"I won't let you fall, Ophelia. Ever. I will catch you. Always." He said, as I stared into his ocean blue eyes.
"But what if you can't? What if the fall is inevitable?"
And I knew I was going to fall. A fall so hard that maybe I would never recover...
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Dreamland is a tricky place if you ask me. One second, you are lost in your own world and the next, everything fades away to show the reality. The reality that whatever you dreamed of was just a figment of your inner desires, things you couldn't have yet things you wished you did.
The only time I had serious nightmares were when mom was ill. She was hospitalized and the whole family knew what was coming. She did too and accepted it with a smile. She was a spirit worth her years. She was my most favorite person in the world and watching her die wasn't easy. It could not be for anyone but we were strong. Strong for her, for dad. For our little Cole who had no idea what was going on. The only thing he knew was that he saw his mom less and less every day. He cried and bawled while Natalie and I did our best to look after the youngest lover of our mother.
It has been years but still, there are times when I see her in my dreams. Reciting to the songs that I slept to. And they weren't nightmares. They were far from that. I remember her face, the same face that sometimes appears in my dreams and then makes me aware of the reality that I can never see her again or see her mock dad or reprimand Nat or fight that she is an awesome cook or announce what she will name her grandkids. She was as farsighted as one could be.
But then the dreams end, pushing me to the reality as I open my eyes to stare at the ceilings, well aware that she is not near me.
Though today was different.
I slightly moved as I felt someone caress my cheeks lightly.
It was a light touch. Just enough to send my emotions in a state of confusion. It was a touch of care and I sighed in my half sleep.
Maybe it was a dream. Maybe she was here. Maybe I should...just continue to sleep.
And I was determined to do that until another stroke to my face woke me up even more. My eyes still closed, I leaned in the calming touch as a hand cupped my cheeks. It took everything in me to open my eyes and let go of the dream.
And the moment I opened them, I was hit by another.
My half opened eyes saw the hazel ones and expanded to their full size till my face blossomed into a smile.
"Rise and shine Stel." She whispered.
She sat beside my bed, her arm on edge of my bed tucked under her chin. She was smiling with her free hand still on my jaw.
The sunrays flew in through the curtains and fell on her open hair, giving it a slight brandy tinge. The hazel eyes, completely void of sleep unlike mine, looked my way with everything that she was made of.
Ophelia Hale is an art.
And she had no idea about it.
"What are you doing here?" Closing my eyes, I relished in her touch.
