Sometimes I asked myself whether we truly knew what reality was and what just a dream.
Maybe dreams were reality or reality just a dream of which we would wake up after dying?

I grabbed onto my throat as I was sinking deeper and deeper to the abyss. It hurt so badly.
The flood had clenched my whole body before starting to suffocate me mildly.
Mildly soon became rough. The fight against the invisible was a pointless one.
The pain only worsened as I was struggling to reach the surface again.
Why does a name came to my mind out of the blue?

"Peter", I silently formed with my mouth. What was the meaning of this?
Behind these five letters, a new image began to loom. Dull, black skin with fur of the same colour, gigantic fangs with the ability to bite even bones into two and not to forget those glowing crimson eyes.

It was the creature from the meadow. But why did I call him Peter?
Peter...Peter...Peter...Peter.... The name rang a bell deep inside me, though I have no image than this beast in front of my eyes. Peter... my body began to twitch awfully.
A mute scream in the water, my silent voice was sure to reach no one at this point.

Images flashed my mind of my life. When I had been a child and a teenager, even from my pathetic early life. A memory arose where a small me not older than eight or nine was about to drown. I could not remember it clearly, the only thing I remembered was me being underwater. I had tried to open my eyes, though it hurt horribly.

In a sudden motion I carefully examined both of my hands. My fingers, my palms and my knuckles. This simply could not be.

It was a dream.

I woke up.

Even though my vision blurred a little, I realized I was in an unfamiliar environment. A soft bed with a comfortable blanket on top of me.
My body burnt like firewood in an oven. I did not dare to touch my throat or crook of the neck.
Seconds passed until my sight turned to normal. I heavily sighed. What was going on?
Bloody hell.

I lightly tried to sit up to get a better view of my surrounding, however two factors ruined my plans. Firstly, the pain reached an unbearable pick when I tried to move even an inch.
Secondly, a rather heavy weight on my right pulled me additionally down.
My head shifted as much as it could to the same side.
Dark brown, wavy hair framed the handsome face of a sleeping male. He had strong features with rather long lashes. His fair skin appeared to be dull.

" Peter ", my cracked voice mumbled despite the protests of my dry throat. I should hate him. He played with me. He caused tremendous pain upon me. He kidnapped me.
However, he also saved me twice and with him the last months were the most lively I had ever experienced. I was conflicted.

The fact that he hold my hand like one of the people visiting their beloved ones did not help at all. In fact, it made matters worse, because now my hopes were high again that I may mean something to him. That he cared about me.
When he slept, Peter seemed so peaceful and serene. The person waking up every day right next to him had to be a lucky one. My heart skipped a beat. I felt heat coming to my cheeks.
What were those thoughts in my head?
I did not want to develop any sign of Stockholm-syndrome whatsoever. If I had fully recovered, I would leave this place and him for good. I did not want to receive another stroke from him.
It was enough now. Stay strong.

It felt a little like in the supermarket where you tried to only buy healthy food. The sweets and savoury snack section was right ahead of you. You tried to resist and walk to the vegetables, although deep in your heart you knew you could not resist the chocolate flavoured cookies.
They were just too tempting.
So in the end, you walked those three steps backward you had made instinctively.
Your hands grabbed a bag before your mind could even start to lecture you about the bad decisions of your life.

I turned around to face him without completely breaking either my arm or my body out of pain.
The aches now reminded more of chemical burns than normal ones. I had the urge to cry, but fought against it. It would not help in any way.
Instead, I concentrated on the mesmerizing face only centimetres in front of me. With my free hand, I gently touched his angelic face. With my thumb I traced along the contour of his face. My hand tingled pleasantly, it was like a remedy against the acid pumping through my veins.
A smile played around the corner of my mouth. A prickling sensation made its way to my stomach. I never regretted buying the cookies in the first place, I had to admit.

My mind tried to capture every mini second of this scene. Who knew what would happen next. How Peter reacted after opening his eyes. Frankly, I was anxious. Would he push me away again?

Maybe If I closed mine, he would stay in this position for longer? It was a foolish attempt of stopping the unstoppable, but I attempted it anyway.

No one had the capacity to freeze time, but this did not hinder me from trying, even though it always silently went on without you realizing it.
Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours turned to days and soon the best years of our lives have passed and a shallow silhouette of what we used to be.

But those things were now not important to me. My mind would later be filled with worries. Now, I wanted to enjoy the illusion of having someone caring for me.
It was a nice feeling. No wonder, nearly everyone longed for it. This sentiment could quickly become an addiction.

" I wish this moment would never end", I whispered to myself still smiling.
" It doesn't have to ", a raspy voice responded.
My eyes fluttered wide open and instantly intertwined with the blue ocean.
Peter had a genuine smile on his lips while observing me quietly.