Thunder roared loudly as the rain transformed into a full-blown storm. Streaks of lightning fell at short intervals, illuminating the figure in cotton pajamas on the bed.
"Nooo....don't leave me please", she whispered again and again. Two streams of tears made their way silently down her cheeks as her hands gripped the bedsheets tightly, veins protruding. Despite the loud knocks on her bedroom door, she couldn't extricate herself from the cold, dark world her dream was set in.
After repeated knocks, the door knob twisted silently and a young boy let himself in. He absentmindedly thought that it was such a lucky thing his mom always forgot to lock her door.
"Mom"
He called out to her gently in order not to startle her too much in case she was awake. When he received no response, he walked in measured steps to her bedside, switched on her table lamp, took hold of one of her hands and held it as he called her again, "Mom"
"Mom, please wake up."
Pei Yueran gasped as she opened her eyes. Her light brown eyes, which looked almost golden against the back drop of the lightning streaks, were filled with unshed tears.
Han Yichen put his arms around her and patted her back as he said, "You're safe now Mom, it's alright". He wasn't new to this, as she had been having the same nightmares for as long as he could remember.
He also knew that the frequency increased around this time, the anniversary of his father's death. Although his father died when he was still an infant, he grew up hearing seeing his pictures and hearing stories about him, and it felt like he knew him, which was one of the reasons he could relate to his mother's pain.
His thin arms around her tightened, as if to stop the sobs that wracked her body.
Pei Yueran sobbed even as she registered the presence of her son, and she hugged him tightly. At times like this, she was grateful for her son's calm, steady and gentle personality.
After a few minutes, she began to calm down as the terror from the nightmare receded.
"Xiao Chen, thank you", she mumbled against his hair.
"Anytime, Mom", he said while flashing a smile at her. Inwardly, he was thinking of the keywords he could use to search Baidu on tips that could aid her sleeping. Maybe he could find one that would actually be useful this time.
The "warm glass of milk before bed" tip wasn't working so well, he mused, looking at the empty glass on her bedside drawer.
Maybe what she needed was a total change of pace and scenery.
He decided to make a call to Grandma Zhou first thing in the morning. If anyone could advise his Mom on serious decisions, Grandma Zhou was just the right person.
"Go to bed now, it's quite late."
Lost in his thoughts, he reacted a few seconds later.
"I want to hug you to sleep Mom. The storm is a bit scary." Looking at the digital clock on the headboard, the time was 2:57am.
' Spoken in such an even tone of voice, without the slightest trace of fear, I find it hard to believe you', Pei Yueran thought inwardly, but she understood that he was doing this for her, and her heart melted. She didn't expose him and just nodded.
She shifted to the other side of the bed and patted the space beside her, "come on."
Han Yichen switched off the lamp and got into bed. He needed to catch up on sleep so that he could have sufficient energy to do the things he had already outlined for the next day.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day.