Spontaneous

Aayan was sitting on his bed at midnight. He had dark circles under his eyes and a pathetic look on his face. He sat hunched over, silently waiting for someone. Just then a knock could be heard on his door.

He opened the door and saw a woman standing in front of him. She had her hair in a ponytail and was wearing dark clothes with a backpack on. She looked more like a thief than anything. She called out his name.

"Mr Ayaan, I am here because you booked an appointment with the dreamers. My name is Myra, I'm sure you have been informed I would only arrive after midnight."

He wanted to comment on her fashion but decided not to. He invited her into his one bedroom apartment and she put down her backpack on the ground. She opened it and took some stuff out of it. There was a candle, a few incense like things, matches and a decorative item.

"This is an aromatic incense and candles, it helps to relax the mind and body. It will help you with your insomnia. If it doesn't work, we will even give you a refund."

She paused, her eyes flicking around the dim room. 

She then picked up that decorative item.

"A dream catcher will catch nightmares, it is complimentary."

"It would work. I'm going to set it up in your room now."

She puts the dreamcatcher on the fan and lights up the incense. Then she gets up and starts to leave. Aayan hands her a few bills according to what was agreed before on the phone. During this entire interaction he didn't even speak once, only gesturing when needed. He was too tired to make conversation.

"Let's see."

When she left he locked the door behind her. Then he laid on his bed. He was skeptical of all this but was already too far in to care. The incense was indeed relaxing, as he was thinking about her appearance his eyes became heavier. He soon started drifting to sleep.

A few minutes later, the door opened by itself and the woman entered the room. She took out two vials of some mystery liquid from her pocket and put a few drops of it in Aayan's mouth. Then she proceeded to throw a few drops of the other one around the room. A sigh could be heard from her.

She sat on the ground resting her back to the wall of the room. She looked at the clock resting on Aayan's bed, it read 12:30. She then tried to sleep as well.

—x—

I heard my alarm go buzz and hurriedly turned it off. I am the kind of person who can't wake up from his phone alarm so I keep a physical one instead. I looked at the time on the alarm clock with my sleepy eyes and i could read a blurry 6:30 AM.

As I tried to get off my bed I saw a dreamcatcher on the fan above. It looked a bit old and damaged. That is strange, it looked new yesterday.

I went to the bathroom to wash my face. As I looked in the mirror I realised, a few hours of sleep won't fix this mess of a face. If I remember correctly, I slept at around 12:30 which would mean I slept for a grand total of 6 hours today.

"I didn't think it would work. How did I sleep for more than 4 hours?." 

I called her when I found that number on a pamphlet I received in the mail. They were advertising products that can cure insomnia. I didn't expect much since it was so cheap but it was actually effective. It was cheaper than going to a doctor so I don't care if it is actually harmful in the long run.

There were a few more candles and incense on the table. If used wisely, I could sleep well for two days a week at least for this month. After this mental calculation, I started brushing.

While I was brushing my teeth I saw something move in the mirror. I turned my head but there was nothing behind me. If I saw it correctly then it was a blob of black colour but kind of transparent, my vision must be going bad due to my screen time. Paying no attention to it, I got prepared and left my house.

—x— 

While going to work I saw that same blob in the mirror of my bike. I ignored it but it would come back periodically, always appearing behind me in a mirror. It was a bit scary but I ignored it to the best of my abilities.

My coworkers asked about my day and I gave them the usual answer. My boss came into the office late today. He liked to reprimand others for being late but never cared to apply the rules to himself.

There wasn't much to do today, the most remarkable thing that happened today is when I got called once for a very simple problem that I 'fixed' in a minute. By 'fixing' I mean turning the power on their computer on and off. The day passed without doing much and I clocked out on time. 

However when I was 'fixing' the computer, I didn't see the blob on the screen's reflection. I thought maybe it had been fixed.

—x—

I returned to my rented apartment after work and sat on my bed after locking my door from the inside. While on my way back, I avoided looking into my reflection at any reflected surface. 

My salary at least allowed me to live by myself even though in a small apartment. A lot of my classmates were still living with their parents or in a shared apartment. I had an attached bathroom and got water on most days so there was not much to complain about.

I made dinner and sat in front of the tv. As it was turning on I replayed my day in my mind. I didn't do much today and didn't even feel tired. It felt as if it all happened so quickly. That might be bad, I might not be able to sleep today. I waited a while but the tv didn't turn on. Only white light came out of it. Not even the noisy one old tv's used to make. 

If the TV is broken I can't afford to fix it. It's second hand so the warranty has expired long ago. I looked at the time on the clock, it read 9 PM.

For no reason I looked up towards the dreamcatcher. I was examining it. It looked older and crustier than the last time I noticed it. Then in front of my eyes… it started lighting up. Then it erupted in flames. It started in the middle of it and quickly spread throughout it.