1 Strange Man, Strange Dream

Louis awoke with a start. His nightwear was drenched in a cold sweat. Unusual things had been happening to him since the death of his father, Billy Dermont. As he sat on his bed, panting, he couldn't help but wonder whether he was going crazy. It was the fifth night in a row he'd had a strange dream. This one had really spooked him though.

While dreaming, he had felt himself running from an unknown beast in a dense forest. This dark, mysterious creature was gaining on him and he felt fatigued, his pace becoming unsteady. Just as his legs were about to give way, a wrinkly white hand that appeared from nowhere offered him solace.

Without looking up to see who it belonged to, he reached out to grab it. As he did, time seemed to stop and his surroundings changed. He was now standing in the same position, in what one can only describe as a white space of emptiness. There he finally saw the owner of the hand. A familiar face from his past dreams.

"Come home, my child."

"Who are you?" Louis had asked shakily. "What do you want from me?"

"Accept your destiny," she had replied vaguely.

As she said this, Louis' surroundings changed once again and he was back in the forest, feeling the creature right at his back. Desperate, he lunged out to grab the lady's fingers but they vanished just as they appeared, in a trail of mist. A shadow shrouded him and then darkness.

'That nightmare was the most vivid I've ever had.' Louis thought to himself.

And who was the old lady he kept seeing? He thought he recognized her from somewhere but it was too vague a memory to unearth. He looked at his alarm. He was meant to be up in a few hours.

'Might as well just get up.'

Careful not to make any noise, he crept into the bathroom. Even the sound of the rushing water from the tap frightened him. As he rinsed his face out with warm water, he looked at himself in the mirror. His brown shaggy hair was messy, his rough dark stubble looked out of place on his olive skin. You could see the fear in his pretty hazel eyes.

"I hope I'm not going nuts," he chuckled to himself.

*****

Mrs Dermont was the sweetest mother that Louis could ever ask for. The old lady loved him with all she had, even more so after the recent passing of her husband. She had insisted on Louis coming to stay with her while they both grieved Billy. It was a longer commute to get to his classes at his university but he would do anything for his mother. It had been a week since they laid the old man to rest but people were still coming over to offer their condolences.

Mr Dermont's older sister, Debby, had planned to come today. Louis on the other hand, couldn't stick around. He had an appointment with his therapist before his afternoon classes. This particular appointment he looked forward to the most because he was convinced his mental stability needed to be re-evaluated. As he walked out the front door of the ancient house he grew up in, his mother called out to him.

"Don't forget to pick up milk, Lou-Lou. We're fresh out!"

The sun shone very brightly today. As he walked along the narrow pavement, the bizarre dreams he had, started to circulate in his mind. He was so occupied that he didn't notice a tall dark figure in a trench coat had started to tail him around. He saw a grocery store opposite him and crossed the road to enter it. The trench coat figure followed suit. Stepping out of the store with the cold milk, it had finally dawned on Louis that someone might have been following him. And he also realized that he probably shouldn't have bought the milk first. He didn't know who exactly it was but he just felt like it. He didn't like that feeling so he chose to take another route to the therapist, this time walking a bit briskly.

Every few minutes, he turned back to look behind him but he saw no one of particular interest each time. So why was he feeling this way? Might this be the confirmation that he was indeed mad?

Turning a corner, he quickly spotted his therapist's office up ahead. He practically ran towards the glass doors and as he swung them open to enter, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. The unusual feeling seemed to have dissipated. That's when Louis found himself somewhere that bore no resemblance to the office.

He stood shocked in a vast Amazonian-like forest, craning his head to see the life around him. Creatures he had never seen before going about their ways. The shrubbery dancing around him as if they had a life of their own. The colours of this forest were so vibrant it was too much to take in at once.

No, this was definitely not the therapist's office and yes, he was one hundred per cent crazy. Turning his head back to its original position, he saw a vague figure approaching him. As it came closer, Louis saw that it was a person. And were they wearing a trench coat?