Illusion and Reality

My nightmares

A laugh escaped my lips as I looked at the raven sitting behind me on a rose bush.

I continued walking and reached my university on time. The day went by quickly with many normal classes and I was thankful for that. 

After all my lectures I finally said bye to everyone and started walking home, taking the same path and avoiding the florist shop.

A soft breeze blew my hair, I put the strand behind my ear and continued walking looking at the tall trees planted in perfect symmetry on both of the sides of the road. I was enjoying my walk in the calm neighborhood when I came across a mansion which I didn’t see in the morning.

It was a pale white 2 storey house with a garden covered in tall grasses. It looked out of the place in comparison to the perfectly trimmed lawn grass and expensive decorations of other gardens. Vines were hugging the building closely and the thick layers of dust spread on the windows were telling the tale of abandonment of the building that was once someone’s home.

I was looking at the house when out of nowhere a raven appeared in the fence. A small gasp left when I took two steps backward. 

“Hey, again birdie.”

I continued walking home but the raven kept appearing in my way, “leave me alone I don’t have anything for you creepy bird.”

Maybe I was wrong but it felt like the bird understood what I was saying and flew in the opposite direction. 

Another breeze touched my face gently, I hugged myself. The ringing of my phone pierced through the quiet environment, just as I was about to take my phone out the call got disconnected.

The raven appeared again on the bench about 3 steps away. I tried not to look at the beady eyes and started walking again, the feeling of being watched never left.

Dark clouds covered the blue sky and a thick mat of fog covered the land. An uneasy feeling filled my gut when I saw a figure standing few steps away.

Without wasting another second I ran until I was out of breath. 

Relief replaced my anxiety as I looked at Lily outside throwing away the trash.

She raised her eyebrow slightly looking at my condition.

“Raven…..fog…..”I whispered between the breaths.

I closed my eyes to take some deep breaths, not even a minute later I felt Lily’s hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.

“Breathe.”

“The bird….”

She looked around, “Did you call the bird ugly?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I am serious. One time I called a dog ugly and he made me run for almost 20 minutes. You know I’d rather bang my head on a wall than running for 20 damn minutes but I also hate injections so it was like choosing between staying in a room full of cockroaches or spiders. I made a smart decision. Anyway, where is your bird?”

“I’m pretty sure you scared the bird with your talking,”I replied with a small laugh.

She flipped her hair dramatically, “you’re welcome.”

I shook my head and followed her inside after giving one last look at the path where I came from.

I was sitting near a lake, the sun was beaming and the rays of the sun were dancing on the surface of the water. Birds were singing a melodious song together, everything was blissful. I got up when I heard the rustling of leaves from the entrance of the forest.

Out of curiosity, I followed the noise. My feet making soft crunching noise as I stepped on the dried leaves which filled my path.

No one was there except for the trees and the bushes.

A raven flew by me and without giving it much thought I followed the bird. The serene scenery changed completely after 10 steps, the tall trees were making me feel minuscule. The only way I could tell it was still day was by the rays of sun peeking through the tiny space left between the leaves in some places.

I heard the rustling of leaves again, this time it was closer. I continued to walk in the dense forest but no matter how much I tried I always ended up coming back to the same spot. I was getting anxious. 

Out of nowhere hundreds of ravens started hovering over my head, panic rose as my breaths started getting heavy.

Taking support from a tree I sat down, hugging my knees. My closed eyes couldn’t shut the panic rising in my chest.

When everything became silent, I slowly opened my eyes but the scene in front made me wish I didn’t open my eyes.

It was raining only difference was instead of water it was the rain of dead birds.

I ran and screamed as loud as I could, hoping someone would save me. Everything was useless in that unending forest maze.

All my anxiety and fear washed away as I heard that angelic voice asking me to follow her. I wiped a stray tear and started following the voice. A smile appeared on my lips at the sight of the lake where I was sitting. 

Someone was standing on the other end of the lake observing the whole scene, it was a man whose face was not visible.

“Listen to your heart,”-the same voice said.

I turned around to look at the source of the voice but slipped and fell into the lake.

I woke up drenched in sweat, it didn’t take me long to realize I had another dream. The dream felt real, my fear, anxiety everything was real.

But who was the man?

It was already 5 am. I went to the kitchen and prepared some chamomile tea to calm my nerves. 

I took a sip sitting on the balcony, looking at the sun spreading hope and joy with its rays accompanied by the euphonic chorus of birds.

I wasn’t feeling happy by listening to the sound of birds, it was a reminder of my nightmare and yet another sleepless night.

I took a cold shower to get rid of any thoughts and tiredness. I pulled a baby pink hoodie and ripped blue jeans from my closet. After applying makeup I put my hair in a messy bun and walked towards the kitchen.

My hunger was already dead I grabbed a granola bar and walked outside to get some fresh air.

After the last incident, I was happy to see the florist if it means avoiding the bird of my nightmares.

I successfully avoided the florist and made it on time. I had 10 minutes, I went to take my usual seat in the second row. 

Looking around I observed only 2 students were sitting on the last bench.

I froze on my way as I looked at the burgundy dahlia sitting on my chair.

Students started entering the classroom so I quickly hid the flower in my bag and took my seat.

Was it a prank? 

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“Lily?”I called her name as soon as I opened the front door, with everything happening with me I wanted to be more careful.

“In here,”I heard her voice coming from her room.

Different dresses covered her bed completely as Lily stood at the end of the bed watching them carefully, “I have nothing to wear.”

“You don’t have space in your closet to put any more clothes.”

She rolled her eyes, “I don’t have anything worth wearing.”

“Do I even want to know?”

She picked a lavender silk dress with thin straps, “There is a party in 2 days and I have nothing to wear for it.”

My eyebrows frowned in confusion, “What party?

An evil grin made its way on her face, “It’s a surprise. We need to go shopping.”

“I am not going anywhere,”I folded my arms. Lily was an extrovert which meant I was dragged to her parties where I always sat in the corner drinking and avoiding most of the people until Lily finds me.

“Don’t be a party pooper," she threw the dress back on the pile.

“I just want to get some sleep,”I argued.

She stopped looking at dresses, “No. You need to get a life besides I know you’ll watch some series and spoil it later for me.”

“I have clothes, I don’t have to go shopping.”

“My grandma has clothes why don’t we borrow some of her clothes for the party?”-she gave a pleading look.

I sighed in defeat, “Fine.”

“It will be so fun,”her words were laced with excitement.

Giving a small smile I left her room. I couldn’t ignore the feeling that something wrong’s just waiting around the corner to happen.

I locked the bedroom door and with shaky hands, I opened my bag. 

I put my hand in the bag to remove the flower only problem, there was no flower in my bag.