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.