Chapter Three: It’s Only a Dream

The night was silent as the moon shot its rays upon the lodge. The wind made noise as it traveled above and through the ranch. As clouds began to form in the dark blue sky, the leaves of the trees rattled against one another.

In her room, Jazira was tossing and turning in her bed. There were a couple of embers left in her fire place and her blankets were tossed to the floor.

Nightmare flashes attacked Jazira’s dreams. Sweat was rolling off her face as she turned from one side to the other, fighting with her subconscious mind. In her dream she saw the dunes of her home under a bright, hot sun. Suddenly the warm image transformed into a misty and dark setting. Jazira stood at the center, surrounded by white mist causing her vision to be impaired. Her mind screamed for aid, but nobody answered back. Believing that she was in a state of loneliness and isolation, Jazira began to cry.

‘You have disgraced your family Jazira,’ a voice echoed through the mist surrounding her. Jazira looked around, but she only saw white.

‘I have not,’ she cried back, ‘I have only done what is best for me.’

She heard nothing for the moment and the voice echoed once more, ‘I am you. I am the part of you that is always suppressed in the back of your mind, waiting for the right time to be revealed.’

‘Why now, why are you appearing to me now?’ Jazira replied

‘You need a voice of reason at this time. Look at you, you have left the only home you have recognized to live in a country with a man you hardly know,’

‘I do not need reason to identify what lies in my heart,’ replied Jazira, ‘Hence why I left my home in the first place.’

‘What do you hope to find here? Love...a new life...what of your family?’

‘My father wanted me to marry a man I did not love. I love someone else,’ Jazira finally admitted to herself.

‘Yes, I know that, but does he care for you in return,’ her mind shot back with a curious tone.

Jazira, in her state of mind, lied asleep and still on her bed. She moved her head and the moon rays exposed the tears she was shedding.

‘You don’t know if he cares for you, do you?’

‘He does...I know he does,’ replied Jazira trying to find a way to get out of her dream.

‘What if I don’t?’ answered a voice that caused the hairs on her skin to stand.

‘Frank?’ called out Jazira, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Why would I care for you, I mean there are other women I can turn to.’

‘Don’t say that...you don’t mean it,’ she replied crying.

‘But I do,’ he answered back and the voice began to reverberate in her mind louder and louder. Jazira covered her ears, but the sound was deafening. She then started to scream out loud causing the real Frank to fall out of bed.

“Noooooooooo!! Stooooooop!!” she cried aloud.

Frank stood up from the cold floor, buttoned his shirt, and left to Jazira’s room. She kept on screaming as he came into her room and he ran to her bed to wake her.

“Jazira! Wake up!” he said as he shook her shoulders. Her eyes shot open, but her heart beat was racing.

“Frank!” she said out loud as she used her sleeve to wipe her tears away.

“What happened?” he asked as he sat next to her and patted her back. She pushed his hand away and moved closer to the opposite edge of the bed.

“I had a dream,” she replied and looked out the window.

“Sounded like a nightmare to me,” he said in whisper.

“It was,” she answered back and looked back to him, “It was horrible.”

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked in a concerned tone.

“I do not wish to talk about it,” she replied coldly.

“Here we go again. What’s gonna make you tell me this time? Come on, Jazira. You can’t keep it bottled up inside of you. Was it about your dad, your arranged marriage?” he added as he came closer to her.

She looked down at her lap, where her hands were nicely tied together, and answered, “It was about my conscience telling me what I did was wrong, running away from home.”

“That’s it? There had to be more,” he said prodding her to move on.

She continued to gaze at her lap, “It asked me why I came here...to America...to you.”

“And what’d you say?” he asked as he took his hand and gently moved her chin up to meet with her eyes.

“I said that the reason I came was because I...I...I was looking for something more than what I had at home. I came because I care for you.”

Frank just looked at her and after a while he finally answered, “That’s not so bad is it?”

“That is not what you said in my dream. After the conflict with my conscience, I heard your voice telling me that I meant nothing to you, that you could turn to another woman for your needs,” she finally finished and looked down to the floor at her side.

“Come here,” he whispered and pull her into his arms. She sobbed on his chest and he whispered sweet nothings into her ear.

“Shhh, it was only a dream. I would never think that way Jazira. Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said as he played with her hair.

“Likewise,” she said in a muffled voice, “Frank?”

“Yeah,” he said he took her hand in his.

“Stay with me, at least, until I fall asleep,” she said while gazing into his eyes.

“Always,” was his only answer and he stayed with her throughout the night, sleeping next to each other until the sun rose bright in the morning.

To be continued