Dream Girl

Oliver falls in love with the girl of his dreams, literally.

"I dreamt of her again,” Oliver told his best friend, Jared. “Are you serious? Was it related with your past two dreams about her,” Jared replied, as he was going through his cellphone. Oliver glanced over at Jared’s phone; he wanted to see what it was Jared was doing, but really, Oliver didn’t care. He told his story anyway. He found it amazing that for three nights straight, he’d dream about the same girl, and the dreams were all connected and related to each other somehow. “Yeah!” Oliver said raising his voice a bit, “I don’t remember much of what happened, but I finally know her name. It’s Samantha."

 

Oliver talked about his dream with Jared, well, what he could remember at least. He talked about how they were on a train. It seemed like they were headed home. He remembered how he felt, an unexplainable kind of joy; her face, scarlet for some reason. He mentioned how it was the same girl from his dreams nights before. He talked about how he also vaguely remembers the train being a bumpy ride, and it was pretty noisy, some weird sound that he couldn’t explain. Amidst all that, he remembers himself sitting beside Samantha, the two of them just talking and laughing. He doesn’t remember what they talked about exactly, but that was it.

 

Oliver realized that since he had woken up, he wouldn’t get to see Samantha for who knows how long, and it’s not like he could just send her a message. He doesn’t know who she actually is. This is why Jared told him that maybe he should start looking for this girl. Jared mentioned that Samantha couldn’t possibly be a complete creation of his imagination, he must have seen her somewhere, in passing at least. So Oliver went to the internet and did his best to look for the girl of his dreams, Samantha.

 

It’s been a couple of days and Oliver still hasn’t dreamt of Samantha again. He did not stop his search; he still wanted to look for his dream girl. Slowly, Oliver was falling in love with a woman he hadn’t actually met. He continued to look for her and he was getting desperate. He got so desperate that he found himself studying the art of Lucid Dreaming. The next time he dreamt of her, he wanted to make sure that he could take control of his dream, and ask her who she actually is and how they know each other.

 

            It’s been a week after he first dreamt of Samantha, and just as Oliver was about to give up on his search, he saw her again that night. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. Samantha was petite and had a slender figure, she had dark brown hair and of all the times he had dreamt of her, she was always wearing this lazy white crop top that was paired with jeans and sneakers. Unlike his past dream though, they weren’t on a train, they were in someone’s house. He knew it wasn’t his because this house had a backyard that was connected to the room they were in. They weren’t alone either, for some reason; Jared was there in his dream too. A mutual friend of theirs, Alexis, was also in the room, along with two other people he did not recognize.

 

            “I’ve missed you,” Samantha said as she approached Oliver and gave him a quick smack on his cheek with her pinkish red lipstick on. “Everything at the doctors go well, I hope,” she continued after. He couldn’t believe this was happening. The two walked towards the couch where the rest of their friends sat, and held hands as they joined the conversation. The group was talking about taking a trip to the beach the next day, Christopher, one of the friends Oliver did not recognize, said they could all ride his car, the rest just have to pitch in on the gas. By the look of the conversation, it seemed as if they all knew each other already. Everyone was happy that Christopher offered his car. Oliver found himself telling Christopher, “Nice! I mean, your mom won’t really mind right.” When Christopher said that his mom was totally cool with it, Samantha looked at Oliver, her smile beaming more than usual, and said, “C’mon! It’s Mrs. Mendez! Of course she’ll be cool with it. If she could join us, she would for sure.” Everyone agreed laughing, even Oliver. The group continued to talk; they drank some soda, had some food, and even played some board games. After awhile the group called it a day and agreed to all meet there, at Samantha’s place, at around nine in the morning for the road trip. “You’re not going yet are you?” Samantha asked Oliver to which he held her waist and said, “Of course not.”

 

            The timing could not have been anymore perfect. Just as everyone left, Oliver was able to work that lucid dreaming he’s been reading so much about. “Samantha,” he continued, “I know this is all a dream, but, how do I know you?” Samantha’s brows furrowed as she asked him what he was talking about. “Right now, I’m asleep. I’m dreaming. This isn’t true. I need to know who you are, I really want to see you and continue talking to you even after I wake up,” Oliver said as he did not let go of Samantha. He continued, “I’m holding you, I’m touching you, I’m here with you right now, but this isn’t really happening. The last time I saw you was when we were on the train, and ever since then, I’ve been looking for you. I can’t wake up and not get your real name, or where you live.”

 

Samantha was quiet for a while; she was just looking at him, smiling. “I remember that time we took the train too, that was so long ago,” Samantha said, breaking the silence, “you asked me to be your girlfriend, after about a couple of weeks of dating. It "” Before Samantha could finish what she said, Oliver interrupted her.

 

“See that’s the thing. I don’t remember that, and I’d give anything to remember that, but I can’t because I was dreaming. I need to find you in real life, so that what we have here, so that what we have can be real.”

 

Samantha smiled, moved in closer to him, whispered, “Is this real enough for you,” and then gave him a kiss.

 

            Oliver would have enjoyed that kiss so much more, had he not been woken up, by his stupid old alarm clock. As good of a dream that was, Oliver was pretty disappointed that he was not able to get some real information from Samantha. He wanted to know who she really was, where was she really from, and how did they meet. As Oliver was preparing for school, he remembered from his dream that they had planned a beach trip. Waiting for the bus, on a snap judgment, Oliver decided to head for the beach instead. The whole day that day, Oliver spent it on the beach. He sat on the sand for hours, just watching people come and go, until finally he watched the sun set and decided to head back home. There he ran into Jared and Alexis who came over thinking Oliver was just sick.

 

            “Are you for real, dude,” Alexis said scrutinizing Oliver, and then she continued, “you spent the whole day at the beach, looking for someone who could very well be make believe.”

           

Oliver said she wasn’t just a dream girl, she was for real, he could feel it, he knew she was real.

 

“Yeah man,” Jared agreed, “you’re getting obsessed with this girl you dreamt about.”

 

It wasn’t his fault he was getting obsessed, if only they could have seen her, how beautiful she was, how fun she was to hang out with. His friends couldn’t fully grasp how coincidental it was that he kept dreaming about Samantha. He even told them about his latest dream, how they were all just hanging out in her house, and how he was actually able to consciously talk to her in that dream.

 

“Okay, so you talked to her, did you find anything out,” Jared asked.

 

“No,” Oliver replied, “she kept saying that what was going on at that moment was real.”

 

“Yeah but she didn’t really say anything to give you proof” Jared had said before being interrupted by Alexis

 

“Okay let’s say she is real, let’s say you got to talk to her right. What makes you so sure she’s from this area too? There’s a whole world where she could be from! You don’t even know how you guys met, right?”

 

            That was true, Oliver did not even know how they met. The first thing he remembers about her, they were already dating. He doesn’t even know if that was his first date with her, but Alexis’ question did give him an idea.

 

“You’re right,” Oliver said under his breath, looking down. He continued, “but I will ask her, the next time I dream about her again. I really hope I do tonight though, I feel like I will. Last week, it was three days straight and then there was that break. Maybe this week will be the same.”

 

            True enough, it was. That night, as Oliver was sound asleep, he dreamt of Samantha again. Just like last time, he was at Samantha’s place, but unlike last time, she was sad.

 

            “What’s wrong,” Oliver asked.

 

“Why didn’t you show up,” Samantha said. She couldn’t even look at him. She was walking around, looking at notebooks, stuff to fiddle with. She didn’t want to see his face, she didn’t want to cry in front of him. “We planned the beach trip together, and after… after that talk about wanting what we have to be real, you don’t show up. You were the only one that didn’t show up.”

 

It was bitter sweet that Oliver was conscious for this conversation. On the one hand, he could ask her all the questions he had, but on the other, he did not know what to say. Since it was just a dream, Oliver thought, it was okay if he subtly try and change the topic. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry,” he said, but before he could steer the conversation elsewhere, Samantha had replied.

 

“I… I know you didn’t, it’s just hard sometimes you know. I thought everything was okay, that you were getting okay. Did you oversleep? Please tell me you didn’t forget.”

 

Why did Samantha think he wasn’t okay, that he was getting okay, Oliver thought? Was it because of what he brought up the other time? Oliver pushed that thought aside and replied, “I didn’t oversleep I was awake. This is what I was trying to tell you. Right now, this is a dream. I’m asleep in my room right now, dreaming about you, about this moment.”

 

Samantha was fighting back tears, trying to be brave for Oliver. “Baby, why do you keep insisting this isn’t real? Why do you keep thinking this is just a dream,” Samantha asked.

 

“Because,” Oliver replied and then after a short pause he continued, “I don’t even remember how we met.”

 

Samantha couldn’t hold it in anymore, tears filled up her eyes just before they started to trail down her cheek. She gave Oliver a big hug as she murmured the words, “worse”, “thought”, and “will be okay.” Oliver couldn’t really make out what it was that Samantha was trying to say, instead he hugged her back, and after awhile Samantha composed herself and told him about their first date. How nervous they both were, how cute he looked in that tux, “I look like a penguin, I know,” she said was the first thing he said to her that night. She also told him about what she wore, and after hearing about the dress, Oliver said that it breaks his heart that he can’t remember what she was wearing. Samantha moved away from the hug, grabbed a photo from inside her room, went back out into the living room they were in and showed the photo to Oliver. A tear dripped down onto the photo Oliver was holding. He saw Samantha in a beautiful long dress; her hair was flowing down and wavy. She had black heels that matched a clutch bag that the penguin beside her was carrying. The two looked so happy, just smiling, her arms around him and his around her. “How can this dream be so real? How can I not remember this,” Oliver asked.

 

“Baby, wherever you go, why can’t that be the dream, and this,” She said as she surveyed the room, “this is your reality?”

 

            Before Oliver could answer, he found himself again lying in his bed, that damned alarm clock ringing again, it seemed louder than a construction site this time. He went through his regular morning routine, and took the bus to school. Everything was the same, and when he got to class, he immediately told Jared and Alexis about the dream he had again. The two were surprised, actually, that he dreamt of her again. This wasn’t normal, it was “pretty freaky, but cool,” according to Alexis. Jared, on the other hand asked him what his plan was because if last week was any indication of how this week will go, that night may be the last night he’ll see her, and for awhile again. Oliver hadn’t realized that, he didn’t think he could wait that long again. So, after their classes ended, before going home, Oliver passed by the drug store to pick up some sleeping pills. Before going to bed, Oliver took the pills, he wanted to make sure that he took enough to sleep through the alarm, but not too much that he’d overdose. Soon enough, Oliver found himself walking home from the clinic, his fingers intertwined with Samantha’s.

 

“Feeling better,” She asked him.

 

Surprisingly enough, Oliver did feel better, he felt a little bit different too. He didn’t know what it was, but he was aware of what was going on, and he was happy.

 

“Yeah, yeah I am actually,” he said. Oliver continued, “Where are we headed?”

 

Samantha told him that they were headed to her place; the doctor said that he needed to rest. Oliver did not want to rest though, he was afraid that if he slept in that dream, he would not be able spend more time with her.

 

“No it’s okay, I’m not tired,” Oliver said, “besides, if I go back to sleep, I’m afraid I’ll wake up again and then I won’t see you for another week.”

 

Samantha was quiet, she didn’t quite know what to say at first but then she said that the doctor had said something about giving it a day, and he should be completely okay from the accident. When they got to Samantha’s room, Oliver immediately sat on her bed, looked around and noticed a photo frame standing on her bedside table, “hey it’s our photo from our first date, at that ball right,” he said.

 

Samantha didn’t even reply. Her face glistened; her smile was so wide that you could hardly see the crystal tears that started to form in her eyes. She just looked at him, gave him a big kiss on his lips, and Oliver could feel the tears were dripping down her smooth cheek as she said, muffled by their lips, “yes, yes it is!”

 

            As much as Oliver wanted to, he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. For some reason, he started to get really tired. He thought that it was okay that they get to see each other only when he dreams, at least that could be their special place together. What Samantha said to him before made sense, why couldn’t him dreaming about her be what was real? It certainly felt real enough for him.

 

“If I wake up to my crummy old alarm clock, in my crummy old room, it’s okay. I know I’ll see you again. You asked me why this couldn’t be real for me, and well, this is my real world. When I dream of you, the dream feels more real than when I wake up,” Oliver told Samantha as he was starting to doze off.

 

Samantha’s mouth twitched, she gave a slight giggle, and then said, “I remember that crummy alarm clock.” Caressing his hair, she said, “This is what’s real. When you wake up, I’ll still be here beside you.” as Oliver finally fell asleep.  A little bit after he was already asleep, she continued, “and if you still have problems remembering, then I will always be here to help you.”