Kick

Every day for the man began with exercise, morning coffee, and then a drive to base. Many of his fellow soldiers shared their dreams, but not him. No, he didn't want to share this intimate secret. Kick dreamed of a woman... no, even a girl, with wavy blond hair and grass-green eyes. She called to him every time in his dreams, was there for him, even in reality. Every time he sat in the park, in a café, walking down the street, in a store, he imagined her... Angel.

He gave her this nickname because he didn't know her real name, but even if he had, to him she was Angel. After an exhausting day, he always tried to go to bed immediately, to greet the Angel, to escape this gray and dreary reality, to feel loved. And that night, Kick once again sank into the long-awaited oblivion. Sleep embraced him, and now he was no longer a soldier, but simply a man walking across a field. Ahead, at the edge of the horizon, she waited—his Angel.

"You've come," she whispered, her voice like the ringing of bells.

He sank silently beside her, not daring to touch her, afraid the dream would shatter. But she reached out and gently touched his cheek. In that moment, the world around them seemed to freeze, leaving only silence and the beating of his heart.

"Don't go" he blurted out.