OUT OF THIS WORLD

21st century, China

Zhao Ning was jolted from her sleep when the second alarm rang by her bedside.

” Oh sh*t Im late! ”

She face palmed herself cursing under her voice while at the same time trying to adjust her breath. Her face was covered in a thin layer of perspiration probably due to the dream that she had just woken up from.

For the third time in her life, she experienced the same weird nightmare that had been haunting her entire life.

Scenes of unfamiliar blurry faced young man and woman wearing ancient like outfits laughing their eyes shining with love and having fun while riding horses together in the wilderness, images of the same couple sitting on a what looked like a throne…

Then the scenes changes to that of a mountainous open field full of cliffs where blood and dead bodies were scattered all over, including that of the same man and woman.

The dream not only gave her an eerie feeling but whenever shed wake up from it, her heart would suddenly feel a stabbing pain as her facial features squashed together in pain.

It was so heart wrenching that it felt like a stone was stuffed into her chest, as if she had to gasp for air.

The second time she experienced the same dream was the night when her wedding was cancelled 5 years ago.

She couldn remember the first time she had the dream but for some unknown reasons, she felt like she was very familiar with the scenes after dreaming for the second time.

It was weird and so confusing that sometimes she was tempted to dismiss them as just some common freaking nightmares but more than a dream, as weird as it may sound, she always felt as if they were resurfacing memories.

They felt so distant yet familiar, as if she physically experienced it.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Zhao Ning kicked the blanket and dashed to the bathroom for a quick shower. It was 7:30 am but although she was required to report to work at

9:00 am, it was still late considering the heavy traffic that shed always encounter in the morning while driving in the city.

Zhao Ning a 25 years old woman had just returned 3 months ago to China after living abroad for nearly 5 years.

She was now working for a local clothes designing company and for the past several days, her schedule had been tight, busy working on her designs as her company would be taking part in a fashion show hosted in the city within 2 months.

…

Ten minutes later, she was all done. Locking up her small apartment, she tossed the keys inside her handbag and quickly made her way downstairs. Since she lived on the 3rd floor, the stairs were not much of a hassle especially since she didn have to waste time while awaiting the overcrowded elevator.

In her simple saloon car, Zhao Ning pursed her lips staring at the fleet of unmoving vehicles on the highway. However, she was a bit lucky as she still had some minutes in order to make it to work on time.

She was still stuck in traffic when her bored gaze wandered to the other side of the road before her eyes fell on the huge billboard with the words,

SHENG ZHU Memorial Park.

It was a public park in the middle of the city and compared to the last time Zhao Ning was there 5 years ago, it now looked new and more developed.

With a frown, her eyelids trembled as haunting memories from five years ago started surging in her mind.

…

A 20 years old Zhao Ning had just finished saying her long vows during their wedding, her palm sized face stained with tears. Standing right by her side, Song He her then fiance looked into his soon to be wifes eyes. He was next.

” Ning before I begin, I would like to show you something that I was preparing for you and had planned to present it to you during our great day. ”