Seokjin and the worry eating doll ✔️

Chapter 3 : Lunar dream

Seokjin had a strange dream that night. One of his dreams which refuses to reveal itself to us as a dream and makes us believe that it is our reality even though what it shows us seems unreal and unthinkable to the human mind.

Thus, Seokjin , without knowing why or how he got there, kept climbing. His hands gripped a ladder along what appeared to be a rough, fluorescent-white wall. But he had trouble climbing because his arms and legs were heavy, very heavy. Almost as if something was attached to it.

While he continued to climb as if a force was driving him to the top - to the top of what, he didn't know - he turned to see what was making him so heavy and slow, and suddenly saw chains displayed at his ankles and to his size. At the end of these chains hung heavy balls which dragged him down and he was afraid of falling. 

Below, there was only darkness, a bottomless abyss of black that Seokjin had no desire to disappear into. He had to keep climbing, heading upwards to not be rushed down. Focusing on the head, he realized that more chains had appeared and were now encircling his wrists too.

Seokjin knew that if he made it to the top of the ladder, he could get rid of his balls. How? He didn't know, he just believed it, it was as simple as that. But the climb seemed endless. Nothing but the rough surface behind the ladder was visible, and everything around was just a hazy world.

The young man did not know how long he had been climbing and he did not ask himself the question. Here, time seemed suspended. In fact, time did not exist. Seokjin felt like he could keep climbing forever. It didn't bother him since it was peaceful, even if he would have liked not to have these balls to carry.

Finally, he reached the top and realized that he was surrounded by a sea of ​​milky-looking pink clouds, lit by a frozen aurora. The surface he was on was covered in craters and shone like a lamp, radiating pale yellow light.

"Like the moon," Seokjin wanted to say. But much to his frustration, he couldn't speak.

Then he realized two things.

The first was that the ladder he had taken had mysteriously disappeared.

The second was that he was not alone on this lonely moon. There was a person with them back to him, their face turned towards the sea of ​​clouds. A girl.

The girl - not a child, but not quite an adult yet - wore multicolored overalls and a pink straw hat from which a cascade of long dark silky hair escaped. She was sitting on the edge of the void and her dangling legs and bare feet bathed in the rosy clouds, swaying carelessly from time to time. Next to his right hand, on the lunar ground, was a fishing rod without line or bait. Anyway, what sea could she fish in, Seokjin wondered?

"I was waiting for you."

He jumped when she suddenly turned around and spoke to him, showing him her beautiful face. She had dark skin and pretty, dark, almond-shaped eyes but was obviously not Asian. She looked more like a South American with Maya origins. Seokjin had never seen a girl so beautiful. She straightened up and approached Seokjin who didn't flinch when she gently stroked his cheek. 

"It's time you got rid of your burdens Seokjin. You can leave them here, I'll take care of them."

Seokjin didn't wonder how the girl knew his name. He was just glad that was the case because the reassuring familiarity made him feel like he was at home here. 

He watch the girl as she grabbed one of the balls, and he realized at that moment that they were no longer attached to him. He suddenly felt lighter than he had in a long time. Then she attached the chain to her fishing rod before sitting down again at the edge of the moon and throwing the ball into the void, through the clouds, with the same gesture as a fisherman as if the ball weighed nothing.

Seokjin sat next to her and just watched her fish. But what could she be fishing with a ball? He didn't ask her the question. They stayed like that for a long time, silent, in a bubble of lunar serenity. Definitely, fishing was really a relaxing activity, Seokjin thought, sighing contentedly.

They might have stayed that way forever if a suddenly appearing hand hadn't torn the surface of the clouds and gripped the chain hanging from the fishing rod. Afraid, Seokjin straightened up and carefully backed away from the edge but continued to look over the girl's shoulder who seemed neither worried nor surprised.

He was then surprised to see a young man appear  following his hand and wanted to express his surprise to the latter. But in this silent dream, only the girl had the right to speak and Seokjin could only silently watch the scene unfolding before his eyes. 

Without any difficulty despite all the weight she was lifting, the girl pulled the chain  to allow the young man to step on the moon. When that was done, Seokjin realized that the chain was no longer hanging from the fishing rod but from the young man's ankle. And at the end of the chain was the ball that he now had to drag.

But the mysterious young man didn't react faced with what was happening to him. He remained motionless, as if devoid of will. Moreover, his face appeared blurred to Seokjin and he could not read any emotion there nor his identity, while that of the girl appeared to him on the contrary very clearly. It was disturbing.

"Seokjin," called the girl. Seokjin approached and stood next to her, facing the young man. "Now that your ball is fixed to him, you must get rid of it."

"Why?" Seokjin asked who was surprised to suddenly be able to speak.

"Because you asked."

"I did?" Seokjin was surprised, because he didn't remember asking such a thing.

"Yes," the girl agreed. "It's about time you get rid of your worries."

"But how?" Seokjin asked her, perplexed.

"I'll show you," she replied, smiling and her smile made Seokjin trust her unconditionally.

She stood behind him and hugged him to catch both of his arms. Then, slowly, she led him forward to the young man who was standing motionless next to them, at the edge of the sea of ​​clouds.

She then rose on her tiptoes and whispered in Seokjin's ear:

"Like this."

Then, Seokjin's hands, led by the girl's, pushed the young man out of the moon. Without a cry, in a terrific silence, he fell from the moon, swallowed by the clouds, dragging the heavy ball down with him.

Seokjin was surprised at this sudden action and at the moment he wanted to scream but couldn't. However, that urge disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and he forgot why he had to scream.

Instead, he looked at the girl, bewildered. She emitted a crystalline laugh which seemed to him as beautiful as a shower of shooting stars and which chased away all his doubts and anxiety. She made him lie down and put his head in her lap before starting to stroke his head.

"Now Seokjin, you can rest as much as you want," she said.

"Thank you..." he told her gratefully.

And it was while contemplating this sea of ​​clouds and succumbing to the sweetness of this girl's caresses that Seokjin slowly fell into a deep sleep that enveloped him entirely.




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Author's Note: What a mise en abyme! Falling asleep and having a dream in which you fall asleep! Strange isn't it?