A LONELY WORLD OF WONDER: An Anthology ✓

Double Sided

"I had a dream mommy."

"Oh? A dream you say," asked the mother with a bleak smile, caressing his soft blond hair in her oily hands back and forth like a brush. She was indeed a small and quiet young woman in her late thirties, living in one house with her husband who worked from home. Though, while she enjoyed being a psychiatrist at a local Medical Center in Oldbridge, she often found it strange and uncomfortable to support another's life. Her heart would eradicate the sicknesses of her patients, but her eyes would flash hints of blues and golds, a little mutation that granted a sign of interest in the viewers hearts.

But as she fiddled her fingers through the various splits that divided each of her son's brown strings, she wondered how her work hasn't supported her son yet. He was young and innocent-like, and his hair fell over his ears and neck like feathers. The hair was deep above his scalp, and often the mother would probe his skull with her claw-like nails to stroke the soft flesh that curled weirdly upon an arch.

"How odd," She'd say next after a moment of subtle silence, "You usually don't dream often."

"I know. But it was scary."

"Well, why don't you tell me what it was about? I'm sure it will make you feel much better before you go to bed Nevar."

"But it will scare you, mommy," whispered Nevar, turning to her with a slightly gaped jaw, "You won't like it."

"I'm not afraid of anything sweetheart," Smiled the mother, tilting her plashed head as well to allow her own snakes to flood down her neck and dangle like ropes on a tightrope, "And neither should you."

The child swallowed rather harshly, as if intending to choke, glancing down at his two secondary hands with a shuddering inhale before speaking. He was then looking back to his mother, "Did I have a brother?"

"You did," replied the mother, "But he's in heaven now." She blinked, suddenly confused as to how he knew he had a brother. Nobody else spoke of it, or knew of it besides her and her husband, and it sparked weirdness and an oddity to her blank soul.

"Why do you ask?"

"He wanted me, mommy," Nevar whispered, showing small hints of pain as he studied her, "Last night, he was in my dream, begging for help, to be released from a prison. He was in my room, mommy, and he crept toward me like a spider, whispering words that sounded of the ticking of a clock. But...I could hear his words, mommy."

"What words?" She asked a bit fearfully, dragging her nails into her palm.

Nevar leaned in, hair drooling over his eyes as he narrowed it. He seemed possessed almost, and the tone of his voice eradicated the positive mood that had once filled the room, for he spoke quietly; "He said it was his body. He says I don't deserve it, and he wants it back."

"Your body?" the mother rose up and chuckled, "Nonsense. You are you. This is your hands, your eyes, your knees and toes. Nothing could ever change that sweetie."

"But he was serious," Nevar whimpered in a pleading voice, "He yelled at me! He wanted it today!"

"It's just another one of those ridiculous nightmare," The mother reassured him, caressing his cheek and poking his freckled nose, "Nothing's ever said and done, because it isn't real! You just have to be brave. Don't be afraid of the dark. And I'll be here for you."

"You promise?"

"Of course," She whispered smiling. She leaned in slightly, holding him with her curved arms and began kissing his forehead until he giggled.

"Too much?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then, my little monster," Joked the mother as she stood up and wandered over to the light flick, "Goodnight now. I love you."