Dreamer by Marie Reza (red queen ebook .TXT) 📖

her. After she was done, she turned off the lights and turned on the lamp. We stared at each other for a few—but extremely long—seconds, and then I sighed. I was going to have to start.
“Well, what do you want to know—well, besides what you already know?” I asked her reluctantly.
“No, Amber, I don’t want to know anything you don’t want to tell me. I’m only here because you seem to be suffering by this dream. If you don’t want to tell me, then I’ll understand.” She looked at me with worried eyes, and for once saw a friend who wanted to be with me because she wanted to.
I had always thought of Danielle as a friend to have fun with, but that was all. I knew that after this conversation, nothing would ever be the same.
“Thank you, Danielle. And as I said before, I will tell you everything,” I paused as I arranged my thoughts together. “You’re right. I am suffering. You’ll need to be comprehensive about this—I can’t even understand it myself.” I paused to make sure she was listening to me. Her eyes were wide.
She blinked twice. “So, does this have something to do with that dream of yours?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me something… what is that dream about?”
“Well, I’m in a desert, and there’s somebody beside me, and I think I’m worried about something, I don’t know what it is…” I trailed off. My voice was almost a whisper. I looked up suddenly. “Then, from the desert he came to my side.” My voice broke. “I-I don’t why, but as soon as I see him, my worries vanish. It only took his voice so I could calm down. He’s telling me to not worry, that I’m safe now.”
And then I start crying.
Danielle had her arms around me in an instant. “Don’t cry! Wait, cry; it’s always better if you cry.”
I turn around to look at her. “Danielle, I need you to explain something to me. Please, please, tell me… Why am I suffering? Why am I crying?”
I could tell that Danielle was suffering with what she had to say. “Amber, how do I explain this to you?” She thought about it some more. “Amber, you’re in love with that man in your dreams.”
I stared at her like she was speaking some foreign language. “What?”
“Well, how you feel about him, it’s like, the way I feel about Tyler.”
Tyler was Danielle’s boyfriend, and worked for Mr. Edwards, but it was much more intense than that. The way they looked at each other was like the way a man looked at a woman that have been together for fifty years. Tyler was out on a business trip that Mr. Edwards had told him to go. I was distracted by that train of thought, so I concentrated again on what Danielle was saying.
I kept staring. How could this be? I’m in love with a man from my dreams?? No. This can’t be. But then I thought about the way I felt when I looked into his beautiful chocolate brown eyes, the way I felt when he had me in his warm arms. I shivered. My heart started beating faster. I also remembered how it felt when he wasn’t with me. I had felt so… so empty. Lifeless.
“Amber…” Danielle said. I could barely hear her over the beating of my heart.
I hesitated. “H-how can this be? I can’t feel like you feel! I’ve seen how you look at Tyler! I know how you worry when he isn’t here. I’m not in love! Are you even listening to what you’re saying?! It’s absurd!” I was now completely filled with rage for some reason. I was breathing heavily and my heart was still pounding.
Danielle waited until my breathing slowed and I controlled my face. “What I’m saying is not absurd. It’s the truth. What I’m telling you is only based on what you told me. You’re telling me that you feel relieved when you’re with him; I feel the same thing when Tyler is with me. Now, tell me something…when—in your dream—you touch him, or when he touches you, how do you feel?”
I thought about that for a minute before I answered. “It-it feels like… I don’t know—well, it sort of feels like somebody is shocking you.”
Danielle smiled. “That happens to me whenever Tyler touches me, too.”
I smiled, too. I don’t know why, but I did. Danielle seemed to understand better than I thought.
“Now, do you feel better now that you have talked to me about this?” Danielle asked.
“Actually, I do… Thanks, Danni.”
“Don’t mention it…do you think that you’re going to have the same dream tonight?” She asked with a hint of worry.
I looked at her incredulously. “Even if I didn’t want to dream about him, I would still do.”
“I’m really sorry about this. The feelings you have when one has their first love are truly amazing. But since this person doesn’t really exist…” She trailed off; probably worried that she had hurt my feelings.
I chuckled. “Don’t worry about me. It’s not that bad. As you said, the feelings I’m experiencing right now are mostly amazing. The only thing that kills me is the fact that he doesn’t exist.” As soon as I said those words, I realized that they were true. The feelings were amazingly pleasant. The way it felt whenever he touched me, the way it felt whenever I looked into his eyes that seemed to melt my self away. I was in love with this stranger from my dreams. And I wanted so much for him to be real. I sighed.
Danielle sighed, too. “Why don’t we go to sleep, tomorrow is a new day, right?”
Yes, tomorrow will be a new day.
“Yeah, you know how crying makes me sleepy…remember the last time we saw that movie…” My tears had red circles underneath, and a few minutes after, I had fallen asleep.
Danielle chuckled at the memory. “Yeah, we should sleep,” At the same time, we yawned. We chuckled simultaneously.
I went to the lamp, and turned off the lights. My bed was cool and comfy when I pulled the covers to my shoulders. I sighed. I was just beginning to fall asleep, when suddenly, Danielle spoke.
“Oh, I almost forgot…Happy Birthday, Amber.”
I grinned. She knew that I really didn’t really like birthdays—I didn’t like the extra attention they always gave me. After a few seconds, I was unconscious.

I knew better than to expect the same dream that had tormented me for almost more than a week. I knew what to expect, I knew I was dreaming. But it still caught me by surprise…
I was in an unknown place, with a stranger girl by my side, crying. The place was desert-dead like, on the sunset. Where I live, it looks more like paradise than a desert. There were many people looking for us, but I had a feeling that we were hiding, and shouldn’t be found, no matter what. I stared at the girl beside me. Why was she crying? I’d never seen anyone cry so painfully, so I started to get curious. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but I couldn’t seem to find my mouth. All I could do was just stare at the horizon.
I had a feeling that I couldn’t seem to figure out. Was I worrying? What am I worrying about? Am I worried that I’ll get caught by these mysterious strangers? No, that wasn’t it. I wasn’t worried about myself. I was worried about somebody else. Was it this stranger? Was I worried about this stranger girl that I’d never seen before get caught? No, that wasn’t it either.
Then, I saw him.
A fierce flood of relief drowned me. I knew he was safe, and that was all that mattered to me.
But…
Who was he? Why was he here, with us? I had a lot of questions, questions that I still couldn’t ask because I still couldn’t find my mouth.
Then, he looked in to my eyes, those warm, liquid chocolate eyes that seemed to melt me away. As soon as he touched me, my heart jolted. It felt amazing. He grabbed my face with both of his hands, and, with an angel’s voice, said, “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be all right. You’re safe now with me.”
And that’s when I woke up. Again.
I woke up gasping, panting, and confused. Danielle was already awake. It seemed to me that she was just waiting for me to wake up.
“Good morning, Amber. That was a fun last night, wasn’t it?” She asked me tiredly.
“Yes, and again, thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate your help.” I really did mean that. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.
She sighed tiredly. She had circles under her eyes; she looked very tired. I wondered why.
“I’m not talking about that part of the night. I really did enjoy helping you,” She smiled tiredly, and then she frowned. “What I’m talking about is you talking, and crying, and moaning, and hearing you say, ‘He’s back. He’s gone. I need you. Stay.’ I am going to have to buy some earplugs.”
I couldn’t believe I had said all of that. And looking at Danielle’s face, it looked like I had talked more than all the other nights. My cheeks warmed with embarrassment.
“Did I say anything else?” I asked shyly.
“No…Well…” She frowned in concentration. What else had I said? “You did say something else…. But don’t worry; it’s nothing we didn’t know about—already,” She gave me a sly smile. “You said you loved him, and that he loved you, too.”
My cheeks were already scarlet, so my embarrassment added up—making my whole face crimson red. Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut when I slept? I mean, nobody could trust me with a secret, because the next day I talked about it—in my dreams!
I cleared my throat before speaking. “Well, thanks again for listening. And remember that you promised that you are not going to tell anybody.
She chuckled. “Don’t worry. As long as I live, my lips will be sealed.”
I went to the bathroom to take a shower. My dream had left me sweaty and sticky. I heard my mother on the other side of the wall. It looked like she was talking with Mrs. Ellen. I could just barely hear her voice over the loud rumbling of the water. I tried to block everything up so that I could relax. After shutting the water off, I could hear my mother’s voice much more clearly.
“Claire, the dinner for Amber’s birthday was delicious! You have to give me the recipe someday….I know…I thought he was going to tell her, too…. It’s been eighteen years….I think he doesn’t want to tell her because he’s afraid he might lose her…Exactly, and partially, it’s for her protection…he’s afraid someone might harm Amber…Of course, you know he’s a bit too much overprotective….”
Who was my mother talking about? The only person that was overprotective—and it wasn’t even my mother; she trusted that I wouldn’t do anything stupid—was Mr. Edwards. My mother and I didn’t have any secrets, so it surprised me a bit.
When I got out of the shower, I bumped into my mother. I might as well use this opportunity to ask her of this morning’s phone conversation with Mrs. Ellen.
“Mother! Hi. Good morning. How did you sleep?” I wanted to get to a good start.
She grinned at me. “Hi, sweetie. I slept fine.” She paused to look at me. I was still wrapped in my towel. “You’re still not dressed?”
“Yes, I’ll get dressed right away…But first, may I ask you a question?”
My mother seemed clueless.