I felt incredibly heavy, like there were dumbbells weighing down on my body. I slowly woke up and glanced around while still lying down. The room was dark and cold—the breeze from the open window on the left side, near my wardrobe, brushed against my skin. I was puzzled. Why was the window open?
I sat up on the edge of my bed, but my body felt unusually heavy. On top of that, I felt a little dizzy. Forcing myself, I stood up and checked the time.
"Four o'clock in the morning," I murmured calmly to myself.
I looked back at the window and stared at it for about five minutes. It felt as if it was calling to me. Once again, the cold wind swept over me—it was freezing, like I was inside a refrigerator.
I paused, staring at the window, and thought to myself,
"Should I check it or just leave it?"
After about five seconds of hesitation, I finally decided to take a look. Even though my body felt extremely heavy, I forced myself to walk toward the window. As I got closer, the wind grew stronger and stronger against me.
"Just a little more..." I said, struggling to reach the window.
I stretched out my arm, hoping to at least touch the window frame. But I suddenly froze—
I thought I heard a voice outside my room. It sounded familiar.
I turned toward the door, checking to see if it was just my imagination. No one spoke again, so I continued reaching for the frame to look outside.
But then—
A mysterious voice shouted from beyond the door:
"No! You're not ready yet!"
In that moment, I remembered my mom. I turned to the door and asked,
"Ma? Is that you?"
My voice cracked slightly—maybe from the mix of emotions flooding me.
Moments later, a reply came:
"Yes, it's me, my child. Come here and open the door."
Her tone was excited and warm.
I stopped what I was doing and walked toward my door. As I approached, tears began to fall from my eyes.
"Ma!" I cried out, my voice trembling like a lost child.
The closer I got, the heavier my body felt. The surroundings grew darker and darker. I looked around—the only things I could still see were the doorknob and the window.
So I went straight to the door, ready to open it. But just as I was about to turn the knob, the outside of the window lit up—and a voice from outside spoke:
"Ale—"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I was startled when I heard the alarm clock from my cellphone.
"Whoa, it was just a dream?" I said in disbelief over what happened.
"What kind of dream was that?" I wondered.
I grabbed the phone beside me and turned off the alarm clock.
"Four eight in the morning, hmm."
That made me think—because in my dream, it was exactly four o'clock.
I let it go and stood up, then rubbed my neck which hurt like crazy, as if something bit into it.
While I was rubbing it, I couldn't help but think about the dream again.
"Was that really Mom?" I asked myself, worried if the dream meant something.
I stopped touching my neck and looked at the window.
It was closed.
What was I expecting, that it would be open?
"That dream felt so real, though..." I said as I took a tank top from the cabinet and was about to head out of my room.
But before I could step out, I suddenly rushed back to the window and opened it, hoping to see someone outside—
but there was no one.
It was freezing outside.
I stretched my hand out the window and let the wind touch it.
It felt so fresh.
As I looked around, I remembered that I might be running late.
So I checked the time.
"4:20 already? Man, I gotta head down," I said.
I left my room, and while heading downstairs, I checked my phone for any messages—
but there weren't any, so I ignored it and went straight to the kitchen.
To my surprise, I found a mountain of dirty dishes.
"Ugh, John! You didn't wash again, huh?" I said, annoyed and disappointed.
Good thing there were still a few clean plates and pans left.
I cooked breakfast for us.
After cooking, I started getting ready for school—
I'm the only one who has school today since I go to a private school.
An hour and a half later, I was dressed and ready to go early.
Before I left, I went to my brother John's room and knocked.
"John! Wake up!"
Good thing he wakes up easily. He opened the door and said,
"What is it, Bro? It's too early!"
He even sounded annoyed—as if he wasn't the one at fault.
"Why didn't you wash the dishes last night? You know it's your turn yesterday!" I reminded him.
"Sorry, bro... We had a game last night. I got really tired. I didn't tell you guys because I knew you wouldn't let me play," he explained.
He seemed to be telling the truth—
His face and posture clearly showed how tired he was.
"Okay, I'll let it slide for now, but I don't know if Dad will," I warned him.
I said goodbye, told him where I kept the food, and headed out.
I started walking toward school.
It's a bit far from our house, but still walkable.
While walking, I stopped in front of a grocery store.
I saw one of my friends buying something—it was Gilbert.
He's the type who's easily startled and very talkative.
I thought of surprising him, so I quietly entered the store and snuck up on him,
raising my hand to tickle his side—
But he suddenly turned to me.
"Heyyy Alexander! So it's you, huh? Thought you could sneak up on me!" he said excitedly,
clearly happy that I didn't succeed in surprising him.
"You're early today," I said, since this was the first time I'd seen him up and about so early.
Gilbert looked confused about why I asked that.
"Dude, we have a project, remember?" he reminded me.
I suddenly got nervous when he said that—our group leader today is really strict.
"Ah, uhh..." I mumbled, scratching the back of my head.
He noticed my unsure expression.
"Don't tell me you forgot?" he asked, clearly suspicious—and he was right.
Without hesitation, I admitted I forgot.
"Oh man, we're screwed—Sophia's going to kill us," he said.
Ugh, Sophia again... what a mess.
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything when we get to school," I said, trying to sound calm—but deep inside, I was panicking.
Gilbert walked up to the vendor to buy the stuff he needed—one pack of A4 bond paper and some ink.
That's when I remembered—we were having a research project.
"Hey! Why are you spacing out?" Gilbert asked.
"Ah, it's nothing," I replied with a nervous laugh, hoping he'd stop asking questions.
"Come on, let's go!" I told him, now in a rush.
And with that, we headed straight for school.