Finding My Way to You

A Long Awaited Meeting

Reaching his hand towards his nightstand, he went blindly searching for his phone. He had to notify that he would need someone to cover him for today. His phone read that it was a Tuesday, lucky him, no need of his presence until tomorrow, that'd be enough to calm himself, hopefully.

Soon he would kick himself out of his stupor, to figure out how to approach the dreamscape with this new information. Soon he would be up and about, writing word for word what he had seen. Soon he would gather his strength to continue.

But it didn't have to be right now.

✧✧✧

It has been a week exactly. His mind said it, the calendar said it, his phone said it, he had counted carefully. It has been an exact week, today being Tuesday once more.

It has been a week since he stopped sleeping properly. Not only had the hours stretched into the night, his dreams had been affected as well. No longer was he able to dream period.

Last Tuesday was the start of it, once he had been able to pass out around ten. He had been so... happy wasn't the word, but relieved to be able to head back to the maze. Hob had spent most of the day daydreaming of what he would do, only taking a brief pause to do his actual paid work.

To his surprise, he had gone straight to waking up early on the next day. It took him so long to snap out of it, thinking it was a trap set by the dream to lead him away. When that didn't seem the case, he then wondered if he had stumbled into a memory dream of his own.

It wasn't until he had pinched himself many times that he had gotten to understand the truth.

To his horror, this had continued for days, it was as if he would blink and wake up in the next morning. It hadn't been a onetime fluke, he had no say in this, it just kept happening. He had tried everything, from variations of sleeping hours, to relaxing techniques, to napping, to drinking tea, nothing had worked.

Hob hadn't even been visited by the memory dreams, even that would have been welcomed in comparison to the nothingness. To dreaming of just an empty, dark space that would disappear as one woke up. Even with the good hours of sleep, he didn't feel rested at all.

At least by now, he had figured out how to hide the disappointment and worry that filled him. The concern wound itself in his chest as he taught, him appearing normal in the eyes of his students. He was certain that he had been succeeding since less stares were felt over him, no questioning looks working him out.

Even his colleagues had returned after giving him much needed space. Many had asked about his wellbeing, but he just lied, stating that he was alright, he just had felt a bit ill. He was right as rain now.

Obviously, he wasn't. He had begun to depend on those stories in which he travels, and it had begun to show. He had been offered such an experience that he hated to see it go, to not be able to give it the ending it deserved.

The pitch darkness was also discomforting to him, reminding him a little too much about his childhood. For as sad as a thought that it was, he hoped that he was the only affected. He feared to find out that his friend had become captured again, or worse.

With some well placed questions, he found out that yes, only he was blocked from experiencing even the most basic of dreams. Hob took the good news for what it was, truly the best outcome. It did mean though that he would have to fight hard to gain access into the world again, to convince his friend.

From his many attempts, he had now landed on testing this lucid dreaming thing, willing his mind to break through whatever seal he was under. He researched extensively about it, no longer dabbling like he had before, going through any writing that mentioned the word. He knew there was little chance of mastering it in just a few days, but he would give it his all.