For Tonton, his dreams were quite different for he was an observer. It was as if he was a ghost or an angel lingering by and seeing things but not being seen. His visions were also very random - back when he was a baby up to the moments minutes ago.
"So I was really cute back then."
Tonton, or Mark Anthony Tagalogon, chuckled. He had seen his baby pictures but it was different when it was live. At first, he doubted that the baby was him. He thought that it was a vision of a future event - that his mother would give birth to another son.
"Don't be greedy with your milk, Tonton."
When the young mother said those words, Tonton leapt in joy. Finally, he was sure that the handsome baby was him. He constantly came up to the baby and tickled him but there was no response. Indeed, he was invisible.
Flashbacks came and went. After the baby moments, he was taken to another event, back when he celebrated his fifth birthday. It was in a resort in the nearby town and present were his family and friends. Everyone was happily eating and drinking, while the kids and their mothers were swimming in the pool near a high falls. Of course, his best friend Jamie was with him, immersed in the cold water along with the other boys. Tonton was trying to come out of the pool when he suddenly slipped on a boulder and fell on the stones. His face lightly bumped onto a rock and his hands were grazed. Blood oozed from his nose. Jamie and the boys started screaming and immediately, the adults rushed in.
Tonton had no recollection of the event. Not a hint of that day was familiar to him. He wondered why he was having such memories when he could not remember them. He was sure he was only dreaming, but he also knew that these things were influenced by his memories.
More memories came and Tonton was randomly transported to them. Each event flashed for few seconds before going to the next. In all of them, Tonton was just a spirit observing everything.
Finally, he was brought to the latest events. The four of them were once again standing on the grasses, watching the bright light going towards them. In the blink of an eye, the light exploded and Tonton was thrown away.
Quickly, Tonton got up and found himself standing in what looked like a girl's, or lady's room. It was a modern and techy room but it was not familiar to him. He was standing on a corner and on the bed was indeed a woman, possibly in her early twenties, lying on her side. She was whimpering and her shoulder quivered everytime she let out a louder cry.
"Why did you do this to me? How could you lie?" she was talking to herself.
She screamed hard. Suddenly, she stood up and swept all the contents on her bedside table. She seemed in pain as she was crying while throwing things in sight. She turned around and Tonton felt she was staring at him.
Tonton squinted his eyes, trying to make out how the woman looked. Unlike everything around her, her face was a blur. Her neck-high blonde hair was sitting on a featureless face, much like that of a manequin.
Slowly, she walked towards him. Tonton felt a little panic. She was steadily approaching him, and from the way she moved her head from side to side out of curiosity, she seemed to have seen him.
"Help me," she whispered.
Tonton leapt, both suprised and frightened. Reflexively, he fled from the room. He lost sense of the place, he just kept running away until he came to a market-like place. People aroud him were busy, as if on errands of buying various stuffs. Like the woman before, their faces were empty. Tall buildings were around the marketplace. Above them, winged vehicles, much like spaceships, were hovering.
"Where am I?" he asked himself. "This could not be part of my memories."
Tonton chuckled. Surely, all the things he had seen so far were not memories. They could be visions of some distant future. Tonton marvelled at eveything in sight.
"Catch him!" roared a voice from behind him.
Tonton turned around. To his terror, a group of nine or ten faceless men were staring at him. They advanced towards him and in fear, Tonton fled again.
He kept running and running until he came to a dark place. He looked around. It was not simply dark; it was night. There were two moons gleaming up in the blue-black skies.
"I know this is wrong."
He heard a man's voice saying. Immediately, Tonton hid behind a large bush.
"So we stop now?" a woman asked.
"No, we can't," the man replied. "I love you enough to leave everything behind. I will fight for you."
Tonton was now totally bewildered. Why was he seeing, or hearing, these things? He felt like an invader or voyeur of some people's lives.
Slowly, the man advanced to the woman. Their faces moved closer and in an instant, under the light of two bright moons, he kissed her hard. While their lips intertwined, their hands were groping the other's body.
"Gross," Tonton uttered and beckoned to turn away. He accidentally stepped on a twig and the sound reverberated throught the night.
"Who is there?" the man hollered.
Tonton turned around and the lovers seemed to be staring at him. Reflexively, Tonton ran. He ran and ran until he came to a forest.
It was chaotic. Gunfires were everywhere. But they were not actually gunfires but light or laser blasts. Each blast was strong enough to brighten the entire forest. And whatever the blast hit, it smoldered and melted.
Tonton ran again until some large roots caught his left leg. He tripped and fell on a woody ground. He struggled hard, and with each kick he did, the roots seemed to entangle him even more. The blasts continued around him while trees were burned or melted. To his horror, the tree behind him got hit. In a second, its trunk was cut in half while its foliage ablazed. Slowly, the upper half of the tree fell. He must be a minute late; Tonton screamed as the large timber fell on him.