24 Hours
Jeremy (01:00 - 02:00)
She takes my hand with all the force of a whisper, and laces her fingers into mine, gently resting her head on my chest. With every breath I take I can feel her head rising and falling, but if it bothers her she doesn't say anything. She never says anything.
She doesn't need to speak for me to know what she is thinking. I can tell just from a smile, or a nudge, or a distant gaze in her eyes, exactly what she wants me to know. Tonight she is happy, and I can tell because she sighs contentedly and when she looks up at me with those beautiful brown eyes they are sparkling and it is perfect.
She opens her mouth to say something but before she can, she begins to fade, and I know that it's over.
"No," I whisper, my hand clutching for hers but grabbing onto only the air around me. "Not yet. Don't go yet."
But she is already gone.
Everything is upside down tonight, or maybe it's just me. But either way, I barely even notice because I'm too busy thinking about the girl from my dreams. She is there every night, and gone every morning. Sometimes the dreams last no longer than a few minutes before I wake up alone again, wondering who she is and why I dream of her and where she goes.
Frustrated at letting her slip away once again, I let out a long sigh and sat back upright, gazing from my spot at the rooftop across the neighbourhood and at everybody else's rooftops. This is where I like to come and sit after one of my dreams because out here it is just me and the stars and the rooftops and I can sit and I can think.
It's always about her. Ever since the first dream started, nearly 2 weeks ago, I've been out here every night sighing and sitting and thinking.
Tonight was different, although I didn't know it yet.
I was just vacantly staring at the North star when I heard a cough from the ground, and I very nearly lost my balance and fell right off of the roof. Looking down from the gutter, my eyes came into contact with a pair of sparkling brown eyes that seemed frighteningly familiar.
In fact, the more I stared down at the girl on the ground, the more convinced I was that it was her. The girl from my dreams. She had dark hair instead of blonde, and she was a little shorter than I imagined, but those eyes and that face were unmistakeable.
"Why are you sitting on the rooftop?" she called up, her voice soft and inquisitive. I adored her voice instantly. I could listen to it all day.
I cracked a faint smile and slid to the edge of the roof, my feet dangling off the side and gently hitting against the bricks beneath them. I couldn't believe she was here and she was talking to me, in real life. I wondered sadly if this was just another dream or if I had gone insane or if my dreams were finally coming true.
"I couldn't sleep," I replied.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around her torso, her hands covering the white flesh of her bare arms.
"Are you cold?" I asked.
"Freezing," she replied.
I nodded. "Do you want me to bring you down a jacket?"
She tilted her head to one side and smiled and then I knew that it was really her. There was no mistaking that smile. No way.
"I'd love that," she said.
"Okay," I grinned. "One minute."
I crawled back up to my bedroom window and shimmied through, grazing my hip against the frame as I hurried. I was terrified that if I took too long, she might be gone again.
Grabbing my favourite grey hoodie, I tiptoed down the stairs and out of the front door, crossing everything I had that she would still be there on the lawn.
Thankfully, she hadn't moved, and greeted me with another warm smile as she took the jacket from my hands.
"Thank you so much," she beamed, slipping her arms into the fabric and pulling it over her head. "I thought I was going to get hypothermia."
I laughed and then we looked at each other for a long time, both just smiling and shivering. I hadn't realised how cold it really was, and I was in nothing but my boxer shorts and a T-shirt.
"I'm Alice," said Alice, holding out a hand for me to shake. Of course she was Alice. Alice was perfect.
"I'm Jeremy," I told her, and I felt a jolt course through my veins as our skin touched and our hands shook all-too-briefly before they were back by our sides.
"Why are you here, Alice?" I finally asked her, stepping from one foot to the other in the hope that it would stop me from shivering.
She shrugged. "Can't a girl wander the streets at-" She paused to check her wristwatch - "at 1.58am without people asking questions?"
"No," I said.
"Oh," she said. "Well, I dunno. I guess I couldn't sleep either." And then she shot me this really weird sideways glance, as if she was trying to figure something out, or ask me a question with her eyes. Which I was used to from the dreams. "You look familiar, Jeremy," she said slowly, her eyebrows arched.
"So do you," I replied.
She smiled again. "Perhaps we have already met."
I nodded and, with baited breath, I intertwined my fingers with hers. Softly, she began to lean against me, until her head was resting on my shoulder and her breath was tickling my neck.
"Perhaps we have," I whispered.
She doesn't need to speak for me to know what she is thinking. I can tell just from a smile, or a nudge, or a distant gaze in her eyes, exactly what she wants me to know. Tonight she is happy, and I can tell because she sighs contentedly and when she looks up at me with those beautiful brown eyes they are sparkling and it is perfect.
She opens her mouth to say something but before she can, she begins to fade, and I know that it's over.
"No," I whisper, my hand clutching for hers but grabbing onto only the air around me. "Not yet. Don't go yet."
But she is already gone.
###########################################
Everything is upside down tonight, or maybe it's just me. But either way, I barely even notice because I'm too busy thinking about the girl from my dreams. She is there every night, and gone every morning. Sometimes the dreams last no longer than a few minutes before I wake up alone again, wondering who she is and why I dream of her and where she goes.
Frustrated at letting her slip away once again, I let out a long sigh and sat back upright, gazing from my spot at the rooftop across the neighbourhood and at everybody else's rooftops. This is where I like to come and sit after one of my dreams because out here it is just me and the stars and the rooftops and I can sit and I can think.
It's always about her. Ever since the first dream started, nearly 2 weeks ago, I've been out here every night sighing and sitting and thinking.
Tonight was different, although I didn't know it yet.
I was just vacantly staring at the North star when I heard a cough from the ground, and I very nearly lost my balance and fell right off of the roof. Looking down from the gutter, my eyes came into contact with a pair of sparkling brown eyes that seemed frighteningly familiar.
In fact, the more I stared down at the girl on the ground, the more convinced I was that it was her. The girl from my dreams. She had dark hair instead of blonde, and she was a little shorter than I imagined, but those eyes and that face were unmistakeable.
"Why are you sitting on the rooftop?" she called up, her voice soft and inquisitive. I adored her voice instantly. I could listen to it all day.
I cracked a faint smile and slid to the edge of the roof, my feet dangling off the side and gently hitting against the bricks beneath them. I couldn't believe she was here and she was talking to me, in real life. I wondered sadly if this was just another dream or if I had gone insane or if my dreams were finally coming true.
"I couldn't sleep," I replied.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around her torso, her hands covering the white flesh of her bare arms.
"Are you cold?" I asked.
"Freezing," she replied.
I nodded. "Do you want me to bring you down a jacket?"
She tilted her head to one side and smiled and then I knew that it was really her. There was no mistaking that smile. No way.
"I'd love that," she said.
"Okay," I grinned. "One minute."
I crawled back up to my bedroom window and shimmied through, grazing my hip against the frame as I hurried. I was terrified that if I took too long, she might be gone again.
Grabbing my favourite grey hoodie, I tiptoed down the stairs and out of the front door, crossing everything I had that she would still be there on the lawn.
Thankfully, she hadn't moved, and greeted me with another warm smile as she took the jacket from my hands.
"Thank you so much," she beamed, slipping her arms into the fabric and pulling it over her head. "I thought I was going to get hypothermia."
I laughed and then we looked at each other for a long time, both just smiling and shivering. I hadn't realised how cold it really was, and I was in nothing but my boxer shorts and a T-shirt.
"I'm Alice," said Alice, holding out a hand for me to shake. Of course she was Alice. Alice was perfect.
"I'm Jeremy," I told her, and I felt a jolt course through my veins as our skin touched and our hands shook all-too-briefly before they were back by our sides.
"Why are you here, Alice?" I finally asked her, stepping from one foot to the other in the hope that it would stop me from shivering.
She shrugged. "Can't a girl wander the streets at-" She paused to check her wristwatch - "at 1.58am without people asking questions?"
"No," I said.
"Oh," she said. "Well, I dunno. I guess I couldn't sleep either." And then she shot me this really weird sideways glance, as if she was trying to figure something out, or ask me a question with her eyes. Which I was used to from the dreams. "You look familiar, Jeremy," she said slowly, her eyebrows arched.
"So do you," I replied.
She smiled again. "Perhaps we have already met."
I nodded and, with baited breath, I intertwined my fingers with hers. Softly, she began to lean against me, until her head was resting on my shoulder and her breath was tickling my neck.
"Perhaps we have," I whispered.