Dreamrunner was hanging upside down from a tree branch, long hair hanging down as he just stared blankly through a dense forest. He didn’t feel any blood rushing to his head. He didn’t have anything inside of his body to move or shift. He just hung upside down as he didn’t know what else to do.
Underneath him was a teenage couple. A young boy and girl walking and laughing as they walked. Their arms were around each other as they walked, clearly loving being together and having a good time.
“What should we do now?” He asked her with a big smile.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykWeuXvevb
The girl bit her lip and looked around.
“Nobody is around.” She said in a seductive tone.
The two teens began to giggle as they grabbed each other and kissed.
Dreamrunner watched on, curious about what they were doing.
He had seen plenty of dreams like this before, but he never understood it.
“What about your boyfriend?” The boy asked while taking off his shirt.
“Oh please, he’s nowhere near the man you are.” The girl replied while breathing heavily and unbuckling the belt around his pants.
“Oh I’ve been dreaming about this for so long.” The boy said as the girl chuckled unnaturally.
Dreamrunner began to look perplexed and swung his body so he could fly off the tree branch and flip in midair, landing on the ground seamlessly and making the two teens jump in fear.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” The boy asked as he had to grab the waist from his pants and keep them up.
“What’s going on here?” Dreamrunner asked, looking at the two teens.
“We’re just…” The boy was too nervous to continue speaking.
“He’s my boyfriend. We’re just going to have some fun.” The girl said with a giggle.
Dreamrunner sighed and slowly walked over to her. She looked confused, but then his hand went and grabbed her head.
Her eyes rolled back before she suddenly faded away, completely disappearing.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” The boy shouted as he tried to punch Dreamrunner, but he phased through him and fell forward onto his face.
“Who is she?” Dreamrunner asked as he turned around and held his hand out, the boy looking up with tears beginning to form in his eyes. He grabbed Dreamrunner’s hand and allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet.
“Her name is Alice.” The boy replied.
“And what’s yours?” Dreamrunner asked.
“My name is Jack.” The boy replied, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“How long have you known her?” Dreamrunner asked.
The two of them slowly walked through the forest, which began to shift and change around them. A lake formed right in front of them as Jack stared into it. Staring back was a young boy who looked similar to him.
“Jack!”
Jack spun around, the young boy smiling and running off.
Dreamrunner and teenage Jack were standing to the side, invisible to everyone else.
The young Jack was running to a few small cabins that sat in a semicircle, a small fire sitting in the middle despite the sun being out.
“Are you remembering this differently?” Dreamrunner asked.
Jack softly chuckled.
The sun very quickly moved through the sky as if a day was passing by in a few seconds. The moon came up in the sky as everything was shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from the fire and the moon reflecting off the water.
Young Jack sat on a tree log next to a young girl who looked like Alice.
They both smiled as Alice held her hand out.
“Hi, I’m Alice.” She said in a very high pitched voice.
“I’m Jack.” Jack replied with a smile and high fived her hand.
They both laughed as they sat around the fire.
A camp counselor was sitting with an acoustic guitar, playing and singing as the other children around sang along, but Jack and Alice were playfully looking at each other.
“Met at a Summer Camp?” Dreamrunner asked.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to go. Parents forced me to. But I sure am happy that I did.” He replied.
Dreamrunner put his hand on Jack’s back, watching on as the counselor and children sang along.
Alice was beginning to grow tired, and her head slowly rested on Jack’s shoulder.
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Jack and Dreamrunner turned around, the lake behind them suddenly being replaced with a large classroom.
Jack, who looked slightly older, was drawing in his notebook and not paying attention.
A slightly older Alice walked into the room.
“Excuse me, is this the right classroom?” She asked.
Jack immediately shot up and paid attention as soon as he heard the voice.
Alice turned and saw Jack, smiling and even blushing.
“Yes, you must be Alice. Go find somewhere to sit.” The teacher replied.
Alice immediately went towards Jack, sitting in one of the only empty desks right next to him.
They both smiled and were blushing brightly before they focused, yet Jack began to draw a flower and wrote a note next to it.
“We would pass notes every single day. I don’t think I learned anything in school.” Jack said with a faint laugh.
It was as if the time was racing forward at a very high speed. They watched as the bodies were becoming blurs, thousands of notes being passed back and forth. They were growing older very quickly, until they were the age that they are now.
Jack was staring at a perfect mirror of himself. A teenager walking with Alice down a school hallway. They were both talking and laughing, but then another guy walked next to them and put his arm around Alice.
Jack watched himself, the body language dropping and looking sad as Alice kissed the other guy right in front of him.
“Alice…um…still on for the studying together?” Jack asked in a tone that had a hint of sadness, but he tried his best to hide it.
“Um…I’ll text you. We might be busy.” She said, her arms around the other guy, who just smirked.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNed3hTarC
“Busy is right.” He said with a soft chuckle.
Jack looked upset as Alice just laughed.
Jack walked away from them, but they didn’t even seem to notice he was gone.
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Jack rubbed his eyes and looked over at Dreamrunner. He was standing in the hallway, as if he was suddenly in the spot of his reflection.
“Years and years of having a crush and she ends up with somebody else.” Dreamrunner said as he began to walk towards the couple.
It looked like time had frozen, the two of them the only people able to move.
Jack walked over, looking deep into Alice’s eyes. They were happy. In love. Pure bliss.
Then he looked into the guy’s eyes.
There was barely any emotion. No love. No bliss.
Jack sighed and clenched his fist.
“Don’t do it Jack. That’s not the solution.” Dreamrunner said as he walked around to stand next to Jack.
“But what is the solution? She won’t date me. I’m just a friend to her.” He said, tears forming in his eyes again.
“Have you asked her out?” Dreamrunner asked.
Jack opened to speak, but stopped himself.
“I…well..I’ve hinted at it.” Jack said, reaching up and rubbing his neck.
“Hinted at it? Well maybe she just didn’t understand.” Dreamrunner said to try and comfort him.
“But…what do I do?” Jack asked.
“Find time to be with her and just be honest. Open your heart up. It’s going to be scary. Maybe she’ll say no. But if you don’t shoot that shot, you won’t know.” Dreamrunner said.
Suddenly, everything shook violently, making Jack almost lose his balance.
“What the hell is that?” He asked.
“Your alarm. Time to wake up and go to school.” Dreamrunner said as he opened one of the lockers, a blinding light shooting out as Jack covered his eyes.
“Promise me you’ll go for it.” Dreamrunner said with a smile.
Jack looked at him, then over at the frozen Alice.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52cQrHwWMy
She looked so beautiful. He couldn’t help but admire her, making him smile.
“I promise.” He said before everything began to shake again.
Dreamrunner stepped into the locker and shut the door.
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Jack reached out from his bed, slamming his hand down to end his alarm clock from buzzing more.
He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes before grabbing his phone that was charging right next to his alarm.
He stared at a message he got a few minutes before.
“Hey…”
It was a message from Alice.
“Good Morning. Is everything alright?” He sent back quickly.
Almost immediately, his message was read and he watched the three dots pop up that she was replying.
“Me and Randy got into a fight. Can I come over?” She asked.
Jack’s eyes went wide as his face went bright red.
“I’ll see you at school.” Jack sent, but then immediately seemed to regret it. He was about to type another message, but she was already typing.
“I’m not going to school today. And I’d rather be with you than alone.”
Jack was frozen as he stared at the message.
He hesitated for a few seconds before typing.
“Yeah. Come on over.”
He pressed send and stared at his phone.
Not even a full minute passed before he heard a knock at his front door.
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