Dream Me(57)
And this time I’m not asleep.
His hair’s thick and wavy, a light creamy brown. His eyes are that same shade of green as the sea oats. He smiles as though he’s been expecting me and I shiver with recognition. I know this guy but I don’t know him. Suddenly, I’m shy. Speechless. Awestruck.
He leans down to offer me his hand. “Let me help you,” he says in a voice that’s real and clear and strong.
He looks like Zat, but not exactly like the Zat of my dreams. He’s slightly thinner, slightly paler, his eyes not quite as green, his hair not quite as flowing and thick. He’s . . . real. Was it only a dream, after all?
“You’re free now, Babe,” he says when I don’t take his hand.
He slides down the face of the dune until he’s sitting beside me, nestled between the sea oats. “Your dreams are your own again.”
“So it is you.”
He doesn’t answer, but instead looks beyond the beach toward the turquoise water of the Gulf.
“Everyone here is so happy,” he says. “Everything is so much more beautiful than I could have imagined.” He turns to face me. “You . . . you’re so beautiful. It’s overwhelming. Almost painful.”
“Everyone’s not happy.” I reach over and take his hand in mine. It’s warm. Real. “Everyone has problems, but that’s part of life, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” He seems so vulnerable, exposed, away from the safety of my dreams. And maybe he is. This is an alien landscape for him and he’s here on his own. No, not on his own. With me. Forever. I know that now.
“You need a guide,” I say gently. “Even pioneers have guides.”
“Lewis and Clark had Sacagawea,” he smiles.
“I came here looking for you, Zat,” I say. “I want to be with you.”
He cradles the side of my face with one hand, and then pulls me toward him, pressing his lips against mine. His fingers entwined in my hair sends a shiver racing up and down my spine. I’m reeling from the sight of him. The scent of him. The touch of him.
Comments:
DreamMe: Life is but a dream.
About the Author
Kathryn Berla is the author of La Casa 758 (Penguin Random House, Spain) and the YA romance, 12 Hours in Paradise. Her novel, Dream Me, will be released by Amberjack Publishing in July 2017. The House at 758, an English translation of La Casa 758, will be released by Amberjack Publishing October 2017.
Kathryn loves to write about whatever happens to float through her mind and linger long enough to become an obsession. Her interests vary; hence, her genres range from sci-fi to horror to contemporary literary fiction.
When she’s not obsessing over an untold story percolating in her brain, Kathryn can be found walking pretty much anywhere, doing Pilates, or catching up on episodes of The Walking Dead, Girls, Westworld, and . . . well, too many others to name here. She has been an avid movie buff since childhood, and she often sees the movie in her head before she writes the book.
As a State Department brat, Kathryn grew up in India, Syria, Europe, and Africa, and the love of seeing new places still runs deep. She gives into it whenever she can.
Kathryn loves dolphins, owls, elephants, warm beaches, and especially warm summer nights. A warm summer night where she could sit on a beach and see an owl, dolphin, or elephant would be her preferred method of passing time.
Kathryn graduated from the University of California in Berkeley with a degree in English, but she takes the most pride in having studied creative writing under Walter van Tilburg Clark at the University of Nevada. She likes to brag that she had the same translator in Spain as John Green.
She currently lives in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, which she would never leave because she can’t think of another place with as much to offer, including the proximity of her entire family. She lives with her three sons and husband, who are her most constant muses, sounding boards, and general cheerleaders and critics. They normally don’t complain too much about these enforced roles.