My chest feels heavy.

  So heavy I can't breathe.

  In a panic I open my eyes and look around.

  Thank god... It was just a nightmare.

  I'm safe in my warm bed and Misty is lying on top of me, deep asleep. This seems to explain the feeling of something heavy on my chest.

  She must have snuck in somehow, I have heard of some cats that can open doors.

  I have to admit, even though I thought it would be annoying at first. She is really cute, resting on my chest with her little head and soft ears. Breathing peacefully, she must be having a much nicer dream than I had.

  I shouldn't move or I could accidentally wake the small creature up.

  I can see the sun come up.

  I haven't slept a wink since Misty decided to take a nap on me. In an hour or so my alarm should go off.

  Gently I pet the kitten and as a response she gives me a soft purr and stretches her paws.

  So cute!

  Then she meows once to say goodbye and leaves my bed, probably off to her breakfast.

  Now I can finally sit up and start my day.

  Looking around my room I see that what I thought must be right. The door is wide open, cat's don't care about how open a door is, just as long as it is open.

  I close the door and get dressed.

  For breakfast I decide to eat cereal and after that I make sandwiches for lunch.

  I think about what Myla told me, about our co-worker, Lynn.

  I feel a bit jealous about her, it must be nice having someone else pack you lunch every day and good lunch too! I can only wonder about what kind of breakfast she gets.

  I brush my teeth, put on my jacket and take my bag.

  Just before I leave I give Misty a gentle head pat and make sure she doesn't get out of the apartment.

  Then the choice comes again, elevator or stairs. Without too much thought I choose the latter. I think I might not take the elevator for a while, not while it is still dark out. It is November after all.

  Again I take the busy train like usual.

  Once I arrive at work, I notice that Myla isn't here. She must have a day off.

  I introduce myself to the people that weren't here yesterday and start working on the files.

  Once break starts and people start leaving the room, One of my colleagues approaches me, it's Suzy.

  "Hey, newgirl, wanna come with me and some others for lunch?" She asks with a kind smile.

  They really make sure that their new hires don't need to eat alone, do they?

  That thought makes me smile a little.

  I'm so lucky!

  "Yes please, I would love to."

  Suzy's group is one of those that doesn't usually eat inside the office building, but I think it's good for me to see all the different places around here and to get used to my new surroundings.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  The group takes me, while all chatting lively, to a cozy café a few streets away from where we work.

  The sweet smell of hot chocolate and coffee fills the place.

  A couple of the cafés staff seem to recognize the group.

  "Hi Suzy, the usual? Is that the new hire from your company?" the lady behind the counter gives me a small nod.

  "Yes she is, she will be eating lunch with us today."

  I greet the people behind the counter and place an order.

  I got myself a coffee and a nicer lunch than the one I have packed. I will have to eat it in another smaller break, but that's okay. I'm not just going to throw good food away.

  During our lunch I get to know the group a little. There is Suzy of course, but also Maya, David, Ian, Lydia and Stacy.

  Stacy is a dog lover, but isn't allowed to have one due to her small apartment. Lydia loves gardening, Ian wants to become a writer and publish his own books. David has been working the longest with the company and has seen, as he says it "The start of the world", he jokes often.

  Then there is Maya, who likes motorcycles and told me that if I wanted to, she would take me for a ride. Last but not least, Suzy herself has a few family members working at the café, supposedly she used to work there too, but wanted to do something different.

  They ask me a lot of questions, like from my time in university to my hobby's, not too deep, but nice to get to know everyone.

  After a while David suddenly stands up: "I know we can stay here for the entire day, but we really need to return right now."

  We have already paid for our food and drinks, so we wish the staff a 'see you soon' and return to our own office.

  Arriving back at my desk, I notice a small pile of work left for me. I do the more urgent first and others after. It's just my second day and I notice that I am already getting better at my job.

  I wonder how many years I will stay here, will I ever get bored? My colleagues are amazing and work is not too difficult, but still challenging enough.

  Oh well, I can't judge that after just my second day.

  After work I wish my co-workers a good weekend and leave to catch my train just in time.

  Nothing strange happens on the way back, nothing on the entire way to my apartment.

  As I open the door to my apartment, Nova is there to greet me.

  "Hey Edith, how was work?"

  "Great, how about yours?"

  "Good as well, I took Misty with me. She is a pretty strange cat, she seems to enjoy getting moved from place to place."

  "Maybe she hasn't been to the vet yet, so she doesn't know the fear?"

  Nova laughs: "Well something else now, I have started cooking us dinner already."

  I look up surprised, Nova was the kind of person that didn't seem to enjoy cooking as much. At university she would usually just buy her food, not wanting to make lunch herself.

  "What did you make?" I ask surprised.

  "Oh just the usual, fresh vegetables are so damn expensive. I wish the cloning tech would hurry up."

  The usual is packaged food with hot water. So cooking isn't really the right word, but it is an unfortunate reality. Who doesn't have enough money, can't buy the healthy stuff. There aren't many farms left to make it, so 'fresh' is mostly just imported from poor countries.

  Nowadays it is common for the poor to grow their own vegetables, although if they have too much they have to pay a fine. So it has pretty much been made illegal and we eat this fast, fake food. Well nothing we can do about it right now.

  Luckily we sometimes have the money to buy the real deal, for example we did have tomatoes yesterday with our spaghetti.

  While we eat we watch a comedy movie Nova picked. It was for both of us the first time we had watched it, but in the end we could both agree that it was a terrible one.

  Misty didn't seem to mind and loved the constant petting and attention giving, purring loudly.

  After the bad movie we talk a bit about how our work was today and went to bed soon after.

  I'm totally exhausted and I haven't even hit the mattress yet as I fall into a deep sleep.

  "—y."

  Huh?

  "-a-_---_----_m-?"

  Is someone there?

  I look around but only see a strangely decorated room, it's very old fashioned. The floor is partially decorated with black and white tiles and in the middle is a mosaic that shows the zodiac signs.

  The room has only doors and no walls to hold up the ceiling, but somehow it's all still there.

  Lights flicker above my head, the source seems to be coming from small rocks or crystals gently floating above.

  "L---en!"

  I quickly turn around to see where the voice is coming from, but there is nothing.

  "Edith."

  I turn around again and face a dark shadow figure right in front of me.

  Quickly I sit up and see that I am in my room again, in my bed even.

  Lights from outside creep inside through the crack in the curtain, it must still be dark out.

  I have been having some really strange dreams lately, I wonder why.

  Maybe I should start writing them down.

  I take my diary from my bed stand, it's an old one. From back in my high school days even, I haven't written in it for a very long time, but maybe I could use it now.

  I open it at an empty page and start writing down both of the strange dreams I had.

  When I'm finished I look through my old entries.

  My handwriting has really changed since then, huh...

  I put my diary back and luckily fall back asleep quickly, a sleep without nightmares.