Living The Dream

It seemed like a dream. The street where she grew up, the city block that was her world. Sara had not been home since she discovered war. The repair shop was as she remembered, bits of this, bits of that: the only orderly part her father’s work station. He had had no less than three projects at once in her memory. Now there was only one computorial unit, and that was covered in dust that aged the job far older than any customer would accept. The old man was in the back, in his living room. It was clean. It was spartan. He had a cot, a desk, a bookshelf. A lamp. The old man was seated on the edge of his bed reading a book. Sara knew that book. It was the same book.

“Hey dad.”

Lee looked up. He blinked to make sure, and then sprang up and embraced his daughter. For a moment they were together again as a decade ago. But it was only a moment. Lee held Sara at arms length. “What-why did you come back? It is not safe here.”

“Dad I came back to help-”

“No! Not safe.” Lee paced back and forth. Peeking out the small window.

“Of course it’s not safe, that’s why I’m here.”

“He will know. Then he will come. Then he will kill you!”

“You aren’t dead yet.”

“Oh no, he killed me a long time ago.” The old man rearranged his desk nervously.

“Dad I found Lione, he has an army.”

“Lione!” Lee threw his hands up. “He is just as bad! He wants to burn it all down and choke on the ashes!”

“I know, dad, but I can use him to get to Creed.”

“‘Get to Creed?’ You do not know what you speak, child. He is not just another bully Sara. He is a slave driver. He breaks men better than nature ever could.”

“It is a good thing, then, that I am a woman.”

Lee could not help but chuckle. He was calm now, and looked Sara up and down. “Yes you certainly are. Your mother-you have her eyes.”

“And your stubbornness, old man.”

“Ah!” he sat again. “Such was always my undoing.”

“Maybe you got close, and just needed to keep going.”

“Is that what you think of me?” Old Lee had hurt in his eyes. He waved his hand when Sara tried to clarify. “I know, I know.” He rubbed his knee and stared straight forward to the wall. “There is something I have to tell you, child. Something that I wanted to never tell you. But now you are here.”

Sara knelt and looked up at his face. Once again they were as they had been.

“Creed. Is a man who has done evil things. But, his evil could not have made this-” he waved to the window and the world outside, “without help. A million helps from a million men and women all lying to ourselves as things got worse. And some of us. Some of us helped more than others. Some of us.” He looked his daughter in the eye. “Some of us were his friends and believed the lie.” He looked down in shame as he saw the doubt in her eyes. “I was there at the beginning, child. I was a smart man fooled by a smarter man. My pride kept me blind. Your mother saw through the dream. God save me I thought her simple. But she was stronger than I. Maybe stronger than Creed. That is why. That is why he made me.”

Sara stood and looked down on her father. The moment was long past and dead.

“He made me kill her.”

Sara turned away. “Why do you tell me this?”

“You need to know. About the dream. About the lie he wields. Sara, love, he is not a normal man. He can make you think, make you see things...or not see things.”

Lee stood, and placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. She recoiled, but looked him in the eyes. Not with accusation, but with a question.

“Sara, I paid for my sins as much as I could, but I still owe far more than I could pay. I woke up, and I fought. He bled me dry. He killed everyone around me. He left me alive as a warning. No one would follow me. They said I was cursed, or worse. So I..started over. Here, with you. I had one goal. To get enough to send you to safety.”

“So I never knew you.”

“I thought. Maybe you never would.”

“Why tell me now, old man?”

“If you ever came back I knew why you would come back.”

“How will anyone trust me now, how will I fight Creed.”

“I am dead, you are not my daughter. I made sure of that. You will not find my name in the records.”

“So I can make my own way?”

“So you could be free of the dream. But now you are back, so that cannot be.”

“I am not dreaming old man.”

“If you are breathing the air of this world, you are certainly dreaming.”

Sara scoffed, and started to walk out the door.

“Sara, there is one last thing-”

“No!” She turned back sharply. “You killed my mother. You helped Creed enslave this world! When I was a child we were taught that this was the best of all possible worlds. But I have seen the other worlds, I have been to Urdun, and I know the truth regardless of your crazy mind-control screed.” Sara stood close to her father with fire in her eyes. “Creed is the last dictator in this Sun Circle, and all other dictators have been killed by their slaves.” She left.

Old Lee sank down to his cot. “-I love you, and I am sorry.” He picked up the book and read from where he had left off, searching for answers, for peace.

---

“It’s over, creep.”

Daniel had his back to the door but he heard three men entering. Had to move quickly. He crushed and mixed and poured while the gang spread into his apartment.

“We saw what you did to that boy, and his sister. You did us a favor with him, but that girl was ours. Now we take what she owed, from you.”

Daniel was finished. The small cup held enough. He turned and stood tall. “That woman was in pain. You sent her there, she asked me to help her and I did.” He hid a gulp. Daniel’s “tall” was not the same as goons 1 and 3’s “normal”.

The middle one spoke again. “Ok, ok, what did you do with the body, friend?”

“I told you I helped her go free.”

“Listen, I’m not mad, ok? Look, just want to know so that nobody gets in trouble with the watchers.”

Daniel did not believe he was not mad. All three were getting pretty close. Soon they would have his arms and he would not be able to do THIS-

Sharply thrown, the glass shattered on the ground and a vapor spread as fast as thought. All four men gasped, and all four men were in Daniel’s nightmare.

“She set herself free from you. She can live now how she likes. You however-” Daniel spoke softly because he knew they could still hear him over their screams- “are now prisoners of mine. And I sentence you to pay for your crimes.” Daniel stepped over the men prostrate on the floor and walked out the apartment he never intended to return to, closing the door. The screams could not be heard beyond the room, outside the nightmare. He stiffened his tall collar and clenched his long coat close.

“What’s good?” said the doorman.

“Livin the dream,” said Daniel as he tucked the book into his coat. Even though he had it memorized and knew there were no answers.

words mine, pictures from pixabay by way of imgur. Feedback and criticism welcome. Thanks for reading.

-Matthew