20: HM2V: The Dreamscape Dyad
11 pm, Four Weeks Later, Madalena Village, Azores, Epicenter Pico No. 23, Master Bedroom, Maya's Bed
All was still in the Azores condo, as the verdant plumeria-scented tropical breeze wafted through the cracked-open window; Maya had been tucked into her bed hours before, happily visualizing the half dozen large purple unicorn rainbow-sprinkled cupcakes she had baked with her Uncle Jordan and Aunt Maggie those many weeks ago. "How many sprinkles can I use?" she'd asked Jordan.
"As many as you want," he and Maggie laughed, throwing each other a subtle look. Daddy's going to be upset, Maya mused to herself. Don't use too much sugar, Maya, he'd always admonish. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Though surprisingly, he wasn't peeved, scooping Maya in his arms and snuggling her, muttering something absent-mindedly of how mommy and daddy had such a lovely time in Portugal (behind Maggie and Jordan's knowing glances), and how he was going to teach his darling little girl how to make clotted cream and scones one day when she was older. Maya had already had half of one of the cupcakes (Aunt Maggie had the other half, and Uncle Jordan had eaten a whole one).
There were four remaining cupcakes buried in the freezer of the condo's kitchen. Harry refused a bite, politely mentioning something about added sugars and artificial coloring, and Macy, having seen Maya's crestfallen expression, quickly interjected, saying that she would try a cupcake soon enough in the weeks to come, after the cupcakes had spent some time solidifying in the freezer, to avoid any mess.
11:05 pm, Madalena Village, Azores, Epicenter Pico No. 23, Master Bedroom, King Bed
On the king-sized bed, Harry slept, intimately snuggled against his wife in a spooning sort of position, his head positively buried in her nest of curly hair. However, Macy's slumber was an odd and at times, fitful one.
Down the dark tunnel she went, through the ancient door, entering the manor garden, full of exotic fruits and vegetables, flora and fauna. Examining one ladybug on a palm leaf, she noticed its twin following closely alongside it. A peach-grapefruit-hued snapdragon flower towered over her, an identical one by its side, though its petals, upon closer examination, had some subtle differences. But they were, no doubt, of the same origin, the same parentage, the same plant genetic structure, wherever they had originated.
Drifting away from the tall snapdragon blossoms, she noticed a blackberry bush. Knowing that the berries would typically be interspersed and clustered toward the sunniest branches the light could reach, she was surprised to find clusters—two shining, glossy, freshly-ripened blackberries per cluster—dotted evenly at the bottom-most branches of the bush, to the mid-section where bloomed even more, tapering off at the top of the bush. Macy was beginning to sense a sort of pattern within this arid garden of hers.
The coconut tree overhead gently swayed, and a perfectly joined pair of coconuts flew from the palm branches and landed with a thump at Macy's feet. She picked the still-intact bundle up gently, noticing how the sunlight reflected off the surprisingly fuzz-soft, velvety hair, as she tried to figure out where to place the two. She couldn't very well climb atop the sprawling over twenty-foot-tall tree, and she wasn't about to keep them laying on the ground. They smelled familiar, like the Azores itself—cinnamon and cloves and cardamom enveloped her senses. Where did they belong?
She found herself delving further into the dreamscape that was Vera Manor Garden and found herself at a white wrought-iron picnic table, with two cushioned adult-sized chairs and three little chairs. Macy placed the coconuts down in the center of the picnic table, then walked around the smaller three chairs, attempting to orient herself all the while. Looking closely, she observed that one was larger than the other two, which were identical in size. Perhaps the larger child's chair was for Maya?
At that very moment, Macy looked around; this time, there was no Harry, no Maya, no—she hesitated—other children, whoever they were. She missed them, those two curly-haired, grey-eyed babies she recalled from earlier, wondering where they had disappeared to, having escaped her subconscious renderings as of late. Had they taken root—gone off elsewhere in search of a home—and found an alternate residence elsewhere in this dreamscape world? When she had first laid eyes on the twins with Harry and Maya in her earlier dream in which they were behind the she-shed, she had felt surprised and overwhelmed at the thought of so many children in one place. Now, she simply yearned for their presence; her arms ached without them.
Macy sat up in bed, gasping for air; it was the fifth time this week she had awakened from the very same recurring dream.
3 pm, Madalena Village, Azores, Epicenter Pico No. 23, Kitchen
Macy sat across the kitchen table from Harry and Maya, while Harry quickly compiled the weekly grocery list. Macy had handed him a slip of paper, which he took. Before he made to orb back to Vera Manor and meet Jordan per routine, she stopped him. "Could you add blackberries to the list? I could really use some." Puzzled, Harry jotted it down with the pen he always kept with him, tucking the note in his front blazer pocket.
8 am PDT, Vera Manor, Kitchen
"Ready, Jordan?" Harry asked. Jordan nodded, as they linked elbows and orbed away from Vera Manor.
8:15 am, Organic Grocery Store, Produce Section
Jordan and Harry paused to review their respective lists. Jordan's predictably read as follows: tampons (Maggie), peppermint tea, almond-encrusted dark chocolate bark, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Harry did a once-over, then perused his own list, which was the following: fresh blackberries, 2 jars of pickles (the unsliced kind), pre-sliced watermelon, peppermint tea, 3 bags of ginger chews, 1 bag of gingersnaps, fresh pre-sliced coconut…
…And a pregnancy test, Harry thought to himself, making a discreet beeline for the drugstore products aisle.