After the family morning devotion, Kevin watched everyone rush toward the shared bathroom. First the girls — his sisters and his mom — disappearing into the hallway one after another. Then his two big brothers followed, already arguing about whose turn it was.
They all looked so normal… so familiar… and yet so distant.
In the dream world they left the house when I was between ten and fifteen.
Seeing them here — like this — feels unreal.
"KEVIN!!"
A young female voice sliced through the room, sharp and energetic enough to scatter his thoughts instantly.
"Yes!!" he answered, his voice almost cracking.
(I can't forget this voice no matter what… It's definitely—)
"You and Emma should go shower right now," she commanded as she marched into view, brows furrowed in impatience. "I do NOT want to be late to school. I have exams coming up — so hurry up, okay?"
Her tone was furious… yet her face was still cute.
(My immediate sister — the one I love the most among my sisters… Sonia.)
The thought alone tugged a smile onto his face before he could stop it.
"Why are you smiling like that? That's creepy," she snapped, confusion wrinkling her expression.
"Huh?! Oh… nothing, I just…" He scratched his hair nervously, then looked up. "Hey sis… where's Dad?"
"Seriously? You're asking me that?" She blinked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Aren't you the one who opened the door for him around 3 A.M?!" she yelled, loud enough to shake the walls.
"Did you lose your memories like in the movies?" she added — this time her eyes gleamed with excitement, which was even stranger.
Kevin blinked, realization hitting him. "Oh— uhh, just checking! Hehe! You know, I was really sleepy back then." A cold bead of sweat rolled down his face as he lied through his teeth. He was terrible at this.
"So you didn't lose your memories?" Sonia exhaled in disappointment. "What a bummer. I already had a great plan on how to restore them."
An evil, menacing grin stretched across her lips.
(What the hell were you planning to do to your little brother?!)
His thoughts were so loud they were almost audible.
"Umm— okay sis… we're off to the bathroom!" He bolted out of the room. "EMMANUEL!!!" he shouted as he approached the hallway.
"Wetin dey worry this one?" Sonia muttered in pure African slang, her face a mix of confusion and sarcasm.
The kids had their bath and breakfast, then headed to school like normal. Yet Kevin couldn't shake the storm in his mind as he walked.
(Does Julie really exist… or was it just a dream? If she does, then I must find her.)
—
Meanwhile, on that same day, in Ibadan — deep in the western part of Nigeria, at 4:05 a.m — she awoke.
A familiar scent. A long-forgotten ceiling. Julie's eyes scanned the entire room, tracing the tiny cracks on the walls.
(Is this a dream… or did I just wake up from one?) she wondered as she slowly rose from the bed.
She rushed toward the mirror — and staring back at her was her 10-year-old self.
"Why did I wake up?" she whispered, disappointment thick in her voice. "I never meant what I said about everything being a dream… I never got the chance to apologise to—"
She froze.
The memories of the life she spent with her lover, flashing before her eyes like lightning.
"Kevin!" she wailed. "Why can't I remember his face?!"
Tiny beads of tears rolled down her cheeks as she lamented bitterly.
She remembered every single detail of the dream — every date, every special moment, every pain and every joy she shared with Kevin and her loved ones — all except his face.
In every memory of him, his face was blurred — covered by a veil that seemed to warp reality itself.
Everything about him was vivid: his height, his build, his voice… yet his face remained unseen. Forgotten.
The blurred image haunted her mind, refusing to fade away.
"Is the… universe punishing me… for saying I wouldn't regret it?"
Her words trembled with heart-wrenching sobs.
"I didn't mean it… I was going to apologise in the morning…"
"I'm sorry," she cried, eyes flooding with tears. "I do regret my decision… so please don't torment me like this. At least let me remember his face!"
Her voice cracked, hoarse, desperate — pleading with no one in particular.
She cried — wept in regret for minutes, though they felt like hours. Each tear carried pain, longing, and guilt… until finally her sobs faded, and rationality seeped in.
A new goal.
A new hope.
"If everything I saw in the dream is real…" she whispered, "then this… is a second chance. To right all my wrongs. And using the knowledge I have of the future… I'll be able to meet him again."
Her voice steadied — firm, determined.
A new mission.
A newfound resolve.
She got up from the bed and carried out the morning chores exactly as she remembered them. She swept the house — inside and outside — made breakfast, bathed the children and took them to school. She finished the remaining chores before heading to school herself at 7 a.m.
But deep within these two dreamers — both Kevin and Julie — a question stirred.
"Did we have… the same dream?"
To be continued