"Clink."
"Thank you, please come again."
"Snap."
A man who looked wiped out, with a sleepy face and big dark circles under his eyes, walked out of a mini-market.
"Hiss."
He opened the can of coffee he had just bought. His eyes looked around. It was late at night, lit by a full moon right above him. He checked his watch while taking a swig of coffee. The time was 11:00 p.m. Even though his steps were heavy, he walked toward his house, which was only a few blocks from the store on the main road.
As soon as he reached his front gate, "Haaaah," he sighed. His hand pushed the gate open. He looked up at the second floor and saw the light on in his room.
"Diana must be home," he said in his heart.
He stepped inside his house. When he opened the door, darkness greeted him. He flipped on the light and walked in. After passing the dining room, the dining table looked totally empty and bare, with nothing on it. He just sighed and kept walking past the living room, which was dark, like a house no one lived in.
His steps led him upstairs to his bedroom. When his hand touched the doorknob, he heard people talking inside. He opened the door a little and peeked in.
"Hmm, how about this, ma'am?" a woman inside asked.
He saw his beautiful wife, Diana, sitting up in bed, sucking on a lollipop with headphones on. "Tap... tap... tap," he heard his wife's fingers typing on her laptop keyboard on her lap while she was stretched out and relaxing. "Snap." The man closed his bedroom door again and walked to the next room, which was his study. He went in and turned on the light.
"Haaaah," he sighed again.
The quiet room only had a work desk in the middle with a chair, and a soft-looking sofa was stretched out on the right side of the desk. He turned to look at the bookshelf on the left side of his desk. "Thump." He threw his bag down carelessly, and his steps went straight to the sofa.
"Thump." He sat on the sofa and took off his tie. His eyes looked at the desk. He saw a brown envelope with his name, Ethan Morgan, written on it.
"Hmm, a package? Who sent it?" Ethan asked in his heart.
After taking off his shirt and only wearing his undershirt, he picked up the envelope and flipped it over. The sender's name was nowhere to be found on the envelope. Curious about the contents, he opened it and took out what was inside. Inside, there was only an old book with a brown leather cover and no title.
His hand reached deeper into the envelope, but he didn't find anything other than the book. He put the envelope down and started to look at the book, flipping it over and stroking the cover. His curiosity kept growing, making his hand open the book. He saw writing in the middle of the first page that said, "Book of Dream."
"A dream book? Like dream meanings?" Ethan asked.
He flipped the page again, but the page behind it looked empty, like a regular notebook. He flipped the page and flipped it again. It turned out that the book looked like a regular notebook with only lines to write on every page, all the way to the last page.
"Hmm, just a notebook, I guess, but the cover is quite nice for a notebook," Ethan said in his heart.
He opened the cover again, and then he saw writing on the inside. The writing was handwritten, not printed. It said, "It's your turn now. I hope you're happy." Ethan closed the book and put it on the desk. He faintly heard his wife laughing in her room right next to him.
"Oh well, I already ate. I should just go to sleep. I have to leave early again tomorrow," Ethan said, starting to lie down on the sofa.
Ethan, lying on the sofa, stared at the ceiling. He tried to focus his ears to hear his wife's conversation next door, but he could only hear faint voices, and he didn't want to seriously listen in.
"It's been more than two years, maybe three years, since I've touched my wife at all. I want to build a happy family with her. Do I have to keep suffering like this? How can we have a child if things are like this? We've been married for 8 years, and everyone at the office already has kids, and it looks like she forgot that today is my 30th birthday. Oh well, just be patient," Ethan said in his heart.
Ethan closed his eyes. He let all his thoughts flow out and tried to think positive that one day his wife would pay more attention to him than her job and her career. After his body relaxed and he yawned, Ethan finally fell asleep.
***
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Ethan opened his eyes. He saw himself sitting at a table in a very fancy-looking restaurant, like it was overseas. He looked to his left and saw a big window next to him showing a city he didn't know at night. He turned to check his surroundings. The lighting in the restaurant looked soft, making the atmosphere seem a little mysterious but very elegant.
There were no other guests, not even any waiters, besides him in the restaurant, but he could hear soft and very nice music playing, which calmed the heart of anyone who heard it. Plus, a lit candle on his table made the atmosphere even more romantic.
"Where is this? I remember falling asleep on the sofa. Is this a dream? If it is, why does it feel so real?" he asked in his heart.
He touched the glass on the table. His finger could feel the slick and cold touch. Ethan looked very confused, but since he felt relaxed and comfortable, he didn't get up from his chair. Suddenly, "thump," Ethan looked across from him. His eyes widened because he saw a beautiful woman who looked sexy in the red dress she was wearing. Ethan looked down at himself. He just realized that he was wearing a tuxedo, like a rich man, which was clearly the dress code for a restaurant as fancy as this one.
Ethan could see the woman was confused and didn't realize that he was in front of her. "Ahem," he cleared his throat, and the woman's eyes immediately met his. The woman's expression looked very shocked to see Ethan in front of her.
"Um... excuse me, who are you?" she asked, unsure.
"My name is Ethan. What's your name, ma'am?" Ethan asked, starting the introduction.
"Oh, I'm Elena. Nice to meet you, Mr. Ethan," Elena replied.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Elena," Ethan replied, offering his hand.
Elena shook Ethan's hand and smiled. They both stared at each other and looked at each other without letting go of their hands, which were clasped together in the middle.