On that night, Lee wakes up in the middle of the night and sits in bed drenched in sweat, his pyjama shirt stuck to his torso. He then drops his face into his hands.

  “Lee, are you okay? What happened?” asks Sue, flicking the lights on.

  Lee looks at both of his parents, his chest rising and falling in rapid succession, his breathing coming out ragged. Lee then looks forward and forces himself to take a deep breath and hold it for five seconds before letting it out, only to repeat it again once more. Then he shakes his head and slaps both hands on his own face.

  Kenji and Sue look at one another, not sure exactly what to do. Then Kenji turns around as he says, “I’m going to get my phone to call an ambulance.”

  “No!” shouts Lee; then, in a regulated voice, he continues, “Sorry, I’m alright; it was just a nightmare.” Lee chuckles. “The thing is, I knew I was having a nightmare, but I refused to wake up.”

  Sue looks over her shoulder at Kenji, then back at Lee. “Lee, that is not possible. When you, or even me or your dad, anyone that has a nightmare, they wake up straight away.”

  Lee nods. “Normally yes, I did before, but not today!” Lee says as he looks down, then removes his shirt and drops it beside the bed, but Sue grabs it and is surprised by how wet the shirt is. “The dream started with me going into an old house; when I enter, the door closes and I can’t open it.”

  Kenji walks back next to the bed and takes the shirt from Sue, then twists it and sweat starts to drip. “So what happened next?”

  “I went further inside the house,” Lee says with a shrug. “As I explore, I only find empty rooms; that is when a Minotaur starts to chase me.”

  “A what?” both Kenji and Sue ask, confused.

  “A Minotaur; it’s a beast with a human-like body, but with the head and legs of a bull; it’s from Greek mythology,” says Lee with a wave of his hand. “Anyway, as he was chasing me, he was unable to catch me, never; I was always faster.” Lee laughs before continuing. “There was one time I even stopped to let it catch up.”

  “Son, where did you hear about this mino creature? We don’t remember having seen any movie with a creature like that;” says Sue, still considering calling the emergency services.

  “It was… well I… saw it…” Lee freezes, not being able to remember where he had seen or heard about the Minotaur. “I can’t remember.”

  Kenji goes out of the room then comes back with his phone. “Here, Lee, can you enter the name of this creature?”

  Lee takes the phone and does a web search. “No, these images are no good,” he says as he enters a new search. “These are more like the one from my dream.” He then turns the phone so Sue and Kenji can see the images.

  Sue lets out an involuntary scream then clasps her hands over her mouth. Then, looking at Lee’s face, she becomes unsure of what she is more shocked by: whether the horrific images on the phone or Lee’s smile.

  Kenji swallows before asking, “No one would have showed these images to you; how did you know about this?”

  Lee shrugs. “I don’t know; I just know that I know.”

  Sue, after finding her voice, asks again, “So if you were, I would say, having fun in the dream, why did you scream?”

  “Did I scream in here?” Lee inquires, and Sue and Kenji nod. “Sorry. Yes, I was having fun running and messing around with the beast. Then he asked to fight me. As I knew I was dreaming, I made an arena, and when I cut his head off, I let out a victorious scream.”

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  “But Lee, you are only a child; how could you kill a monster like this?” asks Kenji.

  “Not in the dreams,” says Lee, laying back down in bed. “In the dreams, if you know you are dreaming, you can be whoever you want, or wake up.”

  Sue lets out a nervous chuckle, then she leans in and kisses the top of Lee’s head. “Please, if you get more dreams like that one, wake up; me and your dad need some rest.”

  “Okay Mum, sorry I woke you two up,” Lee says already with his eyes closed.

  “Lee, don’t you want to put another shirt on?” Kenji asks, and Lee shakes his head.

  Sue tucks Lee in. “Sweet dreams, rest for a good, well, relaxed night.”

  “Good night Mum and Dad.” says Lee, pressing his head against the pillow.

  Sue and Kenji look at one another, then as they exit Lee’s room, they look back at Lee before turning the lights off, only to find Lee already fast asleep.

  On the next day, Lee wakes up and stretches, the sun entering through the windows; he gets out of bed and opens the windows; he then looks at the clock and finds that it is only a quarter to eight.

  He goes to the toilet quietly, but as he exits the toilet, he hears the alarm of his parents ringing. So instead of going back to bed, he heads downstairs, barefooted as usual. But unlike previous times, he decides to start with breakfast, placing some sliced bread in the toaster, water in the coffee pot, and starts to brew the coffee.

  Then he starts to hear running and rushed movement on the upper floor; then his dad runs down the stairs and heads straight to the door.

  “Morning, Dad.” says Lee.

  Kenji is going so fast, that at the sound of Lee’s voice, he slams against the door. “Lee?!” Kenji utters, turning around and rubbing his arm.

  “Yes, Dad?” says Lee, walking so Kenji can see him. “Toast is almost ready; do you want to take some?”

  Kenji looks at the kitchen counter through the open window divider, just as the toaster shoots up the ready toasts. He then places his coat back in the hanger as he shouts, “Sue! Lee is down here in the kitchen!” He then looks at Lee, shaking his head. “We thought you had gone out of your window; I was going to go look for you.” He then reaches up and grabs two mugs.

  Sue heads near the stairs and asks, “Is he alright? Where was he?”

  Lee takes the toast and places more bread in; taking two slices, he heads upstairs. “I’m okay, Mum; I was only making breakfast.” He then gives one to Sue. “I heard your alarm when I left the toilet, so I went downstairs and started breakfast.”

  Sue takes the toast and stays looking between the toast and Lee as he finishes; even so, it takes her a second to register. “Thank you,” she finally says. “But why did you open your window?”

  “Because the bed was wet,” Lee says, then noticing Sue’s reaction, he corrects himself. “No, no, no. It was wet because I sweat too much last night!”

  Sue smiles. “Okay, as you are already awake, do you want to go with me to drop Saki at school?”

  Lee looks up at Sue and blinks in confusion. “I have to. Dad is going to the office.”

  Sue shakes her head. “No, your dad will work from home today and tomorrow. We had plans to let you sleep in, but as you are awake, if you like, you can go with me.”

  Lee nods and heads to his room. “I’ll go with you; that way Dad doesn't need to worry about me.”

  Sue smiles and goes to finish getting Sakura ready for school, then heads downstairs.

  “Coffee?” Kenji asks, lifting his mug, and Sue nods.

  As Sue takes a sip from the coffee, she closes her eyes, enjoying the flavour. “Did you do something to the coffee, or is it because of last night’s stress that the coffee feels so good?”

  “So you feel it too?” asks Kenji. “It wasn’t me; Lee already had the coffee brewing when I got here.”

  Sue smiles and looks at the stairs. “This kid is full of mysteries now. Do you know why the window was open?” Kenji shakes his head as he takes a bite of his toast. “He said it was to dry the bed because he sweated too much last night.”

  Kenji smiles. “Do you think we need to worry?”

  “I don’t know!” says Sue as she starts to prepare Sakura’s breakfast. “I’m still debating on it. So far, there has not been anything bad; he just seems, I don’t know, it’s like he's…”

  “Too mature?” asks Kenji, being of the same opinion as Sue.

  Sue nods, agreeing with her husband. “He says he wants to go with me so you can work in peace; I’ll keep an eye on him and I’ll pop to work earlier to see if it’s okay to take him with me; if not, I’ll ask the old lady if she can keep an eye on him.”

  Lee and Sakura walk down the stairs together. Then Lee grabs a mug of milk and heats it up in the microwave; after adding sugar, he feels that something is missing from it, but he can’t identify what it is.