A Dream

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"𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵! 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺!" 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘢, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺!" 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

"𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵! 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳! 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳!" 𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘜𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵! 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!" 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦?" 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰! 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯! 𝘚𝘰 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴! 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰!" 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺.

𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺.

"𝘖 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥!" 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘶𝘱.

𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘩𝘦— 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦! 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯! 𝘚𝘵𝘰— 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱!" 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦.

"𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴." 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴.

"𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦— 𝘸𝘰𝘢𝘩!" 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳.

"𝘋𝘢𝘥! 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦!" 𝘐 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘺.

𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘱.

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, "𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦."

𝘜𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦." 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥. 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴.

𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴' 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳.

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 1 𝘢𝘯𝘥 2 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 1 𝘢𝘯𝘥 9 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯." 𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘫𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘹, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦." 𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"𝘏𝘶𝘩? 𝘕𝘰, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦— 𝘖𝘩."

"𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺? '𝘖𝘩'? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘴?!"

"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨!"

"𝘕𝘰, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵!"

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵.

𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘭𝘺.

Flashing my eyes open at the sudden and familiar high-pitched noise. I closed my lids shut, blinking my eyes briskly as I let my vision readjust in the darkness. Groaning, I cast my head to the direction of the sound.

There lies my phone on the nightstand, screen lit up, and slightly moving from the vibration. The very loud and familiar ringtone of mine, recurrently repeating on a loop.

Grabbing the device from the nightstand, I hit the green button bringing the speaker on my ear and turned on my side at a much more comfortable position.

"What?" I said rudely in a very groggy tone, irritated by this certain someone who interrupted my sleep.

"Hey! You're still awake! Were you writing?" I flinched at the sudden noise and move the phone instinctively away from my ear at the sudden volume.

"What the hell? Who is this?"

"It's Heliodor!" said the voice from the other line, as if he just had three cups of coffee and ate a half dozen of energy bars.

"Wha— Who?" I asked confused as I scratched my eyes to hopefully wipe off some sleep off of my system.

"Is this the wrong number?" he said and was briefly followed with a momentary pause.

"No, it isn't, it's yours I got it saved as 'rant girl'."

Despite my dazed state from being abruptly woken up, irritation and annoyance still boiled up within me. "What the hell? Are you pulling a prank on me?"

"You forgot already? It's me! We 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 talked yesterday morning."

I was very confused, unhinged and sleepy at that moment. I didn't know what this guy was talking about, nor do I recall anything about what he was saying. Though his voice sounded oddly familiar, that still explains nothing.

As I was about to remove the speaker from my ear and end the call, the memory popped up out of nowhere, and I suddenly remembered the events that occurred yesterday morning. And indeed, unfortunately for me, I knew this guy.

Retreating the device from my ear and bringing it to my view to check the time, my eyes widened as I saw the clock showing me it was currently 3:30 am.

I brought my phone back to my ear and spoke, "You actually saved my number?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Shuffling and momentary faint clash of plastics being heard from the other line.

"Why did you call me?" I said as I stretch out to relieve some sleep tension and relax my body.

"What's wrong with calling someone?"

"It's 3am in the damn morning. You're asking me what's wrong with that?"

"Fair point."

'𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦?'

"Fair point? You woke me up from my precious sleep!" I hissed at him.

"You practically did the same thing yesterday. Waking me up with a call, so it's kinda an unintentional pay back?" He said, directing the question more to himself than it did to me.

"You woke up from my call at 9am. You should have more than enough sleep already at that time. This is different. I literally went to bed three hours ago. I'm not that well rested yet!"

"But you 're awake now, are you?"

My eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What?"

"I said you're already awake. And it doesn't matter anymore. There's no point in going to sleep now because based on your angered and irritated banter you're now fully awake."

Even if I was still half awake, I was fully aware of his suppressed laughter, him probably trying hard not to let it out.

'𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦—'

"Shut up. I go to bed when I want to, whether if I'm sleepy or not, I do what I want to do."

Groaning in frustration, I continued. "Why did you even call me? Why me? Don't you have any other friends to call?"

"I do. But I didn't want to bother them, they're probably asleep."

I sat up from my bed hastily upon those words. Utter incredulity and disbelief probably very much clear on my face right now.

'𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺?'

I scoffed rather loudly, making sure to let him hear the gesture I just made.

"You didn't want to bother them. But you didn't mind bothering me?"

"That's right."

I rolled my eyes so hard I might probably see my brain. "You're very honest and blunt are you?"

A tud of wood scraping the floor, followed by a noise of running water being poured into a container was heard from the other line, "I don't want to waste my energy beating around the bush all the time."

"I hate you." A familiar light-hearted chuckle echoed from the other line.

"You don't even know me."

I my eyes knitted at his reply, "I know you, your Heliodor right?"

"Yes? But that's not what I meant."

"And I don't care." Turning to my side, I dangled my legs down the edge of the bed and stood up, making my way to door.

Silence loomed from both lines that lasted for several seconds. It wasn't tensed nor it was awkward, but it was rather a comfortable ambience. Well, at least, as comfortable as two individuals who know a little to too much information about each other, as they could be.

"Why did you even save my number?" I said, finally breaking the silence, now making my way down the stairs, doing my best to be silent with every step, careful not to wake anyone up.

"I don't know the specific reason, actually. But I think I just find it entertaining to talk to you!"

Making my way to the kitchen, I opened a cupboard and brought out a glass, "You're being very enthusiastic for someone who just saved a random stranger's number."

"Well, to be fair, we aren't actually strangers anymore. I know about your issues in life, and you know my name!" I flinched once again at the sudden volume and moved the phone a little farther away from my ear.

"That's way too much energy for an hour like this. Would you keep it down? Unlike you who probably have a place of his own, I don't want to wake the whole neighborhood up and break my eardrums in the process at your rather loud, annoying, and obnoxious voice." Soft shuffling of paper and plops of tiny splash of water, with soft jazz music playing in the background, reiterated from the other line.

'𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨?'

"You're being overly dramatic. And I don't live on my own, I'm naturally loud so they all just got used to my constant noise."

Opening up the fridge, I brought out a pitcher of water and poured it on my glass.

"I'm not being overly dramatic, I'm just taking necessary precautionary measure to shut you up." I said, doing my best to keep my volume down.

"Fine, fine I will. You haven't answered my question though."

I raised my eyebrow at his words. "Which one? You had like million things you just said, which one was it?"

"Why were you still up?" Rough brush of something coming in contact with paper was heard recurrently from the other line.

"First, just like I said 4 minutes ago, I wasn't up. You woke me up, airhead. And no, I wasn't writing, nor do I plan anytime soon. I have more important matters to attend to."

"Isn't like summer vacation already? And you're going to college, right? So you just graduated. Jeez, take it easy."

"Don't call me that weirdo. I have many things to do, especially now I'm an incoming college student. How about you? Aren't you studying?"

"I was." My face morphed into confusion at what he said.

"What do you mean 'was'?" Opening the fridge, I returned the pitcher back in.

"I was in my second year in college when I got bored, so I dropped out." My eyes widened and my jaw dropped on the floor at the way he said that news nonchalantly.

'𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵.'

"What do you mean, it doesn't matter? 'You got bored?' It's fricki'n college asshat, and you already started it! So why stop?"

"Dunno, didn't feel like it."

I sat the almost full glass of water down on the countertop with a loud tud that echoed throughout the kitchen. Scrunching my nose up in frustration this conversation was causing me, I brought the glass up and downed the water in one go, releasing a breath immediately after finishing it.

Making my way to the sink, I sat my phone down on the countertop turning the speaker on. "You're unbelievable."

"I know right, I'm actually at the top of my class in Engineering. And when I said I was dropping out, my peers were hysterical. Professors even tried talking me out of it. But my mind was set, so I left."

"Your parents didn't stop you?" I said as placed the glass in running water, cleansing it with dish soap.

"At first they tried to stop me, but because I gave them a long enough essay of reasons worthy of Harvard standards, they eventually agreed and stopped making a fuss about it." I rolled my eyes.

"What parent won't make a fuss if their child incredulously dropped out of college out of nowhere?"

"Well, it won't matter if you've already done it, all they can do is accept it and move on."

"I can't believe you. I don't know if you're too brave or too much of an idiot."

"Ah shi— Why isn't it light enough? I literally poured the entire bottle already!"

I furrowed my eyebrows at his sentence, but decided not to bother myself by asking. This conversation already escalated far enough from my anticipation.

I let out a tired yawn before I spoke out my thoughts. "You're a top student but decided to just throw it all away. Basically, you're smart and stupid at the same time. You better fix that contradiction and choose a struggle, it usually drives people into being more dumb."

"Dumbest of all dumb!"

"That's not something to be proud of."

"Love who you are! And I love myself."

I closed my eyes shut, pinched the bridge of my nose, and released an exasperated sigh.

'𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘰.'

"Why are you even up? Or better ask myself, why am I still talking to you? This is not getting me anywhere. Goodness it's the same thing as yesterday I can't believe myself."

Quickly rinsing the used glass on the sink, I made my way up the stairs and headed to my room.

"Well, ultimately I slept throughout the day, so that's why I couldn't sleep. I couldn't do anything so I painted."

'𝘚𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.'

"And what matters does it concern me, to your painting that you have to call me?"

"Nothing! I just didn't have any idea, so I called you to ask some, or better yet admit that it was an excuse to call you, but then something popped out in my mind while I was talking to you, it was a total win."

My stomach twisted at a certain phrase he just said, making me confuse on what sensation that was. Shaking my head out of those thoughts, I brushed the feeling off and ignored it completely.

Closing the door behind me as I entered the room, I headed to my bed and plopped down.

"I hate the idea of the fact that I was used, but nevertheless, good for you, unlucky for me. And if you would excuse me Mr. Heliodor, I need my sleep. I have a long day ahead. Goodbye."

"Hey wait, you're doing it agai—"

At the sound of the beep, his sentence was cut alongside with it. Sighing, I let my body relax on my bed, gazing upon my ceiling, staring deeply into the pit of darkness looming above me. Turning to my side, I checked the time, showing me it was now 3:26 am.

Positioning myself to look the other way, I hugged a pillow and buried myself deep under the covers, hoping that sleep would visit me quickly and return me back to where I was interrupted earlier.

'𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯.'

Breathing deep and hard, I shook the thoughts off my brain and tried my best to blank out my mind.

But despite my refusal to not think anything about the matter, I still can't help thinking if I would really want to dream about him, if I was willing to be with his presence, even if it was just a dream, even if I knew very well that it would surely be accompanied by pain.

Either way, one thing was for sure.

'𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮.'

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