Get Rid of the Father, Keep the Child

He said he was attending an international conference, and promised me a grand wedding when he got back.

But I waited a full ten years, only for him to ask, "I'm sorry... do we know each other?"

Watching the man in front of me meticulously placing food on my plate, I started to seriously wonder, 'Maybe I should just keep the kid and ditch the dad?'

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I don't know when it started, but I've been having the same dream over and over. In the dream, I'm also an orphan. I meet Quinn Shepherd by chance in the winter, we fall in love by summer, and we walk hand in hand through countless days and nights.

He'd wait for me after work in the biting cold wind, and he'd bring me an umbrella in the middle of a downpour.

Then, he told me he had to go on a business trip, promising a grand wedding upon his return.

But the me in the dream waited for ten agonizing years, only to be met with his question, "I'm sorry... do we know each other?"

Too proud to break down, I quickly took my daughter's hand and left.

The next time I heard news of him, I was lying in a hospital bed as the TV announced his engagement.

In the end, I died, filled with bitter resentment.

Everything in the dream was so vivid, but I refused to believe it. It all felt too absurd.

After all, my real life was the complete opposite of my dream self's.

We've been married for five years, and my husband is as wonderful to me as ever. He always seems to show up just in the nick of time, right before any mishap. Our daughter, meanwhile, is brilliant and adorable.

But the indifferent look in the dream Quinn Shepherd's eyes still left me feeling unsettled.

"Honey, what's wrong? Is your blood sugar acting up?" My husband took my cold hand, and the warmth from his touch instantly chased away the chill in my heart.

"Is Mommy sick? Daddy made your favorite soft-yolk eggs! If you eat them, you won't be sick anymore." I looked at my four-year-old daughter. 'I'm just overthinking things.' Other than being a little brighter than other kids, she was the very picture of a little girl raised in a honey pot. How could she possibly be the timid, pitiful thing from my dream who didn't even dare to speak up?

'There's no way anything from that dream could ever happen in real life.'