Prologue: A Nightly Friend Came
Author's Note
This story used to be an entry in my school's newspaper to become a short story writer there. Unfortunately, I wasn't accepted. But I wouldn't waste it.
Prologue: A Nightly Friend Came
There it was again. What was its sole purpose of appearing in my every dream for the past three months? I didn’t understand it at all.
I shot up awake with a start. My face was beaded with sweat, albeit my room was air conditioned in a temperature of twenty degrees Celsius. I clutched my blanket shakily and tightly, as if it were the only protection I had against that creature. My heart was pounding my eyes were burning, my legs were numb, and my head was throbbing. I wanted to talk to myself to calm down, but my jaws were frozen from that cold dream.
A dream? More like a nightmare. I dared recalled my nightmare…
In my dream, I was running through the same ominous forest in the night with the full moon shining like a lantern. Frankly, my vision to navigate was dim. The climate around was so chilling that I wasn’t sweating. It was fortunate for me to wear the very same green, long-sleeved, collared turtleneck with hood, blue pants and cobalt blue fingerless gloves.
Despite of my warm and stylish attire, I felt a cold shudder surging through my spine.
I dared to look back. It wasn’t there pursuing me. Where was it?
I thought this was my opportunity to catch my breath, so I did.
Big mistake—sounds of flare lit behind me as I tossed my head to look. The ball of fire was azure, so that meant it was hotter than red-orange fire. That wasn’t good. Its color wasn’t like that in my other dreams. Huh, I guessed it was sick of the color.
I slowly backed and anticipated it to burn me like it did to me all the time in every time my dream would end.
But instead, it was just there.
The azure fire grew bigger, until it materialized and extinguished itself into the creature I always met. Though this was our forty-first reunion, I wasn’t really used to it yet. I was glad it wasn’t fiery anymore, because its true form was pleasant. It was just there in front of me.
The creature was an equine—a mare—with cold, moderate cyan eyes, ravishing dark sapphire coat, and a long moderate cobalt azure ethereal mane with sparkles that continuously waved like the sea’s waters. On her flank was a crescent moon on a dark background. Was that her signature or something?
She was solemnly smiling. Why wasn’t she austere like always?
“Hello,” I formally greeted while held back my fright.
“How art thee with thou education?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe fine, I guess,” I replied.
“How art those ruffians harassing thee?”
I winced. “I don’t wanna talk about it—how do you know those ruffians?”
That was only a dream…How was she able to know the ruffians in my school? That might be the strangest thing ever. But I kept reminding myself this was just a nightmare—they were just fantasies made by the brain.
“Soon, you shall no longer be one,” the equine said. “When you enter nature’s embrace and the sky twinkles, thy savior from thyself will be summoned. Remember this: A loner can never be a loner forever, Iwano…”
And that was it, though it felt real. I didn’t understand her message, but it made me very curious that after I woke up, I couldn’t sleep anymore. All I did now for the rest of the night was reading my geometry book on tangent lines.
The next day was my personal nature walk. My mother allowed me to explore and camp in Mariancta Forest because she knew I needed to decrease my stress from my predicament in school. Adventuring somewhere “natural” was the best for me. I really needed to unwind from a cruel grind, especially when it involved a school
My mom packed me everything I needed in a magenta colored duffel bag. I was surprised when after I took a bath, mom prepared my attire—the exact same one I wore in my dream.
“Is this a coincidence?” I asked myself as I held my turtleneck. I shook. “It’s amazing, but not all coincidence.”
I was wondering why mom wasn’t worried or tried to convince me to not go. Maybe she realized I could really be “one with nature” after all those years.
“Good luck, son,” my mom said as she kissed me goodbye on my forehead before I went to dad’s car. “God bless, and stay safe.”
“I will, ma,” I promised.
It took dad and me to reach our destination while I napped. It was quite strange not dreaming this time. I thought something wasn’t right, but I was glad not seeing that equine.
“Remember to meet me here by the bench tomorrow, son,” dad said as I exited the car. “Be careful, okay?”
“I will,” I promised.
And the car drove off.
I turned to look at the forest. This forest was very familiar—yes, it was the very same forest in my dream! This wasn’t mere coincidence, was it?
“Please am I dreaming?” I asked myself miserably. I slapped myself hard and pinched my cheeks painfully. I brought out a bottle of water and splashed the liquid on my face. Refreshing, but this wasn’t a dream. I sighed. “This is nothing, really.”
I walked through the forest of Mariancta like an explorer, glancing at everything beautiful of greenery and nature. The sunlight was just right, the temperature humid, whistling of mockingbirds made me wanted to whistle.
I brought out my camera and pictured the beauty of the environment—flowers, birds, trees, the sky, waterfalls, lakes…This place was more divine than paradise than I could’ve ever imagined.
I knew in my heart that Mariancta Forest was the right place to be, and this was my first time here. I could feel the knots in my heart untangling from stress and my thoughts melted into exploration.
“I want this to be my dream instead,” I sighed dreamily at the sky.
Hours had passed and it was time for me to camp before nightfall, as the sun was about to set.
I settled near the place where my dad dropped me. I settled my stuff down. I climbed a tree like a monkey, and snapped off branches to build a campfire. I gathered apples and refilled my water bottle. Everything Mother Nature provided me was all I needed besides my mom’s packing.
“Maybe I should doze off,” I yawned as lied down on my sleeping bag and slept.
…What time was it? It was a good thing I had my watch as well.
“Eleven!” I exclaimed in surprise. My voice echoed in the forest. I realized as I tossed my head around, the forests bright and beautiful surroundings had become the exact same ominous and dark place I dream.
I wanted to get out of here right now, but I didn’t have a phone. This forest in the night was now giving me the creeps.
The only thing I did now was curling inside my sleeping bag like scared puppy. “Imagine happy thoughts, Iwano,” I told myself. “By morning, your dad will be here soon.”
Suddenly, there was a howl.
I shot myself out of my cocoon. My heart pounded. Any moment that—too late to run now…
The grey wolf walked towards me slowly with yellow glaring eyes against my deep sea green ones as it emerged from a bush. I never knew wolves lived in this forest. I was so dead.
I didn’t want this to ever happen to me. Why now? I gulped. Was this the end?
“AROINT!” a voluminous but serene voice spoke through the night.
The wolf was confused, turning its head to the sound. And stumbled when the equine appeared from the night sky and landed in front of the wolf and then reared which made the wolf snarl and ran away from us.
“Y-y-you s-saved me…” I said in a shaky tone. “…You’re real?”
The equine turned to me with the very same solemn smile and icy eyes. My heart skipped a beat as she walked towards me with her hoof on my chin. My heart kept skipping.
“I get the feeling of being isolated because of thy behavior, Iwano,” she said. “But that does not mean no one would come to your life. Do not be sad; for someday, shooting stars will come right by and enter your story. There will always be someone for everybody, Iwano—friends and the same kind.”
She spanned her wings, and flew to the night.
I stood up and realized what she meant as I stared at the night sky. I placed my hand on my chest, feeling my heartbeat.
“There’ll always be friends for someone in their life…”
