Deeper

There was an odd sense of Deja Vu that Morphie felt when his eyes fluttered open this time. However, instead of feeling any emotion of dread, fear or helplessness, he felt nothing.

In place of what had occurred to him the past few nights of vivid dreams, there lodged a feeling of complete stillness that hung in the air, a sense of being empty.

He sat up in bed, the sense of Deja Vu carrying along again and he almost expected another "You're awake." to ring out at the side of his ear. But there was no one. He was in his room but he didn't quite feel like he was present.

The dust particles that hung in the air held still and Morphie stared at them, blinking in focus before he sneezed.

He quickly stood up from his bed, bundling the sheets together in a lump atop his soft pillows.

He looked out of his door and into the hallway, the lights were still off and only the soft glow of the moonlight was seeping through the slits between the curtains in the hall.

He quietly padded out of his own room, bare feet hardly making a sound on the floorboards.

He went down the stairs, careful to keep silent lest he wake up his Mom and sister.

Once he stepped foot onto the last lip of the stairs,he slowly approached the windows at the front and peeked out. Everything seemed the same as always.

The front porch was empty save for the two outdoor chairs and a small table at the side and the new neighbors that recently moved in on the left side remained completely quiet as well.

It was dark out, slightly foggy and if Morphie guessed--must be freezing cold with the current weather. He backed away from the window and sat down on the plush burgundy sofa. He let out a breath.

"Not a dream…" He said to himself, feeling quite grateful not having dreamt of anything this time.

He spent the next several minutes just spacing out, looking out at the window and at the ceiling in intervals.

He went to the kitchen and made himself a cup of hot chocolate before he burrowed into the soft cushions and spent the next hour slowly sipping his drink before he fell asleep again to the sight of a slowly rising sun.

*

When he woke up this time, the unsettling feeling did not leave his chest. It stayed, persisting like a wedge between his emotions of wanting relaxation and staying vigilant.

Being vigilant just over a couple of nightmares, that is. He thought to himself and snorted at how ridiculous it seemed.

He checked the clock at the side of the staircase and frowned. It was 7:30am, his mom would usually be awake at this time.

"She must be still sleeping." He said to himself and then thought again. I should really stop talking to myself out loud.

Morphie grumbled and went to put his cup at the sink before he plopped down on the sofa to turn on the television. He blinked at seeing the black screen and white noise that occupied the room.

Was there no signal?

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and checked the WiFi as well. He sighed at the lack of Wifi. He wanted to go up and ask his mom but felt like he should let her have the rest especially with what had happened yesterday.

He gave it a few minutes of silence before he could no longer hold it in.

"Mom!" He called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Mom? Uh, there isn't any Wifi. And the TV's doing that thing again."

There was no response. "Um, Are we having issues with the bill?…Cuz I can help!" He added hastily, thinking about working part-time again maybe.

"Mom?" He called out once more when he was only met with silence.

Morphie grumbled before he hurriedly went up the stairs, skipping a few steps at a time before he came across his Mom's room. "Mom, about the--" He started while he was pushing the door.

He blinked curiously at her room when she found it empty and pulled out his phone to see if she had left a message for him overnight. He walked towards his sister's room to check as well and felt disappointed when the pink bed belonging to Sophie was also empty.

He rubbed his cheek with the pad of his fingers, feeling childishly hurt they left without telling him anything. He checked around the house for any note they might have left behind but found nothing.

He pulled out his phone again and tried to dial his Mom's number but it wasn't ringing and to top off his disappointment even further, there was no signal. Morphie groaned at how his day was turning out.

He decided that he should head downstairs to wait for them to come back soon but then came across his Mom's phone on the console table in the hall.

Huh. She left it behind.

There wasn't supposed to be anything alarming about that particular detail but Morphie couldn't help the feeling of inexplicable dread that came back to bother him. He chewed at his lower lip, debating if he should treat it as a big deal or not.

He gave in and started calling out. "Mom? Sophie? Where are you guys?"

He went through all the rooms again on the second floor before he quickly went downstairs. "Mom! Sophie! This isn't funny!" His voice had turned into a mixture of whiny and desperate before he decided to go out into the entrance and into the front porch.

He looked around the area, the suburban setting and the neighbors around him all unusually quiet. He went around the house and into the back but nothing was there as well, his neighbor's dog Jojo who was usually at the backyard was nowhere to be found as well.

His heart started to beat fast once he acknowledged that deeply seated dread that had lodged in his chest earlier in the day. He then ran to the middle of the road where everything was again, quiet.

So, so quiet.

Unusually so. Morphie thought as he began walking across the neighborhood.

The trees, bushes and flowers were still. Not a single breeze blew even when he felt the cold chill in the air seep through his clothes.

Feeling quite desperate, he approached a neighbor's house and knocked on the door. "Hello? Anyone there?" When there was no response, he knocked even louder this time. "Please! Is anyone there? It's Morphie!"

He did the same thing on other houses and got no answer from all of them. At one point, he turned the knob on the door and it opened.

He walked in--looked for anyone at all but there were no neighbors, no people, pets or any other sort of animals around.

I must be dreaming. Morphie thought and relief washed over him at the thought. I just need to wake up. Wake up!

But he knew deep down, if this was a dream then this was not like any one that he'd had before. He didn't feel like was dreaming. He raised his hands and stared at them in focus, touching his palms with his fingertips and then patting at the sleeves of his dark sweater and feeling his heart beating at his chest. Everything felt far too real.

No. What's happening? Why is this happening?