The story of Promiseum - Dream Walker

He sat up in bed, not knowing what had woken him up. It didn't seem like he was asleep for long. What time is it anyway? He checked the time on his phone. Nine o'clock in the morning! Crap, I'm late! He exclaimed. The Grand opening was supposed to start two hours ago. He jumped up and got dressed as fast as he could. He ran out of his room to get Emily and Robert. When he went to knock on Emily's door, it was already open.

He called to her, but she didn't answer. When he went in, she wasn't there, and her bed was already made. So, he went to get Robert, but he wasn't there either, and his bed was also made. Were they in the kitchen? He left Robert's room and went through the door to the dining room. There was no one there either. The entire place was empty. Where was everyone, and why did he wake up so late?

He went out the front door and down the stairs to the bottom landing. To his right, there was a door. If he went that way, he would end up in a small alleyway beside the building. The alleyway was narrow, maybe about five feet wide. There was a wall that made it look like the building next door was butted up against his. And, in that wall, there was a small wooden door leading to the sidewalk. At the back of the building, it opened into a much larger alleyway. This one was lined with meters, dumpsters, and parking spaces for all the buildings on this block.

To his left, there was a warehouse about the same size as the storage area above. At the back of this warehouse, there's a large overhead door for moving Freight through in the far-right corner. To the left of that door was the emergency exit he had to add for the fire code. In the far-left corner was the freight elevator. On the same side of the building, at the front of the warehouse, was his office. And, in the opposite corner on the front was the employee restroom. He walked across the warehouse to check his office, but no one was in there either. So, he went through the double doors in the middle, out to the showroom.

From here, it looked like the grand opening was fully underway. Why would Emily and Robert start without him? Why didn't they wake them up? Those were good questions, but by the time they were formed, he noticed trouble. Emily was over by the cash register with a customer. From where he stood, it looked like they were in a very heated argument. When Danny got closer, it seemed more like the lady was yelling at and berating her, leaving her no choice but to defend herself. By the time he got there through the crowd, the lady was already out the door and gone.

“What happened?” He asked.

She just walked past, like she didn't even hear him. Before he knew it, she was halfway across the room. Here, she was trying to stop a child from destroying a display. When the child's mother got there, it was the same as the first situation, ending with the woman and the child leaving the store. One by one, the customers got angry and left, vowing never to shop here again. Somewhere in the middle of all this, he noticed a man standing in the far corner. From where he was, he couldn't tell what he looked like. He was just kind of tall and dark. By the time he could get closer, he was gone.

By this time, all the customers were gone. The store was empty except for Emily. She was standing in the middle of the floor crying. He wanted to comfort her, but when he approached her, it was like he wasn't even there. He tried touching her, which just seemed to startle her. She looked all around her like she was expecting to see a ghost. He started to touch Emily again, but he stopped.

"This is ridiculous,” Danny said. Then he looked at her and said, "I want you to see me.”

There was a look of pure shock on her face, as she was now looking directly at him, then she suddenly disappeared. The next thing he knew, he was waking up to a surprised gasp. Though he could barely hear it, he knew it came from Emily's room. Looking at the time, he realized it was an hour early. So, he turned off his alarm, slipped on his shoes, and went out his door. He walked across the hall and knocked on Emily’s door.

"Come in," Emily said.

He opened the door and stepped inside. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes," she said, "just a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

"Can we talk about it later? There's something else I want to talk to you about."

"Sure; what is it?" He asked.

"I'm really nervous about the grand opening, and I feel like I might mess things up,” she said.

"We all feel like that sometimes. It usually just means we care about what we're doing." He said. "As far as you messing things up, I'm not worried at all. You're not just my best friend. You're my inspiration. Just knowing that you believe in me makes me want to try even harder."

"I know what you mean,” she replied, "I feel the same about you. Sometimes when I have to make an important call, I have to pretend to be someone else to get through it. But when you're there or I think about you first, I don't even get nervous."

"Well, you have nothing to be nervous about," he said, "and I'll always be here for you."

Emily didn't say anything after that. She just put her hand on his. Now, he had a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he felt his heart rate increase.

"How about we finish getting ready and make a big breakfast before the grand opening?" He asked.

"I would love that," she said.

About half an hour later, they were in the kitchen gathering up all the breakfast foods they could find. They found eggs, bacon, sausage, and ham.

“Let's make waffles, too,” Emily said. It wasn't long before the smell of food brought Robert to the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

"We're making breakfast," Danny answered.

"Yeah, would you like to join us?" Emily asked.

"Of course, I would," he said.

He helped them finish cooking. Then, while they were eating, they discussed the grand opening. After they finished eating, Emily looked around.

"I think we overdid it a little,” she said,” we'll never be able to eat all this bacon and sausage."

"That gives me an idea," Danny said. "You guys make a lot of scrambled eggs. Use what's left of the eggs."

While they were busy with that, Danny whipped up some salsa and made tortillas from scratch.

“There,” he said, “we'll make miniature breakfast burritos for the grand opening.”

"How do you know how to make tortillas and salsa?" Robert asked.

"That's a good question." He replied. "The only experience that I've had with Mexican food was this one time I dreamed that I was watching Mrs. Henderson cook. It seemed so simple that it never occurred to me that I didn't know how."

"Well, these are the best I've ever tasted, and you know how much I love Mexican food," Robert said. "Oh well! Show me how to roll these."

Soon the breakfast burritos were finished, wrapped in parchment paper, and placed in the warmer. Then Danny's phone rang. He looked at his phone. It was his mother. Elizabeth-Anne Marie Knight. (Anny), is an art teacher at a private school. She started that job twenty years ago after recovering from severe depression. Soon after that, she discovered she was pregnant. She never told anyone who the father was, not even Danny. She's 5'6" and weighs 120 lbs. She looks young for her age and still has a nice figure.

"Hi, mom," Danny said, “Is everything okay? Are you coming to the grand opening today?"

"I'm not going to be able to make it to the grand opening today," she said. "I'm not feeling very well."

"Are you okay?" He asked. "Do I need to come to check on you later?"

"No, I'm okay," She said, "I must be coming down with something. I just feel like I have no energy."

"Okay," he said. "You just rest and get better. I'll see you later. I love you. Bye."

"I love you too," she said. "Good luck with the grand opening. Bye."

"Was that your mom?" Emily asked, "What happened?"

"It was, "Danny said, "She's not feeling well and won't be at the grand opening."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said. "I hope she gets better soon."

"Yeah, me too," Danny said, "but now it's time to go."

The plan was simple, Emily was at the register checking out customers. Robert was out front, attracting customers and greeting people as they came in. And Danny was walking around, greeting, and helping customers. Everyone they knew came out, even their parents and most of Danny’s existing clients, the ones that could make it anyway. The breakfast burritos were a great idea, and they helped attract more customers.

As the customers walked through the store, they could see that it was more than just a furniture shop. There is a complete crafting section with everything you need. Whether you're a hardcore crafter or you're just starting out. There are fabrics and sewing, painting supplies, model-making kits, there's even a section for scrapbooking, on top of selling the finest hand-crafted furniture and home furnishings money could buy. Since he made a lot of stuff to order, delivered them, and still ran his yard/home maintenance division, the store hours were reasonably short. Just five hours on weekdays. They would open at seven in the morning and close at noon. However, for the grand opening, they would be open until five.

The grand opening was a huge success. After five, Robert was out doing late deliveries, Emily was locking up and setting the alarm, and Danny was in his office working on paperwork. Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened, and Emily walked in.

"You don't have to knock, you know," he said.

"I didn't want to interrupt anything important," She replied.

"If it was that important, I'd lock the door,” he joked.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute," She said, "Do you have time?"

"I always have time for you," he said.

"You know how I said that I was nervous about the grand opening?" She asked.

"Yes," he answered.

"Well, I was having a nightmare about it." She said,

"Can you tell me what happened?" He asked.

"Customers kept getting mad, and they all left,” she said. "But the worst part was when everyone was gone, I just felt so alone. Then it was like somebody was there, but I couldn't see them. I got even more scared, and I just wanted you there to protect me. And without warning, you just appeared in front of me."

"What happened next?" He asked.

"Nothing, I was so startled I just woke up," she said.

"That somebody you couldn't, see? Did you feel them touch you?" He asked.

"Sort of," She answered, "It was so light, but it seemed familiar somehow."

"I don't want to freak you out, but I think that was me," he said. "I thought I had the same dream. I saw everything as you said. You looked startled when I tried to touch you, and when I wanted you to see me, you could! It's like we were sharing a dream."

"That doesn't freak me out," She said, "If I could have anyone in my dream, I would rather it be you than a stranger. Besides, I think we've had shared dreams before."

"What do you mean?" He asked. "There were quite a few times when you would tell me about a dream "you had," and it would seem familiar." She said, "Later on, I would realize that it was the dream I just had. I thought maybe you were messing with me. But, how would you know if you weren't there? In my dream, I mean. Of course, you would leave out the part about how you held my hand." She teased.

"Yeah, I don't know why I was embarrassed. We are best friends, after all, and we hold hands a lot. It just somehow seemed more special and private." He admitted.

He felt like there was more to say, but it was getting late. Robert would be back soon, so they decided to go upstairs and start dinner. It was a long day! After dinner, they decided to go their separate ways and prepare for bed. Danny was in his room, thinking about the conversation he had with Emily. Was he really in her dream or sharing one with her? And what about that guy? Thinking back, he can't remember a time that he wasn't in one of his dreams. Even if it was just a feeling of being watched, he was sure it was the same guy. He has to be the key to figuring out what's going on! When he falls asleep, he will have to concentrate and be more aware. He needed to find a way to talk to this guy. But right now, he was too distracted to concentrate or even to sleep.

He couldn't stop thinking about Emily. At first, he thought, am I really starting to fall in love with her? When did that happen? As soon as he thought it, though, he realized how wrong that was. He wasn't falling in love with her. It was too late for that; he was already in love with her. He “started” falling in love from the first moment he looked into her eyes.

Now, she was the center of his world, the axis on which his life revolves, and she was the reason for everything he did! But he had to push it aside for the moment. He would need all of his concentration if he expected to get any answers. So, as he fell asleep, he concentrated on being more aware of his dream. This time he wouldn't be caught off guard!