Sara's Dream

Not having even the tiniest bit of energy left in her body, Sara dragged herself tiredly to the elevator and leaned on the nearby wall for support. It was almost as if she'd faint any moment. After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator's ding finally reached her ears and she let out an exhausted sigh.

As soon as the doors opened, she nearly crawled inside, not caring about her outfit. At that moment she wished nothing more than to disappear into thin air. She felt frustrated with everything. Herself, her surroundings, and life in general.

Losing her dream job on her birthday had pushed her to the edge. Worse still, she was falsely accused of a wrongdoing that was far from the truth.

She couldn't believe that some of her most trusted colleagues had backstabbed her. She came to know that three of them badmouthed her in front of the boss. Being the strict and no-nonsense boss that he was, he confronted Sara. Since some false evidence was fabricated against her, he had no choice but to fire her. Even her closest friends in the department didn't support her as they preferred holding onto their jobs over their friendship with Sara.

Hauling her lifeless body, Sara walked along the street like a zombie. The chill of the early spring and the dimly lit street only added to her misery as tears trickled down her cheeks. Finishing the unusually long path to her home, she slowly opened the door and instantly trailed her way up to the bedroom. Plopping herself on the fluffy mattress, she took a deep breath to calm her uneasy soul. Just then her phone rang. Huffing, she sat up and received the call with the most monotonous greeting ever.

"Hello?" "Sara… you okay?" As soon as the familiar voice from the other end reached her ears, she finally broke down. "I'm done mom, I'm done with everything and every single person around me, I can't do this anymore". She helplessly whimpered, while her mom grew increasingly concerned listening to her. "First take a deep breath, in...and out...". Following the instructions, Sara did as she was told and surprisingly felt like a weight was lifted off of her chest. "Now tell me what happened, honey?” Sara babbled the entire mess of a situation to her mother, all the while having conflicting perspectives in the background of her mind. "I'm so sorry sweetheart. Sadly, there's nothing I can do to make the situation at work better. However, I can give you good ol' motherly advice". Sara smiled at the reassurance from her mother "That's probably all I need right now".

“Change is a constant. Note that in your case it was the most pleasant, but that's just how it is. If you carefully think about it, there's never really a good or bad happening. It's all our perspective." Sara deeply pondered upon her mother's words and just uttered “Hmm”. Her mother continued, "Of course, there are consequences for each decision that we make; but at the end of the day, all that matters is how you perceive and accept that change. The sooner, the better". Sara sighed, and even though her mother couldn't see it, she felt some relief upon hearing her daughter's sigh. "You probably don't know this yet, but good memories outdo bad ones. Make good memories for yourself sweetheart". Knowing her daughter well, she considered it best to leave Sara alone for a while to sort out her thoughts and hang up.

Sara sighed for the nth time that night, and letting out a yawn she slipped into a deep slumber. The following morning, she woke up as fresh as a daisy. Sitting up on the bed, she shifted her gaze to the open windows peeking from behind the curtains. No matter how chaotic things turned out to be for her, she still managed to let a beautiful smile wash over her features as she inhaled the misty morning air. It was something incredibly soothing to her, as she sought solace in the pleasantness of the dawn.

Shaking her head, she shrugged off all possible negative thoughts and proceeded to take a warm shower. Contrary to her usual rush, this morning she let her subconscious mind take the lead and she simply followed along. All that mattered to her at that moment was herself and her well-being.

Suddenly, she felt hungry and decided to make herself a nice breakfast. She happily hummed a melody as she flipped the pancake. She poured some hot water into a cup and dipped her favourite Earl Gray teabag. She felt a strange calm as she inhaled the soothing aroma. Stacking four pancakes onto a plate, she drizzled copious amounts of maple syrup on the top. Finally, she settled on the dining table and started digging in. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so peaceful during her meals. It was always hasty and half-hearted, which was probably the reason why she had grown so pale and thin over time.

After a very fulfilling breakfast, she went out for a stroll in her front garden. Sara loved gardening and her beautiful garden was the cynosure of the entire neighbourhood. She planted new plants as per the season and took great care in tending to them.

Feeling the morning breeze tickling her pale skin and playing with her hair, Sara settled into her little world of happiness. As she walked around, she could feel her toes getting wet above the moist grass. This was her much-needed rejuvenation after a long time. It looked almost as if nature itself was breathing new life into her and putting her broken pieces back together. Now, more than ever, she was sure about her priorities in life and wanted to start afresh.

Smiling contently to herself, she made her way back to the house with a revitalized mindset. She called up her mother and spoke about her plans to start her new business, something that was related to gardening. The rest of the day flew by in the blink of an eye, and suddenly it was late evening. Sara's tummy was full with the titbits she had been munching throughout the day. So, she settled into the couch with a huge tub of ice cream and watched her favourite show on TV. She must have been exhausted because soon she fell asleep on the couch with the TV playing.

She woke up suddenly and realized she is on her bed. She remembered falling asleep on the couch. She tried to sit on the bed, but her back was sore. Using all her strength, she pushed her body upwards in a jolt and let out a painful whimper. Massaging her temples and squinting her eyes, she tried hard to remember the previous day but her mind was all groggy. Looking down, she found herself not in her night suit, but the same attire she wore on the day of her terrible office experience.

To clear her doubts, she rushed downstairs into the living room. She was left dumbfounded by her surroundings. In the kitchen sink, there were no cups and plates she had left unwashed the previous night. Switching the TV on, she couldn't find the show she watched the previous day.

Blinking in disbelief, she dashed into the garden. It couldn't get more confusing than it already was, as the beautiful lilies she so clearly recalled having planted, were nowhere in sight. She felt a throbbing in her head and her legs were about to give up. Clumsily, she made her way back to the house and hurriedly dialled her mother.

"Hey mom, morning. Um, did we speak yesterday on the phone?" "Yes, we did sweetheart. Why do you ask?"

"What did we talk about?” "We talked about your office issues”. "Are you sure that’s all?" "Yes Sara, please wake up fully first and then bombard me with questions. You probably woke up from a dream."

Sara was at a loss for words as she abruptly hung up the phone. She looked towards the window and stared into oblivion.

She felt as if her mind was playing tricks with her.

"But it felt so real, and I remember each detail so clearly."

Did it all happen? Or was it a dream?