Jamaal woke up, his vision blurry for a moment until his eyes focused, his bedroom now clearly visible.
He yawned, not moving out of the warm blankets that covered him. He lazily stretched himself and rubbed his sleepy eyes.
It felt strange, not thinking about the next step he would do in his dream or how to get stronger there quicker. It was weird, foreign to him.
The boy then brought out his head from underneath his blanket and peered around, seeing nothing but darkness.
This was unfortunate for Jamaal who could already tell that the temperature outside of his bed was cold. Very cold.
After a few minutes of decision making, he finally forced himself to get up, wrapping the duvet covers around him to at least keep a little warmth with him.
With his blanket cloak, the boy made his way out of his room and downstairs, still quite tired.
After reaching the end of the staircase, he crept into the living room, sitting down on the leather sofa and sighing.
"As much as I want this break, it's been far too long since I had time to do this." He thought.
"So now I am completely confused on what to do..." He sighed, leaning back into the seat as he continued to think.
Eventually, he forced himself to get up, yawning for the fifth time in the last thirty minutes. Slowly, he made his way to the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out the eggs. With the eggs, he brought out a frying pan, put the eggs to the side and began to fry some eggs. Toasting some bread in the meantime and putting them on a plate.
Ten minutes later, Jamaal was on the table eating silently, the sky now gradually getting lighter and lighter with the rising sun. He occasionally glanced outside the window of his kitchen, watching the early birds upon the branches of an old oak tree, it had been in his garden for a long time, at least 100 years old.
It swayed from side to side, the breeze causing the leaves to shake, a couple breaking off and falling onto the soft and wet grass.
The smell of dew was apparent after Jamaal stepped outside; a peaceful atmosphere was around. It was rare to have such moments, so he smiled. It wasn't a soft, relaxed smile, nor was it a relief one either. It was a confident smile. He would have this rest and enter into that place again, grow strong and get out of the forest. Then, he would find out the secrets of that strange yet beautiful world. It reminded him of the times where he would play videogames, finding hidden collectables related to the plot and finding people from the realm's past. It had been fun and hopefully, it would still be as fun.
He walked onto the grass in his slippers, looking around and seeing a football. He loved football, and although he had played it throughout his nightmares, he hadn't enjoyed it as he had before.
He walked towards it, grabbing the ball and just dribbling around, kicking it into a small netted goal and scoring.
Jamaal chuckled, grabbing the ball from the goal and having a kick-about with himself.
He carried on with this for a while, enjoying the precious time he had. When his parents woke up, maybe this day would get even better.
Once inside, the boy hit the showers, his breathing quite erratic.
He made sure to get himself clean, now determined to try out as many things and do as many stuff as he could within these five days.
A few minutes later, Jamaal was wearing fresh clothes and downstairs once more, this time chilling on the sofa and watching TV. Something he rarely did, just like most things people would do in their spare time. Such was the effect of a traumatic event. One that would become part of his past, though never forgotten.
By now, the sounds of his parents moving around could be heard from downstairs. It was also the weekend meaning the two weren't working, meaning Jamaal could have fun and laugh about with his mum and dad without feeling down.
After a couple more minutes, Jamaal got up and began to start making breakfast for his parents, not because it was a chore or anything, but rather because he wanted to.
Their breakfast consisted of two cups of tea, an omelette and a couple of slices of bread. It was something Jamaal's parents enjoyed though things like these always helped people carry on through their day.
It was then that his parents arrived, heading into the kitchen to make their breakfast. And so it was a surprise to see their son putting plates onto the dining table while smiling at them.
"For you, " He said, helping them sit down.
"But... You shouldn't have..." His father said, glancing at his wife then at Jamaal. They were both happy yet surprised.
"Doesn't matter dad, you two eat, I'll go now."
He was about to leave when his mother called out.
"Wait! Jamaal, " Jamaal turned around and looked at his parents.
"Thanks, son, it's been a while since you did this for us." They smiled and began to eat, their son quickly leaving.
He was now in a good mood, a happy mood. So he went into the living room and sat down. Grabbing the laptop and going into its files to see memorable photos of the past. He chuckled, looking at his younger self being a cheeky little kid.
How things change within life's flow, personality-wise and physically. It was quite amusing yet scary.
He watched some videos, reminding him of his past, of events he had forgotten, a soft smile hanging around. After some time, he finished everything and got up, glad he had taken this break, always would be. A few minutes later, he was upstairs, deciding to take a nap, a dreamless nap.