Another Day, Another Reality

Another Day, Another Reality

by Rebeca Warner

Oh no! It’s already 8 o’clock and I was supposed to open the shop today. My clothes are so wrinkly and messy. Surely this is only a one time thing. Got to hurry before Mileka, the owner of the shop, calls and complains. “You need to get your act together,” she says. “Stop walloping around like a walrus,” she says. It’s not as easy if you only have a social and personal life centered around an old shop, My Little Convenience. Why not chat with friends or family you say? Why don’t you ask someone with a flexible schedule such as yours? Catching a break is as rare as me asking someone for help. Oh no, she’s reached here before me. First day of fall and everything goes to crap. I felt a cold yet crisp breeze past my shoulder, I shivered as her gaze became more intense. I hurried to open the door with such anticipation to already leave from this life-sucking job. It could be worse I guess. At least I’m not a nine to seven businessman coming home to a cheating wife. Here continues one of my many miserable day to day lives.

The sounds of the clock get louder as the day progresses, tick tock tick tock. This is what my life looks like most of the time. Well, my best friend, Clover, kept me company but he is off in a new world with the “perfect” everything. Cool breezes, smoky hot BBQs, block parties with no arguing or fighting, it’s everything you could wish for. Except for the fact that now he doesn’t have someone as amusing and lovely to keep him company. But, he’ll realize that it was a misrepresentation of thinking the “perfect” world could be something so pleasurable. My ear is ringing and feels as if it’s about to bleed a stream. Huh? Oh, it’s a customer, has he been there the whole time? A pack of cigarettes? Oh, ok. I get you’re gonna kick the bucket but no need to rush the process. Maybe he’ll come to realize to cherish his loved ones and the times he has left here. I wondered, what about the people I cherish. One went away far from reach, another . . . another nothing. Another, nobody but myself and this poor, old, dusty shop. Wow. Well let me hurry up and finish working then I’ll have time to overthink what poor decisions led me here led me here. Another day, another mentally drained me. Almost there gotta hurry, but the rain is pouring.

Why do I always end up in these situations that lead me to the worst experiences. I ran like a bull, straight to the main goal with no interest in distractions. Thank god I didn’t slip in that big puddle. My energy is depleting as I continue to tackle these obstacles on my way home. Finally, we’ve reached my only safe space in the world. This shower is gonna take loads of worries away so much and slowly my fatigue will also wash away. Warm. Not too long ago I had a dream with me and Clover. Weird, right. Even though it didn’t feel long ago since he left, my mind still wanders about the thought of him. My dream took place in our favorite place as a child, the ice cream parlor. But this was not just a flashback to the past but more of a return to old memories. We were both older, like now, and said hi as if we just reunited from his trip. It felt so real yet so out of place knowing that it wasn’t real while slowly returning into reality.

Clementine? She is you. You are her. Same old Clementine like before. Slowly you noticed that this was the feeling of waking from a deep slumber. Alone with the only thing that brings you comfort nowadays, the last video taken with you and Clover before he took off. Enough about this sappy memory and more about you. You studied the streets that are filled with many stubborn townspeople lately. Viewed by many, you’re just a simple citizen working as a shopkeeper. The shop, My Little Convenience, was once known for their great delicate pastries. Now, it’s just known as your local quick stop. Time arrives for the shop to close and that’s when it hits you. What’s he doing when you are not together. Your brain is crowded with these emotions every single day, as you long for his presence. You guys made the promise of experiencing every hardship together but yet he’s not on the same planet as you. Is he finding someone else to live the perfect life without you? But you remember you were built to be resilient and resourceful. Ever since you were born the odds were against you, even your own parents had resentment towards you. But, being the only child with a best friend that stayed with you helped. Yes, an only child; some may say it makes the child lonely but in your case, it helped make it easier to expect the worse and cherish the good. A memory of your mother yelling at you for coming home a little late resurfaces to your brain. The mistreatment from your parents was all you needed to know that there was no love in what they said. You find yourself already home but still dazed by how much you experienced in such little time. It’s quiet without Clover, your best friend, and his

daily mischief. Oh! What little thing just friskily brushed against your leg. It’s Lilac, Clover’s even more mischievous cat, signaling that he’s hungry. She only thinks of you as a source of food and a stranger when she feels like it. How can something so insensitive, mean so much to someone. But, anything he likes you like, so you accept all his distasteful enjoyments in life; this includes the evil furball eating its food right now. The only thing you look for is the owner of the furball to contact you or even if it’s for a few seconds. Forget him right now. You want to talk to my mother to allow her to see what you were able to do with the little “love” she gave you. Without noticing you dialed her number; straight to her voicemail. Remember she didn’t even want you home so why bother calling. It does you no good and from the beginning, you knew that leaving the house on that skin frying, sweat inducing summer day that there was no going back. You knew but still chose to leave. It was the best choice because now you’re not worrying about the ugly hag on your back. She couldn’t even call once so why care. These thoughts flood your mind just as always; take that refreshing nap to reassure that you don’t need to depend on anyone but yourself. Yes. This is what you needed, what you always needed. Now it’s time to make this dream last before it’s time for another dreadful day.

It feels so unreal in this dreamland of mine but so close to home. I meet Clover in front of me, but this time more excited. It’s as if he’s been waiting for this very moment. I reached out to him and it felt as real as an actual person. Warm, yes. The same? No. We talked about things, like it was us meeting after being separated since his travel to the new planet. This a little too much for it not to be real. How could this be? I thought. I touched him once more and realized that this feeling was the same when I first met him. I was excited for some reason but still skeptical. Could this really be my imagination, even so why am I able to remember so much when waking up and feel so warm near him? Let me forget about such things and continue with what’s left of this dream.

The room always felt lighter when he entered. He broke the silence that no one ever could. But, that’s what someone that didn’t really know him would say. From an outside perspective you could assume wonderful things about Clover, like how upbeat yet mature he is. You may even think what a handsome respectable person he is, and how well he carries himself. But, everyone hides their true self

and true desires. Ever since we met he treated me as equal, it seemed impossible considering his family was more caring and welcoming. All he wanted was freedom from that oh, so loving family bull. Along with his ugly laugh, came his ugly personality. Even now he sometimes yells at me for the littlest things. He purposely tries to annoy me with everything he could; turning the lights off, when he knows I’m deeply afraid of what hides in the shadows, is his specialty. You also could never catch his room dirty considering he’s such a neat freak; his three other siblings probably played into this. It’s kinda surprising when you think about it, he has more friends than I’ve ever had and yet he never shows his true personality to anyone else. It’s not as if I’m anyone special, but you could think that I would have something for him by the way he follows right behind me. Huh. Why must this doof of a man follow behind someone like me? I could stop and wonder or go and open this light weighted letter from him.

I received this letter from Clover. Surprised he isn’t off enjoying his utopia-like life and taking advantage of what he has. His letter read:

Dear Clemintine,

You can never understand how much you would have hated me for letting you come to this “perfect” world or known as the most “dullest” planet in our solar system. Every day feels as if it’s repeating; I wake up, eat, shower, and sleep. The days feel longer as time passes by tick tock tick tock. Every single tick is another part of me missing you, while another tock is my love longing for your warmth. Everyone on my block, with such blinding yellow houses as bright as the burning hot sun, has a nice family that’s well off. Every day feels as if it’s repeating; I wake up, eat, shower, and sleep. It’s dreadful knowing that the same “perfect” agenda is the most dreadful thing you will spend doing here. It’s always sunny and bright just like your smile; harsh weather was many of the specialties that this planet could never offer. Which also takes away the fun from being able to run from the horrible yet refreshing rain. Every day feels as if it’s repeating; I wake up, eat, shower, and sleep. The faint smells of dandelions once filled me with joy, but now it’s the same old thing around here. Neighbors always greet each other as they each secretly detest one another as humans. I can clearly see behind there condescending smiles and eyes that take and judge you as a person built in this “perfect” society. Every day feels as if it’s repeating; I wake up, eat, shower, and sleep. Surely it’s normal to be drowned with the weight of regret when remembering the one thing

that brung you joy is now on a different planet. But, now the feeling is overlapping these boring days and instead stabbing my brain with past memories of me and you. One day it will come to an end of always reminiscing on old memories and instead of us creating new ones.. Every day feels as if it’s repeating; I wake up, eat, shower, and sleep. But, recently I’ve been having these real-life dreams. Too real to be fake but too fake to be real. It was us standing by our favorite ice cream parlor when we were younger. But, it’s as if it was recent, like we visited after I came back from this planet. It’s as if you were right in front of me. Maybe, just maybe, it was real. I’m probably not in the right state of mind right now but I hope we can see each other soon.

Cordially,

Clover <3

How could this be? Not one dream either. Maybe it was a coincidence or even just cause we are reminiscing on old memories at the same time. But, it’s a little too specific for it to be just a dream. It continued for the rest of the month from week to week. Not too long after, I received another letter. Titled, “It’s now a repeating occurrence,” which may be a little too weird for my liking. A certain part struck my attention as to where he said, “The more these dreams occur the more I long for you. It’s like you but warmer. I can memorize everything that happened in these dreams too. It’s scary knowing that we are so far but I feel closer to you having these dreams every once in a while. Does this mean something? Remember that dream you had, the one where we were at the local park near the apartment. I’ve had that same dream, and I can’t stop thinking that this isn’t just a dream, but more of something that connects us; maybe even a portal that’s able to share our memories.”

At this point anything is possible considering our dreams are the same. So, why not take advantage of the only thing that bonds us together other than miles of space? Why not live this dream-like portal like it’s real; it’s the only escape from reality, so why not? Why not, because I know this reality can only make me suffer for my desires and drain me from my actual reality.