The Dream

The Dream a short story by Jeff Michaels

He squinted into the cloudy sky as he slung the woven sack over his shoulder. It was an hour walk back home, but the birds singing in the crisp breeze would keep him company. Summer was coming to an end. Leaves were beginning their mass migration from branch to Earth. Another season come and gone, he thought. He hung his head and took a deep breath.

Better get going.

He was glad that he only had to visit the village once every ten days or so. Any more often, and he’d be tempted to move closer. The supplies he had traded for that day were heavy. He switched shoulders often.

As he moved down the narrow path that led back to his home, he thought of all the people who, before him, had taken this trail as he now did. The years of footsteps…the talks….the children running and playing...lovers strolling along, holding hands and stealing kisses from each other as the sun sunk into the horizon. He could feel the history in each step, and frowned as he made his own.

Small patches of grass, short and brilliantly hued in the afternoon light, were scattered about on the path. The dew that rested upon it bounced and sprayed as his feet disturbed the blades. He could feel its mist gathering on his ankles, darkening the sandals that served him so well.

While he walked, he thought of the future……wondering what it held for him. With each passing moment he took himself another year into the unknown and tried to play it out in his mind.

How old will I be when I have children? Will I ever marry and be happy? He stopped and shook his head after asking his mind the questions.

He felt his legs tire a bit as he topped a shallow rise. “Whew, good, it’s all downhill from here.”

As he descended, he noticed a tree standing all by itself. Deciding he could handle a brief rest, he traveled the short distance to it and dropped his sack beside the trunk. He sat, looked around, and realized that he had never seen this tree before. Odd, he thought, how he could miss this one lonely tree on the side of the hill.

Leaning back against it, he peered up into the sky. His head swam a bit as his green eyes followed the clouds, lazily floating by. He wished for a moment that he could be a cloud, not a care in the world, no need for plans or farming, or walking an hour to the village. Just floating around all day….watching the ground move beneath him.

He was tired. He felt his eyes close as he changed his thoughts to sunny days and milk dipped honey bread.

There was a sound.

He quickly sat up, looking around anxiously. What was he hearing? His eyes scoured the countryside, looking for a clue. Not seeing anything, he stood up and craned his neck to get a further view. He had heard leaves rustling, or tree branches being moved about. He continued looking, but saw nothing that could make such a sound. After a few moments he smiled to himself and decided he was hearing things.

As he started to sit back down, he heard it again, this time knowing that it emanated from a group of bushes a number of yards from where he was standing. Feeling his heart speed up, he slowly crept toward the bushes……wondering if he would find a wild dog…or a skunk…or a thief awaiting his next victim. He had to know what was making the noise.

As he neared the shrubs, the sounds coming from beyond them gradually grew in volume, but softer in nature as well.

He reached into the bush as he crouched behind it, careful to remain hidden. He slowly pulled a flowery branch to the side and gasped silently at what he saw.

There, just a few paces from him, stood a girl, playfully spinning around as a child does...a flower in each hand and a butterfly on each shoulder. He was mesmerized by this vision, and watched as she danced with nature, humming a cheerful tune.

Gathering his wits about him, he was certain she was an angel…for there are no real girls who look as this one did. Maybe even a witch, he thought. No....not a witch. Definitely an angel. Yes, definitely.

She appeared to be around his age and her hair was the color of a newly born fawn. She had freckles on her nose and skin that was a little lighter than brown sugar. Her skin….yes, her skin…it looked so soft.

He admired her, and feared her presence as well, wondering why an angel would happen upon his path. He searched his memories. There was something about angels his mother had once mentioned. He strained to recall it.

That's right, he remembered....she had taught him that only the worthy among mankind deserved the company of an angel.

He watched as she danced to her own spirit's music…..listening to her giggles mingling with the breeze. He had never seen a creature as beautiful as she, and for a moment he thought of touching her skin with his fingertips....imagining what it would be like.

Realising he had extended his left hand out in front of him as if to touch her, he pulled it back and continued observing her dance.

He was lost in thought, his eyes locked upon her rhythmic movements, when suddenly he realized she had stopped.

She was now bent over….peering directly at him with a surprised look upon her face.

Knowing he was caught…he stood up and sheepishly grinned at her. Now in plain sight above the bushes, he watched as she took a few small steps in his direction, uncertain of what her reaction would be. Surely she wasn’t happy that a stranger was watching her from behind a bush.

Her gaze softened as she floated towards him. A sweet smile crossed her lips and he relaxed a little.

“Hi,” he said, nervously “I’m sorry to startle you miss, but I kept hearing noises so I merely peeked through the bushes to see what was making them. I meant no harm, forgive me for watching you.”

He turned and started to quickly walk back towards the lonely tree.

“Please wait.” He immediately heard within his mind.

He stopped and spun around to face her, not realizing that no words had been spoken. A wave of shock moved through his body, for she was now standing but an arm’s length from him, her dark eyes looking deep into his own. He was visibly intimidated by this, and without thinking, took a step backwards.

Somehow she had moved twenty five steps across the meadow in a heartbeat of time. He did not know how, nor did he know why.

His breathing quickened as he once again remembered his mother's words....Angels have ways of which we mere mortals know nothing.

He stayed perfectly still, not knowing what to expect. Fear and curiosity battled within him.

The angel slowly raised her arm. With the back of her fingertips she gently caressed his lips and cheek. It felt like a feather tickling his skin, yet there was immense feeling behind the intent. It was deeply exhilerating. His pulse pounded wildly.

Nobody in his family had ever encountered an angel, so he didn’t know what to do or say. He just stood there, feeling a strangely overwhelming attraction to this powerful, gentle, loving being.


Suddenly she reached up and captured his face in her hands. He was stunned, frozen in fact. She giggled as she rose to her toes and kissed him softly on the mouth. His heart jumped.

As she pulled her face away, he heard her laugh in his mind. She smiled widely then embraced him, her arms encircling him without hesitation, her face against his chest. His hands found her back, as he gladly returned the gesture.

They stood there, holding each other for several moments, neither of them wanting to let go, the butterflies flittering around them, the disappearing dew happily sparkling all around them.

Within his mind he could feel a stirring. A little, at first, then stronger as they held on, bodies firmly against each other. A gentle rustling of thought brushed behind his eyes....then he found himself overcome with a dizzying blanket of visions and emotions. He looked down at the girl, and she peered into his eyes. Her dark pools were wet with emotion; a single tear strolled down her cheek. They just stared into each other, neither knowing if words were even necessary.

A few seconds later, he found himself on his back, lying on the soft late-summer grass. She was upon him, sitting on his legs, leaning forward...resting her body on his. He could hear her breathing and her heartbeat next to his. Within his mind, he heard her song.

Foreign thoughts were invading him, and among them he found bits of familiar feelings. He watched within himself and viewed the flowing stream of emotion and ponderings, as the girl rested silently. Realizing these thoughts were coming from her, seemed to widen the path they took. At that moment, they increased in strength and speed, tearing through his mind like a torrential downpour of memories and feelings, taking him along for the ride.

He saw himself holding her and walking with her, and flying through the sky with her. He watched as she cried and she laughed and skipped stones across a brook. He saw her grow aged and crippled, then once again young and vibrant. She grew tall, and then short, and they chased each other through the waist high crops.

Then the words started….conversations that seemed fleeting and odd, for the subjects were not of this life. One language, then another, some recognizable, some not. They spoke to him of all things common, and all things uncommon. They spoke names he’d never heard, yet he knew them in his heart. He enjoyed the mental flurry as it tore its way around his thoughts….and smiled and held her tighter….as her spirit spoke to his.

Finally, she sighed loudly then began to stir. She moved towards his face and kissed him again, her lips lingering against his for a few precious, perfect seconds. Then she scooted back and sat up, once again allowing him to see her wonderful features.

As she sat upon him and smiled….he felt the words streaming within his mind begin to thin…then abruptly end. Worried by this, he leaned forward and beckoned to her with his eyes……she leaned her head back and closed hers….he felt a need to do the same.

A few seconds later he opened them again....but she was gone…nowhere to be seen. He had never even felt her weight lift from his legs.

Embarrassed, he glanced around the hillside to see if he was still alone, and was pleased to see he was.

Convinced this was all in his imagination, he hastily got to his feet and retrieved his sack. Even though he knew it was just a dream, he felt empty and sad. How odd a dream it was. Never before had a vision so real and glorious pierced his mind and heart so. He trudged off down the path to home….but with much less spring in his step, he noticed.

He lived alone, since his parents had died of the plague 2 years ago. Even now, just moments after passing their graves, he unconsciously expected to see his mother coming out to greet him.

After shaking the loose dirt and grass from his sandles, he opened the door to his home and entered. His eyes closed as he breathed in the same smells that meant safety and security as a child. But all was silent here today. No voices or laughter, or complaints about his lack of skill in choosing just the right sized onion. He sighed loudly, then unpacked his sack.

As he rested from his walk, he wondered what it was like to be loved by someone. Yes...that one person...like the girl in his dream with the big brown eyes. How wonderful it would be to know that another belonged to him...and he to them.

What a waste of time it is to think of such things.

He cooked a pot of vegetables and broth, and sopped it up with a slice of bread. It lacked the flavor of his mother's stew, but it was warm and filled him.

He hated the profound feeling of emptiness, and as he ate...viewed the food as a terrible substitute for what was missing, the cause of the dreadful emptiness within his soul.

After eating his fill, he mended the fence behind his home. The goat had once again nudged it with its head...pushing it completely down at one corner. His task complete well into darkness, he went inside to retire for the evening.

As he lay on his straw and cloth bed, his mind wandered and played within his dreamlike imagination.

What if it were really possible to have that special partner? He thought. Someone you were paired with from the moment your spirits were created. That being who knows you better than you know yourself, and loves you deeper than any one heart can fathom. I think it would be as it was in my dream today.

He smiled sadly as he faded...and tried to remember the smell of her hair...the smoothness of her skin...the soft curves of her body...and he wondered.

A sound of footsteps and his door opening, awakened him instantly...his heart leapt to life.

Not again! He thought. Remaining perfectly still, he tracked the sound in his senses. He must have been asleep for an hour or so...the blackness of night engulfed him as the sounds of crickets and toads echoed into his home.

Through barely cracked eyelids he searched the shadows. His door...HIS door...it was wide open! He cringed at the thought and tried to sharpen his hearing.

He heard no threatening voices, and the thump of footsteps was now silent.....yet he was not alone. Someone was in his house with him, just a few feet from where he pretended to sleep. They watched him. He laid in silence...eyes tightly closed...waiting.

“I am not a dream, I am real.“ Were the words spoken by the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He sat bolt upright to find the girl in his doorway. She smiled and tilted her head a little. Her eyes glittered in the semi darkness.

She stepped forward to kneel beside his bed. He was shocked beyond words...but..he had...but how? He knew she was a dream just an hour before...yet she now knelt beside his bed, just inches from him. He could feel the heat from her skin...not imagination...not a dream.

At once, he again was taken to the place of thoughts….where they could embrace and say all they wanted to say and nobody could stop them. Here she was…the only person in this cruel world who actually knew him...and cared for him...and loved him. And he loved her already, there was no question of that.

He arose from his bed and quickly closed the door. A small fear within his mind worried that this dream may end again. He knew she cared and was there to stay...and for a reason...but he still feared he’d be lonely again in a few moments. It was a strange feeling. He knew her, yet she felt so new to him. He lit a candle on the table, then turned back to face her. “I know this will sound odd...but in a way...I think I was expecting you.”

She smiled. “Of course you were.”

He stumbled as he sat beside her on the floor. “What is your name?” he asked. She looked deeply into his eyes, “You know my soul, even if you don’t know my name.”

He was dumbstruck. “I DO know you. I...I can feel you in my mind...see you in my dreams, but you are so new in my life. Oh...my name is Ian, by the way.”

She leaned over to him and wetly kissed his cheek, her warm palm against his neck. Goose bumps rose then fell instantly at her touch. Though he was a bit embarrassed by this, he sensed comfort in her touch. As their cheeks rubbed softly together, she whispered, “Elena.”

Briskly, Elena stood and announced, "I want to help u remember who I am. I think I can awaken your sleepy memories."

He stuttered as he interrupted her, “Why did u run off earlier? We were having so much fun.”

“I ran because I was scared...and the overwhelming feelings you felt...I felt too. They scared me...for I have never felt such intense sensations. Feelings that don’t emanate from this world, but from beyond all we now know.”

As she spoke, she took him gently by the hand and led him to sit beside her on the bed.

“I knew I was yours from the moment I saw you watching me……you were always mine too, and the reasons are just now becoming clear to me too. So please don’t feel alone any longer. You are far from alone now. I watched you after I ran from you…I watched from behind a tree. I knew you were special and I wasn’t about to lose you….again. I followed you here and waited in the woods for your doorway to darken, so I could come and see you…be with you…as is meant to be.”

He sat there listening…..stunned…yet understanding. While the words sounded foreign…the feelings were immediately absorbed and agreed with. He knew she was speaking truth, for he felt it as she spoke. It was then that the tears of joy erupted from his heart…and he was at a loss as to what to do next.

She embraced him……hugging INTO him…and feeling WITHIN him. Her tears mingled with his as they kissed…..and touched…and tickled….and shared. It was so right. Though neither of them knew why, they knew they were supposed to be together.

She stood and untied the wrap that covered her upper body, then she dropped the skirt that clung loosely to her hips. With both upon the floor, she moved over him as he lay naked upon his bed, the bed he’d slept on his entire life…..so alone…..and so alone.

She behaved as if she’d known his body for years…each touch and taste was remarkable and penetrating. Her breath upon his skin made him tingle with delight as she explored him freely. He smiled and relaxed as his soul mate did as she pleased. If there were such thing as heaven…this had to be what it is.

As she took him into her mouth, he felt the extreme warmth and wetness engulf him. O how she loved him, and O how she knew exactly what he needed. The emotions within him swelled as he flew with the eagles….into the clouds…and through the gates of tomorrow.

Then she was upon his body…hers on top of his….their chests meeting in the flickering candlelight…he could feel her breasts push against his skin. He had always wondered and guessed within himself as to what a woman’s body feels like.

She moved to the side as if she had heard his thoughts…and invited his touches…..he needed her already…and he was sure she needed him. His body was hers….and hers was his. They felt their thoughts explode with clarity as they let it flow and grow and glow and surge within their bodies.

He gently rolled her off of him and placed her lovingly upon her back….she instinctively opened herself to him, and knew already that this was the man with whom she’d spend the rest of her life. He moved over her body….treating it as if it were some great masterpiece.

Indeed it was a work of art….perfect in every way, and within it lived the perfect spiritual being that he’d known for lifetimes. He wasn’t sure how he knew this, or from where these thoughts began…but they were there…..and they were real...and they pounded into his head the epiphany that this girl is the one he loves more then life itself…..and was the girl he’d spent dozens of lifetimes with…..and each lifetime had this same experience.

“Oh my god....oh my god….that’s it!” He thought …..as he sucked her lips into his mouth and tasted her tongue against his….she too felt the same thing as he had just experienced…it was a wonderful feeling to remember….again…..and they smiled as they loved each other.

He licked little circles around her soft pink nipples…..as he kneaded the soft flesh beneath them. She cooed and squirmed as he tasted her body….he could feel her skin respond as he explored and reacquainted himself with her spirit.

“I remember you now…..I remember it all. We are one…and we always have been.”

She looked into his eyes. From hers flowed tears of joy and pain of lifetimes past…..she also remembered…and she knew it was right. The emotions within her flowed out as she cried without shame….. “ I’ve always loved you” she sobbed, “I’ve felt so lonely without you by my side… to protect and to hold me…to love me and make love to me. All I ever wanted was to find you again…..but I didn’t know it…until I saw you…until we saw each other”

She sniffled as he loved her….her joy was mixed with relief. She craved his lips upon her skin and reveled at the warmth of his face against her chest. She felt whole again and knew she was finally free…finally One again.

He sat up and positioned himself between her widely spread thighs. He looked at her feet…her wonderfully girlish feet. She had little stars on her toes, and they glittered as he kissed them one by one, loving them as if they were the object of his desire.

He moved his face to her perfectly shaped legs…..he kissed her left leg just inside her knee….she giggled at this…and moved it closer to him for more. He licked behind her knees then moved to her thighs…..her wonderful thighs…..he pushed her legs wider apart as he moved down across her skin….feeling a thigh upon each cheek. He opened her widely and looked to her face for approval…she arched her back upwards….as if to invite him into her body. He smiled and took in this vision for a moment…then plunged his tongue inside her and explored her from the inside...out.

She tasted like finely ripened berries…sweet and tart…yet refreshingly his. He knew she loved this for she squealed and moaned as he licked her greedily. One area seemed more sensitive than the rest…so he licked and sucked it over and over, his tongue massaging her pains away. He kept this up for several moments and could feel her body stiffen and relax….then stiffen and relax again…so he kept going…knowing this girl he loved was in her own heaven at this very moment.

She reached down with both hands and grasped the back of his head……a grunting moan….followed by a shrill wail, escaped her wet lips…..she moved her hips into his face as he kept licking her wetly…..taking her into his mouth. She moaned and sobbed repeatedly….until he felt the stiffness leave her…then he softly kissed her below her belly button and moved up to once again taste her mouth.

Her eyes were closed, but they slowly opened when she felt his breathing upon her face. His lips and chin glistened with her juices….he didn’t even realize they were there. She moved her face forward and tasted herself on his lips, then smiled. “You are my husband…forever will I be with you and only you. I love you now as I have loved you always, and with the universe as my witness, will remain forever true to you. ”

He moved to see her face better, then kissed her sweetly upon the lips…she tasted so good…everything about her tasted good. He wished he could spend eternity just tasting her mouth and body. “You are my wife….I will forever be with you and only you. I love you now, and will love you more and more every day. With our souls as witness, I will forever be true to you, protect you, and always love you with my life.”

With that…he slowly slid inside her. She flinched as he entered her….and shivered for a moment…then melted into his arms as they made love for the first time ….and ten thousandth time.

He moved in and out of her….slowly and deliberately. He knew she was in pain, but she needed to feel him within her. To be inside her body felt so right…so necessary. This perfect creature in his arms was the half he had been missing all these years. He knew it was true the moment he saw her, yet he questioned it out of self doubt and fear. But here she was…in his arms….wrapped up beneath him. He could feel her body take him within….he felt her massage him in her own fleeting way. He felt her twirling the hair on the back of his head around her fingers as he made slow sweet…deep love to his wife…

His wife….it sounded so odd to even think it….let alone say it. Sounded odd yes, but felt so divinely right. He’d never felt so right in all his 18 years. Today was to be the first real day of his life.


As he moved inside her, she smiled and kissed him over and over. She looked into her husband’s eyes and felt so complete…finally…to know those feelings she’d had for so long were indeed real…not silly dreams best left to fairytales and stories of lore. She loved her husband inside her….this is where he belonged. Her young body was so new to this, but her soul knew what to do. In all her 17 years, she never knew she could love…. or be loved like this. Her heaven was upon her…and within her…and around her…. engulfing her soul with a peace she’d never imagined existed before this moment.


He felt the stirrings within his loins begin to pulsate…and feared it would cause her pain. He hesitated and she knew why…their thoughts still connected, as they would forever be. She wanted him badly…and needed to feel his warm seed explode within her. So he continued and lunged into an ecstasy he had never before imagined possible….he felt the heat fill her rapidly...as his body trembled with its own quaking tremors. Then it was over….and he laid there inside his wife. Both of them smiling widely…and thinking “I love you , I love you” over and over in their minds.

He knew that the adventure had just begun…she too knew life wasn’t supposed to be easy. But she felt the light ignite within her, and he felt the fire burning hot…..and they knew….they knew…they remembered that it happened the way it was meant to happen. She now had her strong arms and understanding heart to protect and soothe her…and he had beside him, the girl who would forever angelically float among the flowers.