Whispers of a Forgotten Life

Aaria walked home, the evening breeze brushing against her skin. The stranger's name lingered in her mind. Siren. There was something oddly familiar about it, like a word she had heard in a dream but couldn't quite place.

Her fingers gripped the strap of her bag tighter as she replayed the brief encounter in her head. His eyes… They felt too intense, too deep—as if he had been searching for her his whole life.

She shook the thought away. That was ridiculous.

Yet, as she unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped inside, she couldn't shake the weight of the moment.

Her chest felt tight, like she had just touched something important but invisible.

Shrugging off the feeling, she went about her night, preparing for bed. But the moment she closed her eyes, the past came rushing toward her.

A dream.

Aaria stood in the middle of a vast ocean, though she wasn't drowning. The water was calm, stretching endlessly beneath a sky full of stars.

A voice called out to her. Gentle. Familiar. Full of longing.

She turned, searching for the source.

And then, she saw him.

A figure in the distance, standing at the shore. His presence was magnetic, heartbreaking. He reached for her, his expression full of emotions she didn't understand.

She tried to move toward him, but the waves suddenly rose between them, pushing her back.

"Wait." The voice was barely a whisper, but it sent a shiver through her body.

Her heart pounded.

The waves grew stronger, pulling her away.

She struggled, reaching for him, but the moment their fingers almost touched—

She woke up.

Aaria gasped, sitting up abruptly in bed. Her heart was racing, her breathing uneven. The dream clung to her mind, vivid yet frustratingly blurred.

Who was he? Why did it feel so… real?

A part of her wanted to dismiss it as nothing, but deep down, she knew—this wasn't the first time she had dreamed of that ocean.

And somehow, she had the unsettling feeling that it wouldn't be the last.