Antoine's sleep

-        It’s mine and you can’t have it.

-        No, I saw it before.

-        Nobody saw it, it remains unseen.

-        I dream it before.

-        But you can’t dream.

-        Who said so? I can dream whatever I want to dream and take whatever I want to take. My freedom is limitless. I am my own master.

-        Yet, you are here, stuck with me, inside this hollow space.

-        Let’s fight, then. A dual, an old fashion dual, outside, where the sun hurts the eyes and the wind chases us like the mad thieves we are.

-        Alright! Which weapon?

-        Swords, I always liked swords.

-        Why not guns?

-        Nah, too quick and rough. I want to dance a bit and feel the rhythm of my body.

-        What body? You don’t have a body, you’re a mere spirit, a mere thought. You are delusional.

-        Thoughts are the foundation. Every action begins with a thought. Thoughts have weight in this world. They shape it, and we are their slaves. Haven’t read Dostoevsky?

-        What does he know? You and I are of different natures, we are not out of this world. The rules don’t apply to us.

-        Wait, hold on, I think he has woken up.

-        Lower your voice, and pretend you are dead.

-        I am dead, and so are you.

-        I haven’t lived. I wasn’t born.

-        Shut up, and look at him. I can’t believe we were fighting over him. All this time.

-        We have nothing better to do. But to manipulate the mind and hide in the unconscious.

-        Speak for yourself. I am going for a walk. I am going to wake up him and drag him to the beach. I want to see the sea.

-        Let him sleep, so we can have more time.

-        Time for what? To argue and talk nonsense?

-        Isn’t that what we do all day, talk and fight. I’m sick of that.

-        What do you want to do? Quit, leave?

-        I just want to die sometimes, surrender and sleep the long sleep, from which no one wakes up.

-        Yes, me too. I want to rest. But before, we must agree.

-        It is mine, you took the last one. 

-        Fine, fine take the body. 

-        No, I want all. Everything. The body, the mind, the soul. 

-        Very funny, you talk like a Yoga teacher. We both know that is not true. A man is one unit, and a woman is one unit. All are plugged into the system. A unit, in this place, time. 

-        Yeah, Yeah whatever. I want this unit in my Master's army. 

-        No, this unit has already been possessed, it belongs to me. To me, and to my Master. We will control him and the universe. 

-        If I sound like a Yoga teacher, you sound like Dr. Evil, my friend. 

-        Call me whatever you want but I’m not your friend, and Dr. Evil lives in every unit and every living being and there is no one to debunk that. 

-        Truth, finally. 

-        Evil speaks truth sometimes, for the truth has always been hurtful. And hurt and Evil are the same thing in these mortals’ heads. I pity them frankly, but rejoice at their silly sufferings and lamenting. You know they blame your Master for their sufferings, for their pain. How convenient for us, evil army, how suitable for my Master. 

-         The truth is that it is only what freedom brings. 

-        With great powers, comes great responsibility Spiderman. 

-        Freedom is the only responsibility worth having. It can submerge anything. I don't get you taking it away from them. Poor mortals. 

-        We wear chains and walk long hallways, like that Dickens pictured us but in reality we float endlessly searching for pleasures and excitements, searching for a body to inhibit, for a kind to haunt, we seek shackles, for freedom without a God is what we fear most. 

-        Yet you serve the devil. 

-        I serve whom I find less demanding. Who entices my soul with flamboyant screams and fuses my veins with an adrenaline rush. Who listens to every thought, accepts every deviance, and holds no judgment. 

-         Isn't the notion of pure love rejected? 

-         As long as it holds a bit of egoism, it is accepted. 

-        What about self-sacrifice? 

-         If the victim is sanctifying her victim role for a rewarding gratifying instant pleasure, it is accepted. 

-        So what is not accepted? 

-        Repenting and confessing, claiming that the Lord is the master of everything. 

-        Isn't that true? 

-        It is true, yet difficult. And there is always room for a coup. For an escapade somewhere.

-        Is it why they were created? To escape truth or to fight for it. 

-        Let's ask them. Let's ask this weary soul, this body sleeping, he thinks he is dreaming, hearing voices, arguing in his head, waking up with a migraine and a feeling of dread. 

-        Let's wake him up, and ask him if his ready to choose love by free will, for the sake of love, because this is how the world moves, how families form, and how societies thrive. 

-        It is only an illusion. 

-        Let's see. Wake up young man, shake the night from your eyes. 

-        Yes, wake up to a reality more somber than nightmares, and drown, go to the beach, and swim until your body can't hold the pressure of waves anymore. 

-        No, go cleanse this body and enjoy the sun, the sea, and the sky, for they all were created for you by your father. 

When Antoine woke up that day, the sun was shining bright in his room and although his head was filled with incoherent thoughts and violent desires, he felt a sudden urge to go to the beach. He could go for a stroll, for a swim, for fresh air, and also for drowning. A weird thought jumped in like a missile, to swim until he can't anymore. But why? He brushed it off as some silly sly and he put his gun in his drawer, but he will not use it today, he will go swimming and then call his dad after.