Romance can bloom from the little things.

—

I had been selected as an architect spirit when I was young. A randomised system only disclosed to those recruited like myself. We followed the lives of people of our age, and we craft relevant dreams for them. I had no life, perhaps both figuratively and literally, for I was a wandering soul, simply tasked with following around the living. We were assigned to a different group of people every year, to encourage diverse personalities. I watched children of my age grow up. I witnessed their joys, their tragedies, their struggles, their victories. I heard loved ones sing them an off-key “Happy Birthday” all in the spirit of good nature and compassion. I watched happy families develop.

I had no family. I had no friend.

I just wandered the world.

What else could I do, but watch?

I had just turned 15 when I was assigned to craft the dreams for a particular 15 year old boy.

Unlike the majority of people I had been assigned to previously, this boy did not radiate happiness and joy.

He seemed very drained.

I never saw him smile.

Every morning, he would make his way to the school library. He always arrived unnaturally early, and would sometimes simply sit down in his library chair by the window and watch the Sun rise.

He would be lost in thought.

I soon came to understand why.

There was not a crack in his perfections.

Top student, perfect scores, captain athlete.

Yet he seemed so utterly miserable.

Perhaps, looking back, the issue itself was that he had no faults, and that is what made him miserable.

He wasn’t loved by anyone.

His own family showed him no compassion.

He didn’t know what happiness was,

For he had never been taught it.*

He was having nightmares, before I came along.

Such violent, traumatic events that he never wanted to see, but could never properly run from.

Instead, he started avoiding sleep as much as possible.

It was not healthy.

He slept for very few hours each day, leaving him completely drained.

My senior, who was the only spirit who remotely cared for us young spirits, had taught me that we should help these humans, and encourage happiness and love. To care for them, using our supernatural advantages.

I quickly set to work, creating a dream for him.

Something he wouldn’t fear. Something he would stay around for.

A calming sunset.

A comforting orange glow, capturing surrounding beauty.

He stood in an vast field of soft grass and pretty flowers, sprinkled in abundance.

The area wasn’t so wide as to be terrifyingly endless, but not small enough to be uncomfortably restricting.

He opened his eyes, surprised with the sight before him. His breathing was hurried and his heartbeat unsure. He knew that it was surely destined to lead to catastrophe, as all his dreams.

I materialised before him, landing next to him with a soft thud on the grass.

“Relax,” I said.

He stared at me, eyes wide. Perhaps not out of astonishment for my presence, but my even more surprising voice.

I had just had the most awful voice crack possible. What a fantastic introduction.

Quickly, I start coughing repeatedly, trying to clear my throat.

“You… okay?” He asks me curiously.

“Mhm,” I croaked awkwardly holding a thumbs up. “My voice isn’t exactly perfect after not using it for a few years.”

He stared at me, bewildered.

“Who are you?”

“Me?” I grinned. “I’m someone you’re gonna keep seeing for a while!”

“I don’t know whether I should feel happy or threatened,” he mumbled, stepping back slightly, indicating the latter option.

“Hey, hey,” I said, grabbing his arms gently. “I am not your enemy.”

“Are you sure?” He laughed bitterly. “Because my dreams never end well. Why are you even here? What even is this place?”

“Too many questions,” I replied, sighing. I released his arms, and waved my hands into the air, creating beautiful sparks and streaks of vibrant colour in the sky. “This… this is a place of comfort. So, calm down.”

“What is that demonstration supposed to mean for me?” He said, sceptical.

Ignoring him, I continued, “So, what do you want? Name it, and I’ll create it.”

He stared at me for a long while.

“Forget it,” he answered. “This is making my scared. Something bad is going to happen.”

I felt the world around us suddenly shake, signalling him trying to wake up.

“Ah, I see, so you really are one of those mortals who can control when you wake—“

My statement was cut off as he disappeared from the world, along with the dream world crumbling to pieces.

I found myself back in the earth world, floating as an invisible spirit once more.

“Dang it!” I cried through gritted teeth to nothing in particular.

Ultimately, I had to wait the length of the day for him to return to sleep once more, though briefly.

The day passed incredibly slowly.

I visited my senior for advice.

“Relax.” They told me. “Do not act so rashly as to lose him immediately. Try to be more natural. Connect in a way he understands.”

I thanked and left my senior, thinking.

He eventually fell asleep once more, and my world immediately appeared before him once more.

“Again?” He exclaimed to the skies. “I won’t stick around for long, so don’t even dare try something funny.”

“Seriously,” I replied, appearing beside him. “I’m not going to hurt you or scare you. I’m all positivity.”

His responding glare at me told me that he absolutely did not trust me.

“What do you want?” I repeated. “Video games? Food? A swimming pool?”

I generated such materials before us.

“Okay, maybe not quite all at once,” I chuckled nervously, as we both watched the chocolate bars and iPads sink to the bottom of the swimming pool.

“Nothing,” he said bluntly, walking away from me. “Leave me alone.”

“You’re quite bitter, aren’t you?”

He made no reply.

“You’re sticking around longer today though… are you curious?” I called out after him.

He flinched slightly, stopping in his tracks briefly.

“No.”

Sighing, I clicked my fingers dramatically and changed the scenery around us.

The dreamy meadow transitioned into an abyss of light, almost blinding the two of us.

Alarmed, he jumped back, not accustomed to this floating environment. There was no floor.

“Hey! This isn’t funny,” he cried, crouching down, scared. “I’ll just wake up…”

He threatening voice trailed off as I appeared beside him again, placing my hands on his shoulders.

“Have you ever wondered how it would feel to fly?” I asked. Underneath my touch, fluttering, majestic curtain-like wings started to flow from his back.

“I know you’ve dreamed of such,” I whispered, referring to his childhood aspiration of being a pilot.

I changed the scene once more, placing us high above the sunlit meadow.

I watched as his eyes glistened. Perhaps brief, but for a moment, he looked genuinely amazed and curious.

He quickly turned to me, observing me.

His face flipped into a frown, and he scowled, “Nice try. But I’m not signing up for this horror movie content.”

At that, he quickly woke up, crumbling the world once more.

Exasperated, I found myself back where I started.

I waited another day.

I needed him to stay.

His lack of sleep was concerning.

The day passed.

“Guess what?” I said instantly, as soon as he began to dream once more. “It’s me!”

He didn’t reply.

“Fine, don’t speak. Just stay.” I said.

Suddenly, I held my hands up, generating a comforting cottage before us, surrounded by a small lake and a few trees.

He looked on, intrigued.

“You don’t have to explore if you don’t want to,” I said softly. “But in case you want to sit down or something, feel free to stay in this cottage.”

He couldn’t deny it.

He was curious.

Curious about the cottage.

Curious about me.

Curious about these dreams.

“I’ll leave you now,” I said, walking off. “No pressure.”

I had only taken a few steps, when I heard him call out from behind me, “Wait!”

I stopped.

“Please… could you… stay?” He said slowly. “Here, with me?”

My eyes widened in surprise.

He didn’t want to be left alone.

With a gentle smile, I replied, “Sure.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he quickly snapped. “I’m not saying this because I like you or something… I just don’t trust this place, and want you to be here too.”

“Yeah yeah, so you’d rather be with me, an even MORE untrustworthy person, to explore the shady cottage with you,” I joked, nudging him.

We stepped inside, with him following behind me, uneasy.

Sunlight poured through the windows, lighting up the attractive interior. There was an invitingly soft couch in the centre, and I could tell he was drawn to it.

Even in his dreams, he was exhausted.

“Go on,” I said encouragingly. “I’ll stay in the kitchen.”

He collapsed to the couch as soon as I was out of view, and fell asleep almost instantly.

“Huh,” I whispered to myself. “Asleep in a sleep. Poor guy must be so tired.”

I sat on a chair in the kitchen, allowing the tranquil light to absorb me as I smiled contentedly.

Hours passed, and eventually he woke up from both of his sleeps, causing the world to fade away once more.

He woke up, feeling refreshed and rested. He hadn’t slept for 7 hours straight in such a long time. It felt… comforting.

That day, instead of waiting impatiently for his return, I spent the day wandering the city and observing the school classes. I was the same age aa he was, after all. I was just a teenager who never had any childhood.

The mischief of the classes’ back rows were consistent. Students glanced out the windows sighing. The students rejoiced once out of class, all rushing to the cafeteria and lining up at the vending machines. Students sat together under the trees, blocking out the dazzling sun.

I saw groups playing some card games, screaming at the tricksters and grinning with their teammates. A shy girl stood in the corner, eventually approached by a boy, holding a pretty flower, with his friends watching, encouraging him to confess. Another person sat on a bench, absorbed by the book he was reading, ignoring all the students around him. A group of students played football too, apologising earnestly upon accidentally hitting a girl passing by.

All had individual lives.

Their own story to tell.

They were all main characters, of course, for their own stories of life.

I walked through the school field, past all these students. They could not see me, for I was invisible.

However, as I passed, I felt a movement brush against my shoulder.

A human had walked by.

That was odd.

A spirit like me can not be affected by the physical touch of humans.

I brushed it off, considering it a delusion formed as a result of my hard work crafting these recent dreams.

But I soon realised the truth.

As I continued to stroll through the fields, I slowly noticed the students staring.

They were staring, mouths open, and some pointed.

I looked around, wondering.

They began to clear a path, and the field was empty before me.

They were staring at me!

But how? They can’t see me.

My long spirit gown fluttered in the winds.

Before me stood the boy who dreamt.

He walked over to me in disbelief.

A voice whispered in my ear, “Be free, young one.”

My senior.

They had set me free.

On my new human legs, I walked over to meet the boy.

He smiled, and whispered,

“What about the cottage?”

“There’s more to life.”

I grinned.

END

*whoops that sounds like a line from Lookism:

“I did not cry then, for I had never learned what sadness was.” - Jonggun, chapter 521