Lost In Dreams

• Alexis Bettini, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2020

No, it can’t be, I think to myself.
I see my mother standing in front of my mirror and watch as she opens my top drawer and takes out a lipstick. I slowly hop out of bed and instantly wish I had my fluffy robe. I feel as though I’ve just stepped into a freezer because I instantly feel goosebumps rise on my skin. I look around my room and see that all my windows are closed, the fan isn’t on and neither is the aircon. I was really confused as to where the ice-cold breeze came from but I didn’t care about that right now, all I cared about was why my mother was back and how. As I walk closer towards my mum, I see what type of lipstick she has in her hand and realise that it’s hers. It was her favourite lipstick and I fell into a sort of entrancement, watching her slowly apply it, layer by layer. It was as though I was trapped in another world, in another me where I couldn’t control what I did or what I said.
“Mum, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?” My mouth forms these words yet my mind has no control- it’s like someone else is controlling what I say.
“Oh, honey. I finished work early” She sets the lipstick down and turns to face me.
She raises her right hand and cups my cheek. “Follow your dreams and don’t let anyone push you back”. She steps away and smiles sweetly, then opens my door and with one final look over her shoulder, she steps into the corridor and shuts the door behind her. I rush towards the door and swing it open to reveal nothing but as I look further down the corridor I see her and run. I grab her hand and spin her around to find her sweet smile still plastered on her face, she mouths I love you and just like that a gust of wind comes and blows her away.

I wake up clenching my sheets beneath me as I slowly take in huge gulps of air. I then realised that the whole time during whatever just happened, whether it was a dream or a sort of flashback or a ghost. I felt as though I was holding my breath like I was in some sort of underwater trance like I couldn’t breathe. Like the character in the dream that was me was breathing but I myself here wasn’t actually breathing.
I calm my nerves a little bit and look at the end of my bed to see my robe, I hop out of bed quickly and rap the robe around myself and walk into the bathroom. I splash some water on my face and feel a little shiver run down my spine as I feel a breeze touch my now wet face. I dry my face on my towel and head back to bed, but as I lift my head up, I notice an object sitting atop my vanity. I walk closer and then realise that it’s my mother’s lipstick, with the lid still off and the lipstick worn down to the shape of my mum’s lips. This can’t be true because it was just a dream, it just some sort of flashback or is my mum still alive? I look up to the mirror, but instead of my face being reflected back I see my mother’s sweet smile and at that moment I knew what I had to do.