A Bearable Dream

Now that the readers reached their ends. A tragic abrupt ending that did not make any sense and I can promise you it will not. Because even in the end of the story, death will remain as meaningless as the lives that are not lived. 

At most, it was a tragic coincidence. At worst, it was their fate. But ultimately, it was a beginning. A vow to a new life. For better or for worse. And now that was up to you to find out. 

Afterall, a story is all up to the reader.

A story was to the readers.

To define.

To pursue. 

To love or to hate.

And in this story the only readers lived through the story. Lived through one story. The only thing common in all four was that they loved the same words. But in the end they were different people from different places, with different lives. Thus their beginnings would be different. Just like their ends.

And ofcourse, lovers were always a pair.

So when Kleuren opened his eyes, he found Ananika. The sun kissed her face. He stared at her for ten whole minutes.

He knew something was wrong. But before the storm there should be the calm. To let one prepare. 

He was lying on his side, then on his back. Staring at the two bright spheres that pierced through the forest canopy. He was sure they were dead. Or in a dream. He hoped it would be the latter.

He hoped on every God he did not pray to, to make it a dream. He dreamt he was dreaming. And if it was death, he could believe that his final seven minutes would be ananika. She was his life. In every moment of his. She was there.

But what we want is rarely what we get. 

And as Ananika woke up, Kleuren stared at her. 

She looked at him, reaching out for his face. Softly caressing it. He could feel her cold hands. She placed a chaste kiss on his cheeks.

"Am I in heaven?" She grinned.

"No hell." He rolled his eyes, red dusting his face.

"Well devils are supposed to be sexy." She chuckled.

"Shut up." He looked away. No bite in his voice.

"Where are we?" She stretched and looked around.

"A dream." He answered as he stood up. Holding a hand out for her.

"Really?" She was not sure. Most people would not be.

"I don't know." He sighed, and she held his hands then looked above. 

"Wow, there are two suns." Her voice was feeble. Fading by the end.

"See, could be a dream?" He laughed shakily.

"Maybe." She fidgeted.

"Maybe." He looked around.

"Do you remember the train crash?" The brown haired girl did not know whether she should talk about it.

"I remember you dying." The green eyed boy started walking towards a tree, tracing it softly. She followed.

"Maybe that was a dream too." He turned around to look at her. Tears in his eyes, his smile shaky. 

"I think that was real." She looked down at her sneakers. Stepping on her toes, to calm herself down.

"Yeah." He said.

Then there was silence. He swallowed back his tears.

"I know." He watched her, his eyes glossy again.

"Please. Please don't die again." He was shaking.

"Who knows." She was confused. Why was he acting like that?

"I won't cook for you if you die." He tried to joke.

"I won't die, how would I die anyway." Her voice was firm and strong.

"I think this is the world of 'Record of arrogance.' No, I am sure." He voiced, biting his lips.

"Why?" She was baffled. Was this actually a dream?

"Remember the scene where Lae wrote L plus E on a tree?" He wiped his tears.

"Uh-huh."

He moved from the front of the tree, letting her see the words marked inside a heart.

"It could be someone else." She stammered.

"The two suns?" He questioned.

"Dream!"

"We died." He said softly.

"So maybe this is heaven?"

"Or hell."

"Stop saying nonsense." She ran her hands through her hair.

"We are probably dreaming." She breathed in.

"Yeah, dreaming." She breathed out.

They remained silent.

Ananika sat down. Braiding her hair. Then unbraiding.

Kleuren started to pick on the tree. Splinter by splinter.

"We…should get out of the forest." Kleuren started.

"Yeah." Ananika continued braiding her hair.

"Kleuren." she spoke after a moment of silence.

"Yeah?" He looked at her.

"I'm scared."

"Me too."

They quietly stood up.

"I don't need to be scared. You could be wrong." Ananika sounded like she wanted to be brave.

"Yeah." Kleuren walked behind her, taking soft steps.

"Maybe one of us is dreaming." She looked at him.

"Yeah." He did not.

"Hallucinating together?" She giggled frantically.

"Yeah."

"I'm sure we are not even dead." She raised her pitch.

"Yeah."

"Maybe, we will wake up with a broken bone." She could feel her heartbeat in her ears.

"Yeah."

"And then we will complete our universities." She turned towards him and held his shoulders, shaking him. Her eyes wide open.

"Yeah."

"We are only twenty." Her voice was begging for a reaction.

"Yeah."

"Stop it." She raised her voice, snapping her neck towards him.

"I'm sorry." He did not look at her.

"Why are you even this sad?" Ananika asked, not believing her own words.

"I don't know." He sighed.

"I really don't know." He started to look at her.

"My instincts are screaming at me." His voice was tender like a wound.

Ananika looked at Kleuren. Whose eyes looked the same as hers.

She took a breath in.

Again and again.

"Let's get out of the forest." Ananika looked at the sun, though it was bright, she did not know how far away they needed to go so that they could find something to eat.

"It could be dangerous." She softly hugged him, then let him go.

"Ok." He looked at her eyes.

"Stop losing hope at everything." Her voice was rough.

"No." 

"Shut up."

"No."

"Damn you."

"No."

"I hate you."

"No."

"What no."

"You don't hate me."

"Maybe."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"Shut up."

A silence settled. 

Both of them did not know what to say. Not to comfort. Not to whisper love. They just existed in each other's lives.

But that was enough.

Right now, it was all they needed.

This dream was a bit bearable when they were together.