DAYDREAM

DAY DREAM ONE -AUGUST 2 2026

The afternoon sun slowly rested across the neighborhood. I stood there in the middle of the road. I looked around, my eyes darting into every corner. But all I could see was faint darkness. Everything was filled with shadows. Until I slowly recognized where I was.

I looked beyond. The alleyway seemed to have been swallowed by the void.

My eyes furrowed. “What is this place?” I asked.

I looked around and scanned the area again. This time, the alleyway shifted. White smoke suddenly appeared in front of me, as if it were transforming the place into something new.

And then I blinked.

I was in an unfamiliar place. I looked around — the gable roofs looked crooked. Its apex resembled a Malaysian roofing design I’d once seen in a book. The wood walls didn’t match the roof itself. Some were already torn and outdated. Yet some still looked new.

Nothing in this place had a sense of familiarity, I thought. In my mind, I hoped I could find a distinct figure that could lead me home. Maybe a scent I usually smelled when I was back home.

Especially that dreamland I knew. The firewood crackled around the corner, its smoke lingering through the neighborhood.

Yet I couldn’t…

I still stood there in the middle of the dirt road and waited.

Minutes later, I felt a sudden sensation around my hand, like someone had touched it. I turned around and looked at my hand. A touch-screen phone, wrapped in a green case, appeared out of nowhere.

My head tilted. “What is this?” I whispered.

I just stared at it for a couple of minutes, until I noticed a silhouette passing by me. Then the phone disappeared again from my hand.

My body just froze. Yet my eyes quickly diverted to the silhouette that had passed by. The silhouettes turned into boys. Yet, their faces seemed blurred.

One of them stuck his tongue out, while the other’s smile widened. The one dressed in a white shirt and ripped shorts was holding the green phone in his left hand.

My face showed no reaction at all — like I was merely observing, a ghost wandering. Until a female voice pierced through my right ear. Her figure slowly appeared beside me.

“Hey!” she shouted, her hands on her waist.

This time my head turned to where she was. She looked at me and smiled. Her nostrils flared. Her voice rang louder and louder through my ears.

I looked back at the kids. Two more silhouettes appeared beyond them. Slowly, their faces became clear — two adults, maybe around my age. One in particular caught my eye.

His smile lingered in my mind, as if it melted my heart. He walked straight to me, as if he had known me for years. My heart skipped a beat, when his hand accidentally touched my back.

And then he grabbed my hand and returned the phone to me.

My eyes widened. Yet questions flooded my mind. Why? Why was I reacting to his smile? To his gesture? Did I need to know something?

I looked at him, and then my eyes turned their gaze toward our hands, as it intertwined.

“Let’s go!” he whispered. His rasped voice lingered in my ear.

I wanted to remember. “Was it him?” I muttered under my breath. I shook my head. No, it is not him.

The way he walked toward me was nothing like him — the boy whom I loved inside my dream. I waited, maybe his face would shift like what happened before. But it didn’t; it touched a sense of warmth, yet it was nothing like him.

I carefully studied his face — how he grinned at me. A distinct scar was slowly showing up above his eyebrow. That’s when I realized this was an entirely different person.

Who is this person in front of me? Why am I so fond of him?

Again, those questions kept repeating inside my mind, like I wanted them to be answered quickly. Yet, I couldn’t.

He still held my hand as we made our way to the alleyway, which slowly formed into a normal neighborhood. We rushed, as the night had already grown late. The lights slowly turned on in every home. The lamppost near us was already lit bright.

But the alley was getting too quiet, no noise coming from the homes, not even the crickets chirping. Yet, when he kept his hand at my back, the fear I felt suddenly disappeared. Seconds later, we were in front of a certain home.

When I blinked, we were already inside the house. I looked up. The ceiling stretched beyond — all filled with corridors and stairs. Some were longer, until they reached into a void. Some were just a meter apart — yet every time I walked into one, I ended up back where I’d started. The spiral stairs on the right looked hollow; they were supposed to have support in the middle. Yet, I floated like a cloud hanging in the air.

He guided me in, until we reached a certain door. I turned and looked around. The hallway was filled with different kinds of doors. From the hue of red down to a mixture of blue. Yet, it didn’t even look like a rainbow.

“Can you wait here?” he whispered, his face starting to blush.

When I looked to where I’d heard his voice, he had disappeared. All in front of me was a wooden panel door with three steps going up.

I waited.

But, for a couple of minutes, people suddenly appeared.

One door half opened; her head peeped from her room. Her face looked lifeless. Even when I greeted her, she just stared at me. Next was the girl I’d met earlier. Her mouth opened, yet no words came from her. Her smile slowly widened, as she gestured that everything was fine.

The longer the minutes passed, the more the tension in the hallway grew heavy. Even if I couldn’t see them, I could feel eyes watching me. Slowly, a sudden chill touched my neck down to my spine. Until I couldn’t take it anymore.

I knocked on the door and asked for him. “Hello?” I exclaimed, my hands already trembling. Until the door slowly creaked open.

My shoulders quickly dropped when I saw him in front of the door. He shook his head, his hand raised. “Sorry for taking so long.”

When I got inside, I was expecting a hotel room. My knees started to tremble. My face slowly turned pale. Until I saw it clearly, the room was filled with bunk beds instead. I looked at him. My shoulders dropped, as my eyes turned glassy.

He explained, while holding a pillow and a blanket. “You mentioned earlier that you need a place to stay, right?”

I didn’t answer; instead, I sat on the bed next to him. He then put the blanket next to mine. “Don’t mind them,” he said. “These are my family.”

I looked around and noticed the two kids who’d stolen my phone. They found me gazing at them. One quickly ran toward me. “Hey!” He hugged me tightly.

I froze.

He looked at me and touched my cheek with his cold hands. “I thought you wouldn’t be here.” The boy then came back with clothes in his hands.

His eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t you dare touch her,” he exclaimed, his voice turning playful.

“Your brothers?” I asked. He smiled and nodded. He then covered me with the blanket he brought earlier. And suddenly, he sat next to me, our arms already touching. Sudden warmth rushed towards my face.

Slowly, he grabbed my hand and smiled toward the room.

The kid ran toward one of the bunk beds and shook it. One brother, the one with the same age as ours, looked down from the top bed and waved at me.

“So, she’s the one?” he teased.

He quickly grinned and nodded.

Another brother came from a certain corner holding a tray with his hands.

The smell of chicken soup slowly drifted across the room. The cups were filled with savory soup, as the smoke lifted up. All of the brothers took one, and all left were two cups—one for him and one for me.

I looked at him. He just smiled back. I grabbed the cup. My tummy quickly grumbled, as soon I inhaled it. I took a sip and my eyes widened.

His brothers’ voices blared across the room, chatter overlapping. One played with the other, while the others laughed at each other. But, even if the voices got louder, it all muted when he touched my hand.

I just gazed at him, trying to remember his face.

And then he noticed me staring at him. He smiled and said, “I love you.” I didn’t say anything; instead, I smiled back at him. But those words became the reason why I don’t want to leave.

Just being with him in that same moment feels like forever. I felt like the minutes, turned to hours and turned to days, until I lost count.

“I didn’t want it to end.” I muttered under my breathe

Yet, a storm was slowly brewing on the horizon, until it formed into a strong hurricane. The girl — the one I’d met earlier — said, “This is our way home.” I looked at the hurricane as it slowly approached us. And then I turned to her. My eyes turned glassy, as I held her hand.

“I think I can’t go back this time.” I sighed, while showing a gentle smile. She looked back at me and just smiled. Slowly, she let go of my hand, as she was swallowed by the storm.

As I walked away from the storm, I slowly went back for him.

But…

I woke up.