the dream (Thia)

It had been so long since I'd had a dream like this. I couldn't even remember when the last one was. I thought they'd stopped. I thought they'd stopped. Would've been glad if they had. But that night I had a dream.

It was dark at first so I couldn't quite tell where I was. I could hear running water, feel cold rock underneath me, hard, jagged and smelling the way that damp concrete smelt like after it's just been raining. Was it some sort of cave? There was no daylight to be seen so it must've been pretty deep. Where was the water coming from?

There was a light starting to show at the far end. Someone was coming in, coming towards me. slowly it got closer and it started to show the silhouette of a man but I still couldn't quite make out his features. Then I spoke, with A woman's voice I vaguely recognised. "What have you done?"

The man came into view and the sight of him made me shiver. "I have made a deal, my dear Isinyer."

I woke up, mouth dry and head pounding. The heavy breathing didn't help. Sitting bolt upright I placed a hand on my head. It was just a dream. It probably didn't mean a thing. But then…Isinyer…that was my mother's name…

My eyes went to my necklace, laying on the bedside table. It had been a gift from Jay's dad. He'd said it had belonged to my mother. The only time I took it off was to sleep.

I shook my head. It was a dream! My mum has been dead for years. I didn't even know her. Deciding sitting there just thinking about it wouldn't help anything I got up, put on my pyjama jumper, picked up my Odo teddy and headed out.

The base was quiet and empty. I guessed everyone was already in bed. I'd wandered around here many times before but not in the dead of night, and it was a long walk from the apartment to the cafeteria, since the latter was on the lowest level. There were no elevators here but there were escalators, but in my distracted still-half-asleep state I thought it best not risk them and headed for the stairs instead. When I reached that level, I started to remember the time I came to this place. Everything seemed so bright and joyful as I gazed around in wonder, walking through those doors. I never could've imagined how things would start to go so terribly since then.

I was expecting the cafeteria to be empty, which was why I was so surprised when I saw a single, lone figure sitting at one of the tables looking over a pile of papers.

"Brain?"

The figure looked up. "What are you still doing up?" He sounded mildly surprised.

I stood in the doorway for a moment, clutching my odo under one arm. "I was thirsty."

He looked at me a moment, his expression softening, then nodded towards the kitchen. Us kids weren't really aloud in there but I took that gesture to mean he was allowing me.

"You should keep a water bottle by your bed" he said as I looked in the cupboard for a cup, the sleeve of my pyjama jumper slipping back as I reached up. "That way you won't have to get up to get a drink."

I turned to face him "I might just do that" before turning the tap on and putting the beaker under the running water. Running water. Like in the dream. To try and distract myself, after taking a sip from the drink I decided to repeat his question back at him. "What are you still doing up?"

He looked back at the papers "Oh just…sorting out some old letters. Why did he seem to look a little sad right then? "Not disturbing you I hope."

He shook his head. "Not at all. Actually…" He jumped up suddenly "I'm glad I got this chance to see you." He started reaching into his uniform pocket. "I've been meaning to give you something." He pulled out a small little chip, one you plug into your phone. I'd seen these kinds of chips before. "A book?"

He smiled at me and nodded. "It was one of my favourites when I was a boy. It was…supposed to be a Christmas but…I didn't really wanna make a scene of giving it to you so I thought I'd just…hold on to it and wait for the right time.

I took the chip and held it up. It was just about the same size as the palm of my hand. "What's it about?"

"War…and, mental disabilities."

"Mental di—da what?!" that gave me pause. It only made him laugh. "Just trust me. It's perfect." One thing I liked about Brain…He was one of the few people who could understand my autism. It always scared me hearing other people's interpretation of it because they almost always got it wrong.

"But th—d-how would the writer know how to write about mental disabilities?"

"Because the writer was mentally disabled."

It took me a moment to realise what he was saying.

"That's perfect!" I said, perhaps a little too loud. Brain raised a finger to his lips but was still grinning after glancing towards the doorway.

When I got back to my room, instead of going back to sleep I decided to check out this new book. I read the first chapter…and continued reading till I fell asleep…