Intermission 3

I had a strange dream.

Usually, I will fall asleep to find myself waking up a second later. But sometimes, the usual obscurity will turn into an ever-changing story through the depths of my mind.

But this time, it was different.

All my fears and anxiety, the things I was anticipating, the things I learned, and many more ground-up. Intermixed into something I couldn't remember after standing up. With landscapes and sceneries shifting and swapping, evolving and alternating as if it is how nature intended to do in the beginning. No matter how truly grotesque and bizarre it was, no matter how the weather changed.

But this time, it was different.

I felt alienated, but at the same time, I knew it was me. As I watched whatever there was, the horrors and broods created by my head.

But this time, it was different.

I was a silent watcher of the things that unfolded before me. I couldn't control a single thing. With my self-awareness dimmed, I could only watch absentmindedly.

A story from a different perspective, unfolding right before me.

Despite the fact that it was the middle of autumn, the sun still shone brightly. A perfect Indian summer.

In a small clean room on a bed that was a little too old, laid a young man. As the first rays of sun started entering the room through thing curtains, he started waking up.

Yawning as he stretched, he went out of the bed. He slept in a tank top with small shorts. Thus, after making up his bed, he went straight towards the bathroom.

"E****, You are already up?" A soft woman's voice called him up as he turned the faucet.

"Yes, A****, I'm going to wash real quick."

"The breakfast almost ready."

Quickly brushing his teeth, trimming all the stubble that barely grown after one night's sleep, and washing up his face, he went to the kitchen.

This apartment's kitchen wasn't the biggest, but it gave off a cozy feeling.

"Thank you for the food." Taking up the food, the young man sincerely thanked the woman. But along with this sincerity came a feeling of distance, carried by the way he said it. Avoiding looking at her, he was constantly trying to stop fidgeting.

A young woman was looking at this with a strained expression. "You don't need to thank me."

"You took your time to cook for me. Naturally, I must thank you." After finishing talking, the young man started devotedly eating.

"But that's how…" Mothers are. She finished what she wanted to say in her mind.

A woman that was giving a strong feeling of a countryside girl had longed to let her maternal instincts loose. But unfortunately, she couldn't do this in this house she called home. Looking at the young man with a complex face, she ultimately decided to go away.

Feeling her presence growing weaker, the young man instantly wolfed up the end of his breakfast and went on to do the dishes.

"A****, I will probably study till the evening. If you need something, I will be in my room."

"Don't overwork yourself."

Closing the door of his room tightly, the young man sighed.

"I can't have such thoughts about her." The reason for his strained behavior with a single woman of this house was quite simple. Instead of seeing her like a mother she wanted to be, he saw her more like a woman.

She was beautiful in her own way, and it was hard for him not to look at her that way. With no way to completely eradicate this feeling, he chose to make some distance.

Sighing deeply, he started looking through the textbooks and took his own notebook and pens. Taking a seat before the old table, he started looking through the books.

He was zealously writing, crossing out whatever he deemed wrong and reviewing everything with the help from his books.

His zealous studying was partly due to his awkward relationships with her. He wanted to shook those thoughts away. While the second part of his determination was his teacher. She was his first crush.

Going to the shop in the middle of his studying and returning as the lunch was ready, he studied well into the evening.

As his father went home at about that time, he was barely done with his study.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, don't worry, father. It is going to be alright. Otherwise, they won't let me out of the hospital."

Everyone said that They shared a lot more similarities. A lot more than he and his biological mother.

"How can I be alright if you still didn't remember a single thing." His father sounded irritated on the surface, but he couldn't hide his concern with this shallow layer.

"I think it was all an accident, don't worry. By the way, I've almost caught up with the class." The young man beamed at his father.

"Really? Should I check it or help you with anything?"

"Don't worry, I'm good. Anyways, even if you do, you won't understand a thing."

"Ahh, this little brat, talking so big after entering college."

Under familial banter, they shared a dinner. A strain between a woman's and a young man's relationship was eased by the father.

"I'm going to read before sleeping."

"Don't read for too long."

After helping with the dishes, he went back to his room. Holing up inside his room, he continued reading the book he started at the hospital.

It was about cults and powers hidden deep in the most remote corners of the earth.

As he was reading the work, he got so absorbed that he almost missed bedtime. Doing light exercises with dumbbells, he washed up and went back to bed.

His day was as uneventful as it could be.

The next day, the young man did almost the same thing. Getting up with the first sun. Avoiding the woman and getting stuffed inside of his room. Pouring his all into studying, getting distracted only for miscellaneous house chores.

Before the dinner, as his father stayed at home today, he listened to some stories. Leaving the woman alone with his father, he went back to his room. Continuing to read his book, he repeated the same routine he did yesterday.

Going to the bed, he didn't forget to charge his phone as well as starting up an alarm clock.

And just like that, his weekend ended.

The next morning, he woke before his alarm could start ringing. His routine was the same, albeit this time, instead of going to his room, he put his clothes on. It was a uniform that looked much like a suit. It was even possible to say this suited him if only he looked after himself slightly more. He was clean, but he was somewhat overly clean. With no fashion sense, he looked too strict and uptight.

Bidding goodbye to the young woman, he took his trusty bag and went outside. Greeting a few of his neighbors, he started walking to his college.

It was starting to get colder as it was already the middle of the autumn, but the city still had a week or a couple of good weather.

He didn't come to his college for almost a month but he, of course, didn't forget the way. Walking on his foot, he brooded over something. Listening to the music with his phone, he finally made his way to the school's ground.

Students that didn't look like they changed were either hurrying or trotting slowly to their classes or training rooms. Walking through this crowd, he looked alienated. With everyone around him trying to stand out in one way or another, his strictness only brought him more into the limelight. It alienated him from the others and drew a line. Despite some of the students pointing at him and whispering between each other, he didn't pay them any attention.

Making his way towards his classroom, he finally showed a glimpse of a smile. Seeing his friend, he relaxed ever so slightly.

"J**, how are you doing?" He approached another young man. If they will stand up and compared, the differences were tremendous. The one whom the young man called was less wide in the shoulders and much shorter. Despite the fact he showed expressions on his face more explicitly, he somewhat lacked in charm. He isn't ugly, but he will never be the main star of the show in his life.

"Big guy!"

But such a striking difference didn't break their friendship.

"I'm glad you are back but are you sure that you should come here? What if anything bad happens?"

"Don't worry." After a firm handshake, the young man patted the shoulder of the short boy. "I hope you will help me with catching up?"

"Sure, I will help. I think J***** and E*** will help as well."

"What are we gonna help with?" a cheerful voice entered the ears of both young men. "OH, E****! YOU ARE BACK!" Exclaiming with delight, a young girl on the verge of becoming a woman almost hopped onto the back of the taller guy.

"I'm glad to see you as well E***" looking at the bubble of energy that this sporty girl was, he smiled at her. "J*****." He nodded to another girl that looked rather melancholic with her long blonde hair and a blank face.

"E****, are you sure everything is alright?" her voice had a striking contrast with the first woman. It was quiet and calm, melodic even. She said this with a look of concern on her face.

"I'm as good as new."

"If he isn't, he wouldn't be here, right?" The short boy interjected.

"Right, right. Honestly, I was sooo missing you. It just doesn't feel right without you!" He was instantly backed up by a cheerful girl.

"I was lonely as well." Voicing out his heartfelt feeling, he let himself loose even though he was rather uptight. No seeing his friends for so long has made him more emotional.

"Anyway, what are we going to do after the classes? How about…" The short boy started talking about their plans, but he was interrupted by a bell.

"E***, J*****, we can catch up on the next break." Following his strict attitude, he didn't want to do anything during class time except for studying. Not seeing his friends couldn't change this fact.

The school day went on without a hitch. He talked with his friends and replenished the time he missed with them.

Soon the lessons came to an end, and with the delight of the conversation, he almost forgot he had an important business to take care of.

Excusing himself thousands of times over, he managed to leave the group under the promise of hanging out with them tomorrow.

"I thought it will be weird talking with E***, but she seems to be alright," he muttered while being in deep thoughts. "Whatever happened to her, I'm glad she is all right."

Going through the educational institute, he was slowly making his way towards his goal.

"R*** will teach a lesson tomorrow. I hope she will be able to chat with me." with a feeling of longing, he went past the usual teacher's offices.

Making his way to the upper floors, he finally saw the door he was looking for.

Knocking on the door, he waited for the reply.

"Come in." After a couple of minutes voice of a middle-aged woman let him in.

"I'm sorry for intruding, but I've got something to say to you." He stood near the door, staying still.

"Hmm?" He succeeded in catching her attention as she rolled on her chair to the side to take a better look at the one who came in. "You are?"

"Student E**** G*****. I've come to tell you that I've managed to catch what you did with the deputy head."

"What are you talking about?" Her face paled.

"I've come here with only one reason. Please resign, or else I will be forced to go to the higher-ups."

"No, wait, you are kidding? Is it a prank or something? It's popular with the kids right now, right?"

"I've recorded everything. I believe that this kind of behavior can't be tolerated."

"NO, NO, NO, NO!!!" She quickly ran up to him. "What are you even saying, do you know what you are getting yourself into? You are going to be ruined."

"How can something happen to me? I'm in the right here, and I have the evidence."

"Yo-yo-you want money?" she tried to appeal to him, but he was unfazed. "Or you want me? I can be your girl, even your sex slave, whatever kinky stuff you are into…"

"Please." but he stopped her. "I want to believe that you deserve redemption. You should resign and leave this school. I will get to him as well. As you are scared, he probably threatened you. I will think of something and maybe edit you out…"

"You can't… YOU CAN'T!!!" She screamed at him, her legs losing strength, she sat down on the floor.

But his resolve was firm.

"I will help you out."

Leaving her behind, he went back home. Going towards the school's gate, he was met with yet another young woman.

Unlike all the girls he met before, she has exuded the aura of someone dangerous. With the way she looked at the world around her, it was obvious she was a strong-willed person.

"Oh, so you are back in school?" She bared her teeth in a smile. "Won't you talk with me?"

"M***, I've already told you, I don't want to have anything with you."

"Don't say it like this. You never know what you are rejecting."

"I've made my mind back then, and it will not change no matter what you do." He tried to walk away, but she caught his hand.

"HEY, you don't understand what troubles you will get yourself into if you refuse me."

"So now you are threatening me? Nothing will happen between us." Yanking his arm, he made the girl stumble. As she lost her balance, she crashed into the lonely passerby.

She crashed into a girl, wearing sporty clothes. Her shirt had a large embroidered name B**** a** B***.

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

"E***! E****!!!" the one who talked with a young man was trying to gain his attention. But she was soon crossed by the girl who she stumbled into.

"Hey, don't you think you should apologize?"

"FUCK!" screaming in frustration, she wanted to take her anger on someone. "Hey, you, you stupid skank. Who do you think you are to have the privilege of having me apologize?"

"Ahhh! You are M*** S****, no wonder you are so crazy." Dusting off her clothes, she tried to go away. But she was stopped midway.

"No wonder people from B**** a** B*** are in such dire state, with having a brainless wench as the scout, if I'm not mistaken, your name was J*****, right?"

The young man couldn't listen to the end of this conversation, nor was he interested. Walking back home, he was thinking deeply about what to do. How to help this middle-aged woman and what to do with the deputy head.

"Perhaps R*** will help? She is a teacher as well."

Going back home, he went to study, did some chores, and talked with his family and friends over the phone.

As he did this, the world around him started to fall into obscurity. The time was flowing faster and faster.

I saw him talking with his friends and teachers as he tried to do what the law dictated to him. I saw how he went straight to the highest authority. He was, later on, met with a lot of hardships.

The time flow increased even more as I saw his life gradually falling apart. The decisions he made were wrong, gradually leading him to a downfall. He was falling in the depth of agony the more he struggled.

As I saw the fleeting images of him wailing at the bottom, everything turned into a kaleidoscope of colors.

Dance of colors flashed before me before usual darkness enveloped me.

"Er***…"

"ERL**."

"ERLIG!!!"

I heard someone calling my name through the edge of my dream. But I couldn't control my mind. After reaching its peak, I heard the voice growing quieter.

"E****…"

Hearing it one last time, I embraced the void.