Love in a Mist

I jumped back into wakefulness with a jerk, cold sweat coating my body and soaking my blanket. It took me a second to realize that the person screaming was me. My heart was racing faster than I could have believed was possible, my breathing quick and short as I desperately tried to inhale enough air. Slowly my heartbeats spaced themselves and my breathing evened out as I calmed down and was able to distinguish what was going on. I was ok, it was only a dream. I wasn’t drowning, I was safe inside my bed. I leaned forward and laid my head in my hands, closing my eyes as I began to ponder. This was the third night in a row that I’ve had the same dream and each time it’s the same. I’m always alone on the crescent shaped sandbar in the middle of an endless ocean. Each time there is the same breeze with the same voice and each time there is the small object flowing in the breeze that I cannot see but must obtain. Each night I drown under the endless flowing ocean, falling farther and farther into the depths of the dark water. What does it mean? I know that recurring dreams usually are a sign for buried troubles or emotions that we ourselves may not even be aware of. They are the product of these emotions trying to break through to our consciousness. But what could possibly be wrong? Was it because today was to be the beginning of my new assignment? Did I have some unconscious fear of leaving the city? Or was it because I would be close to the Land of Ice? I sighed and lifted my head from my hands, glancing over at my clock as I did. 5:23am, I had only been asleep for four hours but I don’t think I could sleep after that dream, just like both nights before. I made my way out of my sweat soaked bed and over to my door, unbuttoning my shirt as I did. I slid off the shirt and pants leaving my pale body exposed in the darkness as I felt my way into the bathroom. I flicked on the light, the dim fluorescent bulb temporarily burning my eyes after the darkness of my bedroom. I hid my eyes as I turned on the shower waiting for them to adjust to the light. I stepped under the water, letting the heat of it wash away all of the sweat and the tension from the dream. Letting the water relax my body and refresh me for the day to come. I stood under the water for a long time perhaps longer than I should have but oh well, I needed it to wake myself up and forget the dream. Once I was dry and dressed I replaced the sheets on my bed so that they wouldn’t smell so much like sweat. I headed into the kitchen for a light breakfast and then grabbed my pack left in order to get an early start on the long journey that I had ahead of me.