A Glimpse of life

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Waiting to fall asleep is my favourite part of the day. My life in my dreams was better than what I go through when I am awake. My life is mundane with my regular wake up – eat -work -eat – sleep. I can rest when I'm sleeping, but sleeping also gives me hope. A hope that I can look forward to living a better life. All I must do is wait. But waiting is boring. My life seems better in my dreams. I have gotten married and had a child in there. What more do I want than watching myself lead a happy life? But one day the continuous dreams of my life flourishing, disappeared, just like that. I did not know why. But I continued to live my life. Hoping for the same experience I had in my dreams.

Getting back to my work. I become a workaholic in a few weeks. It kept me busy, and I almost forgotten about my dreams. After finishing my work, I nodded a goodbye to the security and left the office. It was late in the evening. The sky was a mixture of gold and purple in colour. A rare scene that left me in awe. I was so lost in the scenery that I forgot that I was waiting for the traffic light to cross the road. The green signal to cross was already blinking, indicating its too late to cross the road now. In a rash thought, I was about to make a run for the crossing. That is when someone stopped me by hugging. I was startled.

"Mom!" exclaimed the kid in school uniform.

He is too tall for a student, might I add.

"I'm sorry. What?" I asked, taking a step back.

I do not know why I can feel a bunch of gazes at me. It is not even a school zone.

Maybe he mistook me for his mom. He did stop me from running across the road, though.

"Ah, you look like my mom! Just a bit older!" He said excitedly.

I was taken aback. This kid just called me old. Never in my dreams, I would think someone would call me an old person. I get it. I am aging.

He was still looking at me with a bright smile on his face.

"I came from there!" He said, pointing at the opposite side of the road.

I looked at the place dumbfounded.

'Yeah, that's the place he walked from?' I thought to myself.

"That's where your house is?" I asked, not knowing what he wanted to say.

"No, look again. There's my school!"

School? I looked closer, and the work buildings turned into a school.

I took a step back in confusion.

I wanted to take a closer look, but its traffic signal is still red in colour, so I cleaned my glasses and look at the opposite side of the road. There was a sign saying, 'school safety zone - drive slowly'.

Still in shock, I looked around, and everything else is the same. I could not believe I was not aware of a school being built near my workplace.

I quickly took out my phone and searched for schools near me.

"What are you doing?" The kid asked me.

"Ah-what? What are still doing here? Do you need any help?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just thought you looked like my mom. So I wanted to say hi!"

"Okay. Is not it getting late? You should go back home! Your parents might be waiting."

"No ones at home. My dad is working!"

He did not mention his mom. So I didn't ask further.

"Okay, my bus is here. See ya!" He said his farewell and walked back when the traffic light turns green.