chapter 26-Not the same

(James)

"Oi!!! Get up, get up now! I said get up... fine then, take your ass to school yourself... little shit." A voice rang, echoing through what seemed to be the cabin. No, it couldn't be. It was far too familiar, yet so distant.

"Tommy, Ellie, anybody?" I grumbled as I rolled over, only to feel my world come crashing down as I fell off my own bed.

"This... this is my room. I'm back... wait, I'm back!" My eyes shot wide open, my voice shouting louder.

This... it can't be true. But was it a dream? A lucid dream? Did my consciousness create such a realistic dream? It wasn't adding up. I rose up, school, right? I had to check.

"James, your father already left without you. Change and have your breakfast. You don't have much time left," my mother called from outside my room.

"I... I don't know. What about camping? Was that real? Was anything real? I need water, I need to eat."

Five minutes later

"Mother, did you ever remember signing a camping permission slip?" I sat down across from her, on the opposite side of the table. My mother was Spanish, with her tan skin, aquiline nose, and hazelnut hair. She was one hundred percent Spanish.

And she didn't take shit most people. Only if she was like that towards my father, maybe life could have been better. But I didn't get the chance. Not every child's dreams come true. But that doesn't mean we can't lie to ourselves as a defense mechanism of sorts.

"No, honey, I didn't sign anything. Is there a camping trip coming up? If so, you know we can't afford that with the bills and mortgage. Running this house isn't easy, you know that. I wish things were easier for all of us, but this is what we've got. We only have each other," she said, while moving aside some magazines and finally sipping from her teacup.

She wasn't wrong, but she wasn't entirely right either. She had the capabilities, the chance, to live a somewhat better life. Yet, that was only an if, a possibility. She was too attached to her husband, to me, and definitely to her newly born daughter.

"MMMM."

"Mmm, what, James?"

"I just had a bad dream. I was going on a camping trip with Mr. Peterson and Tommy, and some other pals. There were flying cabins, white zombies... it had everything. But..."

"Mr. Peterson? Who's that, a new teacher?"

"Uh?"

Time passed, and shortly, the bus was headed to school, stopping one by one at each bus stop. This was my morning routine, my daily life. Nothing changed, but inside, I felt like everything had changed. I should probably research how dreams can affect one's mental state. This can't be healthy or natural.

I heard the creaking of the wheels and the brakes as the bus stopped. Through the opening doors, a large silhouette figure entered. It was none other than that bastard Tommy. He sat beside me.

"Did you hear about last night? The stabbing, a bloody psychopath sighting, they almost caught that bastard, yet he still managed to escape the police."

"Cool, anything else you remember, or was that it?" I asked.

"No, I can't think of anything else. Never mind me. What about you? Is your dad finally treating you better? You know you can call me, I've got your back no matter what."

"Trust me, I know. But this is a family matter, it's complicated. But we're healing, my sister, my partner in crime, she's a new beginning, a new chance to restart life, to redo it but better. It can only work if both parents, my mother and father, both view my sister in that light."

"Good to hear. Did you finish your homework? I barely finished mine. I literally went to sleep at midnight and then woke up four hours later. Relaxing, I forgot I had a shitty sleep, don't know why, though."

"Mind telling me? Weird dreams, weird visions?"

"Yeah, there was my dream. I had a beautiful woman dancing around me, singing. Boy, was it weird and freaky," Tommy said with a smile. He wasn't taking this seriously. "She was a hottie, let me tell you. She was doing the Hawaiian fire dance. Best dream ever, wish it lasted longer, you know?"

"Yeah, that's enough. We're reaching school. Keep your mouth shut, I don't need to hear any more of your fantasy dreams with women. And no, I didn't do my homework, so I'm pretty much gonna get an earful."