A Nightmare

A Nightmare

"W-why? Why do you have to die again? W-when will we win… I-I failed again…"

I woke up suddenly, my body sweating profoundly.

What was that? Was that a nightmare?

I saw a boy in his late teens; crying and holding a girl in his arms who also appeared to be the same age as the boy. Whatever that was, it scared the heck out of me.

"Oh, you are awake. Why do you look so scared?" asked my father. "Did you see a nightmare?" His hair was wet which probably meant he just took a bath.

"Yeah…"

"Don't worry, it happens sometimes. Don't pay attention to it. Just go and take a bath, you will forget it in no time," my father said, patting my head.

I got up, brushed my teeth, and took a bath hoping to forget that nightmare.

After eating the breakfast, my father left for work. He was a guard at a local farm and protected the fields from trespassers and wild animals.

"Anant," my mom called.

"Yes?"

"I am going shopping; you want to come?"

"No. I want to practice with my sword," I replied.

"Alright, but don't get hurt and don't go too far from the house. I will be back in an hour-or-so," said my mother.

"Alright, take care," I said as she left the house.

I always watched dad whenever he trained with his sword and that made me tempted to try it myself. I requested him to make me a wooden sword. I wanted to learn how to use it, but my mother was totally against it.

With his majestic charms, my father somehow convinced her to let him make me a wooden sword. But I was allowed to practice only when father was around. As weeks passed by, I got better— at least I hope so— and was allowed to practice alone.

I went to the backyard to do training with my little wooden sword. I gripped it properly with my both hands, readied my stance, and did some strikes in the air.

"ONE! TWO! THREE!"

I repeated the process for half-an-hour when I finally got tired and took a break.

I still have to improve on my stance and grip… but I am slowly improving and that's a plus point.

After doing some more exercise I sat down, tired from all the practice that I just did. As I was thinking about the day, my tired mind suddenly remembered the nightmare I experienced in the morning. I still couldn't forget it.

Who were the people that I saw in my nightmare? Are they connected to me or my family somehow? Don't tell me I have some kind of superpower that can predict the future.

My childish brain was running wild, thinking childish things that probably won't be true.

As I was occupied on my thoughts, I saw my mother coming from the streets, both of her hands were busy holding the bags. I went to her to see what she bought.

"You are still practicing?" she asked.

"I am done," I replied, peeking on the bags to see what she had bought.

"Here, help me carry these bags."

"Alright." I carried one of the bags.

As we were walking, a pebble made my mother slip and she fell to the ground.

"A-are you alright? Did you get hurt?" I asked worryingly. I put down the bag I was holding and helped her to get up.

"Don't worry. I'm fine," she said. But I can see the blood coming from her peeled skin that made me worried. She noticed I was looking at her bruises.

"It's just a minor injury. It won't kill me. You don't have to worry," she said, comforting me with her gentle smile.

But when I heard my mother's words, suddenly my head started hurting awfully bad.

"Urgh!"

Ur-urgh! My head… What's happening? Why is it suddenly hurting so bad?!

And just when I thought it couldn't get worse, suddenly distorting images flashed before my very eyes.

"You don't have to worry about me. This won't kill me. You go and win this war that has snatched everything from everyone."

What the… What did I just see. Who are they?

In the distorted images, I saw a woman who appeared to be a bit older than my mother, talking to a boy in his late teens. Before I could process anything, the pain hit me once again and I fell to my knees.

Seeing me in pain got my mother worried, she asked impatiently, "What happened?! Are you alright? Did you get hurt when you were practicing?"

I slowly got up. My head still hurting, but the pain was going away slowly.

"I'm fine mom. It was just a headache I suddenly got," I responded, not wanting to get her worried.

"Really? Because we can go to a doctor."

"Really, I am fine. The headache is gone. Now let us carry these bags and apply some medicine on your bruises," I said before going inside the house.

"If you say so…" replied my mother, doubts still visible on her face.

What was that vision? Was it connected to the nightmare I had this morning? But the woman was talking to a different guy. He wasn't the one whom I saw in the nightmare this morning. I don't know what the heck is happening— but one thing is clear— this day was a nightmare for me.