Samir Samber, 20, was raised in the same quaint house in Ottawa that he  resides in to this day. He sleeps in the same bed, in the same room, and he recalls many fond memories there.

“I’ve had a recurring dream—that is set in my bedroom—for as long as I can remember,” Samber explains, “it started when I was four years old.”

Samber looks up from where he is sitting on a public bus, and begins to motion with his hands. “There is a picture of Jesus on the wall across from my bed,” he says as he traces a rectangle in the air. “I would dream that I was floating up, towards it. In the dream, I always believe that if I touch the photo, I will go to Heaven. I reach out towards it for as long as I can, but right before I touch it, I resist. I never bring myself to touch it, I just float back down to my bed. Then I wake up, and everything always looks the same as it did in my dream. I’m in the same position on my bed, even the blankets are folded over the same way they were in my dream. ”

Samber looks down again as he begins to ponder the reason for his unwillingness to touch the photo. “I guess it would be because I always remember everything in my life that would be taken away if I ever were to go to Heaven. I don’t want to go to leave this world yet. The dream reminds me of that, even on bad days.”

Author: Sawatzky