As soon as the afternoon arrived, Solanne went straight to her room and lay on her bed. She opened the window to let the warm air enter the room lulling her to sleep. It was only just for a moment, but she seemed to have forgot her dreams.
Does she even need to understand it? Can't she just dismiss it like every other dream she often has? Heaving her breath, Solanne tried to sink in a little deeper on her bed, grabbing a blanket covering half of her body.
The warm air was lulling her to sleep yet for some reason, her eyes stayed wide opened gazing on the table, looking at her laptop and the stacks of notebook.
Suddenly, she remembered the blank word document she was just staring yesterday. She sighed and turned around. She looked at the time, it was two in the afternoon. And just like that, she closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.
--
Yael was in the living room. He's laying on the sofa while the two cats laid on the floor, all four paws facing up. The door of the cabin was opened letting the warm air come in. Yael sighed as he grabbed his phone scrolling through different social medias, thinking of ways to kill time.
A break like this never happened before in his life. He paused for a minute, his eyes wondering to the corners of the cabin, admiring the way the curtains flutter with the wind, the rays of sun passing through the windows, and the tress that surrounded.
This life…. It feels so overwhelming, he felt like he could melt. This was not his plan, yet here he was.
All in his life, he grew up learning how to smile perfectly on the camera, and to be a good child so that many people will adore him.
He loved the limelights before. Yet it feels like he has gotten tired of it. Still, he can't think of a life without it. Despite of his tried body and being on guard all time, Yael was sure to himself that he'll continue doing what he's doing now, no matter what.
He just needs a break.
Right, just a break.
Yael glanced at the coffee table beside him. The stacks of bond paper were still there yet he didn't even spare any effort to open and read it.
His phone vibrates. He stretched his lips seeing the message. "Please review the project. The director wants you. And, I'm trying my best to get you out of there."
Yael felt so annoyed. He glared at the last sentence his manager has sent and pressed the airplane mode on his phone not wanting to received any messages from people. They are in the middle of pandemic; other people should focus on themselves and survive. Right now, the news has been worse.
In what he could remember was right, the hospitals are flooding with patients right now and the frontliners, which are the doctors, nurses, and basically everyone who was in the filed of medicine are struggling.
At the same time, there were protest of people wanting to go outside and some even have their conspiracy theory about the pandemic that was going on.
He laughed at those people who think that this is a biological weapon that the other countries had used to lessen the population and in order for their schemes to flourish.
But then, no one really expected this.
Really, there are so many people that were bore now they came up with such ridiculous things.
Yael paused for a while as he gazes on this two-story cabin, and the cats. A slow life like this. He never thought of it. Being stuck here feels like a blessing. The break he never thought he needed.
In the end, out of boredom, he tossed his phone and played the anime he was watching. He hugged the pillow he took from his room, and let the anime continue. Right as he watched the movie, he couldn't help but remember what was his dream.
The horrified face of the child that seemed to have been looking at him, blaming him for nothing doing anything still haunts his mind.
The place they went to was different from what Yael was expecting at the same time, he felt like it was only natural for such place to be called, "place of dreams."
The few hours he stayed there felt like it was an eternity. He had done nothing but watched the child destroy himself.
The moment the child had achieved his dreams, he felt elated. Their journey to the dream of the child wasn't a walk to the park, that was why, the moment the child had finally grasped his dreams, Yael smiled for him despite of his feelings.
He thought that after that everything would be better yet the more the child had become too obsessed in his dream, the more he drove himself to exhaustion and at the same time he had given up on relaying on the people around him.
Yael watched him. He wanted to tell him something and he wanted to intervene yet the pamphlet he was holding was telling him not to do so. He was scared of the consequences that was why, he let him be.
And as the child had already destroyed himself, In that moment, Yael witness the child be enveloped with dark magic that the child had became a monster. Yes, though he wasn't able to tell this to Solanne, he had witnessed the child destroy himself and become a monster.
Such scene was haunting him. He can't seem to separate himself from the child and that alone was eating him.
There could have been a chance. There could have been a single chance to save that child and to change him, yet, Yael withdrew, for he was scared of the consequences of his actions, at the same time, he had comforted himself that these dreams he was seeing was just illusions on his mind and none of them were the true.
His reality was different.
In the end, Yael tried to push those thoughts out of him mind and let the other noises and distractions overwhelmed him. At the same time, he sighed, feeling the warm air envelop him lulling him to sleep. Right, he should just focus on what he could do now.
Following his body's wishes, Yael closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. He feels like he was exhausted and he needed rest. And this time, he wishes, that he won't have any dreams.
Just a normal sleep.
--
Yael woke up from a noise coming from the kitchen. He already knew who it was as this has been their routine for the last few days.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Solanne on the kitchen, feeding the cats while holding a cup of coffee. He raised his brow, realizing that Solanne is a caffeine addict. Who in the world drinks coffee for at least 3 times a day? He mused to himself.
Still, he was comforted to the fact that she was not like his fans who would do anything just to get his attention. Although he was thankful, he felt like he was tired of it and sometimes he just wanted to live like a normal person for once.
In this time, he was experiencing that.
"Evening," He greeted. He saw that the TV was already turned off, there was a blanket over him and that there was already a rice cooking from the rice cooker.
Solanne smiled at him. The orange cat named, Orin was on the kitchen counter, in his loaf position, looking at him as if he's some kind of a lazy middle age man. Yael chuckled in his mind.
"Evening. You love sleeping at the sofa, don't you?"
Yael shrugged his shoulders. "Just a habit. Anyways," He headed to the fridge and look for a drink. After scanning it, he settled for an orange juice. He then sat down on the kitchen stool. "What's the menu today?" He casually asked.
Solanne raised her brow before sighing, the other brown tabby cat, Laurie was sitting on the stool next to him, curled in a ball, sleeping.
"You tell me. You think. My options are running thin."
"Fair enough," Yael sighed as he scrolled on his phone, "You can cook anything?" He asked raising his head to look at her.
She rolled her eyes. "Are you questioning my skills?"
"No, just asking."
"Then you better think harder," Solanne confidently said. Yael scoffed as he scrolled on his phone tapping some choices, until he settled for,
"Why not make some Japanese curry."
Solanne raised both of her brow, "fair enough." She then turned around to look for the ingredients on the fridge.
Yael watched her, following her every move, when out of nowhere, he asked, "Can I help you?"
Surpised, Solanne turned. Before she could even reply any sarcastic and teasing words, Yael raised his hands, to surrounded and said, "I feel like I should know how to cook for my age now. I need to learn, and I think this an opportunity for me."
Solanne smiled at him, her eyes were sparkling. Which made Yael uncomfortable.
"On second note-"
"Please," She handed her some potatoes. "Peel them."
--