Dream // Van McCann

3. I'm Sorry

Children's laughter and screams filled the air and I opened my eyes to find myself sitting on a bench at the playground. There were half a dozen kids here at most and I sat up straight, looking around. The last thing I wanted was to be seen as a creep at the playground but to a stranger, I could be the father of one of these kids, you never know.

No one paid me any attention so I relaxed a little, my eyes scanning the playground. It wasn't very green here and there weren't that many trees which made me wonder if we were even in Washington. It was sunny and warm here. Last I remember, it was sunny yet freezing in Seattle. One sign that I'm dreaming.

"Pode mexer-se? Estivemos aqui primeiro."

I instantly recognized the Portuguese language and turned to see a young boy asking a girl to move. They were both at the the slide wanting to go down it. The girl moved out of the way to let the boy go down first. He slid down and made his way back around for another go and the girl took the opportunity to slide down. It's not often that I hear Portuguese here. Another sign that I'm dreaming.

The thought of being in Portugal made me wary. Is Clara here? My heart rate picked up at the thought but I didn't see any other adults here. It was just me.

A football rolled towards me and I leant forward to pick it up with both hands. It's been ages since I played footy and I missed it. A young girl was stopped meters before me and I held the ball out for her to take.

"Is this yours?" I asked and she nodded her head. "Do you play on a team?" She didn't answer and I wondered if it was because she didn't speak English. "I used to play when I was younger."

I'm not sure why I said that but I did. The girl finally found the courage to walk up to me and grabbed the ball carefully from my hands. She stared at me with her doe-like eyes and heart-shaped face and I was suddenly reminded of Clara. Something in my gut told me it was her daughter.

"Are you Mia?" I asked slowly. The girl's mouth opened in shock and I took that as a yes. "Where's your mum? Is she here?"

The girl was terrified and began stepping back but she couldn't turn her back on me. And then someone grabbed her arm. A tall, tanned man with brown hair pulled his daughter away from me.

"Está tudo bem?" he asked his daughter and she nodded her head. "Vamos para casa." He looked at me curiously and then walked away. It wasn't until they were almost out of earshot that I got over my shock. I stood up and walked after them.

"Where's Clara? Is she alive?" I questioned.

The man turned around to look at me and put himself between his daughter and I. He urged her to walk faster, pretending to not hear me which only annoyed me.

"She's alive, isn't she?" I continued, feeling the annoyance building. I'm rarely confrontational but this was a dream with no consequences. I can do whatever the hell I want. "Tell her she can't hide forever. Tell her—"

A hand on my shoulder pulled me back, stopping my train of thought. I turned to see Florence, her eyes wide and I was suddenly embarrassed at my behavior. How much did she see?

"Leave them alone, Van. What are you doing?" she hissed. She doesn't understand the context of the situation. She only sees me harassing a man and his daughter.

"T-That's her daughter. She's here," I said, fumbling with my words. Florence gave me a stern look which caused me to go quiet.

"That's impossible. You told me she's dead." She stared at me as if pleading with me to agree with her but I couldn't speak. I looked at where Rafael and Mia once stood but they were no longer there. "Is there something you're not telling me?"