Chapter 5 5

I went to see a doctor because I felt like I was going crazy. I've been hearing all sorts of things. First, the voice of the man appearing in my dreams. Second, the thoughts of the people around me.

The doctor told me that he couldn't find anything wrong with me. He just prescribed some medication which I promptly bought from the pharmacy.

"My love..."

I heard the man calling me again, the one who often appears in my dreams, so I took the medication the doctor prescribed for me. I prepared a glass of water. I was ready to take the medicine, but suddenly my ring started to heat up.

"My love," the man called out to me again. "Don't take that poison."

"You're crazy! This is medicine for my craziness," I replied to the air.

He got angry because I didn't follow his orders, so my ring heated up again. Because of that, I accidentally dropped the small bottle containing the pills and it scattered on the floor.

"My love, you're not crazy!" he emphatically said. Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he was getting annoyed because the tone of his voice changed.

Me, not crazy? Can I still say I'm not crazy when I'm hearing the voice of someone I've only dreamed about? And then, I feel like I have superpowers because I can hear the thoughts of the people around me, is that not crazy?

"Leave me alone! Don't talk to me, you're so annoying! You're even more outdated than my grandma's clothes in our trunk!"

"I'm sorry, my dear," he apologized. "I haven't figured out the new way people talk nowadays. I'm still learning your modern language."

"Okay." As if I care. I picked up the spilled tablets from the floor. As I was about to take one of them, my ring heated up again.

"What the hell?!" I angrily asked the voice in my head. "You're getting used to hurting my finger, huh!"

"I told you not to take that poison. If you do, it will be hard for me to talk to you."

"That's why I'm going to take it, right? Because I don't want to hear your voice."

"I'm hurt by what you're saying, my love. If you don't stop yourself from drinking it, I think we should meet," he said.

"Really? You're going to show yourself to me, huh? You're just a product of my imagination. He's so ambitious," I just shrugged to myself.

"When we meet, I'll take you," he threatened.

I suddenly felt nervous at his words. But he's just my imagination, why should I be scared?

"Then show yourself to me," I challenged him. "It's not like you can, you're just a result of my hallucination!"

"I'm not a result of your hallucination. I'm real. Do you remember when you got lost? You ended up in an old church and that's where we got married," he reminded me.

I pondered his words. It's true, I got lost and ended up in an old church, and that's where we got married. But wasn't that just a dream?

"Maybe it was just a dream!"

"That wasn't a dream, you know in your heart that what happened was real," he insisted.

Why is this voice in my head so insistent that the things that happened in my dream were real? And here I am arguing with the voice and insisting that it wasn't real. What is it really?

"I was drunk then," I defended myself. "I was drunk, I fell asleep, and that's what I dreamt."

"If that's what you want to believe, there's nothing I can do. But when midnight comes, I will take you, so be prepared."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, take me if you can."

---

I took the medicine. I couldn't hear the voice of the man in my dreams anymore. But after a few hours, it came back.

"It's going to rain heavily later. There might be flooding, so you shouldn't-""

Before he could finish what he was saying, I cut him off. "So what if it floods? What do you want me to do, suck it up?"

"Don't leave the house because you might get in danger. I want you to be safe," he explained.

"I don't want to. Why should I listen to you? I'm going swimming later at EDSA, you can't stop me!" I stood up to get my medicine again. My craziness was acting up again.

"Just remember, I'll be taking you tonight," he reminded. "You don't want to listen to me. I told you not to take that medicine."

"Fine, fine, blah blah blah. Like you really can."

"I can," he replied.

I forgot that he could read my thoughts. I took my medicine and drank it, so the voice of the stranger in my dream disappeared from my hearing.

What he said was true, in the afternoon it poured heavily. Once again, I pondered because I wondered how he knew it would rain heavily when nothing was said on the TV. Sometimes I believe that I'm really talking to him, but it just seems like I'm going even crazier in that state. Is it true that he will take me later?