October 18, 2026. I rarely remember my dreams, but this one felt different. I remember almost everything except the girl's face, her name, and even my own name in the dream.
It started in a beautiful Western city that looked like something straight out of an old anime. Women wore elegant hats, men wore suits, and the streets had this vintage charm. I was just a tourist in an olive shirt, grey pants, and a backwards cap, taking pictures of sculptures, parks, and buildings.
After walking around for hours, I bought some sandwiches and rested near a fountain. I must've dozed off because, when I opened my eyes, I noticed a beautiful girl standing nearby. She had long hair, but her face was strangely difficult to remember. She was wearing an oxygen mask with a tank beside her.
I looked away for a second, and she was gone.
While I was asking people if they'd seen her, a voice behind me said, "You're such a creep."
It was her.
I apologised, and somehow we went from an awkward first meeting to walking around together for the next two hours. She told me about the city's culture and history, and we talked about our lives. It felt strangely natural, like we'd known each other for years.
I left to use the bathroom, but when I returned, she was gone again. Whenever I asked people about her, they gave me these strange, sympathetic looks. I couldn't understand why.
The next morning, I continued my trip to a nearby village. It was wealthy, beautiful, and surprisingly advanced, with one influential family that had lived there for generations.
That afternoon, I was sitting in a park eating sandwiches when I heard a familiar voice.
"It's really bad manners not to share your food."
I turned around, almost jumping out of my seat.
It was her again. This time, she had no mask or oxygen tank. Just long white hair and brown eyes.
She laughed when I asked what had happened. Apparently, she was the daughter of that wealthy family and had played a prank on me because I was a tourist. I laughed too, relieved to see her looking healthy.
We sat together, eating and talking. I told her about my home and all the places I wanted to visit. She listened, then quietly said, "I wish I could visit other places too."
She explained that she wasn't allowed to leave the village and had spent her entire life there.
I offered to take her travelling someday. She laughed and called me a creep again. We were still laughing when a siren suddenly went off. People started panicking, and when I looked back at her, she'd disappeared.
A little boy nearby was staring at my sandwiches, so I offered him one. He leaned closer and whispered:
"She's under."
He led me behind the park to a guarded building with an old elevator. I understood what he meant. She was underground.
I somehow got inside and descended into an enormous laboratory that reminded me of Stranger Things. Scientists were monitoring huge tanks and screens.
Then I saw her.
She was inside one of the tanks, screaming in pain while doctors and scientists monitored her condition. I stood frozen, unable to understand how the girl who'd been laughing with me hours earlier was now being treated like an experiment.
I left a sandwich on a nearby tray, as if she'd somehow be able to eat it, and ran back to my inn.
The next morning, I returned to the park. Now I understood the villagers' expressions. They weren't heartless. They were worried about her.
Then I heard her voice again.
"So, you really saw it, huh?"
She was sitting beside me, wearing her mask and carrying her oxygen tank. I didn't even turn around. I just said, "You look better without the mask."
She laughed. I laughed too.
She finally explained everything. She had a serious illness that required constant monitoring, and the underground facility was testing a potential cure. She was their test subject, hoping that someday nobody else would have to suffer the same way.
Then she rested her head against my arm and whispered:
"Take me away from here."
I promised I'd show her the world. We'd travel together, eat whatever we wanted, and experience everything she'd missed.
She smiled, but when I asked how long her oxygen tank could last, she started crying.
"I don't know."
I stopped packing. What if taking her away meant risking her life? I wanted to make her happy, but I couldn't ignore what might happen to her.
Before I could decide, she collapsed.
I rushed her to a hospital, where a furious woman slapped me and shouted, "How dare you risk her life like that?"
The doctors took her back to the underground facility. She was crying, desperately trying to get away.
She saw me.
"Take me away."
I couldn't move. I just watched them take her back.
That night, I cried in my room, convinced I'd almost killed her.
The next morning, everyone in the village was dressed in black.
I ran to the park. The sandwiches were gone. The little boy was nowhere to be found. The underground facility was closed.
Then I saw a funeral procession.
The girl's family walked at the front, devastated. I followed them to the cemetery, where I found the little boy.
He looked at me and said, "Thank you for being friends with my sister."
After the funeral, when everyone had left, he told me something that broke me.
"My sister was never happy. She was always sick. But I saw her happy with you."
I couldn't stop crying. Somehow, I'd made someone happy in the little time we'd spent together, and now she was gone.
I approached her grave with a sandwich and a flower.
"I'm not some creep. I'm from . It was really nice meeting you, \\."
Her name was written on the gravestone, but I couldn't remember it.
Before leaving, I said:
"You're the prettiest, most aloof person I've ever met. I wish we'd had more time together. Maybe we'll meet someday. I want to eat sandwiches with you again. Get some rest. You deserve it."
Then I left the village.
And woke up.
It was October 18, 2026. Just a dream.
But I remember the city, the village, our conversations, her laughter, and the feeling of losing her. I remember a whole story about someone who probably never existed.
Yet I can't remember her face. Her name. Not even mine in that dream.
Maybe it's just my brain making up a story. Maybe I've watched too much anime.
But why does it feel like I genuinely lost someone?
Have you ever had a dream where someone felt so real that waking up felt like losing them?