He Came In Dreams

Taylor saw her again. A vision in a flowery purple dress, standing under a tree shading her eyes from the unrelenting sun. He moved closer, wanting. No. Needing to know who she was and why he was so drawn to her. Every step closer his heart pounded harder, throbbing against his rib cage. He felt the sun at his back, a warmth rushing down his spine as he approached. She turned to look up at him.

Taylor awoke with a start, scanning his empty bedroom.

“Damn it.” How many times would he have this woman in his dreams? Night after night the dream moved forward, inching him closer to speak to her, to reach out and touch her he imagined, but he could never seem to cross that bridge. Who was she? Was she even real?

He climbed out of bed, did his usual morning routine, and headed to work. Nothing would take his mind off these nightly dreams of the mystery woman except losing himself in work. If he had to stay at the workshop all night, he’d do that to avoid one more mystery encounter.

Sitting at the red light, he glanced at a line of people trying to get into the local bakery. He shook his head. Waiting in line for something he wanted he didn’t mind, but baked goods? Just as the light turned green, he recognized the dress out of the corner of his eye. The purple flowery dress floated by, moving in the opposite direction. He craned his neck to get a better look. A car horn blared behind him.

“Alright, alright.”

He pulled forward, desperate to find a parking space. He had to talk to her to know if she was indeed the woman from his dreams. He managed a crappy park job, the truck parked on an angle, the tailgate hanging over the lane marker by a smidge. He didn’t care. By the time he reached the corner, the light had changed again. Taylor bawled his hands, his feet itching to move, to catch up.

Once the light changed, he moved, not entirely running, but close. People were on the street window shopping, causing him to pause, step aside, and continue forward, his heart pounding hard in his chest. He searched for the dress, and to his horror, she was gone. He stopped walking, his breathing labored, cursing under his breath. Where had she gone?

He’d come this far, there was no turning back. For an hour he went into stores, searching, hoping they would bump into one another, but to no avail. His chest was heavy with disappointment, but there was nothing else to do but turn around and go to work.

He spent the day distracted, so unlike him. Usually, when working on a project, he was one hundred percent focused on it. Not today.


Something was different. He was here again, looking for her. She noticed him days ago, her dream man, driving crazy, parking haphazardly, and all but running as if he recognized her. But that couldn’t be. Could it? He’d come so close to catching her in her store, but Kate knew about the side door that led to the alley. Once she knew he was gone, she watched him on video, walking around the boutique, scanning faces, searching every corner of the store.

It was the dress! The same flowery dress she was wearing in the last dream. She was a fool to wear the garment, though she had no idea the man that continued to plague her dreams was a living, breathing, flesh, and blood man, apparently living in close proximity. In last night's dream, he rested his palm against her cheek. The warmth of his touch still made her skin tingle just thinking about it. It was crazy to think they were somehow sharing dreams. What did that mean? Did she know him?

Kate shook her head. No, she’d never seen him before, not that she could ever remember anyway. Even though she was positive they had never crossed paths in real life, there was something so familiar about him. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

She went about the rest of her day, closed the shop, and stepped outside to lock up. All she wanted was to go home, soak in a nice warm bath, and hope the night wasn’t plagued with more dreams of him. Or, maybe she did want him to find her in dreamland again. There was no denying she found him intriguing.

A chill trickled down her spine once she locked the door and started walking. He was near. She could almost feel his presence. Kate picked up her pace, too afraid to look behind her to find him there, excited by the prospect of having an actual face-to-face. The conflicting emotions sent her mind whirling.

What would she say to him if he was looking for her again? Seeing him in her dreams was one thing, in real life, she didn’t know how to approach that scenario. Picking up the pace, Kate made it to the corner, turned left, and there he was, heading straight toward her. There was no escaping this now. Fate had stepped in and put them in each other’s paths. This was the moment of truth. Would he acknowledge the dreams? Would she?



WC: 891