Unlit Candles
She opened her eyes rapidly, as if jolted by someone to wake up. It was still dark, and depressingly quiet. She turned to lay on her back, her head facing up towards the ceiling. She let her eyes wander over the deep shadows in her bedroom, tiring her eyes, but awakening her mind. She closed them slowly, hoping to return to the reality of her dream that had abruptly ended, just like countless nights before. The life she lived when she was asleep felt too real to be anything but reality.
All she could remember was a dark room, lit by a single candle in the farthest corner from the door. A tall boy stood in the doorway, his green eyes meeting hers perfectly through the shadows. She didn't know that you could feel your heartbeat in a dream, yet it raced faster and faster, until she took a step toward him, and she could feel her heart stop. Step by step, they inched closer to each other, each step leaving a lasting echo through the empty room. As soon as they got within a foot of each other, the boy disappeared, leaving her confused and alone. He was her greatest mystery.
The dream reoccured nightly. Each night had brought them one step closer than before. There was something to this, more than just a figment of her imagination. He was real.
-----------------------------------------
Once again he had woken up too soon. He had come so close. Her beautiful presence lit up the dark room in which he pictured them in his head. A small corner illuminated by a single candle only darkened the shadows in the room, but to him the room was bright. She looked afraid. Her big eyes gleamed in the darkness, He wanted to step closer to her, but he always woke up before he could get close enough, being sucked away from her too soon. She was his greatest mystery.
The dreams continued for a week longer. Each step closer they had taken had been their last before he was taken away.
On the final night of their dream meetings, they stepped one step closer, as usual, but this time they were close enough to see every facial feature of each of them in the faint light. He reached out and grabbed her hand. They stood in the dull light of the candle, wanting to speak, but not being able to. They took one last glance at each other before the candle was blown out and he was ripped back to his reality. She sat in the darkness alone, until the morning awoke her once again.
That night they both closed their eyes, waiting to meet again, but were both met with empty rooms and unlit candles.
Soul mates never to meet again.
