FANTASTICAL DREAM

THE MORNING I AWOKE ON MY BED

The morning I awoke on my bed, the sun shone on my chest, the air was comfortable and chilly, and my pillows and blankets hugged me as the soft mattress seemingly massaged my sore back. The morning I awoke on my bed, I sat up straight the moment my eyes shot open. A slight sweat went down my face as I looked at my hands like I had just done something horrible and realized it.

I raised my hand to touch my face, and I felt my touch. Good. I swallowed my saliva. Great, I can taste and swallow. I blinked my eyes to see if my surroundings won't change. Good... good... Nothing's changed... I muttered some syllables out.

"Ah," Oh my, I can speak.

I laughed in excitement and hopped out of my bed. I put on my sandals and exited the room. Right, I was in Zaichrome and Zantaries' house. Ah... I'm wearing Zaichrome's pajamas right now... How embarrassing. Right, it rained so hard yesterday that I couldn't get to my home because it was so far away and it was turning nighttime the moment we entered the forest where our homes were. So Zaichrome offered that I stay at their house for the night.

Yet, it was strange. The lack of parental figures made me question everything about them, but I wouldn't ask since I also had the same situation.

Zaichrome passed by me, and his tall figure loomed over me. I never once saw him with his paper bag hat with cat ears fully off his face. If anything, it'd be lucky to see him eat and take off his bag hat so he could show his mouth and swallow or drink his food.

"Hey, you were laughing by yourself... Kinda weird if you ask me..." Zaichrome said in his deep morning voice. His gray shirt wrapped nicely on his 'thin' body and his black sweatpants were quite baggy. Is this why Zantaries often prey on men because she thinks every single one of them is weak? "Hey, where are you starin'?"

"Ah, sorry, your arms look kinda thin..." I responded softly as I looked at the hallway behind him.

"Thin arms? I thought I was working out well... I think I need to spend more time with Edy..." Zaichrome mumbled as he turned around and walked slowly to the kitchen. I joined him on his way and we talked about random stuff. Mostly about what happened to people and whatnot. Eventually, we arrived in the kitchen. I smelled the delicious aroma of pancakes and honey. I never knew Zantaries was such a good cook! My mouth was watering the second we sat on our seats and prepared for our food to be served. As Zantaries arrived with the pan of pancakes, she got her spatula and gave three pancakes to each of us.

"Enjoy the meal! Now, big boy pancake, you're mine this morning! Hwaha!" She laughed as she poured a waterfall of honey on her pancake, topped it off with butter, blueberries, and bananas, and dug in with her fork. Why did she call it big boy pancake? Then I saw that a thick pancake nearly covering her plate was at the bottom of her dish.

Zaichrome picked up his newspaper set on the table. He focused on his pancake, and got some blueberries, bananas, and butter, before topping it off with a nice amount of honey. He got his fork and gently took out a slice, unlike his manic sister. He read his newspaper like a father on a Sunday morning listening to the sound of radios before going to church. He raised his paper bag hat to reveal his mouth, put the slice of pancake in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

I got weirded out by the major difference in manners between the siblings, but I shook it off and proceeded to top off my pancake with the same toppings and poured some honey. We were all silently enjoying our food, but after a few minutes of everyone minding their business, we started talking to each other. Zaichrome was the least interactive of the three of us while Zantaries was the most interactive. She kept talking about random things, mostly about how she was going to crush her future enemies. Though it was a strange topic, I was interested in her techniques. They were almost effective against any magic type.

Meanwhile, Zaichrome kept his bored facade. No, he wasn't not interactive, he was groggy and sleepy. His hands began to go somewhere on the table, and I saw him getting a steaming cup of coffee. He took a slow sip and then let out a satisfied exhale.

"Good coffee..." Zaichrome said as he took another bite of his pancake.

"If you don't know, you growled in your sleep the last time I slept at your place," I said out of the blue as I ate my food. I stood up to get water from the refrigerator.

"What are you implying based on that?.." He asked as I came back with a glass and pitcher filled with water. "I drank too much caffeine?"

"Yeah, you drank too much... coffee..."

"Maybe it's because it was spring that time..." Zantaries added as she continued gobbling up her pancake. Even though she ate slowly, she took out considerably large amounts of her food.

"Spring, you say?" I curiously asked.

"You two mention another thing about that, you'll have tons of your flesh bitten out of your body. Tomorrow," Zaichrome seemingly hissed in a calm voice as he sipped more coffee. "Especially you, Zarim. I told you to not mention that..." he added. A moment of silence filled the air as we ate.

"It's still spring~..." I teased.

"Don't threaten me with a good time," he quietly growled as he continued eating.

"Right."

We continued eating our breakfast and finished up. We each took a bath to get ready for our day, except for Zaichrome. He was staying at home today, but Zantaries isn't. He probably had chores to do, based on the laundry stocked up in their back room. As Zantaries and I left the living room, we said our goodbyes to Zaichrome before we closed the door and headed off in our own directions. Zantaries and I parted ways. She went out of the forest while I walked deeper into it.

As I walked under the filtered sunlight, I wondered about last night and the strange floating dreams. Who were the two people that hugged each other? Who were the robots I saw? Who was the knight? Who were the gods that stared at me?

As the canopy filtered the sunlight, the shade gave a cool temperature, the silent forest gave serenity, and as the graceful animals moved quietly, I wondered what my dreams were. What they all meant or who they all were. Yes, I could separate reality and dream. But sometimes I doubt they're just a dream... Finally, I saw the dirt path to my home. I followed it and got to my humble house rather quickly. It was a small house. Enough for two people to live in, though father was gone for work most of the time, so it was wider the inside those days. I went in, locked the door, walked into my bedroom, and closed my door. I lay on my bed and wondered again... All those strange dreams.

But at the moment, all of it, every single kaleidoscopic, colorful scenery of deep sleep, is all a strange, fantastical dream.