The Dream Boy

elling his name out loud but

as it was evident that he had never existed in the first place. I closed and locked the main doors from the inside last nig

rred. Had I imagined everything? Was Ren just a figment of my exhausted mind, conjured up by stress and

es passed and the silence of the apartment grew louder, the quietness began to make a comeback and skepticism began to set in. Perh

e something important had slipped through my fingers? I shook my head, tr

rhaps Ren would come back any moment and give some

quiet shuffle of feet on the floorboards, but the apartment remained silent. The m

ng in my tummy. Perhaps he felt the need to go to the roof again to get some fresh air, I

é where I worked and as much as I wanted to know what was going on, I also had to be on my job. I placed a n

l the fake smiles and friendly greetings, processed orders and served customers but all my mind could focus on was Ren and his sudden di

he would be there, sitting and explaining, then join in the laughter and brush aside my fears. The feeling of loneliness that co

illows scattered all over- but there was no evidence that someone was here. I went round the apartment gi

ppened. I looked at the note that I had scribbled on the table and it still remained untouched. At this, I thought to myself that I mig

hand, the intensity in his eyes, the panic in his tone-all

ere starting to grow big. The rooftop was always at the back of my mind and it was as if somebody was whispering to me to go there.

to find out what really happened? Indeed, my mind screwed with confusion as I climbed up the building with each step I t

ace of his presence. The roof being just

way, both in the manifest and the latent sense of the word frustrated. Perhaps it had all been a dream, a dream which was not easily account

tairs, my head full of questions I couldn't seem to

uldn't daydream or night dream or any kind of fantasizing permitted. I had to deal with the real world, and the only thing in it that mattered was work and the next moment of sleep.

emory of Ren became a distant echo, something I could almost convince myself had never happened. I pushed

, the location where everything had first started. The cool night air brushed against my skin as I leaned against the railing and gazed out at the city lights

en I h

even a little ritzy. I was almost too scared to peer into the d

roak when I call

espo

lly make out the form of a man slumped against the wall of the rooftop. He was huddled there, his body almost crumpled, one hand clutched tightly to his side and

my own faint. As I lowered myself beside him, I forced my voi

strain in his posture, the way his shoulders trembled with each breath. My mind raced, trying to

to his shoulder, my fingers grazing his skin. He was cold and

nsuming. I held my breath as his face came into view, the

was

ion. Blood trickled down from a cut on his temple, and his norm

lurching as I recognized h

another groan. His grip on his side tightened, and I noticed for the first

t I couldn't let him die here. But as I looked into his eyes, I saw something that mad

ent. Something-or someone-had done this to h