Theandric Thursday # 6: Dream a better dream...

Oh yay! *Dancing* Finally, back with a Theandric Thursday post! Theandric Thursday is a used to be a fortnightly feature on my blog (now it'll just be whenever I have the time and mind!), where I'll be having fun with putting down those weird thoughts and stories that occupy my mind most of the times. The dictionary definition of 'Theandric' is 'Relating to the joint agency of the divine and human nature'.

If you're interested in participating, write your own Theandric Thursday post and drop your link in the comments section. Feel free to write reality, part-reality-part-fiction or fiction, anything above the 'normality' of our world. ;) You can use the above picture on your post and link back to this post.

Yes, I know it isn't Thursday. My blog, my wish. :P 

*Fiction*

Kaitlyn grabbed the loose ends of her hair, previously falling over her cheeks, working her hands speedily as she used the black elastic band to tie her hair up in a simple ponytail. Not that she had much choice anyway, what with her black locks almost reaching her waist, coupled with her eternal uncaring attitude, too ‘uncarish’ to even try variants in hairstyles. It wasn’t as if she was plain. She was one of those who were envied for their effortless good looks. Like, some people make a lot of effort. That girl in the mall may have spent an entire hour getting ready: showering, oiling, creaming, powdering, and all such ‘ing’s. You know what I mean. While on the other extreme there were those like Kaitlyn, who simply looked good whatever condition they were in. Even if you happen to pass their homes late in the evening and saw a light through a window and peeked in, you’d see them watching TV with their family, in their PJs and maybe laughing loudly, still you’d think they had the most beautiful faces. That was what Kaitlyn knew and was happy about. Because hello? No non-sense makeup needed and she’d still be okay.

In any case, she was much too worked up about other, seemingly impossible, yet real stuff to care about how she looks. That was nowhere in her priority list. She let out a sigh, making a small circle of breath on the mirror’s surface. Her hands rested on the edge of the dressing table as she stared into the frosty-looking glass (misnomer-because it wasn’t exactly frost that was there). The plain surface gradually turned into a swirling mass of colors, which finally took shape till she was looking into creatures and forms that dominated her dreams these past nights. It had started almost two weeks ago, she clearly remembered. She had been in a horribly angry state, sick of all the drama her fellow students in college seemed to indulge in. Sick, she had thought, these people are just so clueless, so shallow, so unaware. What kind of a person gossips about other people, commenting on everything about them? It’s ridiculous. She’d rather spend her time discussing something ‘bright’ or planning something good, or helping someone. There’s so much more to life. So much she wanted to do, so much that she feared not being able to finish it all in a lifetime.

That’s why she remembered that night in particular, because that dream had been so peculiar. So much of a coincidence that her paranoid brain didn’t just want to strike it off as a plain coincidence. True, she always had been proud of the way she felt connected to dreams, how she practically lived in those dreams, some recurring ones (like the one where she’s standing in a small round park, with kids and adults having fun and then seeing funny-looking airplanes overhead, not just flying but doing round-abouts, too close to the buildings surrounding the park), some so hilarious that she could laugh and still enjoy the dream (like the one where she is moving around in her scooty, just that the scooty is her red Fastrack bag!), some depicting her deepest insecurities and fears (like those with dogs chasing after her, or how she seems to be getting late, no matter how much she tries). These were all seemingly normal for her. Self introspection? Her dreams did that for her.

But that night had shaken her up, if only just a little. Almost as if.....as if, someone was giving her a choice. In the first part she faced the worst kind of nightmares, so tight that she wasn’t even aware and couldn’t bring herself to wake up, like she usually could. The dream ended when she was flying down into a never-ending abyss, just to have her engulfed in an entirely different realm. This time when she opened her eyes, she was still sleeping, but seemed as if she had moved into paradise. She hadn’t seen as many blooming flowers in all her life, in varying shades, interspersed between the greens. It wasn’t even too harsh, rather soothing. But that wasn’t what did it. It was the way she felt, too real, too good to be true, her heart too peaceful to be in just another usual dream. This place allowed her to be all that she thought she wasn’t and what she wanted, which was a way out to find her real self.

She frequently wondered about the point of her existence. She was a dreamer, but it didn’t work out well in ‘reality’, for dreams are to be forgotten as soon as you’re awake. Now that she had actually sensed that feeling of contentment, peace with herself, she wondered if that might be possible. It was a dream, after all. An exceptional one, but a dream nevertheless. But that was just the first night, she thought back. She’d been in her Garden of Self-Discovery every night since then, moving on a little further gradually. Sometimes she slipped when she stumbled (clumsiness even in dreams!) and some camouflaged opening would engulf her. That’s when she would find herself back in Nightmareland, struggling to break free. It got harder each time, sometimes getting so frustrated that tears would accumulate and she would wake up with a wet face. It’s true then, Kaitlyn thought, just like she’d read in a book, ‘How easily one gets accustomed to a good thing’.

“Kaitlyn? Are you ready yet?” called her mom, knocking her door. That’s what she liked best about her mom. She understood how much her daughter valued her privacy. The colors had already dried up, it was just her and her reflection, introspecting and...... lightness? There, for just a few seconds, it seemed like she was back in her Garden. Just thinking about it made a soft surge of energy flow into her. It seemed to seep into every cell, blossoming and growing until it made her feel warm and light. She realized her reflection was smiling, as if the Kaitlyn-in-the-mirror knew what she had to do. Her choice was made. Focus was all she had to work on. She’d achieve it eventually, she could bring her dreams true, for if you really want something, you can really get it, even if you saw them in your dreams! If there's something wrong, just dream a better dream! Kaitlyn smiled right back and hopped out of the room. Shopping with mom! Exciting! :D 

PS- I wouldn't be surprised if this post isn't clear, though I hope it is! I saw a kids' movie in the morning called 'The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl' based on a kid's dreams. I liked the way it shows how dreams are capable of being real. The title and the message, 'If things aren't going right, dream a better dream' has been borrowed from that movie. :)