Chapter Two: The Strange Man

“You mean, this time is not a boy, but a grown man? Did you see his face?” Jean reacted curiously.

“I didn’t. I was about to see his face but suddenly woke up. I tried going back to sleep to see his face but I couldn’t go back to my dream.” She replied to her friend with a gloomy face.

 “I think your childhood playmate just grew up already as a man. Maybe, it was him! Could you imagine? Your dream is unbelievable! But what I just thought is absurd. It can’t happen in reality unless he is real. So, don't mind me.”

She’s kidding but right, it can’t happen in reality that the character in her dream will grow up like a human being. Maybe, her mind just assumed the boy had grown up also that’s why she dreamed of a grown man.

“But hey, what do you mean by, unless he is real?” She frowned as she couldn't grasp her friend.

“Oh, my conclusion is, still the same my dear. I’m sure of it, Cara, that boy had existed in your childhood memory. You had met him in the past but there is one circumstance in your memory that you only remember his face vividly but you did not remember your encounter with him. However, the grown-up man is not possible to become that boy unless you thought it was.”

Well, she knows right and Jean was right. There is a portion in her memory that she encountered that boy but she forgot the important event when she met him.

But the reality is still so blurry. She experienced no kind of accident which could be the reason for forgetting an important event, especially since she remembers the boy's face clearly. She deeply sighed. Her head is going to explode.

“Can you give me the highest dosage of stress reliever?” She thinks again carefully. She is so sure that she doesn’t have any forgotten memory about him. Because the only memory she had with him was her dream.

“You should know by now that your only medicine is to forget your dream and that boy. You need to move on with your life so that he can’t affect your present.”

Her friend was right again. But what if the dream would come back, how can she move on?

She hung up the phone, leaving no notice on her best friend on the other line when her mother called her.

“Cara, sweetheart, you have a letter from an unknown person. Do you have a stalker? Who will send you a letter without the name and address of the sender?” Her mom gave her the letter nosily. But her mom did not open it to interfere with her privacy.

“Thanks, Mom! I don’t have any idea.”

She received the letter and opened it immediately. The letter was enclosed in a white mailing envelope with only her name and address written on it. She read the letter curiously.

Dear Cara,

You can call me by my Pen Name, “Mr. Smith”. Just want you to know that I admired your sweet girl charm the first time I met you. I am writing this letter just to express my gratitude to you. I was grateful that you helped me in my situation in the past, as I owe you a lot. Thanks for helping me.

Sincerely,

Mr. Smith

Who is Mr. Smith? She doesn’t remember any encounter with a man throughout her whole life. And what the thing he owes her?

She keeps on questioning herself repeatedly but she doesn’t understand what this letter means so she disregards the letter. Just kept it in her drawer beside her bed and wanted to stop thinking about strange things.

She went to her bed after finishing the book that she was reading, as she felt sleepy and tired that she rested on her comforting bed and pillows.

.........

“Everything here didn’t change, especially you, Cara. You’re still the same even though you grew up as a lady. The same pretty girl I always wanted to see and you become more beautiful as a woman.”

“Who are you?” She just reacted to the man who complimented her. His face looks familiar, but she can’t recognize who he is.

“Don’t you remember me? I’m the little boy who gave you sweet candies every time you played with me. And my heart feels fluttered every time you kissed my cheeks.”

“What is your name?” She asked him to remember his name when she got back into the real world.

This is another dream of hers. She knew it. He grew up as a man.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you, my name. Just remember this face and we will see each other like this.”

She couldn’t understand what he was saying, yet she knew the answer to her question.

“Why, it’s because you’re not real?” She sighs.

He looked at her, smiling innocently. He was so attractive and good-looking and he could be her potential boyfriend. As her wish.

But her mood changed when she thought about it. She feels frustrated knowing the fact that this is just a dream.

“I knew it. You’re not real. You’re only a character I created with my dream.”

She pinched herself to wake her up. But she’s still here.

She tried closing her eyes and opened them again. But she’s still seeing him.

“Are you alright, Cara?” He asked her worriedly when he noticed her doing.

“I’m not alright. This is not right. I have to wake up. I should not be here. You’re only a dream. You are not real. I have to wake up.” She said to him abrasively.

“I am real Cara. This world between us is real. The past that we had has happened.

But I cannot tell you my name, not now, it is not yet the time.”

She was about to say something, but he was gone.

She went back to the real world as she was seeing the ceiling of her room.

And her body was still resting on her bed. She remembered the man’s face suddenly.

His face looks familiar, but she’s not sure where the hell of a place she encountered him in reality.