Dream Log

Dreamer stumbles across the girl.

Hello.

That's weird... hello?

What's weird?

Nothing, I'm not used to people on my dreams talking to me directly.

I get that a lot.

How so?

The other day I discovered that a lot of people know me, they even put posters of my face around their towns.

I'm really confused.

I assumed. Ignore that for now, just try to look for one of those posters if you remember this when you wake up.

I mean, I haven't seen them myself, but a lot of people talked about it recently so I'm left to believe that it's real.

Feels weird enough to believe, I'll check when I wake up.

Cool.

What brings you here?

I don't know, my bed?.

Haha, good one.

...

Usually when something bad happens to you in real life, you end up here instead of your mind, this isn't a dream, it's some kind of light purgatory.

A place to think and relax. It helps you vanish your fears.

Could be...

If you're here, something bad happened to you, aren't you gonna tell me?

I'd rather not.

But for you to be so well known, you must be spending a lot of time in this place. What is it that keeps you awake at night? If you don't mind me asking

...

I'm lost and unsure about my purpose in life. I'm all alone, quite literally.

This is the only place I can interact with other human beings.

How could that be possible?

I don't know, as I said, I'm lost, I don't know what is it that I'm supposed to do here.

The only thing that gives meaning to my life is a girl. When I exit this place, I don't wake up, I continue dreaming like normal.

But the only dreams I have are the ones with this little girl in them, like I'm reliving her life night by night.

Do you know the girl?

No, but it's like if I always knew her. I haven't seen her around here either, I'm still waiting for that day to come.

Maybe I know her, who is she? I'll try to look for her when I wake up.

Her name is      , she's about    years old and she's got this        on top of her hair.

Are you pulling my leg?

What? Why?

You just moved your mouth without making any noises.

I didn't mean to.

Well, who is the girl then?

I didn't mean to.

I know, don't worry, just tell me who the girl is...

I didn't mean to.

Are you alright?

I...

...didn't...

...mean...

...to.

I didn't mean to.

Hey, hey, hey, stop crying, it's okay, it's okay.

Apfel looks up at the dreamer, sobbing, she wakes up.

Dreamer states that he went lucid dreaming in search of the girl.

No way!

Excuse me?

You're THE girl.

Do you know me?

Duh, of course. Some people out there realized they were dreaming with the same girl and put posters with your face all around town.

But I must say, even though I see the resemblance, you look way prettier than the girl on the posters.

Thank... you? Sorry I'm really confused about this situation.

Why's that?

People aren't supposed to remember me or this place once they wake up.

I mean, there could be a slight chance to wake up and remember a really small glimpse of this "dream" but not to that extent.

How long has this been going on for?

A month, probably.

Something must have happened...

I've been coming here for as long as I can remember... and it's been years.

Years!?

What kind of people did you run into around here?

All kinds. Some were recurrent, in fact, my real self subconsciously learned how to speak and write thanks to a professor that used to come by a lot.

He must've died some time ago, haven't seen him in two years.

Your real self? They don't teach that in schools to you?

I'm not sure what a school is, there aren't any where I live, the only place I've seen people is in these "dreams".

My real self is completely oblivious of this place, when I wake up, I forget everything that goes on in here.

I need to understand. How did you wake up retaining all memories? My real self would appreciate some answers, she really struggles a lot.

Don't ask me, this is the first time I see you, you should know that.

But if I come back and somehow I retain all my memories, I'll let you know.

I need to find out...

Hey you're shaking, are you okay?

Oh, this? yes, it's weird, usually it's the other way around, sorry.

Dreamer witnesses Apfel vanishing, assuming she's the one waking up now.

Dreamer finds the girl crying in a bench, he approaches.

Hey, hey, is everything alright?

(Sniffs...) No, not really...

What's the matter?

I don't really see people around here often... I was really happy that someone came here on my birthday.

I tried my best to not get overly excited and remain calm so he wouldn't wake up and he still woke up...

What did you say to him?

(Sniffs...) I don't want to tell you... you're the first one to come by in almost a month, let's talk for a bit at least, please...

Don't worry, it's okay, but you can tell me whenever I'm about to wake up, that way I not left with the doubt.

Yeah... sure, sorry, it's hard for me to talk with people, my real self is very isolated.

Hah! Can you believe that's the reason I learned how to lucid dream whenever I wanted to?

It's very stressing to talk to people in real life, so I practice with fake people on my dreams!

Fake...?

Uh, well, not in that way, no, sorry, I didn't mean that.

It's okay, you're the one that doesn't understand.

Anyway, you said you can lucid dream whenever you wanted to?

Yes, and it's working... decently fine so far!

Usually I'm not the one asking questions to the people but, can I ask you something?

Shoot!

So you said you've been lucid dreaming for some time now, right?

That's right.

But this is the first time I see you...

Did something bad happen to you recently in your real life?

...

Yes, I got in a car acc-

Dreamer wakes up.

Dreamer assures he's lucid dreaming for the first time in his life and a girl is looking at him in an eerie way.

Damn this is creepy, why are you looking at me like that?

Like what?

I don't know, you look way too real. I've never had one of these lucid dreams before.

A dream? Hehehe! well you could say that.

Can I ask you something?

Sure thing, but be careful, any unexpected answers might wake you up.

Okay... something simple then... uhh, what's your name?

My name is Apfel.

Okay, Apfel, and what a-... well I hope this isn't one of those strange questions, but, what are you doing here?

You know, spending some time in here, I was about to bake a cake because today is my birthday.

I don't see anything you can bake a cake with. What is this place anyway?

Umm... yes, this uh, place... when you got things that keep you up at night but you end up falling "asleep" regardless of that, this is where you end up. It's very hard to remember anything when you wake up.

I thought this was my dream.

But I already told you, this isn't a dre-

Dreamer wakes up.