Just a Dream

Leah woke from yet another heart wrenching dream. It was always the same; she was either watching a man die or sitting opposite him over a fire, admiring his form. But who on Earth was he? The man was like no one she'd ever seen before. He had long, dark, wavy hair which was touched with beautiful silver streaks running through it. His eyes were a piercing blue and his posture was majestic, giving him superiority. However, when she saw him in the dream, his superiority could not be mistaken for arrogance.

She always woke up crying, clutching painfully to the bedsheets. And no matter how much Leah tried to occupy herself throughout the day, the images of this beautiful man would come back to haunt her. It was as if her heart was yearning for a man who did not exist. She recollected reading an article some months back that stated no one can just 'think up' a face. They were always faces you had seen before in waking life. But where had Leah seen this man? Was he an actor whom she'd admired from a long forgotten film? Could he possibly be someone she'd crossed paths with in her old job before she was made redundant?

The dreams had been coming thick and fast now for about a month. It was early May and Leah was at home, catching up on some housework whilst her older sister, and room mate, was at work. The rock music channel was blasting away on the TV as Leah polished hers and Rachel's Disney ornament collection. She even began to dance a little, becoming engrossed in the beats of a recent Fall Out Boy song.

Suddenly a flash of light seemed to hit her square in the face; it was as if light bounced off a metallic surface, blinding her. And then she heard shouts, shouts of pain, distress and anger. She dropped to her knees, clutching her head. The ornament she held of Belle and the beast fell to the floor, smashing upon the tiles beneath the carpet.

Leah felt as though she was going insane. She was dreaming of a man she'd never met before and was experiencing hallucinations, both visual and auditory. There was no way she was going to admit any of this to anyone, not even her family, whom she was incredibly close to. It didn't even matter that her sister and mother were both nurses; no one was going to know about this. The risk was too great.

For a few minutes she sat crossed legged on the carpet, weeping into her hands. As the tears fell down her cheeks, Leah saw flashes of the dying man again in front of her eyes.

"What the hell is happening to me?" she shouted loudly.

Suddenly she heard a buzzing which broke her from the images flashing through her mind. It was her mobile phone vibrating loudly on the coffee table. Her hands were shaking as she picked up the ringing nuisance and quickly muted the music which was still playing on the television set.

"H...hello?" she asked, her breath coming short and painfully.

"You okay?" Rachel's voice came. "What are you doing?"

Leah closed her eyes again, rubbing her face, but somewhat comforted to hear the sound of her older sister. It was as if wisdom and protection flowed from her voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was in the garden and heard my phone so I ran in," Leah lied.

"Oh, alright. No worries," Rachel replied. "I'm popping to the pub tonight after my shift with a couple of ladies I work with. Do you want to come with us? We can always buy something to eat there rather than cook."

"Do you still finish at half seven?" Leah asked.

"Yep. We're going to the Moon Under Water. Shall we meet you there?"

"Okay. I'll see you there about eight. Gives you time to get changed out of your uniform and get out," Leah arranged.

They both hung up, and as they did, Leah felt her nerves beginning to settle a little. Hearing her sister's voice seemed to bring her back down to some sense of normalcy. With a sigh, Leah picked up her ornament off the carpet and wondered how she'd successfully glue it back together. The man's face had disappeared...but only temporarily.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by without incident. Leah's nerves had finally descended back down to normal, and she was able to sit down with a cup of coffee while checking Facebook on her phone. She flicked through the numerous posts from friends and family. There was the usual: posts detailing how crappy people's jobs were, photos of pets and children, or inspirational quotes.

Beneath a lol cat post was a recommended article discussing reincarnation. Momentarily intrigued, Leah clicked on the article, reading the introduction.

"Do you sometimes have dreams of another time and place? Do you see faces of people you've never met before, but feel strangely connected to them?"

Reincarnation? It was a concept that Leah had never really considered. She'd been raised in a loose Christian household, so reincarnation was something that had never been discussed. The rest of the article was, as usual, trying to seduce people into parting with money. But the idea stuck with Leah. Was she somehow seeing a man she'd known from a former life?

xxx

Later on in the evening when Leah had met her sister in the pub, they both sat alongside three other women whom Rachel worked with. The conversation began with the three women introducing themselves to Leah; two of them were nurses alongside Rachel and the third woman was an auxiliary.

Half an hour into the meeting, Leah began to grow bored. She'd already heard enough about a sexy junior doctor and how many patients had vomited or bled on cubicle floors. Not even the television, which was situated above their heads, could bring any entertainment. Instead she excused herself to the toilet for a brief reason to be on her own.

"I'm really worried about her," Rachel told fellow nurse, Donna, as she watched her younger sibling disappear into the lavatories. "She's been really distant lately. It was almost overnight how quickly her attitude changed. Don't get me wrong, she's always been fairly quiet anyway and likes her own company, but these last few weeks..." her voice trailed off. "She's my responsibility and I can't bring myself to tell our parents."

Donna placed her hand on Rachel's arm. "You said she lost her job, didn't you? Maybe she needs to get back into the swing of things job wise and could even be going through a phase where she's summing up what to do next."

"I don't think it's anything to do with work. I just feel like there's something missing in her life; she looks at me sometimes and it's as if she's full of sadness for something that she's lost," Rachel replied. "I don't know. I'm not a psychiatrist."

Leah sat in the toilet and placed her head against the cubicle wall and closed her eyes. As if she were somehow psychically connected to her sister and the conversation going on with her colleagues, Leah thought on how empty she felt, as if something were missing. But what was missing? She knew, however, that she couldn't stay locked in the toilet all evening; she inhaled sharply, pushing tears away, and got up unlocking the door.

As Leah walked past the bar on her exit from the toilet, she never noticed the pair of eyes watching her. They belonged to a well dressed man who was stood with his arm on the counter, drinking from a pint glass. He was a tall man, sporting a well trimmed beard. With one last glance at Leah he drank the remainder of his pint.

"Ooh, you should see that bloke who's got his eye on you!" Rachel exclaimed. Leah turned back, only to see a group of young men who looked in their mid twenties sporting jeans and T-shirts watching the football.

"What one of them?" she asked, frowning.

Rachel craned her head around Leah's form only to see that the man had disappeared. His empty glass was the only piece of evidence left behind that he'd been there. "He's gone now. Seriously though, he had his eye on you the whole time you came out the loo. I wouldn't have minded a bit of him myself."

Leah rolled her eyes playfully and sat down beside her sister.

The tall, dark haired man left the pub and threw a quick glance back, catching sight of Leah. He saw a faint smile on her face and couldn't help but feel a lump rise in his throat. How could he approach her? She obviously didn't know him.

He recollected the night they'd sat beside the fire, together, alone. She'd rested her dark head against his chest, and it was here that he knew she was to be the one who'd always have his heart. Then she'd followed Bilbo up to where he'd taken his last breath. And that was when they'd kissed for the first and last time.

He clenched his first, feeling nothing but despair and anger. Somehow he'd been brought here to the very place where the one he loved had come from, and she had no memory of him. And even if she did have memories, he looked quite different. He was now considerably taller, standing at just over six foot and did not have his long hair. Were the gods playing a cruel joke on him?

Suddenly an elderly man appeared, as if materialising from nothing out of the shadows. He looked at the dark haired man and smiled. "Thorin," he said softly.

"Gandalf," Thorin replied, bowing his head in respect. "How can you be here?" He looked at the elderly gentleman who did not have his usual grey robes, beard and pointed hat. Instead he had short white hair, was clean shaven and wore typical clothing of this current world.

"I do not have long. There is only this one window of opportunity to come back to Middle-earth. The veil between worlds only grows thin when there are full moons on both sides. It will only last for seventy two hours. You must come back with me now, or be lost here for a millennia."

"I can't leave without her," Thorin whispered. "And if this only happens one every thousand years, how did Leah get through? She came into Middle-earth the same way I am guessing?"

Gandalf raised his eyebrow. "Her appearance is still something of a mystery to me. And also your appearance here. When did you arrive in this place?"

"A day ago. All I remember is seeing her and Bilbo before me, then darkness. And then I was here, lying in a bed. According to information I found in the property I was in, my name here is Richard. It is as if I've taken on a completely new identity."

"This reality has somehow opened and taken you as one of its own," Gandalf said. "You must come back with me, Thorin. If she wishes to come back with you, then you must get to her. We can't delay."

Thorin glared at Gandalf, finally standing eye to eye with him. "How do I approach her and explain everything without appearing insane, Gandalf?" He watched the old man look away, as if something else was on his mind. "There's something you're not telling me."

"Fili and Kili may also be here," Gandalf said. "You all fell in battle on the same day. The probability is quite high that they came through with you."

"Why do I get the impression that there is much more to this than you are willing to tell me?" Thorin growled. "The more we speak, the more I keep learning about. What else are you keeping from me?"

"I am the one responsible for Leah's lost memories. I did it to ease her pain when returning home," Gandalf admitted, closing his eyes, as if waiting for a physical blow from Thorin. "She watched you die and I know she loves you, Thorin. There is no mistaking the signs between you both."

"So, I only have three days to find my nephews and try to persuade my One, who has no memory of me, to come back to Middle-earth?" Thorin seethed. "Why can you not reverse the magic?"

Gandalf stepped up to Thorin, looking him straight in the eye. "Any magic used in Middle-earth cannot be reversed here. I will find Fili and Kili. Concentrate on Leah for now. I shall come back to you in three days from now. We shall meet here, and whether she is with you or not, we will leave."

Thorin clenched his jaw tightly. "I will decide if we leave or not!"

"You cannot be saying that you'd be prepared to stay here?" Gandalf asked, shocked. "You are the rightful King of Erebor."

"If needs must, Fili is next in line. Until I have Leah by my side I will not be returning to Erebor."