No, it wasn't a nightmare.
Dreams end.
For days, weeks, I'd clung to the hope that I'd wake not in this wretched world, this wretched body, but safe in my Earth bedroom. That hope was the true nightmare—knowing it would never happen.
Dreams, at least, were sweet. I'd dream of my time on Earth.
"Ah… ugh…"
The memories quickened my breath, my body growing cold. After meeting Master, I'd barely managed to bury that nightmare called reality, but now it crept back.
Every moment alone in this world, in this body, was a nightmare.
"Master…"
Something felt imminent. Deep in the mountains, I imagined intruders or beasts outside, or someone bursting from the closet. My vision narrowed, my breath raced, my mind froze in panic.
Tremble, tremble.
My body shook, tears welling up.
She'll be back soon, she'll be back soon, she'll be back soon…
I repeated it in my head, a desperate self-hypnosis to calm my trembling body, to reassure myself.
But that fragile wall crumbled instantly.
