A Dreamy Departure

Staring intensely at her laptop screen, Maya fingers were tapping continuously at her laptop screen as her back was hunched on her seat, with both her legs crossed. The view outside her window was dark, with only the new moon in the sky. 

But she doesn't mind the darkness, for she finds it serene and quiet for her to focus on her current task. Typing her report that was due the next day, Maya felt her eyelids heavy as she began to yawn, but resisted her thoughts to lay down on her bed. 

When she took a sip of her black coffee from her black mug, she heard a faint footstep coming from outside. Maya took a quick glimpse outside her window, sighing. It better be the mailman, she groaned, feeling too lazy to get up from her comfortable position. Otherwise, I would have to ask for a refund.

But there was no knock on her door, not even the sound of her doorbell ringing from outside. Not wanting to waste her time, she put on her headphones and shifted her focus towards her work report, which was an urgent matter for Maya.

 For a few minutes, she managed to get through half of her work without even stopping, occasionally gulping down her coffee to keep her awake. She felt at peace as she listened to white noises from her laptop that cleared her cluttering thoughts, but only for a brief moment. 

Maya then heard leaves crunching from her backyard, stopping her from typing on her keyboard. I don't remember the mailman entering my house using the backdoor, she silently panicked, feeling her palms clammy. 

Putting her legs down, she quickly grabbed her phone and got up from her chair, locking both her bedroom door and her window. Drawing the curtains, she switched off her laptop and hid underneath her bed, praying that no one would come for her.

She took a deep breath as she felt her heart pounding like a drum, hoping to calm herself down. Please don't kill me, Maya held back her tears of fright as she curled up in a foetal position, hugging both her knees. 

Unfortunately, she realized that she had forgotten to lock her back door when she heard it creak open from her room, causing her to slap her forehead in disbelief. Why do I always forget to check the back door? she cursed to herself. Goodness, I'm so stupid.

Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the living room as Maya heard one of her flower vases crash on the ground, prompting her to crawl out of her bed and unlock the window. Glancing at the muddy ground, she took a deep breath and slid her way down from one storey, safely landing on her two feet.

Without further delay, she sprinted away from her yard as fast as she could, without bothering to look back. With no streetlights on the dirt road, Maya had no other choice but to head to the lake, where she would be much safer there. 

While she was running for her dear life, she heard the familiar footsteps tailing her from behind, making her huff and puff. She fastened up her speed as she saw a sign that led her to her destination, pushing her to focus on her pathway. 

Just as Maya had her eyes on the road, she tripped onto a rock, causing her to fall from the high ground. Tumbling down on the hill like a haystack, she felt her cheeks and arms grazed by the thorns and leaves, before landing underwater.

I'm okay, she said to herself, as she held her breath and closed her eyes. I'm safe now. No one will come and kill me in a cold-blooded manner.

Maya remained underwater, surrounded by an ethereal soft lullaby from the stars. For the first time, she felt at peace with herself, without anyone interfering with her slow rhythm of thought. The past few weeks have brought nothing but stress, from moving into a secluded area to experiencing an attempted murder towards her.

She was floating in space, with her body feeling weightless and her visions gazing at the soft, purple cloud. Uncurling her body, she glided through the stars with ease and laughed as she was chasing after the bluish comets that passed by. It's so beautiful here, Maya sighed in relief, resting her head on the puffy clouds. It looks a lot like my dreams from when I was younger.

I never got a chance to experience something like this. Mom was always discouraging me from dreaming and forced me to step back into reality. My boss brought nothing but stress at work. I mean, must I really have to do the report? I always did my best, but somehow, he never really noticed me. And as for my friends, well, they only see what they want to see. Whenever I try to express my feelings, they always brush it off. I just wish this moment would last forever. 

As she finally opened her eyes, her lips curled into a smile as fragments of sunlight penetrated through the fresh water, prompting her to swim towards the surface. Her feet touched the ground with ease and her eyes gazed at the bright sunlight above the blue sky, with familiar clouds hovering along with it. 

Somehow, Maya didn't feel cold, despite being underwater for the whole night. Instead, she felt more energetic than her usual self as she paced through the reddish-orange forest, which were filled with fallen leaves from the sky and polka-dotted mushrooms that sprouted along the pathways. 

She climbed towards the hills that she tumbled and headed home, where she saw policemen searching through with their dogs. But Maya didn't bother, as she walked through one of the officers unnoticed and laid on her bed, staring at her ceiling.

The frizzy-haired woman with dark skin didn't need to worry about her life anymore. She didn't have to worry about her half-done work report, nor her ‘so-called’ friends. Instead, Maya will do whatever she desires without anyone telling her what to do. After all, she was already dead.