Hiding In His Dreams (25 page)

Within seconds, he was left hugging the
air.

Luke looked around frantically, but she
was gone.

As the finality of her departure sank
in, he looked out at the water. The moon was shimmering in it. He
then turned his attention to the waves, and listened to its
hypnotic lullaby.

* * * * *

The next morning, he felt something on
his face. For a moment, he was worried that the blotches were back.
He reached out one hand, and plucked the object off. He opened his
eyes and saw that he was holding a white cherry blossom. It was
fully solid again. And it looked rejuvenated. He sniffed it. It
smelled fresh.

Although he remembered everything about
his last dream of Alyssa, he decided he would not cry again. He
remembered the feel of her soft body, her hair, and her fragrance.
And he remembered something she had said about a gift, a gift in
the drawer.

He walked over to his desk and opened
the first drawer. In it was a package wrapped in blue wrapping
paper. And on the package was a card.

Gently, Luke plucked off the card and
opened it.

Happy
27
^th
, it
read.
No more cherry blossoms. This
painting is one of us
.
Hope you like it. Love, A.

Luke put down the card and opened the
package. It was a painting done entirely in water color. It showed
Luke and Alyssa on the beach, their arms around each other, the
wind in their hairs. They were smiling as the moon shone down on
them. It looked like the picture of them that Luke had on his
nightstand, but something was different. Luke looked carefully at
it, trying to pinpoint what exactly. Then, he saw. Alyssa’s stomach
was bigger than normal. It did not make her look fat, but
pregnant.

Luke stroked her stomach in the
painting, smiling.

She wanted us to try again, he thought.
A baby.

At the thought of babies, he was
reminded was something.

If anything happens to me, I
want you to make sure that little boy Drew is OK,
She had said.

He remembered the promise that he had
made to her.

Luke got up and got dressed. He had
work to do.

* * * * *

In the evening, Luke arrived at Taylor
Park with Drew, the little boy Alyssa was worried about. He had
lost both parents and in a car accident and only just awoken from
his coma.

Typical Alyssa, he thought with a
smile. Always caring for little kids.

He had gone to the orphanage in
Vancouver earlier that day. He had not adopted the boy officially,
but it was not far away.

He took the boy by the hand and walked
up the hill.

The boy was tiny for a six year old. He
had strawberry blond hair and big blue eyes. “Where are we going?”
Drew asked.

“
I’m taking you to a very
special place,” he replied. The September breeze was a little
chilly, so he zipped up Drew’s jacket. Then, he looked at the boy,
wondering how he must be feeling. The little boy had lost both his
parents in a car accident, but he looked fine. He must have been
hiding it well. Luke knew how that felt.

They arrived on the hill and sat down
on the bench. Luke looked out at the tri-cities in the distance,
lit by their own lights.

Drew turned around and ran his little
fingers along the carvings in the bench. “What’s this?” Drew
asked.

Luke turned around and
inspected the carvings. Alongside the
JWC +
JWB
carving, he saw his and Alyssa’s little
declaration.

LJ + AH = Love
Forever.

He had nearly forgotten about
it.

“
It’s a reminder that two
people love each other very much,” Luke answered.

The wind started to blow, and Luke felt
something drop to his head. He reached up and picked it off. He saw
it was a white cherry blossom that had dropped from the cherry
blossom tree above them.

“
What’s that?” Drew asked,
pointing to the flower.

Luke examined the white cherry blossom.
It matched the one that Alyssa had given him.

“
It’s the most beautiful
flower in the world,” he replied.
Luke then
cradled it in his hands.
In its soft petals
of the flower, he could almost feel Alyssa’s presence.

“
Why?” the little boy
asked.

Luke did not answer, but
stared off into the beautiful view, he thought about where his life
was now heading. He had no career, but
he
would find a career later.

No, he thought, pushing the thought
right out of his mind. Right now, I have to be in the moment.
Alyssa would have wanted that.

He turned to his son, and smiled.
“Because love makes it beautiful.”

The little boy nodded. Luke was sure he
was too young to understand.

Luke looked at the kid, and was briefly
reminded of the twins that he and Alyssa were going to
have.

“
I know you must miss your
mommy and daddy a lot,” he said.

Drew looked at Luke, but showed no
expression.

Luke cleared his throat. “I don’t want
to replace them, but I could care take of you.”

The little boy stared blankly at him
for a while, then smiled.

Luke smiled back, and then stared off
into the glittering blackness.

If he listened hard enough, he could
almost hear the trickling of the little stream below.

It sounded like the soothing sound of
the waves on the beach.

* * * * *

Epilogue

A few weeks
later…

Alyssa saw Luke asleep on the bed. She
frowned when she noticed that his blanket covered only half his
body. She floated over silently, and grabbed the blanket, pulling
it up to his neck. She smoothed out the blanket, tucking the edges
behind his shoulders, making sure it covered him snugly.

Then, she paused, and took a closer
look at her husband. Drops of sweat assaulted his forehead. His
chest heaved up then down. His hands lay limply by his side. Alyssa
ran her fingers through his hair, once, twice.

She smiled. This is the man I married,
she thought.

She trailed her fingers slowly along
the side of his cheek, moving as though she were carefully panning
for gold, afraid to miss a single golden speck.

He stirred, but did not open his
eyes.

He then uttered a single word,
“Alyssa.”

She examined him. He didn’t seem to be
awake. Was he dreaming of her again?

Ignoring him, she bent down and kissed
him once on the lips, lingering there for just a second.

After double-checking that his blanket
still covered him completely, she floated out the door, and closed
it gently behind her.

* * * * *

Appendix

The following is another poem found
among Luke’s possessions.

Almost

By: Luke

For Alyssa

I had a dream last
night

And you were
there.

I almost smelled the peach
of your hair,

I almost caressed your
tear-stained face,

I almost gave you my
embrace,

But you backed away before
I could.

I have a dream
tonight

And you are
there.

I almost whisper “Forgive
me” in your ears

I almost wrap my arms
around your waist

I almost give you my
embrace,

But you back away before I
can.

I’ll have a last dream
tomorrow night

And yes, you’ll be
there.

I’ll almost brush your lips
with mine,

I’ll almost stare into your
distressed eyes,

I’ll almost give you my
embrace.

But this time,

You
won’t back away before I can.