Alexander was in a dream.
A dream where he appeared in a meadow.
Same one he played at as a kid with Grace.
Only in this dream--- everything was strangely vivid and impactful.
He could perceive the freshness in the air, much unlike the turbid air from his cell.
The wind would occasionally brush past his skin, soothing and refreshing. Even the grass felt so animate.
And the stars---- the stars that bathed the night sky, looked so beautiful, He found himself trying to reach out with his right hand.
But he soon realised, he couldn't.
He couldn't move his right hand.
He knew he was lying on his back in this dream, but for some reason, he felt strangely weak, exhausted even.
He tried again to reach for the stars with his other hand, but he was met with the same challenge.
He then tried moving his legs, head, waist, back— all to no avail.
Now he wondered---- he wondered why he would concoct such a dream for himslef. One were he was paralysed.
He often indulged in his dreams; they were his only means to escape his life of captivity. But dreaming himself immobile, definitely counters that goal. Since his dreamlike perception of freedom, requires mobility.
||The weakness you feel is a consequence of your depleted energy reserves from the 'move'||
And there it was again.
The voice. His voice. But also not his voice at the same time.
Alexander tried to turn slightly on the grass, and he noticed he could to some extent. He was slowly getting his mobility back. And with it came clarity.
He wasn't in a dream. Everything was real.
He got up slowly, as his old bones popped into place, he panned his gaze around, taking in his current surroundings.
Gone were the ten-by-twelve concrete cell walls.
Gone was the foul smell from his steel toilet and the ever-present stench that lingered in the air from placing hundreds of men in the same building.
He saw and heard birds chirping. Crickets dancing and fireflies floating through the air.
Alexander took a drag of the cool night air into his nostrils,as he closed his eyes.
He remained in place for hours, surrounded by nature, until he saw the sun rising beyond the horizon.
Tears streamed down his withered face for the first time in forty years, as he gazed at the rising sun.
How he got here mattered little; what mattered was that he was free.
The freedom came quite late, but Alexander was happy.
He sat there from sunrise to sunset. Not moving, and just being present in the moment.
As his thoughts flowed smoothly, he planned how he would live out the rest of his life.
The location was perfect, and if he remember's correctly, there was a small town just down the meadow.
He planned to live out the rest of his days in this town, probably doing any work that's not physically intensive.
He wasn't exactly sure whether the prison correction officers would come after someone as old as him, once they find he had gone missing. But it's of little consequence.
He knew something supernatural had a hand in his escape, something that kept talking in Alexander's own voice. He planned to explore that when he settled down properly.
Alexander shakily got up, and began walking slowly down the meadow.
At his age, even a little bit of movement was hard work. But the promise of a new life kept him going.
Not even fifty steps in, he stopped underneath the shade of a tree, as the name that's been running around nonstop in his mind, finally came out of his chapped lips.
"Gracie. " Alexander muttered.
It's been over ten years since he saw her, and he was fighting the urge to try and locate her immediately.
He was worried about bringing the burden of his escape to her doorstep. Afterall... he was now an escaped convict.
But still .....
"I missed her so much," Alexander murmured as he slumped back down on the grass, resting his frame against the tree.
"She must have lots of grandkids now."
"What will her family think if I just show up ?"
Alexander was trying his possible best to remain rationale, and do what's best for Gracie. But he already knew from the start what decision he would end up making.
"I don't care if she's with her husband and family, or if I bring trouble to her doorstep."
"I have ...."
"I have to see Gracie one more time in this life."
"I don't care if am being selfish "Alexander's voice croaked slightly as his dull blue eyes shimmered with tears.
The pain and longing he had buried deep inside for the last ten years, slowly surfacing.
"I missed her so much!"
"Gracie... Why did you abandon me ?" Alexander quietly cleaned the tears from his eyes.
"Doesn't matter. I will ask you when I see you ."
He knew of her old house.
A simple bungalow left to her by her late parents. Which she moved into when she came of age to live alone.
Alexander often spent some time there before his scholarship.
But she moved out when she got married.
She should now be in her matrimonial home.
Alexander doesn't know where her new address was. Grace never told him.
Still, her old home was a good place to start. Maybe neighbors could direct him to her new home.
"But how do I even get there with this body ?"
"It's all the way on the other side of town."
||Its possible. But first....eat something.||
The voice spoke again in Alexander's gruff tone, this time, it sounded a bit less mechanical.
"You can get me to Grace's old house ?"
||Yes. But you'll be exhausted from the move. Not as bad as the first one though.||
"Do it then. do it now."
||No. Eat something.||
"Eat something?. There is nothing to eat here." Alexander didn't know what it was, but he felt progressively at ease with this strange entity, talking inside of him.
He thought Maybe it was because they had identical voices.
||Look up||
"Look up ?..." Alexander murmured as he brought his gaze up, and was soon greeted with the most beautiful thing he had seen in a long long time.
Fruits.
More specifically..... Apples.
He was currently resting, on an apple tree. And he could see a lot more of them lined up ahead.
He hadn't noticed since it was relatively dark out, and from his memory, this meadow lacked such exotic fruits.
"Man-made....someone owns these" He muttered as he got up and reached for the closest ripe apple.
As he bit into its fleshy skin, and the juices poured into his dried up throat, Alexander closed his eyes tight and savored every bit of the taste.
He soon consumed the whole thing, and reached for another, and another, and another... till he picked the three clean of all ripe apples.
Then he moved to the next tree. He was really hungry.
"I apologize, whoever owns these apples. I will try to settle my debts sometime in the future." He voiced inbetween mouthfuls of apples.
Soon, he was done eating, and then he muttered hesitantly to no one in particular.
"I am ready ?"
...
||Brace yourself.||