Page 44 of Presence

“Anyway, your turn,” I point out as he props himself up on his elbow. He leaves his hand on my thigh, stroking my sensitive skin in slow, gentle motions.

“Right,” he breathes. “I have one. If you could do anything in the real world that I can do in the dreamscape, what would it be?

“Like a superpower?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

I scoff.

“That’s a no-brainer. I’d want to fall asleep anywhere, anytime. Doesn’t matter if I just slept for a whole day; I want to be able to dive back into sleep right away.”

“Oh yeah?” he asks, his face nuzzling into my shoulder and his teeth nipping gently at my skin.”Nothing about fixing the world, ending poverty, hunger, and all that stuff, huh?”

My cheeks redden.

“Yeah, I guess… Call me selfish,” I exhale, my fingers tracing the contours of his back. “But it feels like nothing can make my world better. Maybe it’s just better to take care of myself and escape from it all.”

He laughs softly against my skin, the vibration sending a warm shiver through me. “And if I were there with you? Wouldn’t that make your world a better place?”

“Oh, it would change everything…” My words trail off as I imagine the possibilities, his presence blending the lines between dream and waking life. “If you were there... it would fix the goddamn planet for me,” I admit, the thought bringing a genuine smile to my face.

Echo’s eyes sparkle with mischief, and a sly grin spreads across his face. “Well, isn’t that a delightful thought?” he teases, his voice dripping with slyness. “Imagine me, hopping around in your world and wearing you out every night so you’d sleep just fine. We could dive into some of that earthly chaos together.”

“Chaos, huh?” I pinch him playfully. “I was thinking more along the lines of breakfast in bed, lazy Sundays... you know, normal life stuff.”

“Oh, I can do breakfast in bed,” Echo chuckles, propping himself up on his elbow to look down at me with an impish twinkle. “Breakfast in bed, moonlit dances, picnics in real flower fields in the middle of nowhere, you name it.”

“Mm, yes. Because in the real world, things always go smoothly. No flies, spiders, or wasps to keep us company,” I muse skeptically. “Such a delight indeed. Besides, good luck finding a spot like that untouched by people. The real world’s crowded, babe.”

Here, unlike on Earth, we can be anywhere we want. Right now, we’re in the middle of a rose field. The best part? These roses don’t even have thorns. They vary in size from normal ones to gigantic ones, and some even resemble small, red, rose-shaped daisies.

Echo looks at me from beneath his thick, black eyelashes. “You’re just spoiled already, my Little Soul,” he quips.

“Maybe I am,” I concede with a playful shrug. “But can you blame me? You’ve set quite the standard here in the dreamscape. Everything’s always so... perfect.”

“You’re perfect,“ he says, lifting my chin gently with his hand and making me look at him. The words send a pleasant shiver down my spine as his gaze, intense and adoring, seems to look right through to my soul.

He’s the perfect one and doesn’t even acknowledge it.

“Flatterer,” I tease, feeling my heart skip a beat at his compliment. Honestly, I think this place—the rose field without any thorns, the air filled with their sweet scent—just became my new favorite spot. “Anyway, my turn for a question. Was the day Cam summoned you the first time you saw me?”

“No,” he responds slowly, his voice a deep, velvety whisper. “I had been watching you long before Cam ever thought to summon me.”

“You had?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper, curiosity piqued. “Then why didn’t we meet earlier than that?”

“I needed an invitation,” he replies, his gaze still locked with mine, earnest and unflinching. If it didn’t leave me so confused, I’d just accept this answer and lean in to kiss him.

But his reply ignites something within me. I know I must press further or I’ll regret it. For the past two weeks, I’ve experienced firsthand how amazing my dreams with Echo can be. Unfortunately, it’s also highlighted just how vast the gap is between these dreams and real life. When I’m out there alone, all I want is to come back here. I find myself constantly thinking about our time together, replaying our conversations, our touches, wishing I had something real and tangible out there to make it all feel real, to confirm I’m not losing my mind. Because sometimes, that’s exactly how it feels. Like I’m just crazy, with no proof to tell me otherwise.

“How come? Aren’t you my guardian spirit?” I ask, sitting up straighter and picking up the leaf I had dropped earlier. I twirl it between my fingers again. “Shouldn’t you be able to just... you know, guard me right from the start?”

“It doesn’t work like that,” he replies, still lying down. “Actually, it’s very similar to how things operate here in the dream world. Intention, Claire, that’s the key. Everything is based on permission. You must want it to happen, just like you needed to want my help for me to even attempt it. You had to choose to let me in. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t happen. The doors for me to reach you would have stayed closed.”

The leaf stops spinning between my fingers as I process his words. Then, a troubling thought clicks into place, even though I don’t want it to.

“Wait, just like with the shadows?” I ask.

For a moment, I expect him to deny it. He and the shadows are completely different beings. There’s no way my beautiful Echo could be compared to those shadowy abnormalities.

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