September 20th, 2021

I ran through the dark alleyway. "Richard." I looked behind me, my mother's pale body limping towards me. She wore a hospital gown and she was so skinny. It scared me. I ran down the alleyway. "Don't run from me, my dear."

I jogged down the empty streets, my stomach aching rom the running. I felt like my lungs would explode. I turned the corner, hoping someone would be there.

No one showed. No one was there to help me. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, and I figured this out when I fell over a pole. I scraped my arms on the concrete and my knees started bleeding. WAY more than they should.

I looked behind me right in front of me, our noses almost touching, my sick mother. Her once green eyes were bloodshot red and they were filled with tears. She looked like she couldn't stop crying. Under them were bags that were so heavy, she looked like she could pass out at any given second. Her forehead had beads of sweat dripping from the hairline down. She was shivering, her breath hot on my face.

She looked worse than I remember.

The disease got to her...It really did.

She took a shaking breath. "Richard, why did you leave me?"

I crawled away, but she continued to walk towards me. "Momma, please."

I realized something as I said this. I sounded like my four year old self. I didn't sound 18.

This was almost like a memory, but I was living it. I was living in a memory I had when I was four.

My mom was in her hospital bed, talking to me and saying, "Richard, don't leave me."

And this memory was what I thought would happen if I left her side.

Now, you might be saying how this isn't a memory if it never happened, but it was more of a lucid dream. It felt like a memory. It was a thought. A fear.

Her hands reached for my face, them being bony and pale. They smelled like dead skin and hospital medicine. They were about to touch my face, but they withered away. Then, she withered away.

Before I could run away or anything, the ground below me collapsed and I started falling into nothing. I looked around me for clues, but as I fell, I saw trees and bushes appearing.

Then, I hit the ground. I groaned in pain as I heard footsteps all around me. I felt like millions of eyes were set on me. I looked around, but saw no one. I saw dark trees and bushes and some flowers, but everything was dark.

However, the footsteps grew closer, so I did the only thing someone would do.

I ran.

I felt like if I stopped running, they would catch up with me.

Well, whoever THEY are.

Branches and leaves scratched my face as I bolted through the woods. I didn't recognize these woods at all, they didn't look familiar.

I didn't care. I felt unsafe in these woods. I felt uncovered and on display for everyone to see.

I kept running, not looking behind me in fear that I would see something that I didn't want to see. I stopped, however, when I saw a field. This field was bright and had flowers. It must've spread over 30 miles. It was beautiful. I stopped when I reached it. I looked behind me, but the dark, mysterious woods were no longer there.

In confusion, I looked in front of me and froze. I saw London, just standing there. They held their arms out and whispered in a smooth and calming voice, "You're okay. I'm here now."

I smiled at them, not even noticing the tears falling down my face. I ran to them, but something felt...off.

I never reached London. They kept getting farther away. Almost like I was running backwards from them.

London's arms stayed out, but I noticed the flowers withering away around them. They continued to wither their way to me and suddenly, I was in the woods again. London was still in front of me, their arms in the same position.

London's head tilted to the side. "Rich? Wake up."

I shook my head. "You're not real..." I kept repeating this as London started walking towards me, worry in their eyes.

"Rich-"

"Get away from me!"

"Richard, wake up." Now. I didn't hear just London's voice.

I heard everyone's voice. Mom's, Dad's, London's, Estral's...Everyone's.

"Wake up!"

"GO AWAY!"

"RICHIE!"

I bolted up. Estral was shaking me awake. I rubbed my eyes and looked at my alarm clock. It read 5:54 a.m. and I groaned. Why would he wake me up so early. "What's up, Es?" I asked groggily. I felt sick.

Estral stood up and looked around the room. Hailey and Jacob must've fell asleep in our guest room. I looked beside me and blushed furiously. London was asleep beside me, their back to me. Estral walked over to the other side of the room. "You were talking in your sleep." He explained. I flung the covers off of me and walked towards Estral. He looked at me and continued. "You kept apologizing. That's okay, though. We can talk about something else."

I looked back at London, then at Estral again, and rubbed my eyes. Estral smirked and looked at London. I stopped rubbing my eyes and glared at him. I pointed a finger at him and said, "Don't even think about it."

Estral looked at London again, who was still sleeping. "You like them, huh?"

I froze and shook my head. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." I stopped and looked at him. "Why do you keep asking that?"

Estral closed his eyes and I felt my head throb. That's weird, because I felt decent five seconds ago. My head continued to throb for a few seconds before it stopped abruptly. He chuckled slowly and I raised an eyebrow at him. Before I could say anything, he smiled. "You definitely do."

I glared at him and scoffed. "Did you..." I rubbed my head and looked at the ground. "Estral, did you just read my mind?"

He shook his head. "No. I looked into your head."

"So, you read my mind?!"

"No! I looked into your head."

"That's a fancy way of saying you read my mind."

"Can you guys be quiet please?" We stopped arguing and looked behind us at London. "I'm trying to sleep." They said.

I glared at Estral. "This is your fault."

Estral smiled. "Says the one getting mad for no reason."

"You read my mind! Literally!"

"Not true."

"And, I'm up." I glared at Estral again and walked towards London. "What are you guys even arguing about?" They asked.

I looked at Estral, who winked at me. What a jerk! I sighed and looked back at London. "He, uh, read my mind."

"Looked into your head."

"It's literally the same thing!"

London sighed and got out of my bed. They stretched and looked at me. "You making breakfast?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I can, if you want me to."

"Yeah, you can do that." They said. Estral coughed, definitely on purpose, and I heard him say something, but it was too quiet for me to hear.

I walked towards my door and opened it. Estral and London started following me downstairs. "London, how about you wake up Hailey and Jacob." I said. They nodded and made their way down the hall.

I walked into my kitchen and glared at Estral. He giggled and I rolled my eyes. "Do they know?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I hope not." Estral smirked. I grabbed some eggs from the fridge and looked at him. "Why?"

He looked away from me, still smirking. "No reason. Just curious."

I chose to ignore him and continue to make my eggs. Estral watched me carefully as I cracked the eggs and put pepper on them. He watched as I placed the toast into the toaster and I looked at him. "You wanna know how to make food?"

His eyes moved from the toaster to my eyes. I could tell he was embarrassed because of how his face went red when I asked. He nodded his head slowly as I smiled. "Yeah, what are those?" He pointed to the pepper I was sprinkling.

I chuckled. "This is pepper." I said as I set it down. "You use it to make your eggs taste really good."

I heard someone walk down the stairs and I looked up. I saw London walk down with Hailey and Jacob,who looked rough. "One," Hailey started. "That smells really good and two, why so early?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why not?" When I noticed how tired they looked, I chuckled. "We can go get coffee after we eat."

She smiled tiredly. "You're the bomb dot com, you know?"

I chuckled and continued to make my eggs. I sensed someone walking towards me, so I looked up and saw London. They smiled as they continued to walk. Estral smirked at me and walked away.

I looked down at my hands as London leaned on the counter. "Hey." They said.

I smiled at them. "Hey." I flipped the eggs over and looked up at London. "How are you?"

London smiled and bit the inside of their cheek. "Good, actually." They looked at me. "How long have you been able to make eggs?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked at the egg. The outside turned white, so I scooped it up with the spatula and put it on a plate. I only need to make mine and London's now. "I guess I decided to learn after my mom died, you know?" They nodded as I continued. "I always liked how she made her eggs. So, after we fixed ourselves up, I asked my dad for her recipe and, I don't know, I guess I just started making eggs."

London smiled. "That's a beautiful story, Rich."

I looked at my pan and cracked an egg, smiling. "It is. I can teach you sometime?"

They nodded their head. "Sure, I'd like that a lot."