Jolting awake, Alex found himself in his room, the familiar weight of his sheets settling over him as yellow stripes of light spilled through his curtains. His eyes took in the room, but for a brief moment, the world was on mute. The voice rang in his ears “....AWAKENING….. MORPHEUS” before slowly fading, replaced by the hum of the street below as pedestrians, cyclists, and buses moved about.
He slowly sat upright, rubbing the sleep from his eyes to study his room. Chaos didn't begin to cover it. His luggage sat unzipped by the wardrobe, while clothes didn't just lie on the floor, they painted it, draping over the bed and hugging on his desk chair.
“I really need to clean my room,” he whispered, shuffling toward the window.
The street below was the picture of normalcy. He watched as two high school girls walked by… though their uniforms differed from the girl in his dream, an ache settled in his chest, a sharp pang of longing he couldn't quite explain.
“Tsk… Screw this,” Alex muttered, turning his attention to the faint reflection in the glass. Soft black hair… loose, tousled curls, messy in a way that looked accidental but framed his face perfectly. A few strands slipped over his dark eyes. The face staring back was his, yet he found himself touching his cheek, expecting the skin to feel different. It looked like him, but the connection wasn't there.
‘A dream within a dream, is that even possible?’
His mind was a wormhole, sucking in any possible explanation… the girl, the terrifying empty mirror, and the voice that echoed before he woke, and then spitting it out the other side where the question reminded him that there were no answers.
[Beep! Beep! 08:45]
“What… is it that late?” Alex grabbed his phone from the shelf. [08:46].
“I am so late,” he whispered, doing the mental math. “Fifteen…”
Alex stared at the screen, baffled. He had been asleep for at least fifteen hours. That was a first. His record was usually ten to twelve, and that was only after gaming all night or the rare night out with friends.
“Wait… Carner and Marcus.” Alex’s thumbs flew across the screen, navigating to the three-man group chat where texts, missed calls, and voice notes were waiting. After listening to a few, he tossed the phone onto the bed. No school today. Apparently, both Marcus and Carner had things to do and just wanted everyone in the loop.
“I guess I have some free time,” Alex murmured. A weak smile touched his lips as he surveyed the disaster zone of his bedroom. “Time to clean up, buy groceries… and begin the dive into the mysteries behind dreams.”
The desire to understand dreams was itching at the back of his brain… but it didn’t surprise him. Alex had always been the type to let his mind wander down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories. This was just the latest one.
However, this one felt heavy. Real. He needed to get to the bottom of it.
After finally wrestling his room into a state of organization, Alex decided to head out. His kitchen shelves were bare, noodles and eggs weren’t going to cut it anymore. He had only arrived in District Sixteen two days before school started, and the kitchen was paying the price.
Alex threw on a jacket and stepped out of his apartment. The plan: “Capital Mart.” High quality, low prices… the holy grail for students.
As Alex paused just beside his apartment door, his gaze darted between the elevator to the left and the stairs to the right. The stairs offered a quiet escape. He took a step toward them, but a voice called out, soft and gentle, bringing life to the silent hallway.
Clara.
“Hey, Alex!” Clara waved a hand at him. She was standing by her door, locking it as she stepped out.
Alex waved back, freezing mid-step.
“Got a minute?” she said, gesturing for him to approach her.
Alex hesitated, his foot still pointed toward the safety of the stairwell. ‘I guess it can’t be helped.’ He shifted his weight, turning his back on the quiet escape route to walk toward her instead.
“Clara, hey. How are you doing?” Alex forced a smile, locking eyes with her to stay polite, though his heart hammered a nervous rhythm against his ribs.
“All good, Alex. How about you?” she said, her gaze steady. She wore a simple, well-fitted black blazer over a white shirt, her hair pulled back into a clean ponytail. Sharp. Intentional. Ready.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“I’m… good, thanks,” Alex said, jabbing the elevator button a little too hard.
“Going somewhere?” Clara asked, watching the numbers light up.
“Yeah, just running some errands. How about you? sightseeing or…?” His voice cracked slightly. He cleared his throat, hoping she hadn't noticed. ‘Damn it, why am I like this? It was just my imagination…. Unless it wasn’t.’
“Oh, no…. No sightseeing,” Clara’s voice lowered. “Though I would love to take a look around Sixteen’s famous spots I have read about and seen in screens…. Just don’t have anyone to show me around.”
Alex remained silent for a moment, catching the dull looking in her eyes. He battled the urge to stay quiet versus the urge to help. He didn't know every part of the district, but he knew enough.
“I could show you around… if that’s alright with you,” Alex spoke. He braced himself for a polite rejection, but instead, Clara’s face lit up.
“That would be great, but I have a few interviews… Are you free this weekend?” She pulled out her phone. “We should link.”
“Uh, sure, this weekend sounds great….” Alex tapped his phone against hers, the connection instant.
The elevator dinged, and they boarded. Outside, they parted ways, Clara to the bus stop, Alex to the subway.
The walk there was usual. Alex’s mind finally quieted down, letting the music in his earbuds drown out the city noise.
Everything else was a blur as he stared at his phone, compiling a mental inventory. Sure, convenience stores were closer, but Capital Mart had the variety.
‘Perfect for someone like me.’ The prices aligned well with his philosophy: spend on tech, save on everything else. Food was an exception, but otherwise?
“If it works, don't touch it,” Alex grinned to himself.
*****
The trip to the mall was pleasant enough. The subway was packed, a sea of shoulders and backpacks, but Capital Mart itself was… distinct. It was mid-August, pre-payday for most, but the silence in the massive store felt heavy. The aisles were empty canyons.
He ignored the odd atmosphere and grabbed what he needed: dairy, meat, sodas, snacks, ketchup, spices. He filled the basket but kept a mental tally of the space in his mini-fridge. He wasn't about to buy more than the little box could hold.
Shopping done, Alex headed back. The return trip was a copy of the first, peaceful, crowded, ordinary.
“Ahh… Finally… I’m finally back.” Alex groaned, dropping the grocery bags on the floor. He checked the clock.
It was noon.
He frowned. Was that right?
He had left around 9:00 AM. The trip shouldn't have taken more than two hours, tops. He should have been back by 11:00. So where had the extra hour gone? He tapped open his phone's location history, but the timeline was a blur.
“Just give it a rest, Alex,” he muttered, rubbing his temples. He was too exhausted to solve puzzles. His limbs felt like stones, as if the fifteen-plus hours of sleep he’d gotten earlier meant nothing.
Why was he this drained? High-speed train: ten minutes. Walk: twenty minutes. No lines at the mart. The math didn't add up, and his body was shutting down.
“Give it a rest, Alex! Let's just sleep, maybe we’ll have a dream or something.” Alex collapsed onto his bed. He didn't just drift off… he fell, plummeting into a deep slumber.
And as if to answer him, the dream began.
****
Alex stood on a floor of pure black glass. It didn't reflect the shimmering lights above or the wide river ahead, it didn't even show his own face looking down. Just… nothing. An empty darkness holding him up.
To his right, as far as he could imagine, swirls of light pulsed and drifted like distant galaxies… the hazy shapes of other worlds, countless and faint.
To his left, a silent, massive river cut through the void, flowing out of nowhere into nowhere. And as he watched, it split. Then split again. Branching into endless, smaller streams, and those streams broke apart into thousands of tiny glowing threads, all fading finally into clouds sparkling with uncountable lights.
Alex knew without knowing how, what this was.
This was the Veil. The quiet between everything.
And that river… that was the Path of Dreams. Each stream was someone’s life. Each little thread, a single dream. And inside every one… a whole world.
A voice cut through the silence, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"AWAKENING MORPHEUS."
Right in front of his eyes, broken pieces of light flickered and snapped together, forming what looked like a clear screen hanging in the air.
--------------- AWAKENING MORPHEUS ---------------------------
Lucidity : 21%
Realm Alignment : Common Dream (Ready to Ascend)
Lucidity Tier : Tier 0 (Dormant Dreamer)
Tier Level : N/A
Dream Resonance : 67/100
Notice: MORPHEUS AWAKENED
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the screen hung in front of him, only one line managed to escape his lips.
“This can't be real…”
