It was a dream.

  Elysia shot up from her bed, blankets pooling down into her lap. Her heart beating against her sternum as she took ragged breaths of air, gasping. The air was sharp. Each gasp a frantic attempt to fill them as quickly as they emptied.

  “Just a dream…just another dream..” she murmured, voice quivering. The words didn’t seem to comfort her. Not anymore.

  Her fingers trembled, pressing against the cool, familiar surface of her bedside table as she steadied herself. Just a dream. Another suffocating, nightmarish dream. The weight of it pressed against her chest, choking her, even now in the safety of her room.

  Elysia's hands rose to press against her forehead, easing the swirling tempest in her mind. She steadied her desperate gasps into slow, shaky breaths, easing her heart into a calm, beating rhythm.

  She let out a weary sigh. These dreams never brought her peace. Collapsing back onto the bed, the frame groaned under the sudden force of her weight. Her pillow sank, cradling Elysia’s head like it, too, was tired of the routine.

  Her eyes flickered to the clock on her nightstand, its crimson numbers glaring back at her through the gloom.

  3:59 AM.

  Of course, she thought dryly, her bottom eyelid twitched in irritation as her frown dipped ever so slightly. Always a minute late to everything, wasn’t she? The sarcasm in her thoughts was sharp and biting, but there was no one to hear it but herself.

  Elysia’s gaze lingered on the clock, watching as the digits shifted.

  4:00 AM.

  Another sleepless night ahead it seemed. Elysia sighed again, heavier this time, and willed herself to move. It’s not like I’m going to sleep anyway, she muttered inwardly, her body slow to follow her action.

  She pushed the blankets off her lap and trudged to the bathroom, her feet dragging against the floor. Flipping on the light switch, the bulb buzzed to life along with the bathroom fan, its harsh, droning hum filling the small tiled space.

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  The fierce glare of the fluorescent lights assaulted her eyes, making them water as she squinted against its unforgiving brightness.

  Elysia let out a huff, which caused a rebellious strand of hair to flop up before settling down on her face—lifting her gaze to the mirror. Loose chocolate curls framed her face, cascading down her shoulders in a frizzy, sleep-mussed halo. Emerald eyes looked back at her tiredly, the gilded shades of gold and green glinting in the fluorescent lights. Framed with dark lashes, painted on a weary warm ivory canvas, speckled with a dusting of tan freckles.

  Her eyes drifted over her features, the bags under her eyes seemed to become more prominent each sleepless night.

  “...I look like a mess..” she muttered dryly, reaching for the faucet handle, and turning the cold water on. Elysia leaned down, splashing her face—icy water dripped down her skin. With a deep inhale, she tried to release the weight of her thoughts and worries in a slow drawn-out exhale, the chill of the water giving her a moment of respite.

  “I need to clear my head..” she said, turning back into her bedroom, flipping the switch off, the hum and glare of the lights fading out–

  The light collapsed inward, dragging her with it. Her breath catching–

  .

  ..

  Just a dream….it was just a dream... Elysia’s hands clamped up wringing the hem of her loose-T in balled-up anxiety, her heart hammering rhythmically.

  “..Clear my head… right,” She distracted her thoughts by moving in the direction of her drawer, pulling out a pair of black leggings and a loose white tank top that said, “If lost return to space”. She threw on her clothes, grabbed a thin athletic jacket to zip up, and yanked on her shoes, Am I rushing?... No...I’m fine, Elysia shook her head popping some headphones on and blasting soft rock to drown out her mind. She exited her room into the rest of her quaint home and darted for the front door–swiping the house keys on the way out, the little rocket keychain jostling at the sudden rudeness. Swinging the door open and locking it behind, she pocketed her phone and keys taking a moment to still her raging mind. Elysia looked out into the familiar coast of Cocoa Beach.

  The lingering remnants of night clung stubbornly to the heavens, faint flickering stars fighting a losing battle against the rising light of dawn. Shades of deep navy blurred into rich purples, and smears of soft fiery amber and dusty rose along the horizon. Cloaked in the faint glow of the pre-dawn hours, waves whispered gently against the shore, unbothered by the hour or her turmoil.

  The hush of the ocean breeze, the occasional cry of a distant gull, and the rhythmic crash of waves were the only sounds accompanying her at this hour. The eerie weight of Elysias dream still clung to her skin like a cold sweat, refusing to loosen its grip, causing a nervous pool to fill her gut in the quiet.

  And then she ran.

  Elysia ran and ran, her running shoes beating down the boardwalk, steadier than she felt. The crisp, salted air whipped against her cheek, filtering through her loose curls that she hadn’t bothered tying up. She didn’t know where she was running to, only that she needed to outrun the echoes of her own mind, at least for a moment.

  Sadly, life is never that simple, at least not for Elysia Jensen.

  Some things just couldn’t be outrun. Not dreams, not memories. Not even the quiet irrational sense that something or someone might be watching, not with eyes, but with an unseen presence that pressed against the edges of her awareness. Like the universe itself had been waiting for her to notice. The thought clung to her, weightless yet suffocating, a whisper just beyond hearing. It didn’t matter how fast she ran, it stayed with her. No amount of rationalizing could free those chains of paranoia. And soon, someone else would notice too. Someone who would ask questions she wasn’t sure she could answer, to put words onto something that didn’t want to be named or even recognized.

  ..

  ..Life can be such a cruel joke..

  Hey guys!

  Astravera out~

  "The stars, like numberless eyes stare. Will you stare back too?"