{"id":763,"date":"2023-03-10T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/?p=763"},"modified":"2023-03-09T10:50:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T10:50:19","slug":"just-a-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/?p=763","title":{"rendered":"Just a Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Inspired by \u201cLa Noche Boca Arriba\u201d by Julio Cortazar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Jamie holds me close and looks fiercely into my eyes and says, \u201cWhen I let go, Ashlyn, run for your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grimace at the thought of what is about to happen. My head feels light, and I worry that I may pass out at any moment. I shouldn\u2019t have taken those red pills. I knew that at the time, but I didn\u2019t care. Those men told me it was my only way out, and I selfishly believed them, desperate for escape. And God knows what was in those pills that made me believe that I needed to be in this old place. I look around at the deserted lobby. The paint on the walls is chipped, and the windows look like they haven\u2019t been cleaned in at least a decade. I wasn\u2019t alone before, but I will be soon. And I need to fend for myself because they\u2019re not after Jamie anymore. I don\u2019t know what they want from me, but they\u2019re hungry for something. I could sense it in their smug faces when they handed me the pills. When Jamie lets go of our tight embrace, I dash for the green door, but it won\u2019t budge when I try to open it. My heart starts racing. I need to get out of here before the angry men come and find us. They can\u2019t find us, not like this, not delusional and psychotic. The dizziness I’m experiencing must be from the pills. From the outside, someone shoves the door open, and it swings open and hits me right on the corner of my face. I fall to the cold, hard ground and lose consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I abruptly sit up in bed noticing I\u2019m covered in sweat. What the hell just happened? Unclenching my fists, I stand up to go to the bathroom. Never before has a dream been quite so vivid. My heart pounds as I walk quickly down the hall. It\u2019s still very early in the morning, and no lights are on in the house. My paranoia kicks in, worried that a stranger will come out from behind a corner and hurt me. Ridiculous, I know. But I can\u2019t help it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I turn on the lights in the bathroom, I notice a small red mark above my left eyebrow. I get closer to the mirror and touch it which makes me flinch. I must have really been thrashing around in my bed, enough to collide with the metal bed frame. It\u2019s not the first time I\u2019ve woken up with a cut or a bruise, now that I think about it. Just last week I woke up with a red mark on my foot that still hasn\u2019t gone away. I splash some water on my face before returning to my room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My alarm is so loud that Natasha wakes up to it before I do. She bursts into my room with her bathrobe on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have got to change that sound, Ashlyn. Like ASAP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stare at her for a moment. \u201cPart of our agreement for being roommates is having our own morning routines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She laughs. \u201cRight. There\u2019s really nothing like having an incredibly loud piercing noise to wake you up at 7 am every morning. Nothing like it.\u201d Natasha opens the blinds to let in the sunlight, and that\u2019s when she noticed the bump on my face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looks disgusted for a moment which is followed by a look of concern. \u201cAshlyn, did you have another weird dream?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs it that bad?\u201d I groan, rolling out of bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u2026 noticeable.\u201d She scratches her forehead. \u201cLook, I know you said you didn\u2019t want to, but my offer still remains. It\u2019s nothing to be embarrassed of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tilt my head. \u201cNothing to be embarrassed of? I\u2019m a 25 year old woman having insane dreams that are so colorful they seem real, and I wake up with red marks on my body, covered in sweat, and that to you is normal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never said that it was normal. I think that\u2019s exactly why you should consider meeting with my friend. He deals with this sort of stuff all the time. It would be no problem for me to set something up for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFine. You make an appointment. But if I don\u2019t like this friend of yours, I\u2019m out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She smiles, knowing she won this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grab a soda can from the fridge when I hear Natasha\u2019s voice coming from her room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow\u2019s Monday?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I furrow my brows. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor your appointment, does Monday work?\u201d She shouts from across the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday. Monday is tomorrow. \u201cSo soon? I mean, yes. That works, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The following day, I\u2019m waiting in the lobby for some psychologist I don’t even know the name of. I probably should have asked about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAshlyn?\u201d A familiar voice calls my name. I look up, and he has a familiar face, too. I can\u2019t recall where I would have seen him before. He\u2019s tall and wears navy blue pants and a white button down. I also can\u2019t help but notice the clipboard in his hand. This is either going to be life changing or an absolute nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stand up and introduce myself. \u201cHi, I\u2019m Ashlyn. Nice to meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shakes my hand. \u201cNice to meet you too, Ashlyn. I\u2019m Jamie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I freeze. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you alright, Ashlyn?\u201d He asks politely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I snap back to reality. \u201cYeah, sorry about that. I just zoned out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He brings me into his office. We walk through an olive green door. I\u2019m no designer, but the room is almost too organized. Nothing seems to be misplaced; it\u2019s very modern and very white. I sit down on the grey couch in front of his chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sets his clipboard down on the coffee table that separates the two of us. \u201cSo, I just got some new candies. Would you like one?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pulls open one of his many drawers and reaches for a red jar. He leans forward and shows me the inside of the jar. He motions for me to take some candy. I take a look inside, and to my horror, there are dozens of pill shaped candies. Red candies. Red pills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I abruptly get off the couch. \u201cI can\u2019t do this. I\u2019m sorry, Jamie.\u201d And I walk right out the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I abruptly sit up noticing I\u2019m covered in sweat, but this time, I\u2019m back in the deserted lobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The End<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspired by \u201cLa Noche Boca Arriba\u201d by Julio Cortazar Jamie holds me close and looks fiercely into my eyes and says, \u201cWhen I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=763"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":776,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions\/776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}