avatarScarlet Ibis James 🦩

Summarize

Chapter 3 | Writing Relay | Don’t Wake Me, I’m Dreaming

A Dream Of A Dream In A Nightmare

LADYBUG

My wife glared down at me, her tone low and dangerous. “Why are you dreaming about my friend Tatiana?”

Image created by J.Andrew on DALLE 3

The First Dream

I woke up, shedding the wolf form that had engulfed me moments earlier.

“I’m human again,” I thought in relief, only to realize my nakedness in the dark alleyway.

Surveying the surroundings, I vaguely discerned something red with black spots.

“What is that?” I squinted, attempting to distinguish the obscure entity.

A sudden chill gripped my calf, sending a shiver racing up my legs.

Startled awake, I exclaimed with irritation, “Shit, Sarah! Why are you putting your cold foot on me?”

Apologizing, she shifted to become the big spoon, enveloping me in her arms.

Within her embrace, I stared into the darkness, replaying the vivid dream of the mysterious woman from the coffee shop. Compelled by an inexplicable force, I had followed her earlier that day, only to be surprised when she addressed me by my name.

*Whispering cryptically, she declared, “Your real pursuit begins now, Edgar.”

Doubt gnawed at me. How did she know my name? Did I somehow know her?

The confusion deepened as I pondered the mention of Sarah in the dream I just woke up from. Was there a connection between the enigmatic woman and my wife?

The Second Dream

Sarah stirred, pulling me closer, but the atmosphere abruptly shifted. In terror, I felt my wife’s arm transform into a swarm of ladybugs.

I bellowed, frantically swatting at my body in a desperate attempt to rid myself of the surreal infestation.

Whap!

My eyes adjusted to the darkness as I looked up at my wife. She slapped me!

“Why’d you hit me, Sarah?” I demanded.

“You were dreaming, Edgar,” she said, her chest rising and falling with short breaths.

“And that’s how you choose to wake me?” I countered.

“Yes!” she glared down at me, her tone low and dangerous. “Why are you dreaming about my friend Tatiana?”

“Tatiana?” I asked, my eyebrows knotted and my mind racing.

“Yes, Edgar — Tatiana — you know, Ladybug.” The realization hit me like a bolt. ‘Ah, yes!’

The Nightmare

Fully awake now, I replayed the recent events and the dreams in the light of the photo albums my wife and I had recently unearthed.

I had seen a picture of the woman in the coffee shop in an old photo album my wife had shared. I remembered now.

“Tatiana is in a motorcycle club called the she-wolves. She calls her red and black bike Ladybug,” Sarah informed me as she examined the photos. Her tone had a melancholy edge as she seemed to reminisce. “She would never approve of me marrying a lamb like you, Edgar.”

‘I’m not a lamb, Sarah,’ I thought but said nothing.

Looking at the picture of the sexy vixen, Tatiana, I wondered about my wife’s life before we met. The imagined relationship they shared plagued me.

What were the odds that Tatiana would appear in my life so soon after Sarah spoke about her?

How could my dreams of her be so vivid? Tatiana tried to kill me in that dream, and I became a wolf.

“It was a nightmare, Sarah — about ladybugs, not Tatiana,” I lied, remembering that my wife was still waiting for a response.

I turned, spooning her in my body this time. “Go back to sleep, little lamb,” I said.

Then, just before I succumbed to sleep again, a thought robbed me of such slumber, ‘Tatiana.’

When she confronted me in the cafe, she demanded we meet again. And I had said yes. Like a wuss, I suggested I bring my wife along.

What would Sarah say when I told her about this after tonight?

‘F*ck, she’ll know I WAS dreaming of her friend!’ I thought just as my eyes, now adjusted to the moonlit room, saw a tiny ladybug land on the ledge of the windowsill just before the curtain blew toward me, knocking the insect off and into our bedroom.

© Scarlet Ibis James, 2023: All Rights Reserved.

🆂🆄🅱🆂🅲🆁🅸🅱🅴 🆃🅾 🅶🅴🆃 🅼🆈 🆂🆃🅾🆁🅸🅴🆂 🅸🅽 🆈🅾🆄🆁 🅼🅰🅸🅻🅱🅾🆇

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, or events is coincidental. All characters and incidents in this narrative are products of the author’s imagination.

This is the third in a writing relay series — *Chapter I | Chapter II (by 🌬️Mitch), and I also wrote it for Competition #1:Ladybug, created by J. Andrew at The Lime Castle.

Fiction
Short Story
Flash Fiction
Magical Realism
Prompt
Recommended from ReadMedium