I was eight the first time I saw the girl.
Mom freaked when I told her, said I was letting a girl
terrorize my dreams, but I didn’t get it. They were dreams,
not nightmares. I don’t remember ever waking up afraid. Not
back then. So when the dreams kept coming, year after year,
each one more vivid than the last, I held onto them like a
skydiver clutching his ripcord. No way would I let Mom take
them away from me.
It’s been years since she’s asked me about the girl, but
lately Mom’s been curious. I tell her I haven’t had a dream
in awhile. She eyes me like I’m lying.
So what if I am? I may not remember everything about my
dreams when I wake up, but I do know when I’m about to have
one. My scalp tingles, like tiny bugs zap, zap, zapping
along my skin. The darkness behind my lids turns smoky. I’ve
tried to pull away at that point but it’s no use. I don’t
fight it now. Instead I sink into the thick air and come out
the other side into a world that is nothing like the one I
know...
Yet, it’s familiar.
Tonight, the smoke fades, and the girl appears in a thin,
white gown. I’m lying in a meadow surrounded by deep woods,
one hand tucked behind my head—shirtless and shoeless and
wearing a pair of old, ratty jeans. I can hear the TV I left
on fading in the distance until the sound of the meadow
fills the air.
She’s suddenly beside me, beautiful beyond words, her
long, dark hair spilling over her shoulder as she bends to
touch my hand. Her cool fingers rest more like mist than
flesh in my palm. The rough corset she’s wearing cinches the
fabric snug to her hips. She’s got a definite Victorian vibe
going, but it suits her. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t
like it.
Her violet eyes darken, revealing the silent plea that
carries a hint of desperation, and she tugs, urging me to
get to my feet. She wants me to run, to escape. In the last
two weeks, we’ve tried, running so long and so hard that
we’re sure we’ll never find our way home again. We’ll be
lost together forever. It’s what she wants. It’s what I
need. But it always fails. We eventually wind up back at the
meadow.
Tonight, I’m content to pull her down beside me, lie in
the soft grass, and stare at the sky. Our fingers
intertwine, our shoulders touch. We’ve both gotten older
since the first time we met. There have been years when we
rarely saw each other, but lately, our time together has
intensified. There’s a feeling of impending doom that wasn’t
there when we were younger, as if this perfect place of
dreams is about to shatter, and we’ll never see each other
again.
There’s so much I want to know. Why do I only dream about
her when I need her most? Am I insane? I don’t ask. I’m
afraid to. I want her to be real, just a few months more,
maybe a year. Then I’ll grow up and cut this strange,
imaginary cord. I can’t lose her smile, not yet, or her lips
against my cheek—one of her butterfly kisses that’s gone
before it’s begun.
Her silence has never bothered me before. Tonight, all I
want is one word.
My name.