𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞

𝟐. 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞

I found myself still in standing inhaling the fresh air, still lost in my dreams. I shifted my eyes and immediately saw the dark, black sky which was full of small shiny stars. So, after all it was true, I had slept all the way to here. All these lost hours. I had so much time. So much time that I always let it slide through my fingers like worthless pennies. So much time that I watched it drain like water in a tub. So much time that I let it vanish like a magician in an act. As times passed, I realized that I had so much time, and I had wasted it. It was, to put it frankly, a very long and tiring ride, but then again we had no one to drive us here. Who would even dare to cross the door of our aunt's house? nobody. Not even our dad.

I quickly paid the driver, after that, I headed towards our aunt's house, it was big, very big. Against the midnight black sky the house looked just like any other in the district, red brick with a peaked roof of slate. In the daylight its state was more apparent. The bricks were of another era, not solid red like the others but swirled with other hues giving the two storey dwelling a mottled look.

The window frames were not the ubiquitous plastic of the estate not far away, but wooden with large flakes of white paint lying like dandruff, or at least that's how I remembered it. The outside of the old house was covered in a kind of red tile that had been ripped away in places to expose the wooden skeleton beneath. Nothing grew around it, everything was dead with a tint of yellow and black.

I checked the time on my phone, it was already eleven and I could barely keep my eyes open. The ghostly figure of that man was playing on repeat in my head but I tried to think about something else. The overgrown branches covered the door as if it was warning me off, but a deal was a deal so I pulled away the branches without a sweat and opened the door. It made a creaking noise like every abandoned house did and then slammed shut behind us. 'It's just the wind' I tried to convince myself.

We entered the house without checking it out, we went straight to our beds and drifted into a sweet sleep, which took us both to strange and peculiar worlds. I described falling asleep as like being caught in a carousel of thoughts.

Every idea, notion and event from my day would replay in my mind, demanding analysis before I could be allowed to sleep. And then finally when the carousel came to a stop and my mind was able to meander freely in the random thought that was the precursor of sleep, I would often realize that I was close to drifting off and my anxiety would start the carousel up all over again. On that night I dreamt about the mysterious man again, the same meadow, the same ghostly figure and the same cold feeling.

As soon as we woke up, I saw Alice singing filled with energy for our first day in Snowshill. We had decided to stay in th same room, it was better for us, the house was pretty big and we appeared so small compared to it. Our room was plan, not many furniture inside ecept of two beds and an old brown couch. I still couldn't believe that we were here. It was a village in our dear country England, it was very famous for its long lavender fields that they would absolutely take everyone's breath away. Fields filled with lavender, sweet and purple. The green stalks swaying in the wind, the flowers filling the air with their fragrance.

Whenever I came here, I felt nostalgia. When I was younger, I wanted to explore every little corner of Snowshill. There was certainly no other place like it. Many of our happiest childhood memories were here, we were spending our whole summer with our aunt. She was a very special lady, after our mother died aunt Grace was like a ray of light when we needed it the most.

There was something about that place that seemed to make all my problems fade away. It was something out of a fairytale. My own fairytale, that I was hoping to live one day. They say that there is a special place like no other on earth for everyone, a place full of wonder and mystery. Snowshill was that place for me. My eyes drifted to the garden which was visible from the room's window. The garden was always a shade brighter. The buttercups were gold, the grass the shade of every dreamers meadow, roots quenched, soil renewed. It was strange to see how big it was, and how secluded. 

"Daydreaming again?" Alice's voice dissolved my complex thoughts.

We started getting dressed, wearing our warmest clothes and after that we unpacked our things while enjoying the breathtaking view from our window. Up here, was like looking down at the world. We could see the trees, the flowers and the many busy people going on about the day. Up here was like standing on a giants back exploring the world with awe.

After a while, we decided to explore the village and go for a walk, after all, we hadn't visited Snowshill in about ten or eleven years now. As soon as we walked out of the house, a cold yet perfectly refreshing breeze playfully pushed my hair back.

In that particular moment I realized something. To be honest, I was glad I could get away from home, I had a secret, a deep dark secret, which I tried to keep hidden from everyone. I tried to be normal, tried to lead a normal life but how could I do this while every single night I was dreaming, dreaming of things that actually happened. Whatever I saw in my sleep the previous night, happened the very next day. Someone would call it a blessing, I called it a curse.

The strange thoughts that once sunk me into new realities with graceful ease, never leaving a trace or a clue they had taken hold, still came and went like they did before. Each was a florid daydream, not viewed like a movie, but lived in first person. I tried to convince myself that I was stone cold sane. In fact, I safer from insanity than anyone else. Others could fall, become lost in the mental maze of their mind, but I couldn't. I always knew. The dreams came, becoming reality the next day and then left. Forever.

"It's not bad," Alice said while looking around satisfied.

I took a moment and looked at the big traditional old house we were supposed to live in. "It's beautiful," I replied with a smile. I looked around me, first, the threatening clouds that were eating the blue sky and then, the fog that made it almost impossible for me to see.

"Come on, we have a lot to do today," she told me with an exciting tone. "An adventurous day awaits us," Alice shifted her attention and looked far away, she pointed at something. I really didn't understood where she was pointing at, I couldn't see much.

"Out there 'The Bridge Of Fire' is waiting for us, sis," she told me excited. "Now let's go eat breakfast and then off we go."

I turned and looked at that Bridge, it was far away from us but I had a strange feeling about it. Just before it happened there was this vague sense of familiarity that washed over me as I walked towards Alice. Just seconds before I started walking I knew that this had happened before and I could predict my next move only a millisecond before it happened. The mysterious man would appear sooner or later.

As we were walking we came across a small traditional cafe. I walked towards it and tried to open the heavy wooden door, the door knob felt icy upon my palm, the door slowly swung open with a creak. Beneath my feet the wooden floor felt soft, not as much as a carpet, but not right for oak planks. I moved to the edge of the cafe, my jeans brushing against the mildewed wall. It was the same as we remembered it , just abandoned, old and dusty. No one was inside. On the wall was a school photograph probably taken many years ago.

"Hello, anyone here?" Alice yelled, her voices echoing inside the cafe. Her only answer was the creaking of the door moving lazily in the breeze. There was no one inside so we quickly got out and continued our walk towards the Bridge Of Fire.