Reminder:
This chapter features multiple points of view (POVs) to provide insight into each character's perspective and motivations. Be sure to express the thoughts and emotions of each character thoroughly to give readers a well-rounded understanding of the events unfolding.
Astra's POV
Three days have passed since Aunt Morph came to celebrate my birthday. While they talk in the kitchen, I'm playing with my new teddy bear in the living room when someone calls my name from outside.
"ASTRA!" echoes a voice with a thin tone.
I leap up and rush to the window, pulling the curtain aside with my small hand to see who's there. It's Axel, my neighbor who's the same age as me. Whenever he's bored, he comes over and asks me to play with him.
"Wait there, I'll just ask my mom if we can play," I say, then run excitedly to my mom.
"MOM! Can I go outside?" I slowly approach her, asking for permission.
"Yes, you can, baby. Tell Axel that you both need to come back before lunch, and he can eat with us. OK?" Her voice is sweet and loving. "Be careful, alright? Love you." Then she plants a kiss on my cheek.
"Thank you. Love you too, Mommy." I hug her tightly and then dash out as fast as I can. I'm thrilled to play with them. Today, we planned to go to the park. When I reach the doorway, I stretch my foot to reach the doorknob, open the door, and follow Axel to the park across the road.
"Let's go."
As we arrive, we dive into play. First, we try the swing. There are two swings, but only one is available. The other is occupied by a big, chubby kid. Hmp!
"What should we do?" I turn to Axel.
"I'll go first. I'll push you later when it's your turn."
"Why should you go first? It should be ladies first."
"As if you're a lady," he teases, trying to act grown-up.
"What? For your information, 'lady' is a term for a girl or a woman, so I'm included. I'm proud to be called a lady," I retort confidently.
"Ha? You're too tall to be a lady," he challenges.
"I'm not tall. You're just short, ha ha ha!" I dart toward the slide, and he follows.
"Hey! I'm not small!" he complains, stretching his foot to seem taller.
"Shorty!" I tease him more.
"Astra! You're toast when I catch you!"
Ignoring his threat, I continue running until I reach the slide. Climbing up the ladder, I notice he's catching up.
"What did you say, ha?" he shouted.
"Bleh!" I stick out my tongue at him and slide down to escape. We spend the whole day laughing and playing, forging it's lunchtime.
Arman's POV
In our world, there are many superhumans, including Alvivas. Alviva is divided into three categories: The Supreme Head, which refers to the Gods and Goddesses living in the sky. They are the ones who rule the universe to avoid the imbalance of all living beings, maintaining peace and harmony.
The Upper Hand is us, who work for the Supreme Head. We collect dreams to protect the world from evil forces, keeping both human and superhuman dreams and making them forget their dreams to protect the future vision. The Dreamer experiences dreams while sleeping. In a simple explanation, it's like a restaurant where the head is the Supreme Head, the Upper Hand is the worker, and the dreamer is the customer.
-Flashback-
I'm one of the Upper Hands who work for the Supreme Head as Armann, delivering dreams. When I sleep, my soul separates from my body, allowing me to move unseen.
I live alone in an apartment, working for a prestigious company in the morning and as an Armann in the evening. Requests come from the Holy Land where all dreams go. Every night, I receive a different request, appearing magically in my book.
I prepare my book of requests and look at my body lying on the bed. 'Time to work.' I walk out without using the door, like a ghost passing through walls and doors. I stop in front of my apartment to check my book.
"Let's see. My first request for today is a 20-year-old lady named Taaliyah Lim, who's about to have a nightmare. Interesting," I remark while walking through the wall.
Without a second thought, I arrived at her house. Upon entering, I make myself at home, checking each room until I find a younger girl sleeping. "Found you," I murmur.
I wave my hand to see her dreams, which are somewhat scary. I wave twice, and her dreams become a bubble. I stretch my arm to reach the bubble and place it in the book. Without a second thought, the bubble disappears, turning into a picture. Then, I wave again to change her dreams, mostly reflecting her desires or emotions. As I observe her new dreams, I see a male figure in front of her, resembling what's happening now.
"Wait! What is this?" I ask. It's me in her dream, looking at her while she sleeps. "Oh my! How is it even possible? Can she see me?"
-End of Flashback-
From the moment I learned about Astra's dream to this day, I've been pondering how I can stop it. I've searched through my books for three days, but no one can offer a solution. No medicine, no cure, no solution. I am a former messenger of dreams, yet I can't find a solution.
'How can I stop this?' I ask myself.
"You look stressed, Honey. Are you feeling sick?" My lovely wife enters my office, unnoticed by me. She walks toward me and checks if I have a fever. "I'm happy you don't have a fever," she says, relief evident in her eyes.
I feel saddened by her concern. I can't shake the thought that my wife will die because of me. Tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.
"Hey, what happened, Honey? Huh?" She immediately brushes my cheek to wipe away the tears. 'I promise, I will do everything to save you.'
"I'm okay, Hon. I just realized how much I love you and our daughter Astra." I force a smile, hugging her tightly and kissing her forehead.
Afterward, we prepare for bed.
"She's already asleep?" I inquire while lying on our bed.
"Yeah," she replies.
After a few minutes, Taaliyah falls asleep while I struggle to doze off. Slowly, I turn to gaze at her sleeping face, thinking, 'I wish I could help you.' Unbeknownst to me, I drift off to sleep.
A moment later, I find myself with a light body in the middle of a forest, alone. The surroundings are lush with greenery and a stone pathway. 'I'm dreaming.'
Following the path, I eventually reach a small treehouse. Knocking on the door and cautiously opening it, I discover a modern interior. It's the only house in the forest, with a ladder leading to the entrance and a small window.
Inside, there's a big lounge with various busy people, a minibar, and a counter table. I approach the counter and inquire of the middle-aged woman, 'May I know what this place is?'
"Welcome to Dream Hotel. Do you wish to check in?"
In the realm of dreams, communication occurs telepathically, with no need for spoken words. As a messenger of dreams, it's my first time in this place. Never before have I...
Interrupting my thoughts, a man in a white suit joins us. "Arman? Is that you?"
"Kiefer?" I respond, puzzled.
"Yes, it's me. What brings you here?" He gestures to the middle-aged woman, indicating that I'm with him, and guides me to the bar, offering a drink. "So, you can get depressed too," he remarks, amazed.
I remain silent, sensing my curiosity to what this place is.
"It's your first time here, right? Did you know this place is called Dream Hotel, where all Superhumans, especially Alvivas, gather to unwind? We come here when we feel stressed or uneasy during sleep. As for me, being a keeper is so stressful, which is why I'm here. How about you?' he explains.
Kiefer was one of my close friends when I was still the Armann. He's a Dream Keeper, in charge of holding the key to all dreams.
"That explains why," I murmured, as if he were answering my unspoken question. "Kiefer, do you know anything?" I asked anxiously, hoping to gather some information from him.
"Well, if we're talking about dreams and superstitions, yes," he answered casually, then took a sip of his liquor.
I confided everything about me and Taaliyah to him and was shocked by his reaction.
After an hour of conversation, there's a pile of wine bottles and a plate with leftover food on our table.
"Dude! So that's the reason why you left your position as an upper hand," he exclaimed, unable to believe it.
I couldn't blame him for his disbelief. I left without notice, leaving behind only my book, symbolizing my life as an upper hand.
"But dude, are you really that confident to do anything for your wife?" His demeanor shifted from jovial to serious in an instant. I felt intimidated by his gaze, but...
"Yes," I answered confidently.
He lowered his glass and looked straight into my eyes, thinking whether to say it or not.
"You know we're not allowed to tamper with our customers' dreams right? But there was this one exception. While cleaning the record room, I stumbled upon something unsettling. There was an open book, and I couldn't resist peeking. It was Amabil's dream, foreseeing his own demise because he swapped his fate with that of his dying son. Shockingly, a week later, his son passed away too." he stated.
By saying those, I conclude that there's still a way.
"So, you're saying if I swap my life for hers, I could save my wife," I said, contemplating the possibility.
"Perhaps, but I wouldn't recommend it. As you mentioned earlier, you have a child. What if, like them, both you and your wife meet the same fate? What about your child?" He voiced his concern.
"But I have to try."
~ To be Continued ~