The Dream Wanderer Ch. 01 - Dream

Disclaimer:

This story is a work of fiction. Thus the characters and events are entirely fictitious. Any mention of real locations or events is used for a backdrop and is not meant to be factual.

Constructive criticism is welcomed as I am not a professional writer.

Thanks to all the editors for their help, hard work, and patience.

Thanks for reading.

Important Note: In the prologue, I made a mistake and called Joan like Johan. So bear in mind that Joan is the correct name.

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I woke up, looked at the clock, and saw it was 21:30, 'Fuck! I slept all afternoon! I am so fucked up to wake up tomorrow,' I thought.

I looked at my phone and started thinking about what I would order for dinner. While searching, I saw that I had messages to read from Peter, Johnny, and Joan.

I opened Joan's chat:

'Thanks for the tickets! The festival was awesome!'

'After we dropped you off at home, Ruth told me she enjoyed meeting you.'

'She told me she was sorry she didn't ask you for your cell phone number and asked me if I could give her the number.'

'I think you have something to tell me!'

'I want to know everything!''(smiley face with tongue out).'

'Looks like I don't have to be the one asking after all!' I thought.

I opened the chat with Peter:

'Great Festival!!!'

'I hope you fucked Joan's friend!'

'That chick was constantly checking you out! (wink smiley)'

I opened the chat with Johnny:

'Thanks for the ticket! It was awesome! Joan hasn't shut up about how great it was.'

'I owe you one!'

I looked at my phone and saw that the battery was almost dead, at 2%; I quickly got the charger. Since I didn't have anything in the fridge for dinner, I decided to eat out. The first restaurant I found was a hamburger place. I've thought about stopping in before but never found the time.

"Good evening. Have a seat anywhere!" I heard, as soon as I entered.

"Good evening!" I answered, automatically. I briefly noticed a waitress had called out the greeting, but I didn't pay much attention to her.

I looked around and saw the place was pretty empty, so I sat at one of the tables. Right away, the waitress approached me. She must be in her twenties. Her messy curly hair caught up in a top bun, brown eyes, and no makeup. Despite being in her work clothes, I could see she was in excellent shape. I noticed that the name tag said 'Mary.'

"This is your first time here, isn't it?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yes, it is..."

"And you already know what it's going to be?"

"What do you recommend?" I asked, since I was starving and didn't feel like browsing the menu.

"I recommend the burger of the day! Every day we change the burger."

"Sounds good, but if it has mushrooms, please don't put them in!"

"Anything else? Fries? Drink?"

"A Coke."

"No french fries?" she asked, surprised.

"Nope."

"You got it!" she walked away.

I took a look at Mary as I waited. She was dancing to the music, and when she noticed me looking at her, she smiled and looked down at the floor, blushing. 'Plim' rang the bell. She stopped dancing and went to get the burger and fries; after getting the Coke from the fridge, she brought it to me.

"Here's your order!"

"Fries?" I asked, surprised.

"The fries are on me! They are the best fries around! I couldn't leave you without tasting this culinary masterpiece!" She winked at me and gave me a big smile.

"Thank you, Mary!"

She stood still for a moment. "How do you know my name?" she asked, incredulously. I pointed to the nameplate on her chest, and she laughed, "Sorry, customers don't usually call me by name." She gestured, asking if she could sit down.

I answered her yes with a gesture.

"May I ask you what your name is?"

"Gus! Nice to meet you, Mary."

Since I was the only diner, we talked while I had dinner. Mary was 21 and had started working at the restaurant to pay for her university tuition. She had an enjoyable laugh, which I heard after every joke I told. Only one customer came in while I was eating and asked for a takeaway. I looked at the clock; it was almost 23:00, so I got up, and she did the same.

"Well, it was quite nice! I enjoyed meeting you."

"Me too! Come by again," she winked at me.

"Only if you promise not to steal all the fries again!" I retorted, and she started laughing.

"Don't forget who offered them to you in the first place!" she replied, and I laughed with her.

"Fair enough!" I said, leaving the store and saying goodbye with a wave.

I returned home and thought about the weekend and how surreal everything was. I picked up my phone, which was already charged, and started answering messages.

I opened Peter's chat:

'Indeed! I'm all wrecked';

'I'm getting too old for this.'

'And you're only 24! Imagine when you reach 34!'

'Tell me about it XD'

'But did you fuck the chick or not?'

'A gentleman doesn't reveal his conquests (smiley face with tongue out)'

'For your sake, I hope so!'

I closed Peter's chat and opened Johnny's chat:

'Don't worry about it! The drinks are on you next time (wink smile)'

Since I didn't get an answer from Johnny, I decided to answer Joan:

'I also enjoyed going!'

'I don't know what you think I have to tell you (sweating smile)'

'But yes, you can give my number to Ruth. She is super cool and has a good vibe.'

'Oh, you don't have anything to tell? okayyy... (disappointed smile)'

'If you want tomorrow, we can go for coffee, and you ask what you want to know (laughing smile)'

'Yeah, she's nice. I'm sorry she has to go away for a while now...'

'I'll check with you tomorrow if I can make it... University started getting hard...'

'Hey! University comes first!'

'Really?' replying to the text where Ruth needs to leave

'Erasmus! She goes to Italy for a year.'

'She's doing the right thing; she will enjoy it!'

'Yeah, but we were just starting to get along.'

The conversation continued for a while, but she must have fallen asleep because she stopped answering me. It's already 00:21, and I fell asleep, too.

*****

I found myself in front of a wooden house in the middle of the forest, 'How did I get here?' I thought. I could smell the dew and the forest. I felt my body moving towards the entrance, and the door opened like magic. I felt a bit lost. I couldn't understand what was happening. My body just moved against my will. After I passed the door, I was in what looked like a room with a big window instead of a wall facing the forest.

"Hey!" I looked back and saw Joan. She was wearing a black tube top that fastened around her neck. I didn't remember seeing this top; she wore a pair of rather-tight jeans, highlighting all her shapes.

"Hey, kiddo!" I said uncontrollably, 'kiddo!?' I thought, 'I hadn't called her that in a long time.' When she turned sixteen, she told me to stop calling her that.

"How are you?" she asked me.

"Fine, you?" I said, again not understanding what was happening.

"Now that you're here, I'm much better!" she smiled.

"Always teasing!" I stuck my tongue out.

Everything I did and said seemed on autopilot as if I had an out-of-body experience, but in this case, it was in the first person. We talked for hours, just like we used to. We talked about everything; joys, sorrows, doubts, and whatever we wanted, without fear of judgment from either side. Eventually, I got up and said goodbye to her.

I began to feel my body being compressed against itself.

*****

I woke up on the couch, startled, I looked at the clock, and it was 00:46, 'What was that? A dream? It was too realistic...' I got up and lay in bed. It felt like I'd been awake for three hours. As soon as I placed my head on the pillow, I fell asleep.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring. Seeing it was 07:30, I got up and went to the bathroom. After taking care of my morning needs and washing my face, I went to the kitchen and made coffee and some toast. I sat at my table with the coffee and toast and started watching memes. After eating, I rinsed my coffee cup and got dressed in a dark-blue polo and some jeans. I grabbed my bag with my laptop and left the house. 'Fuck! The car keys' coming back inside, I grabbed the car keys and headed to work. 'I didn't miss this traffic at all....' The trip wasn't long but still took me about 42 minutes to get to the company garage, where I could park for the day.

I took the elevator up and greeted everyone as I entered the office. Although it was still 08:52, some of my colleagues were already busy. I turned on my laptop, and while it was booting up, I took the opportunity to go fill my water bottle. When I got there, Zoe was already there.

"Hello! Hello! Hello!" I said, in a lively tone.

"Hello!" she replied, with a surprised smile.

Zoe was like a half-sister to me. She was always smiling and just saying silly things as I do.

"Hey! How's the lady?"

"Much better, now that I got such a lively hello!"

"You know that's how I am!" I winked at her.

"So, how are you? How was your vacation?"

"Calm! I was able to rest."

"Good!"

She returned to her desk after filling her water bottle, so I finished filling my bottle and went back to my desk. I opened the calendar and saw that I would have only one meeting, but it would last all morning. I looked at the clock, and I still had thirty-two minutes until the meeting, so I got up and walked over to Zoe.

"You had breakfast yet?"

"I was just about to call you! I was talking to Mika, Ava, and Tyler," Zoe said Tyler's name, with some displeasure.

"Let me just go get Austin, and we can go."

I turned to Austin, who had just sat down.

"Austin! Let's go get some coffee!"

"Man, I just got here!" he responded, although it was the same old thing almost daily.

"Don't be lame! Come on!"

Austin got up, and I tapped Zoe's shoulder. The six of us went to the elevator. While we were waiting, they kept asking me how the vacation went.

While we were going to the coffee shop, I saw Luna arriving at the office. She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a very baggy cream sweatshirt. I didn't remember seeing her once with tight clothes; she seemed to like to dress like a boy. I'd had a crush on Luna since day one. A lot of people thought she was nothing special. Obviously, she was not an Ava. But something about her attracted me; thinking about it, maybe it was her smile and the fact that she was super friendly to everyone. She smiled and greeted us. I couldn't help but smile back. Some of us had breakfast, while others just had coffee, like me.

I looked at the clock and said that I had to go to a meeting at 09:30. I went back to the office, and after grabbing my laptop, I headed to the meeting room. I was the first to arrive. The meeting was to discuss some late items, some of which started after I started my vacation two weeks ago. As soon as the meeting was over, my boss, Tanya, came to talk to me.

"Gus! Do you think you can deliver the report at the next meeting?"

"How was it possible that no one has been able to deliver that yet? It has been two weeks?"

"You're right, but that's why I need to know if you can do it yourself. I need it next Monday. Do you think you can do it?"

"I'd say yes... But I'll need to check the calendar..." I replied thoughtfully.

"Perfect!" she said, with a pleased look, almost ignoring what I told her. Like all bosses, they only hear what they want to hear.

I returned to my desk and started working on the report. It wasn't too complicated, but gathering all the needed information would take some time. I was so focused on work that I didn't notice Ava's approach until she touched my shoulder, startling me.

"Are you too busy?"

We both started with this company on the same day, so we were close, but some misunderstandings led us to split. Sometimes, I still thought we could have had something more if things had gone differently.

"Yeah! But tell me..."

"I have a problem with my laptop, and I think you can help me."

Everyone in the office knew that I was some kind of a geek and that I could solve most problems.

"Do you want to bring the laptop over here, or would you rather I go to your place?"

"Hmmm, maybe I'll bring it over here; just wait a bit!"

As soon as she went away, I couldn't resist and stood there enjoying Ava's ass, round and very well made, plus she highlighted it with the tight jeans she had on, 'She must have been back in the gym for sure.' Ava took only a few seconds to pick up her laptop and get back to me.

"Pull up Adam's chair. He went for a smoke." I pointed to the chair next to me, "So, what's wrong?"

Ava started to explain the problem, and I immediately started thinking of 1001 solutions. While trying to figure out the problem, I noticed that she was leaning over the arm, pulling her boobs almost out of the blue top. The problem turned out to be simple, and I told her how she could solve it next time.

"You're the man!" she replied, winking at me.

"Another satisfied customer!" I said, joking.

"Ah! Do you have others?"

"Several!" I replied, sticking my tongue out at her.

"Okay..." she answered, annoyed, and left.

'What the hell have I done?' I thought. Not understanding what happened.

I returned to what I was doing.

Austin, Tyler, and I went to the closest restaurant for lunch. They never bring lunch from home, and with what had happened, I had nothing prepared.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty calm. I talked to the office staff to get help getting the report done, 'I don't know if I'll have it done by next Monday...'

I saw the company chat flashing.

"Hello!!!" Zoe wrote.

"What's up?"

"I have a problem here. I'm supposed to have a meeting in 10 minutes, but the headset microphone doesn't work!"

"Did you change anything?"

"Nooooo..."

"I'll come over there."

I leaned over her desk as she explained what didn't work. I looked down and saw Zoe's cleavage, 'She, really, does have a nice pair of boobs.' Right after, she instinctively put her hand to her chest and pulled her blouse up.

I realized she was going to look at me, so I told her, "I know what the problem is! The problem is you have this program controlling the sound from the headset. You have to terminate it. I find it odd that you don't have a problem with the sound, too."

"Wow! I knew you could help me!"

"Anytime!" I told her, before returning to my seat.

I looked at my phone and had a new message from Joan:

'Are we always going for coffee? (tongue smile)'

'Of course, we will!' I replied.

'Awesome! Where do you want to meet?'

'You decide! You are the busy one (wink smile)'

'Can it be here at home? I have to study, so I won't waste too much time.'

'Sure!'

After a few minutes, I got a few messages from Joan:

'Johnny told me he's working tonight'

''I'll be here alone'

'Do you want to have dinner?'

'Don't worry, I won't cook!!! We'll order something.'

'19:30? If you will be ready before, you can come over sooner.'

'Sure, that's great!' I answered her.

For the rest of the afternoon, I managed to focus and was more relaxed because I made more progress than expected on the report.

'I'm leaving now.' I wrote to Joan.

'40 min or so and I should be there.'

I left work and headed to Joan and Johnny's house.

After their parents died, Johnny got a second job to pay Joan's college tuition. She tried harder because she knew everything Johnny did was for her. Peter and I had offered to help him, but he always refused our offer, so we tried to find other ways to help him.

I got out of the car, and even before I rang the bell, Joan opened the door for me. I was paralyzed for a few seconds. Joan was dressed exactly like she was in my dream, with a black tube top that hung around her neck and a pair of very tight jeans.

"Hi!" she said before kissing me on the cheek, making me come to myself.

"Hey, how are you?"

"A bit tired! The classes are destroying me!"

"It's normal. Too many things at once!"

"And you? How was it getting back to work?"

"Same old, same old!"

She turned and walked into the house, 'This can't be happening....'

"Is that top new?" I asked.

"Yes! Ruth gave it to me," she replied, looking back. "Do you like it?"

"It looks great on you. She has an excellent eye!" she flashed a big smile.

I followed her into the kitchen. She had the table covered with her university papers.

"Do you know what you want to eat?" I asked, as I looked at the papers in the kitchen.

"I don't know yet. I haven't thought about it..."

"Sushi?" I risked.

"Great idea!"

"And before you get any ideas, dinner is on me!" I looked at her, and she nodded yes.

I ordered the food, and while we waited, we sat at the table and discussed her classes. Unfortunately, she was taking very different courses from me. There wasn't much I could help her with, just the basics like English and Math. It didn't take long until the sushi arrived. When it did, we sat and started eating.

Halfway through dinner, she asked me, "Do you know something?"

"Luckily, I know some?" I said, right before I started laughing.

"Asshole!" she retorted, and we both started laughing. "I had a dream about you yesterday...." I froze again. "Relax, it was nothing bad!" she said, laughing, seeing my reaction. "I dreamt that we were both in this house in the middle of the forest, and we spent hours and hours talking about various things, just like we used to."

'This is why I froze!' I thought.

"You know? I miss those times..." she lowered her head.

"Me too..."

"Why did we stop?" I could tell her question was genuine.

"Well... Because of your 'dear' ex, Mark. The idiot was jealous of me and our connection."

"Yeah... Sorry... I shouldn't have listened to him. You were one of the closest people I had."

"That you have!" I interrupted her. She looked at me and smiled. "It's water under the bridge, don't worry about it," I told her.

"I wish I could get back to what we had."

"Sounds like a great idea to me."

We started talking about several topics when a continuous déjà vu began. I knew Joan felt the same since our conversation was almost the same as the dream.

It was close to 23:00 when we wound down from talking.

"I enjoyed this," I told her, getting up from the chair.

"Me too!"

She accompanied me to the door, where I turned and said, "See ya, Kiddo!"

She smiled upon hearing the word 'Kiddo' and hugged me.

When I got home, I undressed and got in the shower. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened, 'Did we have the same dream? How was it possible? How can we remember it so well?' Suddenly, all my thoughts shifted, 'Could this be what the Owl was talking about? It can't be... Or can it?' I shook my head, as if to make all the thoughts disappear. I finished showering and got on the couch, 'I forgot to ask Joan if she gave Ruth my number. I will ask her tomorrow.' I put a movie on, but I couldn't pay attention. All I could think about was the dream I had with Joan. I fell asleep thinking about it.

*****

I was on a beach. 'How did I get here?' I thought to myself. I could smell the ocean. When I looked at the ground, my perception was off. It seemed to me I was much closer to the ground than usual. I looked at my hand, and it seemed much smaller to me, too.

"Gus!"

I felt my body turning without my control, and I saw Joan. She must have been thirteen, 'I'm in the past? WTF?' I thought.

"Hey!" I heard myself say.

She kept running towards me wearing a pink swimsuit with white flowers.

"Are we going to play? Johnny doesn't give a shit about me..."

"Yes! I'll play with you," I told her with a huge smile, "but let me see if I can convince Johnny to play with us. "