The Dreamophile's Diary

By Shazrina .

The Dreamophile’s Diary is a unique collection of dark, fascinating and stimulating short stories inspired by some strange dreams of the author Shazrina. The author saw these dreams at various points of her life, and then she realised that these were important universal messages that were meant to be revealed to the world at large. That wa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shazrina
• Release date: Apr 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9788194601722

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Copyright @2020 Shazrina

All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Darkness is Light

Of Heaven and Hell

Lost and Found

Be Still and Know

Apocalypse

Clutching Shadows

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Where is Home?

Creation is nothing but an art of God that descends upon human beings in bits and pieces, until it becomes a cohesive whole, and a beautiful story is created. Sometimes creativity comes in the form of thoughts, sometimes as an inspiration from a person or an incident, sometimes through experience and circumstances, and very rarely, through dreams!

I have been writing ever since I was a child, but it was always with the help of these former channels. Either I would take inspiration from an incident that transpired before me, a story a person told me, or through my imagination. But on June 12, 2019, something unusual happened, and I found a new channel for my creativity. I woke with a start at 4:00a.m., cold wind caressing my skin and a chill running down my spine, my forehead coated with sweat. I had seen a dream that was impossible to forget. I remembered it bit by bit, with all its vivid details, like a story that was just told to me. But this was not the first time. I had seen many such vivid dreams before at various points in my life, some of which I still remembered. Oddly enough, a question had always haunted me! Why did I remember these dreams? And why did I remember only a few of them, and not all? That night, I found the answer as all the dreams I remembered ever since I was a child began playing in my mind. These dreams altered the very course of my life, helping me realise some deeper truths that eventually led to some great changes in me!

It wasn’t just a coincidence that I remembered them. There was a reason! And the reason was for me to reach out to people like me who might have had a similar experience with their dreams, but would have never fathomed the reason behind having such dreams! Indeed, having dreams is a common experience, but holding on to them and learning from them is not! And so I decided to write a book of short stories inspired by my dreams to remind such people of the role dreams play in their life. Every story in this collection is an actual dream that I saw at some point in my life. However, I have taken creative liberties in terms of who is seeing these dreams to break the monotony! I have also tried to describe the dreams exactly as I saw them, keeping the sequence of events intact because it was important for the story to be told exactly like it was told to me.

You may find these dreams dark, bizarre, weird and unconventional at first, but as you continue reading, eventually, everything will start making sense. Just like real life! When we struggle through ups and downs, and events transpire irrationally, we don’t realize why it’s happening, unless we look at it much later and realize how every piece in the puzzle was correctly placed in the grand design of life!

I hope these dreams remind you of the deeper truths of life like they reminded me. I hope they awaken your Soul like they did mine. And I hope they take you on a journey within, where everything is weird, but beautiful! Where everything looks crazy at first, but ends in hope and faith!

Shazrina

Darkness is Light

The darkness appeared to be never-ending. It was getting harder and harder to see. She would twist her ankle in one of the potholes if she wasn’t careful. The trees on the edge of the road were just a black mass now. It was crazy how the darkness changed things. The woods had been so beautiful when she had started her stroll hours before, the glint of the golden sun turning the leaves to fire. Now the trees loomed on the edge of her vision like a hulking monster, ready to swallow her whole if she ventured too close.

Something rustled in the underbrush. She yelped and jumped back. It was a rabbit that loped across her path three meters away. It stopped after crossing the road to look into her eyes before vanishing into the darkness.

She held a hand over her beating heart. It was ridiculous to be so afraid all the time. After all, what in the forest could actually hurt her? The squirrels? She nibbled a fingernail. There were other things in the forest though, weren’t there? Menacing things she hadn’t seen or met before. It was just like venturing into the deeper recesses of the mind, into the subconscious. You never know what you might find there. She let the thought pass as she peered into the darkness, sure she saw movement among the shadows.

She took a deep breath and moved on, gravel crunching under her feet as she continued along the path. The turnoff leading back to the main road must be around here somewhere. She thought she should have hit it a half hour back, but there had been no sign of it during that time. And now the darkness was settling in for the night with her still wandering in its shadows.

She glanced at the sky and saw the stars winking out one by one. A massive cloud was filling the expanse above her, bringing with it a biting wind. She pulled her coat more tightly around her and started walking faster, searching desperately for the turnoff. The air cooled more, the leaves rattling in the rising wind. Where was that road?

The first drop hit her square in the forehead. It was big and heavy and cold as ice. A second massive raindrop splashed onto her shoulder. She started jogging, raindrops pounding down around her and the wind howling through the trees.

A sign loomed out of the darkness, a sign that she was not familiar with. The sign read, Woods Inn, the peeling white letters painted on rotting wood. Her suspicion was now confirmed—she was lost. Somewhere in the darkness she had taken a wrong turn, and now she had no clue where she was.

Light shone out of the darkness a few dozen meters farther along the path. She moved closer, trying to gauge its source. It was a tiny, solar path-lighter. The charge it had received during the day was already starting to dim. She stooped to examine it, and noticed the gravel path that lay a meter or two beyond it. From the light of the lamp, she could see that it wound off towards the woods. It was probably the path to the old inn. She stood for a moment, the rain splashing down on her. If she couldn’t find the turnoff, it could be hours before she made it back home. Thunder rolled in the distance, and she made her decision. She turned down the gravel path, following the light into the darkness.

The path wound through the trees, the dark trunks a mere arm’s length away. She could feel the woods pressing in on her, the branches reaching for her with crooked fingers. Wet leaves slapped past her as she covered her head and blundered forwards.

There was a brief lull in the rain as she broke out of the woods into a clearing. A flash of lightning split the sky, momentarily revealing the silhouette of a building. She gasped with relief and rushed to the door.

The thought struck her as she reached for the knob that entering the building might be worse than facing the rain. She hesitated for a moment, but a gust of icy wind blowing through her helped her decide. She turned the knob and pushed.

The door swung open on squeaky hinges. Wind whistled through the doorway, raising clouds of dust and skittering leaves along the floor. She fought the wind to get the door closed before turning to face the dark interior. All was quite except for the faint pattering of rain and the distant roll of thunder. She stepped forwards into the darkness, her heart beating harder than before. Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea. She sighed. But she didn’t have much of a choice, not with the weather the way it was. It was either this or wandering in sopping forests for who knew how long with the risk of lightning strikes or becoming a feast for the wild.

A soft light pulsed ahead of her. She cocked her head, wondering at where the light had come from. She was sure she hadn’t seen it when she walked in. It illuminated a small lobby area that led into several other rooms. The light came from the room straight ahead. She moved forwards, placing her feet carefully and straining her neck to one side, trying to catch a glimpse of the light’s source.

She moved through the doorway into the adjoining room, entering what at one time must have been a large dining area. The light revealed several tables and chairs scattered around the room, most of them toppled and rotting.

It only took one glance to confirm that the source of the light wasn’t in this room. The light was spilling through a doorway on the side of the room. She took a deep breath and tiptoed in that direction, not sure why she was being so quiet, but terrified at the thought of doing otherwise.

The doorway led into a small room housing a staircase. The light shone through the doorway at the top. She frowned and looked behind her. The light no longer shone into the dining area. She sucked in a breath, her eyes widening as the realization struck her. The light was moving.

She backed away from the staircase. What had she done? She was a fool. Of course, someone else would be here. It was the middle of a storm, and this was probably the only building for miles. And who knew? Maybe someone had squatted here and made it their home. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising. She took another step towards the dining area. Hopefully she still hadn’t been noticed. The easiest thing would be to just sneak out. No confrontation, no danger, no regrets.

She heard a click behind her, then a scuff like someone was walking. It was coming from the dining area, and she was pretty sure it was getting closer. She glanced back towards the staircase. The light had mostly receded, leaving only a faint glow somewhere above her. She shook her head, but still started up the stairs. It was better to move toward a retreating unknown than an advancing one, she thought.

Aside from a few squeaky boards, she made it up the stairs in silence. The faint glow from the mysterious light disappeared around a corner up ahead. She shook her head again and followed the path it took, rounding the corner herself half a minute later. She felt better knowing where the light was, even if that meant staying close to it. At least this way she wouldn’t be surprised.

She passed many closed doors as she followed the path the light had taken, walking softly and keeping to the deeper shadows just in case the light bearer retraced his steps. The doors appeared to be old, and must have once opened to suites which bygone customers had booked long ago to escape the city noise and enjoy the peaceful wilderness.

She rounded another corner, and instead of seeing the glow of the light at the far end of the hall like she was used to, she saw the light spill through one of the doorways. She inched closer, listening for the slightest sound of movement. Everything was still except for the sounds of the weather’s attack on the old building. She paused just outside the doorway, her heart pounding. With a final deep breath, she peered around the edge of the doorframe and into the room.

A flash of lighting blinded her and she jerked her head back, the jagged afterimage stamped on her retinas. She blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the image. Her breath came in quick pulls as she stiffened a second time, leaning towards the doorway.

The room was empty except for a single desk that stood just under the only window in the room. On the desk lay a small, solar powered path-lighter just like the one she’d seen by the path. She moved closer to get a better look. A few splotches of oozing mud still clung to the spike the lamp had been imbedded into the ground with. The feeble rays were dim now. She clamped her hand over her mouth as the thought struck her: dimmer than they