cheek "I know, sweetheart. I know you to the core." He pecked her forehead. "Come, let me show you something."

He took her hand in his and guided her to the window. She gasped at what she saw; the ravishing scene of mountains, river, trees, flowers, butterflies and birds under warm sunlight was too much to take in. He wrapped his hands around her waist from the back and placed his chin on her shoulder.

"Everything here lives and breathes because of you and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude towards you. Nothing is tainted; there are no worries or wars because this is your headspace. It is beautiful, just as much as you are."

She turned around and cupped his face. Her eyes were glistening with immense happiness and tears of despair. Neither of them hesitated before closing the distance between them and gently devouring the cocktail of each other's emotions.

There exists one world where I live and several other worlds we do not know of. He does not exist in the real world that I am aware of and I cannot speak of that which is unknown, yet in this particular universe, I can hold him and we belong. In this space, we are together and we are real.

He pulled away with a beaming grin and kissed her forehead. "You are a bewildering soul and it makes me so ecstatic that I can finally say this to you myself. I love you; for a billion times. Even though we are just parallel lines or the ships in the night, in this dreadful longing, loving you is the most favourite part of my existence."

"I had been dying to hear those words. I love you so much that it is too hard to express. I wish I could tell you everything but oh Lord, it frightens me that I'll wake up and your warmth will disappear as a speck of dust. Keep me here; the world out there is too awful. I just want to be with you away from the chaos." She could feel the lump in her throat.

He gave her a sad smile and held her hand while walking towards the door, "It is a mad world but I will always be there within you. If it were for me, I would cross the universe for you but I can't. I see your reality through your eyes and shed tears when you do. I can see and understand why you made me. And hey, your feelings matter and so does your inner world, okay?"

By the time they were at the exit, she was sobbing and he pulled her into a hug as she buried her face into his chest. They stayed in the embrace until her sobs had subsided. He opened the door and blinding light rays entered through it.

"You should go now. Remember, I'll be here looking out for you and loving you the same, as long as you believe in me." He rubbed his nose tip against hers as she kissed his hand bidding farewell. She walked into the light only to wake up in a familiar dim room.

There were no birds chirping nor was the gush of the flowing river water heard.

No piano was being played, no words were sung to soothe the ache.

She could no more see the baby blues or snowy hues.

The following stream of tears cascading her face was unstoppable.

She wondered if the world would call this story one hell of a tragedy which was typically never written by Shakespeare and if so, which world could she possibly be talking about.

fin.