Dream of the night wind

Rosé The deafening ring of the old alarm clock — impossible to mistake for anything else, just as impossible to ignore — barged shamelessly into my subconscious, tearing me from the firm embrace of sleep, and I frowned in displeasure, not immediately understanding where I was, but one hundred percent certain that this infernal contraption, gifted to me by my mother, could raise the dead. Forcing my eyelids open with difficulty, I stared with an unfocused gaze at the window, beyond which a pale blue September dawn was barely, barely breaking, and I sighed. That dream again… The dream in which I had seen that impossibly beautiful stranger once more. *** He had been coming to me in dreams my entire life, for as long as I could remember, and the dreams featuring him were always so warm that waking up from them was categorically out of the question. Returning again and again to the cold grey reality in which I had never had a boyfriend, I felt myself growing dependent on our nightly encounters. Naturally, I never told anyone about him, sensing that he was my secret alone — the darkest and most precious secret of my heart. But what weighed on me most was that I had never once met anyone even remotely like this boy in real life, which meant the question of where he could have come from in my dreams had remained a mystery to me all these years. Of one thing, however, I was absolutely certain — I had long since fallen in love with him, without even knowing his name, and I eagerly awaited nightfall so I could meet him again beyond the boundary of reality, feeling that the connection between us through dreams was more real than the world I was forced to return to each morning. In my dreams, he always waited for me on the bank of a calm, deep river, its dark waters flowing unhurriedly past misty forests that leaned out over the surface, and the moment my feet touched the soft moss carpeting the ground, I understood that... I was home. My dark-haired stranger, as I privately called him, would smile at me warmly and take my hand, leading me to a small, cozy cottage standing in a clearing amid an ancient pine forest swathed in thick silver mist, and until dawn we would spend our time in his upstairs bedroom, talking about everything under the sun. He was breathtakingly handsome with a dark, mesmerizing, otherworldly beauty, and I could not tear my eyes from his face — lingering on his dark sable brows that swept upward, then losing myself in his tender, perpetually laughing eyes, in which stars seemed to ignite each time he looked at me. And when my gaze dropped to his soft, smiling lips, breathing became impossible altogether, for I knew how gentle they could be. I felt so perfectly at ease with him that somewhere deep inside I understood he was none other than my soulmate, even if we lived in different worlds… …In tonight's dream, we stood on the bank of the quiet river beneath the evening stars, and he embraced me from behind, standing at my back and pressing me firmly against his broad chest, breathing softly into my hair. We were so effortlessly at peace together that words were unnecessary entirely, yet suddenly curiosity stirred within me. — My love? — I called quietly, without turning, and shivered slightly at the warm breath that grazed my neck when he murmured softly: — Hmmm? — What is this river called? — I directed my gaze to the still waters, over which a milky white mist drifted, and nearly missed his barely audible: — Lethe, my dear. — Lethe? The river… of forgetting? — Yes, little one. Why do you seem so surprised? It is also called the river of dreams. — he smiled quietly, and, carefully drawing my hair aside from my shoulder, pressed a soft kiss to my neck, making me shudder and close my eyes in pleasure as a quiet sigh escaped me. Gathering my thoughts after that proved rather challenging, but I managed to collect myself and whispered: — But… Why does your home lie here, of all places? He paused for a moment, then held me even closer and rested his chin on my shoulder, whispering softly: — I am the guardian and keeper of these halls. And this is… my curse. I flinched and tensed, hearing all too clearly the long-held, concealed bitterness in his deep, slightly husky, velvet voice, and tightened my grip on his forearms, whispering: — Why… Why do you speak that way? But he only sighed quietly and kissed my temple, gently commanding: — Forget it, my darling. Right now it has… no significance at all. I wanted to argue, to tell him that everything concerning him held significance for me — every single thing — but feeling another kiss against my neck, I obediently fell silent, tilting my head back onto his shoulder and savoring our closeness and the warmth of his strong, lean body enveloping me from head to toe. — Perhaps you'll finally tell me who you truly are? — I whispered softly when his warm lips left my skin, allowing me to breathe once more, as I watched a magnificent rainbow blaze into brilliant life across the evening sky — stunning in its beauty and vividness, though there had been no rain. The boy holding me smiled quietly and whispered into my hair, stirring it with his warm breath: — You already know who I am. — No, I don't. — I disagreed, genuinely convinced my words were true. — You do, kitten… — he whispered tenderly, pressing his warm lips to my temple, — You've simply forgotten, that's all… I stilled, feeling a sweet, trembling thrill radiate in waves through my entire body from the place where his warm lips touched my skin, and barely breathed: — Please… tell me… — Trust me, there is no need. — he smiled, trailing light, fluttering kisses from my temple downward toward my chin, clearly attempting to distract me with this tender affection, turning my face toward his so he could softly cover my lips with his own — stealing my will and my breath along with my ability to think clearly. I let out a quiet, helpless moan, burying my fingers in the soft, silk-like dark hair at the nape of his neck, and obediently parted my lips, feeling my legs rapidly dissolving beneath his gentle insistence. He was like the heaviest narcotic known to the world — intoxicating, dizzying, bending me entirely to his will. Yet somehow, in some incomprehensible way, I was still managing to resist his tenderness, his gentle kisses, his firm embrace. — But… we have been together for so long, and I… don't even know your name… — I whispered, pulling away from his lips with tremendous effort. He sighed, and I frowned and turned in his arms, meeting his warm gaze — bottomless as deep space, and just as mesmerizingly beautiful. I felt as though I were drowning in it, lost among the constellations and galaxies concealed behind dark, feathery lashes. The dark-haired boy smiled softly and, raising his hand, stroked my cheek gently with the back of his palm. — Soon you will know everything yourself, my dear. There is very little time left to wait. Everything is about to change, I promise you… My heart responded to his quiet words with a joyful, fluttering beat, and I pressed his palm to my cheek, covering it with my own, unable to look away from his dark eyes. — Truly? He smiled tenderly and, leaning in, whispered against my lips: — Truly, my darling… I could almost feel the soft touch of his warm lips on mine — but then, as always at the worst possible moment… that cursed alarm went off. *** For the first few minutes after the dream, I lay coming back to myself, still feeling his phantom presence, the warmth of another body, the soft pressure of a man's lips against my own. I felt as though I had stepped out of the deep fog that divided our worlds, and still could not grasp which of them I was in. But one thing I knew for certain — I wanted to go back. To him. To that riverbank at sunset… into his arms. I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut, briefly pressing my fingers to my lips, as though I could still taste the sweetness of his kisses in the waking world. What a spell to be under… But one thing was beyond any doubt — with each passing dream, returning to this dreary reality grew harder, a reality in which I, at seventeen years old, was still utterly alone and had never once been kissed by anyone. "Soon everything will change…"— his deep, velvety voice sounded in my mind so clearly it was as though he had whispered those words directly into my ear, and I shivered at the delicious wave of sweet trembling that rolled down my spine from that husky, velvet half-whisper. — I'll be waiting eagerly, my love… — I whispered, burying my face in the pillow with a blissful smile.