Something like that

Editado por: Rita Costa

Nate always knew when he was dreaming. It had become sort of a superpower. Tonight, the bench he was sitting on was too stiff, the ocean view too blue. And, of course, she was there.

“I never understood your thing with the ocean,” she said. He could feel her presence even before she started speaking. She had always been like this, impossible to ignore.

“I mean, I sort of get it. It’s the sea and it’s poetic and all that. But if you really think about it, it’s just water.” He wouldn’t look at her, not right away. He didn’t dare to spoil it.  Still, it felt good to hear her voice.

“You could be watching so many other things, why the ocean?”

“It calms me,” Nate said. “It smells like home.”

“Do you miss home?” She asked.

Nate turned to look at her. It pained him how real she looked, how her dreamy green eyes laid focused on him. Full of love. Full of hope.

“I miss you, mostly,” he said. “And the sea.” She laughed and Nate felt a warm sense of accomplishment. She leaned back on the bench and sighed.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked.

“Oh nothing. Just how nice things could have been if you hadn’t left me.”

The sky started to darken. Clouds full of tempest and rage made the ocean twist and turn. She looked at him, her expression blank, unreadable. 

“Oh, Nate.” She was speaking, but her mouth remained closed. Her words echoed through his skull.

“You shouldn’t have left me.”

The storm erupted like an exploding volcano. Lighting ripped the skies and terrified the land as gallons of water towered above them, ready for his impending doom. Reason was lost when panic was so present. Nate was going to die there; he was going to die in a dream. There was nothing left to do besides wait for the ocean to take him.

Nate woke up gasping for air and life. The familiar sight of his bedroom made his desperation seem silly. It was just a dream. Beside him, she slept peacefully.

“Honey,” she murmured, “are you okay?” 

“Sorry for waking you,” Nate said, “but I am, now that I see you.” He hugged her tightly and breathed in the scent of home. 

“Did you have another nightmare?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Nate smiled. “I’m just so glad you’re here.”

“I know. It would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Nate asked. “Are you still asleep?”

“If I was here,” she said, her expression hollow, “but I’m not. You killed me. Don’t you remember?”

Nate didn’t understand. That wasn’t possible, he would never… he could never. Nate loved her more than anything in this world.

“I told you I didn’t want this anymore. And you killed me. And left me to rot. Don’t you remember?”

“That can’t be true, you’re lying!” Nate rose from his bed. “How are you here talking to me then?”

“I’m not.”

Nate woke up sweating. His cell smelled like damp concrete and rotten eggs, and he could tell he had slept past breakfast.

 “Another nightmare?” his cellmate asked.

“Yeah,” Nate said. “Something like that.”