Chapter seven: Feelings in dream
"Hugh."
Caelum braced himself against the doorframe.
The hallway materialized before him, dimly lit by the overhead lights. The walls that were once lost in the white void, were now lined with rows of dull metal lockers.
He had done it But, "Ah, it took everything. Ha-ha huf.."
Caelum's limbs ached, his body felt heavy, and a deep fatigue gwaned at his bones.
But Still...
"The hallway isn't complete yet." He swallowed hard, rolling his shoulders as he straightened. "just a little more."
Closing his eyes, he reached forward again.
This time, he focused on the depth of the hallway, extending it beyond just a few steps. He imagined the school's outdated fluorescent lights, the scuff marks on the tiles left behind by hundreds of students over the years. He could hear the distant echo of footsteps from long ago.
He poured his willpower into it, the drain of willpower returned, draining his strength far faster with each second passed.
Caelum gritted his teeth very hard, pushing past the resistance. the empty void beyond him started bending and folding, morphing to fit the image in his mind.
The hallway stretched further, lockers multiplyed along the walls, doors formed where classrooms should be.
As he kept envisioning, His breathing turned ragged, every inch of him screamed to stop.
But at last, he forced the image into reality. Only when the last light formed into place did he let go.
Caelum caught himself against the wall, he could feel his skin clammy with sweat. "Damn My lungs, they are burning." He coughed, pressing a hand against his chest.
'I need to leave.'
"Now!" He turned back toward the classroom, stumbling as he moved.
His mind felt sluggish, but he knew what to do. Just like before.
Caelum took one last look at the hallway he created, then closed his eyes.
'let's go back.' with that thought, caelum's consciousness was pulled back. He felt like he was ascending upwards, soon the classroom blurred and faded.
Then, the dark void returned and soon the world shattered. The cracks spread like glass breaking apart, swallowing him in a flood of weightlessness.
It all spun around him, the same sensation that had pulled him in now pushing him out.
----
"Pah-"
Caelum's body manifested and collapsed onto the hard floor of his apartment, the impact rattled through his bones.
And his eyes snapped open. As soon as his senses returned, the first thing he felt was the cold wooden floor along with a extream pain.
His whole body bathed in Sweat. It drenched his skin, soaking through his shirt.
"Its so cold-uhg." Caelum's body lay on the ground, sprawled across the floor, he was trying to convince himself to move.
Soon, he painfully turned onto his side. The bed was just a few feet away.
"It feels like its miles away." With what little strength he had left, he forced himself to crawl forward, ignoring the intense pain.
Reaching the edge of the bed, he grabbed onto the sheets and pulled himself up, rolling onto the mattress.
The second his head hit the pillow, the tension in his body eased. His eyelids felt heavy, the fated sleep took him instantly.
-------
The afternoon sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the streets. The air smelled of warm pavement and the scent of jasmine from a nearby tree.
Caelum walked with his hands tucked into his pockets, a bag slung over one shoulder. Beside him, Aruey strolled with her arms swinging, like the pressure of the day had already been shrugged off.
Aruey stopped in her tracks, asking a question out of nowhere."Your dumbass ever think about traveling?"
"Traveling what?" And like always, caelum was caught off guard.
It was always like this, just the two of them, walking home side by side. Their conversations were mostly nonsense, but occasionally, thought-provoking remark from Aruey made Caelum question; whether she was just missing some screws in her head? Or was she genuinely wise beyond her years.
Caelum continued walking in a slow pace. "Traveling? We just finished a full day of school, i ain't going anywhere ma'am!"
Aruey took a ran twords him, nudging him with her elbow. "I don't mean now, dumbass. I mean after we graduate."
Caelum coughed. "What kind of high schooler seriously plans that far ahead?"
"This one," she said, tapping her chest proudly. "I've got places I want to see."
He sighed, kicking a stray pebble down the street. "Alright, I'll bite. Where's the first place on the list?"
Her eyes lit up. "Ram Setu."
Caelum stopped walking. "Ram what?"
She turned to face him, as if she had been waiting for this exact reaction. "Ram Setu, it's a chain of floating shoals that supposedly connected India and Sri Lanka a long time ago."
Caelum looked at her . "And you want to go there?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Aruey looked up at the sky as they resumed walking. "Because it's old and mysterious. Some people say it's a natural formation, others think it was man-made, but the truth is that. That it was built by an army of undefeated monkeys."
The corner of Caelum's mouth twitched, as he continued looking at her. "Right, monkeys."
Aruey didn't bother looking at him, admiring the sky. "It's from the Ramayana. Apparently, the bridge was built by Lord Rama's army to rescue his wife, Sita."
That's the Aruey he knew, "You would be interested in something like that."
"You can say that, its like one of the most holy places on earth!"
"I'm saying that, you randomly threw a historical site at me like it's a weekend trip."
Aruey expressed indifference. "Why not? The world is full of places we might never get to see. Might as well try to dream a little."
Caelum fell quiet hearing her say so.
She had always been like this; looking beyond the horizon, while he never planned past the next week. It wasn't that he didn't have dreams, but she made it sound so easy.
Like wanting something was enough to make it happen.
They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds being the soft rustle of leaves and the distant hum of a passing car.
Thinking something, Caelum shook his head. "Alright. If we're seriously someday doing this hypothetical travel thing, what would we even do when we get there?"
Aruey took a while to asnwer. "dummy. We will Figure it out when we arrive."
He gave up talking, "Na, im not going, bye."
"Hey, if you dont come, I'll put a sleep medicine in your food and drag you there~."
He sighed again, but couldn't help the small smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, yeah im so scared."
As they neared the crossroads where they would eventually part ways, Aruey glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You really wouldn't want to see the world at least once?"
Caelum hesitated. Then, without looking at her, he said, "Maybe."
She smiled happily. "That's the spirit."
And just like that, their conversation moved to the nonsense topics again.
-----
It took around ten minutes for caelum to reach his home after saying bye to aruey.
He pushed the door open, stepping inside as the familiar scent of home hit him.
"I'm home, Mom." His voice carried through the house, but it wasn't met with any real response.
From the hallway, he could see the soft glow of the television lighting up the living room. His family sat together, their eyes were glued to the screen.
His mother turned her head slightly, looking at him before saying, "Lunch is in the kitchen, pick it up and eat. Everyone else had already eaten."
That was it, Just the usual treatment, like he were a tenant in his own home.
The small smile on his face faltered. 'Can't you at least wait for me?'
He thought so, but he said nothing.
He dropped his bag by the door, slipping out of his shoes before making his way to the bathroom. The sound of laughter from the living room followed him down the hall.
----
The water was cool against his face as he splashed it over his skin.
He looked at himself in the mirror, watching the droplets trail down his cheeks before reaching for a towel.
After drying off, he headed to the kitchen.
A plate sat on the counter, wrapped in plastic. He peeled it back, revealing a simple meal; lukewarm rice, a side of mixed vegetables, and two small pieces of fish along with meatballs.
"It isn't bad alright." He said to himself.
But it just felt like leftovers, meant for someone who wasn't expected to be home on time.
He sat down at the table, picking up his spoon. The rice tasted normal enough, then he took a small bite of the fish.
"Bleh,too much salt."
As he kept eating, he somehow felt it harder to swallow. The lump in his throat tightened.
He normally didn't feel much as it was normal, but the pressure and Loneliness became unbearable at times.
"Whatever, i won't feel sad over this, no way. Never." his vision blurred as he suppressed his urge to let out a cry.
"God-dammit, i hate salty fish." He lowered his head, gripping the spoon as he forced himself to keep eating.
He didn't stop eating as a line of tear rolled down his cheeks.
---
"Aaahh. Just go to hell!" Caelum's eyes snapped open in Darkness.
The ceiling of his apartment stared back at him, its familiar cracks anchored him in reality.
"Just a fucking dream." He turned his head, spotting the glow of his bedside clock.
3 AM.
After looking at the time, he just lay there, staring at the digits. " What is wrong with me these days." Then, without anymore words, he closed his eyes again.
That night caelum slept deeply, to the point he was in a state hibernation...
----
Ding-dong.
Caelum's face scrunched in irritation. His body screamed at him to stay buried under the blanket, but the relentless doorbell had other plans.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
"I'll kill you, whoever you are...."
His body begged him to ignore it, he was warm, comfortable under the blanket. But whoever was at the door clearly didn't understand that, they didn't understand the sacredness of morning rest.
But the ringing didn't stop. Helpless, he cracked one eye open and turned his head toward the clock on his bedside table.
9:00 AM.
"Are you kidding me? Again?" he mumbled into his pillow.
"Did eveyone in this area go mad?" It wasn't the first time his sleep was sabotaged by someone in the morning.
'Who in their right mind thought, that it was acceptable to harass someone at this hour?' His sleep schedule was already a disaster, and now some lunatic was making it worse.
Reluctantly, he threw off the blanket and dragged himself out of bed. The sheer persistence of the ringing forced him forward.
As he was staggring toward the door, a bad feeling gnawed at the back of his mind.
"I swear, if this is some salesman..." As he thought about it, caelum already got a bad feeling about this.
His instincts had never failed him before. With a long sigh, he yanked the door open.
And.
The donation girl, Iris. Was standing with bright smile
The same black-and-white dress, same oversized chest on the hourglass figure. The same polite smile that somehow made him feel like he was being recruited for a cult.
Caelum stared at her, she stared back.
"...What," he said, "do you want again?".