The God and The Mushroom Boy

The Past Haunts (Part 8)

     The sweet smell of soil fills my nose as I drift in and out of consciousness. I must be back home, in me and Dream's house, I think. I grin slightly as I hear his voice next to me.

"Oh, George..." Dream grabs my shoulder to wake me.

"Mmnh." I stir in my sheets.

"George. Wake up..." He soothingly caresses my shoulderblade as I lay there grinning stupidly.

"Ugh. What, Dream?" I finally give in, but I still leave my eyes closed.

"Dream...?"

"Huh?" I'm confused. It's Dream's voice that greets my tired ears.

"George wake up."

"What?" 

     I open my eyes and the sight that meets me is not mine and Dream's house. And it's certainely not Dream. A white mask looms over me, the holes for eyes dimly glowing green. I'm in my old bed in my hobbit hole. My memories come back in a flood and and I jolt up, cringing away from XD's touch. I shudder as a thought crosses my mind; did he really say 'I love you' before I slept? Surely not, but not all suprising.

"XD!" I screech, embarrassed. "What did you hear?"

" You talk in your sleep."

"Oh." My face must be reddening madly. I haven't been this- for lack of better word -flustered, since well... Dream.

"Yes, you were having a nightmare at one point, yelling 'No! Don't take him!' and 'Come back!'. What was that, do you remember?"

"No." I lie. I may not remember the nightmare, but I remember the actual memory. This isn't the first time I've had this dream. It was the day they took him away, and my coronation.

"Well, it's nighttime still. Do you want to sleep still?"

"No. I'm getting some air-" He gets up at that. "Alone."

      I leave it at that and easily navigate to the front door. Monsters shouldn't be a problem with the fence surrounding the perimeter. I breathe in the warm night air and close my eyes. My mind is still foggy from sleep. It wanders throughout my memories, choosing probably the worst one. It is etched into the back of my eyelids like it was only yesterday. I take in a sharp breath as I'm thrown into the scene that has been haunting me for months.

January 20, 2021

     I hum a wordless tune as I walk along the wooden path. This path stretches in a web of confusing turns all throughout the world, but I've memorized this specific way from walking it nearly everyday since I learned where to go. I make it to my destination; the town house. This used to be mine and Dream's house. That was sweet times, when it was only me and him. I smile as I pass under the doorway, it's a crisp winter day and I'm glad to get out of the wind.

"Hey, George!" 

"Oh hi, Karl. Have you seen Dream?" I faintly smile at Karl, who's cooking food in a smoker.

"You- you haven't heard..." He stops what he's doing and turns to face me. I see a mixture of  shock and fear in his eyes as he covers his mouth with a hand.

"Heard what?" I chuckle, hoping this is his idea of a joke.

"Dream's gone."

"What...? Like, he's gone out and he'll be back soon?" I hopefully ask. 

"George, you should come sit down." He intertwines his fingers with mine and leads me to the stairs to sit.

"What's going on? Karl?" I sit reluctantly whilst I look puzzled at Karl.

"How do I explain this..." He whispers to himself.

"Karl spit it out!" I shake his shoulder roughly. I'm very confused and frustrated. How hard is it to tell me where Dream's gone? Surely he's not... no there's not a chance.

"Dream went to prison." Karl finishes. He stares at me with a blank expression.

"Wh- huh?" Is all I manage to get out.

"Tommy got his discs back and the Commanders decided to send him away." 

"AHAHAHA!!" I burst out hysterically laughing, my terror making way to a sadistic mirth. "YOU'RE JOKING. OH, THAT'S FUNNY!"

"George!! I'm not joking! He's been sentenced for life!"

     Tears roll down my cheeks and I'm bent over, face in hands, elbows on knees. My laughing fit ends and instead horrible sobbing replaces it. I told Dream was in too much over his head. I TOLD him!

"Breathe..." Karl pats my back awkwardly. "It'll be ok."

     IT'S NOT OK, I want to scream, but I can't seem to get oxygen fast enough to my brain. I hunch over further and let out a strangled cry. I hate that Karl has seen me like this.

Present Day

     I come to, huddled in a ball and my face wet with fallen tears. The smell of burnt salmon still lingers from the memory, Karl had let his food burn to comfort me. I shake my head to clear the smell from my active memory. It's been nothing but stressful since that day. I got crowned later that afternoon. First it was the hurtful words spat at me as I walked the red throne room carpet, then Eret's disappearance, the fall of L'manburg, and finally making a new friend. Making this friend has been awful, I can't forget that I'm using him. Can't forget that he's doomed to die by my hands. Can't forget that on top of all that, I never got to say goodbye to my best friend.

"George?" Speaking of which.

"Go away!" I yell into my hands.

"We got worried, you were taking so long and we thought that there was trouble- are you ok?" His voice is hitched with concern.

"JUST GO AWAY, WILL YOU?! I WANTED TO BE ALONE CAN'T YOU SEE THAT!? OR IS YOUR  STUPID ALIEN MIND JUST TO NAIVE TO UNDERSTAND MY SIMPLE REQUEST?!" I scream, standing up to face him.

"Y-you don't mean that." His fingers fiddle with one another and even as he towers over me, he cowers at my misplaced anger.

"Just leave me be." I glare at the white circle that covers up his grossly similar face.

     His green eyes leave a glow from the mask and I can almost see his hurt expression. He hesitates before responding.

"Anything for you, George." A gust of wind blows his cloak in a large fan shape in front of him and he takes flight. I look on at the green shape rapidly shrinking as he floats higher and higher. 

     I collapse and let out a scream of anger, sorrow, and regret. It is a horrible sound that continues longer than I thought possible. It is a sound that conveys exactly how I feel, furious with myself for saying those things, sorrow for my long lost friend in prison, and regret for everything. I scream again and empty my lungs to the satisfactory noise, I go light headed and...

Everything goes black.