I was surrounded by a wall of trees. The distant laughter of children fit into the scenery just as well as the song of the birds. I felt drawn to the yelling, the sound of crunching branches, ruffling leaves, and the sound of life. It was a delicate melody. I followed it through the labyrinth of trees and found a couple of kids running, chasing each other.

Both of them were village kids based on their clothing. The girl was short with blond hair, and the boy was thin and tall, his voice still undecided whether it should become a man’s. I watched them as they ran around and joked. But suddenly, the girl stopped and coughed.

“Are you alright?” - the boy asked her.

“Yes, yes, it still happens sometimes. I never healed fully. How long did it take you?” - she answered.

“Mine was pretty quick. One morning I woke up, and it was gone.” - he answered.

This led to an abrupt end of the fun, and I watched the boy lead the girl through the trees to what I suspected was their village. The whole dream lasted no longer than a few moments. When they left, the forest quickly turned into a blur, and I opened my eyes. The entire night had passed, and the sun was already poking holes through the wood.

“I’ve left you soup and a chunk of bread.” - grandmother told me - “There are more sick people in the village that need care. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

I spent that entire day thinking about my dream. It engulfed me so much that I didn’t realize that I wasn’t yawning at all. What was it that grandmother said? The seeds will help you find peace, but they might show you something that hurts. But I just saw two kids talking in the forest. There was nothing horrific about that.

I took advantage of being alone and got more seeds from my grandmother’s stash. I didn’t want her to notice their absence, so I only took enough for the next few days. I hoped I would feel better by then. The pain got worse and worse during the day, but the thought of having an escape from it at night gave me hope. I answered by habit when the family asked me how I was and told them I’d go to bed earlier. I sneaked a seed in my mouth, chewed it, and let my mind wander off to the forest again, escaping the cough and the chest pain.