Ring. Ring. Ring.
The alarm clock continued to ring directly into my ear as I lay there, not wanting to move from the comfort of the bed. Grudgingly, I tossed my hands towards it and stopped the ear-piercing sound. Lifting myself up, my scruffy hair fell in front of my face, making me look like a witch from a horror performance. Looking around, I noticed that I was still in the dream. Getting up, I performed my daily routine of taking a shower, brushing my teeth, cleaning my hair and face, and then changing into some spare clothes left by Amy on my bed. Staring into the mirror, I was wearing a very high-quality brown fleece jacket and blue pants. It brought back the familiar reminder of helping my mother on the farm.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in." I spoke.
"Mornin dear." Amy said. "The clothes suit you."
"Morning. Thanks for giving me these. It reminds me of my farm back home." I said with a smile.
"Well, why don't you help me with the animals then for a while before the little ones wake up."
"Sure, that would be lovely."
Making our way to the barn, we placed hay for the horses, milked the cows, let the sheep walk around the field, and fed the pigs. Watching Amy showed me what the elite farmers looked like. Passionate, caring, gentle, enthusiastic. She had it all. A multitude of inspirational characteristics. I watched closely, trying to copy her every movement, as I knew it would be useful for when I returned home. If I returned home.
For a while, all Amy did was talk to me about the best way to treat animals. As she talked, I could sense the passionp erupting out of her like a volcano. She had this huge, contagious smile that dominated every sentence of hers. Watching such a passionate farmer made me feel much more connected to the world than ever. We talked for what felt like hours about my farm. I described how every morning my mother and I would wake up to tend to the animals before anything else. Hearing how we treated the animals; Amy smiled and thanked me for such beautiful actions. I told her how I didn't need any thanks as it is the right thing to do.
"Animals are amazing." She said as she rubbed one of the horse's necks. "They bring such joy to our lives that we can not find from anything else. The connections that we have with creatures of God are unlike anything else. I suppose it may be because in some ways... we are the same. We both survive in this tiny world together, our struggles and joys shaping our future. We rely on our own kind as well as other kinds because at the end of the day, the feeling of loneliness is too much to bear for any creature. I must thank God for not creating just us humans. Without animals, I do not think that we would be able to survive for so long. They contribute as much as we do to the world. Without them, we wouldn't be complete. So, whenever you see an animal, make sure that it is never in any pain or sorrow. The love we show is the love we receive. That is what living is."
Those words affected me much deeper than I realised. I knew that whatever she said was right, but my mind had never thought of it in such a way. She was truly an exceptional woman for her time. Her love for the world was something that could never be taken away from her. And I envied that. That hope and positivity that she encompassed. I wanted that, too.
"Looks like it is time for breakfast." She said, getting up and watching the sun finally rising completely.
We made our way back to the house, as I helped Amy prepare the food for today. We had small talks in between the cooking, but because it was my first time making food in a while, I was much more focused on not messing up. As I continued to cook, Amy told me more about Hailey and Jolynn. It was interesting to learn increasingly about the mother's past, and with each new piece of information, all her words and riddles made sense. My mother was a very mysterious person. And yet I wondered what could have happened to turn her from such a hopeful child into such a melancholy woman. I knew that my father had some fault in that, as did I, but I knew I was missing something else. Something important.
"Morning." Hailey said, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Morning, my dear. How was your sleep."
"It was peaceful." She spoke.
"Well, wake up, Jolynn, and tell her breakfast is almost ready."
"Ok, mom."
As we sat at the table, we did our usual prayer before diving into the delicious food in front of us. No one spoke during the meal, as we were already starving with hunger. After eating, I helped wash the dishes with Hailey, whilst Amy and Jolynn went for a walk in the fields.
"So, Hailey, what are you going to do today?" I asked as we washed the dishes.
"I'm not sure. I might just study for a bit. Do you study Jolynn?"
"Yes, I go university."
"Wow, what do you study?" She said, surprised.
"Philosophy."
"What's that?"
I chuckled. "If we talked about what philosophy was, we would be here for a long time. Just think of it as the study of life."
"That sounds fun."
After washing the dishes, I returned back to my room, where I sat down and stared out of the window.
Mother's life was so peaceful. Was I really the reason for all her misfortunes? I thought gloomily.
"What are you looking at, Jolynn?"
"The world. What are you doing here?" I said, turning to look at The Scientist standing there with a smile on his face.
"Just checking up on you."
"Why bring me here? What do you want to see?"
"Spoilers. Aren't you glad? I am showing you something you wanted to know for a very long time."
"Knowing you, it isn't anything good."
"Come on, where is the trust?"
"Trust? You confine me against my own fill, bring back my trauma, and force me to see my past, and now you are meddling into my mother's past! Do you want me to trust you?" I said angrily, standing up and walking up to him until I was directly in his face. "What trust do you expect? What normal person would trust you?"
"So much energy for such a young girl. I hope you continue to keep that energy." He said in a low voice.
"I have a question?"
"What is it?"
"How have you made this? You couldn't have known all of this. So how?"
"Some secrets are better left hidden, my dear Jolynn. Maybe, when this is all over, I shall tell you. Until then, do not worry about such nuances."
"You truly are a mysterious person. Just do not make anything difficult for them."
"They aren't real. It's just a fabrication of the past. You can't change anything that happens. Only bear witness to it."
"Well, I don't want you around here then."
"I'm always watching you." He said as he lifted my chin. "Always." And then he disappeared, leaving me standing in the middle of the room alone.
Weirdo.
I thought to myself. Sitting at the desk, I began to take notes about the dream. I noted down all the conversations that I had and everything I had learnt about my family. Weirdly, the scientist provided me the same exact diary that I had in the real world, with all the notes I had made back in reality transferring over here. So, I concluded that the same was for the opposite. As I wrote, I continued to think more about what could possibly go wrong. Such a happy family in the countryside living their lives peacefully. I couldn't think of anything that would turn this happiness upside down.
Zip.
Looking around, I tried to find where that weird sound came from. It felt as if something spoke, but the voice was so distorted that it was inhumane. Getting up, I walked around the room, looking behind the cabinets and under the bed, but to no avail.
Zip.
Again. That weird. However, I couldn't find where it came from. As I continued looking, I noticed something unusual in the corner of my eyes. Turning around, I noticed that the wall seemed to glitch. Walking up to it, it seemed as if a small portion of the wall would disappear and then reappear. Placing my hand on it, I was able to move it through the wall even when it reappeared. It was an unusual phenomenon.
Did he make a fault in the dream?
I continued to stare at the wall's movement, my eyes squinting at the dark room on the other side. As I continued to watch, I saw that something was moving in the darkness. Moving closer, I squinted my eyes more to make out what it was. Suddenly, a pale face darted straight at me, making me fall backwards. Letting out a small groan, I looked back at the wall, and the face was still there.
My body froze, and I instinctively felt a surge of fear fill me up. My heartbeat increased as I could feel my body tense up. Whatever it was, my body knew to fear it. As I stared at it, I saw that it had no eyes. It's just a black bottomless pit of nothingness. Its mouth was wide open as I felt that it just stared directly at me. Even though it had no eyes, I felt as if I was being watched, and my every movement tracked. The wall in front of it slowly began to disappear as its entire body became visible.
A white entity wearing a black robe that dragged across the floor. Slowly, it made its way towards me, with each step a loud thud followed it. My heart continued to beat faster and faster as I felt my breath get stuck in my throat. I didn't dare do anything. I couldn't even bring myself to stare at it anymore. As it made its way towards me, it circled around me as if it were getting information about me. Not long after, another one of them entered from the darkness, this time wearing a complete white robe. And as the previous one did, it began circling me nonstop. And then another one came. And another. And one more. All five began to circle me as I felt my soul being entered without my permission.
The room around me began to change, and I was teleported into the vacuum of space. Looking beneath me, the Earth stood peacefully still. As I turned my head around, I saw the sun enormously big in the middle of the solar system. My eyes were wide open in awe as I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. It was beautiful. The universe was beautiful. I felt myself instinctively reach my hand towards it, wanting to get a touch of the beauty in front of me.
Before I could do anything, one of the pale figures blocked my path and stared directly at me. I jolted back as I tried to distance myself from it. But behind me, the rest stood blocking my way. Gradually, the figure in front of me crouched and tilted its head as it looked towards me. Not knowing what to do, all I did was stare back, my hand in front of me, in case it tried anything. In a sluggish movement, it moved its head closer towards me, my hand moving away on its own, until its face was right in front of mine. For a moment, we just stared at each other, a drop of sweat trickling down my forehead, as nervousness began to overwhelm me.
The creature then reached its hand out and placed it on my cheek as it caressed my face. I was too afraid to even move, so I just allowed it to violate my face without interruption. After a while, it moved its hand away and stared at me again. Surprisingly, it opened its mouth and spoke. Its voice was very distorted, and after every word, it seemed that it lost connection like a television.
"Are...You...Jolynn?" It asked me to which I nodded as I was too afraid to speak back.
"Why...Are...You...Here?" It asked me.
"The...The Scientist brought me here." I replied quietly.
"Why...Did...He?"
"He is showing me the past for his experiment."
"What...Ex...Experiment?"
"I don't know. It has something to do with our memories and fears. What are you guys?"
"We..." Said one of the figures.
"Are..." Said another.
"No one." They all said in sync.
"We...Gave...The...Scientist...This...Knowledge." The one in front of me said.
"But...We...Didn't...Expect...Him...To...Use...It...Like...This." Another one said.
"You gave him this power of dreams? Is that why he can look into my past?"
"Yes." It replied.
"Why?"
"He... was...Interesting."
"Do you not realise what he has done? The immorality he is placing upon us?" I said a bit louder.
"Human...Affairs...Do...Not...Matter...To...Us." It spoke.
"Of course, I should have expected that. So why are you here?"
"Your...Prescence...Is...Destroying...This...Dream." It spoke.
"We...do...not...know...why" Another spoke.
"So...We...Need...You...To...Wake...Up." The one in front of me said.
It placed its hand on my forehead and pressed against it, making my eyes and mouth open wide before light illuminated out of it. I screamed in agony. It felt as if I was stabbed by a thousand knives all over me. Suddenly, I woke up back in my glass chamber, my breathing heavy as I clutched my chest.
What the hell?