I had a dream. In that dream, I woke up at 5, as I had planned. But when I opened my eyes, the sun had already risen long before. So I asked my mother why the sun had risen by 5 a.m. It was baffling, as it was 5 p.m. instead of a.m.

"I don't understand", I said, "Clearly I slept for six hours, no more no less!". The others around me were as confused as I was. There was only one explanation to answer this riddle. The sun rose from the west.

And it could only mean one thing. Doomsday was approaching, and it would happen anytime soon.

Time surely did not go as it should. As the clock strikes twelve, the sky was as dark as it could be, implying we had reached the middle of the night. Yet when the clock strikes four, the sun was already high up. I was afraid. My mother was afraid. Everyone was. And there was nothing we could do, but wait for the moment God Unleashes His final judgement.

Yes, I believe in God and the end of days. Of course, I was afraid.

My father and I began playing the piano. A grand piano for him, and a mini piano for me. As if we had always had those instruments where we live. Never had I thought it was all a simple dream.

And there it was, a screen with Arabic scriptures, and the ringing of bells. There was no running now, the end was knocking on all doors.

It got louder, and louder, and louder. Logically it made no sense as it was believed the mark of the End of Days would be the sound of horns. Not bells. But illogical explanations made sense when you dive in a dream. Each lie is a truth, and the truth expels you.

And as those bells terrorized us, I woke. I checked my phone to see what time it was, and it showed four. I could have prayed and get closer to God, but I am imperfect and I was sleepy. So I dozed off again.

I have no memory of my second dream, but I did sleep again after turning off my alarm at 5 a.m. After all, as I have said, I was rather sleepy.

Then it started. As if warned by God Himself, I saw the Arabic scriptures once again. And I thought, "Last time I saw this, it was a warning", and once again I was afraid.

I jolted awake. Only to fall asleep again, only to sense the Universe scolding me. Those scriptures returned. Still I cannot remember what it says. And still, as well, it sort of scared me. So I cracked my eyes open, only to find myself frozen in place.

Or, in other words, paralysis.

There, in front of me, I saw a kuntilanak (Indonesian ghost, woman in white). And I thought, "Bah! I forgot to return my towel to the bathroom", as I was convinced what I saw was my towel.

As if hearing my thoughts, she glowed brighter, showing her form completely. And I screamed "Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!" repeatedly, while asking God to forgive me for not listening.

After what felt like such a long time I managed to wake up. And when I turned on the lights I realized..

.. There never was a towel in front of me.

I could feel that her presence was still there, as well as whom I perceive as my guardian angel standing next to me. I looked at the clock, which showed 5:15. I was lucky, the procrastination only lasted 15 minutes.

I crawled out of the bed, on my way to the bathroom to perform wudhu. After all, I promised myself to pray Fajr. I'm trying to be better. And I did ask the Universe to wake me up. So yes, everything that happened were things I had asked for the night before.

Upon returning to my room, I saw her, now in the form of a light, exiting as she said, "My work here is done". And I saw my guardian angel nod in approval.

© altairsolaris