Was it a Dream?

My Interpretation

Zhoniu the artist's Interpretation

Sebastian lay alone in the dark. He sat up, “Time”

“Forty-seven minutes after four a.m.” the voice said.

“Damn it” he flopped back down; only twenty minutes since the last time he asked; another night without sleep. He looked over to his left; he wished with all that he was that she would reappear; he would give anything to see her again. He pulled his knees up; putting his head in his hands, he ran his fingers through his hair; he knew he was making a mess of it, but didn’t care. He nonchalantly waved a hand; the room was bathed in a soft light.

Walking to the bathroom, he looked in the mirror; Vannie would have a fit if she could see him now; unshaven, hair a mess, eyes bloodshot. He noted the color of his eyes; black; dead. He put his face over the sink and splashed cold water onto it. Turning, he grabbed a towel and dragged it down his face. He leaned against the sink and looked at the shower stall. He turned away when the memories of their shower together became too painful. He walked to his desk, pulled out the chair and fell into it.

The past two weeks were a fog. His father said that he had ideas of how to get Vannie back and asked for permission to continue his experiments. Sebastian couldn’t say no to him; for the small chance he might be right.

“Sebastian, you can’t go on like this.” Asmoda entered his mind. He ignored it.

“Please son, let me help you; you need some rest.”

He kept playing it over and over in his mind; he should never have left her alone that day. He should have taken her back to the house and he should never have let her go. Why did he leave the kitchen? To talk to his father? What did it matter now? He promised himself that if she ever came back he would never ever let her out of his sight. The world could go to hell for all he cared; all he wanted was to look at that bed and see her sleeping there.

‘What was he going to do without her? Could he find the strength to go on?’ he remembered feeling this same way when he found out that his mother and brother were gone and he remembered how long it took for the pain and loneliness to subside. He felt as though all the life was draining from him. He sighed and put his head down on the desk.

She felt a bag drop on her.

“Hey!”

“Oh sorry sis, I didn’t see you there.”

She pushed the massive thing off of her, onto the floor, “What do you have in there? Bricks?” she sat up and massaged her hip; where the bag hit.

“My football stuff.” He picked up the bag effortlessly and put it in the closet.

“What time is it?” she asked him. She heard Matt’s reply; muffled as he rummaged through the refrigerator.

“Almost six”

 She got up, stretched and walked to the kitchen. Her brother had a smorgasbord of left-overs spread out on the table. Vannie sat in a chair by the table, pulled her knees up and snagged a piece of cold chicken from a Chinese take-out carton. She put it in her mouth, “Ew, it’s cold.” She said, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Well, what do you expect? I just pulled it out of the refrigerator, smart one.”

She reached over and took a piece of broccoli from his plate and popped it in her mouth. Matt moved his plate out of her reach, “Come on, get your own.”

She looked at him with sad eyes, “Could you get me a plate?”

He feigned anger, “What do I look like; your maid?” he opened the cupboard and put a plate on the table. Vannie put chicken, broccoli, some unknown beef dish and rice on her plate. She heard the ding of the microwave.

“Can you put mine in?” she held up her filled plate.

He took it from her, “Anything else, master?”

Vannie smiled, “That would be mistress to you.”

Matt looked at his sister and rolled his eyes. He took the plate to the microwave, took his out, placed it on the counter and put hers in. He pushed the start button and brought his plate to the table. He began eating. Vannie stole a piece of beef from his plate, “Can I ask you a question?” she said while trying to cool the meat in her mouth.

“Sure” Matt replied around his own mouthful.

“Have you ever had a dream that felt so real that you couldn’t believe that it was just a dream?”

Matt thought about it. The microwave sounded. They looked at each other; Matt rose; holding up his hands; palms out, “No no, no, please, allow me.” He opened the microwave and brought Vannie her plate.

“Well?” she reminded him of her question.

Matt thought again and then smiled, nodding his head, “Oh yeah; Maggie Barnes; I dreamt we were doing it in her convertible.”

She looked at her brother, wondering if sex was the only thing men thought about, “You’re just a pig.” She said; they laughed and finished eating.

Their mother Maria walked in loaded down with groceries, “Don’t tell me you guys ate already?”

 “It’s okay Mom, I’m going to the movies.” Matt put his dirty plate and glass in the sink, came to give his mom a kiss on the cheek and left the room.

“But I was going to try a new recipe.” She whined as she emptied the bags.

“Maybe next time; Lui and I are going out too.” Vannie stood and put her plate on top of Matt’s in the sink, she kissed her mom.

 Maria looked back to her daughter, “But you just got out of the hospital.”

“Oh, just let her go.” Vannie saw her father walk through the kitchen doorway. He came to his wife and kissed her, “She doesn’t want to hang out with the old folks anyway.” He winked at Vannie, “Hi honey.” He gave her a peck on the cheek, “How are you feeling?”

“Hi Daddy, I’m fine.”

“No drinking tonight, okay? The doctor said that you had to take it easy for a while.” He shook his finger in her face.

“Okay Dad, I promise, I won’t.”

“Do you need a ride somewhere?” Matt returned; he now had his coat on.

“No thanks, Lui is picking me up.”

She saw her friend pull up in her jaguar. She opened the car door, got in and closed the door.

Her friend looked at her, “So, did you have any good dreams while you were out?”

“No” Vannie lied. She wasn’t ready to share Sebastian with anyone yet; not even Lui.

The Pond

The path is closed

My coworker and I take a walk every day after lunch; as long as it isn't raining too much. It helps keep our sanity and keeps us from strangling some people; who shall remain nameless. We had suffered through several days of heavy storms and the aftermath was prevalent everywhere. As we neared the place where the path thinned, we saw that the way was blocked. We looked at each other and then at the deep water expanse before us. Being creatures of habit, we searched desperately for a way to continue on to the bridge (red structure seen in the above picture) that would take us on our usual trek, through the parking lot of the condos, then onto the front of the golf club and then back to our own building.

“Do you think we could go around?” I asked hopefully; already knowing the answer.

“Not unless you have a raft in your back pocket.” She said, deadpanning it.

She looked at me and I smiled, “Darn it, wouldn’t you know it, I left it in my other pants.”

We looked at each other and cracked up.

“I guess we have to go back.” she said, still looking at all the water before us.

“I guess so.” I said, doing the same.

We stayed there, looking out and saw several geese swimming contentedly.

“At least somebody is happy about all this water.” I said, turning dejectedly back the way we came.

She followed, “You know, I've always wanted to live where I could have a pond in my back yard.”

“Oh really” I said, watching the same sights we saw on the way here, still wondering if there could have been a way to…

“Yeah, I always dreamt about getting swans;  a male and a female with little baby swans.”

“You mean cygnets.”

She looked at me, “Is that what they’re called?”

I nodded. We walked on.

“Did I ever tell you about my aunt’s swans?”

She looked at me, “Your aunt has swans?”

I nodded, “Well, not anymore, but she did.”

Her brow furrowed, “Oh, what happened?”

I smiled and recounted this story to her.

My aunt had also always dreamt of having a pond, and with the purchase of her new house that dream would be brought to fruition.  She couldn't wait to have picnics and go fishing with her family on their very own pond. So at last they moved in and the pond dream became a reality. But the pinnacle of this dream, what she kept in her heart of hearts was the desire; also like my coworker, to have a pair of mating swans swimming in this very pond. The week before, she and her family had gone to a breeder of swans and had picked out a mating pair that were hand-raised and would be delivered when she moved into the house. When it was all said and done an exorbitant amount of money had exchanged hands, but my aunt didn't care; her dreams were being fulfilled.

            She called the breeder the night before to schedule the delivery. My aunt was so excited; Vito and Rosie (the names she had given the birds) would be there early today. She set up a chair in the front of the garage and resigned herself to wait.

She had visions of waking up in the morning, looking out her kitchen window, watching as  Vito and Rosie intertwined their necks; making that cute heart shape when they were forehead to forehead. Then, she would mosey on down to the pond, where, when she called their names, they would rush out of the water, falling all over themselves to be first to wish her a good morning.

            She was brought out of her thoughts by the honk of a horn. She looked up to see the smiling face of the swan breeder. Together, they drove to the pond and released the birds onto the pond.

My aunt’s neighbor; Ray came up from his house to stand next to her.

“Those are gorgeous birds.”

My aunt beamed.

They stood there watching the birds float effortlessly upon the water. Ray broke the silence.

“Hey Soph? Did you remember to clip their wings?”

            My aunt looked at him and was about to answer when there was a flutter of wings.

         Looking out to the pond, they watched first Vito, then Rosie take off from the pond and become airborne.

            “I guess not” He said.

            My aunt was becoming hysterical; she grabbed onto his shirt, “Ray, do something.”

            “Do you want me to get my gun?”

            She looked at him horrified, but knew short of what he hinted at; there was nothing to be done.

            They never saw Vito or Rosie again.

            We walked into the building; our walk completed.

The Airplane

On my trip to Texas

Desti put up her carry-on bag in the overhead compartment and took a seat by the window. She closed the shade and hoped that this second leg of her trip would be better than the first. She inwardly groaned, thinking of how long she would actually spend in this plane. She looked at the closed shade wondering why she even chose the window seat if she couldn’t even look out the window until the plane was airborne. She placed her purse on the seat next to her and took out the book she intended to read. She stowed the purse under the seat in front of her and sat up to find someone sitting in the seat next to her.

                “Oh, hello.” She said, smiling brightly at the man seated next to her.

                He smiled, but said nothing.

                Desti saw that he had jet black hair, light brown eyes and a nice smile. He wore a red polo shirt that barely fit around his bulging biceps.

                “Hello” he said finally; his eyes dropping down to Desti’s chest.

                She refrained from giving him an eye roll. She pegged him as a player and looked around for an open seat, should she want to get away from him later. She saw two that would do; far enough away from him so talk was difficult, but close enough for her to retrieve her bag quickly.

He cleared his throat to get her attention.

She looked at him and he smiled.

“You are going to Rome; no?” his voice was soft, yet strong.

Desti shook her head and he gave her a puzzled look, “this airplane no go to Rome?” His accent was thick and it reminded her of her grandfather. His worried expression made her change her mind about him.

She laughed at the misunderstanding and touched his arm, “I’m so sorry; yes, this plane is going to Rome. I thought you meant am I staying in Rome.”

He looked from her hand on his arm, to her face, “Oh, you no stay in Rome?”

She shook her head, “No, I’m going to Mozzate.”

He brightened, “I too am going to Mozzate. I can take you somewhere?”

She shook her head again, “Thank you, but that’s not necessary; my company is sending someone to meet me.”

He nodded once, “Va bene. I am meeting someone also. Oh…” he reached into his pocket and brought out a folded piece of paper he unfolded it, “how do you say this name please?” he leaned over to Desti and pointed to a place on the paper.

She looked at the name and began laughing.

He looked at her face, “What is so funny?

“The one you’re looking for is me.”

He looked at her and she saw the confusion, “what I mean is; that’s me.”

She saw he was still confused. She pointed to the name on the paper, “that’s” then to herself, “me”

“You are Desti?” he pronounced her name “dest-eye”.

She corrected him, “Desti, Yes that’s my name, well, that’s my nick name, my real name is Destinia LaRussa” she held out her hand, “it’s nice to meet you.”

He took her hand, “Ah, I am Pierangelo Affinito. Please call me Angelo.”

“Angelo” she repeated, imitating his accent, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He shook his head, “No, the pleasure is mine Destinia.” He turned her hand, kissed her knuckles then put his hand over hers.

She giggled and felt her face turn seven shades of red, “Please, call me Desti.”

He nodded once, “Desti”

She loved the way her name easily rolled off his tongue; it was tantamount to foreplay and the way he was looking at her; with that hunger, she felt if he kissed her lips that she would just melt off her chair and form a puddle at his feet.

“So, it is you that I am waiting for.”

She smiled; wondering if there could be a deeper meaning to his words, “I guess so.” A thought came to her, “May I ask you a question?”

“Ma sure” he said, looking into her eyes, “What would you like to know?”

She stared into the warm brown eyes and felt herself being drawn in. She shook her head to clear it, “Could you give me the layout of the lab? What equipment needs to be replaced or decommissioned? And have the benches I ordered arrive yet?”

She saw his face fall; disappointment plain on his face, “Scusi, bella, but when a man is sitting next to such a beautiful woman, the last thing on his mind is work. Per piacere, tell me about yourself.”

Desti didn’t know whether she should be flattered for the compliment he paid her or insulted for the way he dismissed her question. But she did like him, so she would go with the former; besides, she reasoned, she would probably need his help in the coming months.

She turned her sweetest smile on him, “Sure, what would you like to know?”

He smirked at her cleverness at turning his words back on him, “Whatever you would like to tell me would be fine. I see you are married, does your husband know what a lucky man he is?”

She looked to where he was looking. She saw that she still had her wedding band on, “Oh no, I’m not married, we just got divorced. I guess in all the excitement of packing and going to the airport, I forgot to take it off.” She twisted the ring off and held up her hand, “See, all gone.”

The way Angelo was nodding she knew he thought she was lying. And if she tried to protest, it would only make her look even guiltier. Short of presenting him with her divorce papers, she didn’t know what to do.