Chapter III: The Reflection

The man continued his journey with the maid. As they were walking, he again saw that the place was beginning to change. He was happy that they are getting close to a different place after just a couple of hours, not days, of walking.

As they were getting close to the place, he saw that it was filled with mist. So thick that it was quite hard to see and follow the maid. He got as close as possible to her. He doesn't want to let his sight get away from her.

"Hey, what is this place?" He said to the maid. Although she heard him, she did nothing and kept walking straight in the mist-filled path. He followed her even though he can barely see her. They continued walking together and they came across a place with a thicker mist.

"Where are we really going?" He said worryingly. As he looked closer, he couldn't see anything but just a pure white cloud. "Hey, where are you!" He shouted after realizing that he lost sight of the maid in this thick mist. "Please answer me. I don't know where to go from here on out!" He pleaded loudly. "I don't want to lose you."- That was his last sentence before feeling another episode of a headache as well as feeling the need to sleep.

He then fainted because of his intense strain on his body. Before he knew it, he was laying on the ground, helplessly, within the mist that devoured all sight.

"My head hurts." He said as he woke up. He slowly opened his eyes and he began to hear things around him. He was hearing things like people enthusiastically talking to each other or a busy place that was full of people.

"What is this, why is it so noisy?" He said in confusion as to where he was. As he opened his eyes, the image of the scene became clear. He was surprised as to where he was so he rubbed his eyes in hopes that it was real.

He looked again with his eyes opened wide and saw that he was actually in that place. It was a place where he would spend most of his time as an adult. It was a place full of regrets. It was a place that was the presence of his life. It was an office.

He looked at his desk to confirm that he was actually back. He saw his drool on the desk, his computer, his pale decorations, and his trusted phone. Yes, after looking for a while at his desk, he confirmed that it was his.

He looked beside him and saw a familiar face. It was his friend from work who conveniently also have his workplace just beside him. He hugged him out of joy. "Finally, I am back home!" He screamed. The whole place echoed with his voice and everybody was ceased from what they were doing. Everybody turned their gaze upon him.

His friend, whom he was actually hugging at that time, talked to him and said, "Bro, I do not know what happened but you shouldn't randomly scream like that in the office especially in the morning. Let's go outside because I think you might need to take a break." Both of them went outside the building and went to a near coffee store.

Although it wasn't particularly their free time, it was clear that everyone in that office wanted this outcome.

"You were actually dozing off then you suddenly woke up, looked around, and then screamed." His co-worker said as he shockingly explained to him his experience of what happened earlier in the office.

"I'm sorry." He replied. "It's okay. Pretty sure you just had a crazy dream after working so much." His friend said as he smiled at him.

He then picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Working, huh. Why did it all come to this I wonder?" He said with a sigh. "What do you mean?" His friend asked.

"I mean, well, back then it was all so simple. Like I had a goal to achieve or something, well, as a child that is. Then I grew up, my notion about that stuff changed. I became more aware of living and tucked myself in my own paradise. Then the current. I'm working so hard now as if I have more to do in life. Probably to help cheer my parents that they raised me well or to show my love to my family, I guess. But I never did find the accurate definition as to why I'm doing all this. To be honest, it's like I'm just letting time fly. Doing the same thing, over and over again, just like everybody else. You know what, I do not know why I am suddenly thinking of these. I just felt that I should let this out or something. I do not know." He said looking down.

His friend leaned back and looked up as if relieving himself of the stress for the day. "You know what? Isn't it crazy how we strive to do something? May it be for others, ourselves, or anything else? We try to indulge ourselves with the experience of life the way we want it to. In the end, we just conform to what we think is what it means to live. Other people might be lost and not know what this purpose for them is, just like you. But even so, you do it. You settle into something to keep you busy. To keep you sane. To keep you aware that you are still living. To make you satisfied. And even then, you might yearn for more." His friend then leaned forward and looked at him with a smile then proceeded to drink his coffee.

"I guess, I'll keep looking for that answer then. Since as you said, 'We strive to do something. To keep you aware that you are still living', huh." He took a sip of his coffee then he suddenly remembered to say what happened before he woke up. "Oh right, before I woke up earlier, I had a dream. To be honest I do not know if it was a dream. It felt so vivid and clear. Like it was too long to be a dream. That was probably the reason I'm thinking of these things, I believe." He said.

"Oh, really? What is it?" His friend replied.

"I do not know how to properly explain this, to be honest. It was like I was in some sort of a place, a maze with little to nowhere to go. It just had paths that I could take. There is this one person, well I don't know if she is a person but I'll call her one, and I just decided to follow her. She just walked and walked and I just proceed to follow her since I don't know where to go. The place was filled with high walls that were impossible to break through with a human, given that it also repairs itself. Yes, it doesn't seem to be a place on earth. So knowing what happened, I just kept on following her until we reached a house. It was an ordinary house you see, but it kind of felt somewhat really nostalgic. Maybe because I rarely go visit my parents back then or maybe it just felt so long ago that it triggered something in me. I got to do a lot of things in that house and then the next day, we head off to walk again. And then, I do not know. I do not know what happened after that. What? What happened after that? Did I suddenly have went back here after that? I don't know." He ended the story with a questioning remark.

"You know what, you should probably head home for now and get a good rest. Don't worry I'll cover up and do the work handed to you since I'm almost done with mine anyway." His friend said with an assertive tone.

"No, it's okay. I'm just a little confused about what had happened but I can manage this." He replied.

"That's precisely why you need to have this break for now. I do not really know what is going on in your life right now but basing on your out-of-this-world explanation as to what had happened in your dream, you're better off taking a break." His friend said worryingly.

He looked at his friend and while seeing his worrying face for him, he smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be good to go in no time. I guess I'll be taking a break then. Surely I can be back to normal in no time." He replied with a smile to reassure his friend.

"Yeah, you can do this. But don't forget that if you need help, just tell me." His friend said.

The two took their coffee and pre-ordered it for take-out. His friend went back to the office while he went back to his apartment. They said goodbye to each other and proceeded to walk separate paths.

It was just morning at that time so instead of taking a quick route to go back to his apartment, he took a detour. He went to a small park that was a couple of walks away. He sat on a bench and took out his coffee. He looked around and don't see many people.

"This could've been a good time to stroll around with someone, perhaps with a dog or a family." He whispered. He took a sip of his coffee as he contemplated on some things.

Within the distance, he saw some kids playing. It was a boy and a girl playing with a ball. Behind them were their parents sitting and happily watching the two of them play.

"How is my sister doing now, I wonder? I should visit her sometime. Maybe this weekend. Yeah, I'll visit her this weekend." He said as he kept watching the two kids with glee.

After thinking about her sister, he also thought about his parents. He knew that he didn't particularly have a strong suit for family ties but he felt that it should be nice to come home once in a while.

He looked up at the sky and said, "So what should I do now, I wonder? What was about that dream anyway? Well, I guess it wasn't that bad. It reminded me of the past and made me rethink for a while about my family." He lowered back his head and looked down.

"Family, huh." He mumbled to himself. Even though he is already in his mid-twenties, he didn't even think of actually having a family. Maybe because he wasn't just the type to do so or maybe he thought before that he didn't need it.

"I thought back that it was just a hassle to have one, so I didn't." He sighed.

He looked back into the kids playing and took another sip of his coffee. "I think I had a pretty decent childhood too. Then my sister was born when I was in high school. I wasn't particularly excited about it but I treasure her as much as my parents loved her. I struggled in college just like an average person and now I'm working an average job with decent pay."

"So it all comes down to this, huh. An average job, having my hobbies, and just live life?" He said as he let go of another sigh.

He took another sip of his coffee and before he knew it, it was gone. He stood up and then realized that he didn't even know what date it was. He looked up his phone and saw that it was Thursday.

He thought to himself that since he is visiting his parents and sister on the earliest weekend to spend as much time with them, he should buy them some presents. He arranged to buy them some presents for the following day and so he called his friend back in the office.

"Bro, I've decided to take a break tomorrow. Can you tell our boss in advance and cover-up for my losses?" He pleaded to his friend.

"It's okay. Don't worry I'll cover up for anything. This is the first time you ever asked me for help anyway. Just make sure that you'll get better next week when you come back in the office and we'll have a long chat, just like always." His friend replied.

"Thank you." He said as he smiled. He hangs out the call and went to a grocery store to buy some food.

He went inside the grocery store and went directly to the noodles section. It was like a reflex that he did that. It was because, since college, he never did have a good and balanced food intake. It was either fast food or ready-to-eat meals. That habit was dragged on until now and the only time he could eat delicious home-cooked food is when he comes home.

Since he hasn't come home to his parents in a very long time, he was excited about what he was going to eat for the weekend.

He picked up some normal noodles, an energy drink, and some chips. He went to the cashier to pay for it. After buying some food for the day, he went back to his apartment.

After walking for a while, he finally reached his apartment. He opened the door and saw a note that was slipped underneath. He went to lean on the rails in the apartment to read it. He opened the letter and saw that it was a letter about his pay for the month. It didn't cross his mind earlier but he didn't even think of what day of the month it was. It was way past his due date for payment, around a couple of weeks.

"I really am back home, huh. There's no way I would have to pay some bills back then in that dream." He chuckled. He decided that he would pay the landlord tomorrow before going shopping for some gifts. After reading that letter, he proceeded to go inside his apartment.

As he entered his apartment, he saw quite a mess. It wasn't a huge amount of mess, somewhat tolerable, but still quite messy. "What did I do back before I left the house?" He asked himself.

He cleaned the mess as he was contemplating things. "Now that I think about it, I can barely remember what happened yesterday or this week, to be more exact." Not sure what had happened, he sat on the sofa.

"Why does it feel like, even though I'm back, I'm having gaps in my current memories? If it was memories that were way back, I would've agreed that they would easily deteriorate over time but, why don't I remember what happened this whole week? What was I up to?" He asked himself again.

"And why do I feel a vivid memory towards my childhood? Is this the reason why I'm feeling the need to go visit my family, huh?" He paused for a second while looking at the ceiling.

He thought that pondering on it more would not yield him any answers so he finished cleaning up. He went to the bathroom and took a shower, watched some TV, and ate the noodles he bought for lunch.

After doing all this, he went and lied down on the floor in his room. He looked at the ceiling while laying down and starts to think again.

"So all I know is, I had a weird dream and because of this dream, I am in this position now. Reminiscing my past and understanding what I want to do with my life from now on." He said while talking to himself.

Even though he had pieced out together what happened into simpler terms, he still couldn't get through his head the reason why he is forgetting his current memories for the past week. "You know what, there is no point worrying about that now. I should focus on the things I need to do for now." He said as he got up and prepared for tomorrow.

He spent the whole afternoon thinking of things to buy for tomorrow. The night came and he slept, hoping for a wonderful day tomorrow.