Dreamland
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"It's been a rough day." You yell to someone in the distance as you lay your head down on your concrete bed. You swear some days just weren't meant to be. This day, for instance. That hard test you took and failed for the second time. The girl that broke up with you at lunch. The detention you got for calling the teacher out on being a racist bastard. It just wasn't your day. In fact, it seems like it's never your day anymore. Nothing good has happened in what seems like months, maybe years. Hell, maybe even a millennium has passed. You have no idea anymore. The same voice from before is screaming up the stairs at you, about how much trouble you're in and how "You're going to get it now, mister, just wait 'til your father gets home." It's kind of making you sick. You decide that the voice is not worth dignifying with an answer. Suddenly feeling very cold and unwelcome in what's supposedly "your" room, you strip down to your boxers and climb under the covers of your bed. You plan to shut out the world, perhaps for good, if some lucky accident occurs. The rock-hard mattress underneath you becomes more and more inviting as you settle in, drawing you downward like quicksand into the Earth. You pass out with every word in the world buzzing around your head, growing louder with each passing second.
"Hello?" You whisper into the blackness. There's no reply. "Can you hear me?"
You begin to stumble about, feeling for someone, anyone. The suffocating darkness covers everything like a blanket. You repeat yourself.
"Hello?" You ask. But you don't. That was certainly your voice, reaching towards your ears at earth-shattering speeds. But that wasn't you.
"I'm here." You say, trying your hardest to sound calm. You didn't try hard enough.
"I found you. I've got you. You're safe." Something wraps around you. It feels like arms. Yes, arms. Legs. A body. A face. Not your face. You realize the darkness has been lifted, you're in a field. Brilliant blues, fantastic fuchsias, radiant reds, and perfect purples are scattered throughout the tall green grass. The bright sun above burns you slightly, but it's a pleasant burn. You stare into the incandescent peridot eyes of someone you don't believe you've met before. His body is tall and skinny, his face perfectly symmetrical and pleasant, with a mouth curled into a nightmarishly sincere grin. Definitely familiar. You were about to say something to him, but he decided to answer before you asked.
"Yes, we've met before. Many times, in fact." He uses your voice while releasing you. "We're the same person."
"But we don't-"
"-look the same? Well, duh. I'm how you want to look. Lets walk and talk."
A dirt path suddenly snakes through the grass, stretching out as far as your eyes can see. You're not really sure where the path came from or how it got there, but you're not questioning it for some reason. It just seems very normal. Yes, this is a regular occurrence, nothing to be alarmed about. The two of you begin your stroll. The world around you grows a bit darker, you check to make sure the sun is still blaring. It is now a moon-lit, starless night. Massive metallic obelisks ascend into the sky all around. The dust beneath your feet has turned into asphalt. Silent cars travel around you, narrowly missing, but you are not scared. Hours have passed. You've been walking for hours, surely. But why has it only been a few seconds?
"Because this is a dream." He remarks before you can vocalize.
"No, it's not."
"Think about it. A little more, now. Come on, you can reach this conclusion."
"No, this is real, this is my life."
"Don't you remember this?" The scenery whirls into one big mass of color before reforming as your bedroom. You are in your bed, sleeping peacefully. That is you. Someone is yelling. This is a dream. You see the world around you in a brand new fashion. Suddenly you're surrounded by the only people you've ever cared about. The perfect version of you disappears, leaving you in a world of everything you've ever loved. All the good times swirl around, repeating themselves infinitely and all at once. The sights and sounds and smells and feels overwhelm your senses to the point where you can no longer tell if anything exists. You're in a place that's soft, warm, safe. People are holding your hands. There's hugging and kissing and listening and talking. Everyone is here and everything is better. They're all whispering the most pleasant things that one can fathom.
"Rest now. I promise, things will be different. It gets better." Your voice whispers. There's a crash somewhere and your eyes open wide. Your room is all that surrounds you now. You stretch out from the ball of human flesh you were to discover your mother has dropped a glass vase. She is spewing forth every curse under the sun. You rise from the warmth of your covers and don your pants and shirt once more. Things are not good right now, not in the least, but maybe one day, things will get a little better.
"Hello?" You whisper into the blackness. There's no reply. "Can you hear me?"
You begin to stumble about, feeling for someone, anyone. The suffocating darkness covers everything like a blanket. You repeat yourself.
"Hello?" You ask. But you don't. That was certainly your voice, reaching towards your ears at earth-shattering speeds. But that wasn't you.
"I'm here." You say, trying your hardest to sound calm. You didn't try hard enough.
"I found you. I've got you. You're safe." Something wraps around you. It feels like arms. Yes, arms. Legs. A body. A face. Not your face. You realize the darkness has been lifted, you're in a field. Brilliant blues, fantastic fuchsias, radiant reds, and perfect purples are scattered throughout the tall green grass. The bright sun above burns you slightly, but it's a pleasant burn. You stare into the incandescent peridot eyes of someone you don't believe you've met before. His body is tall and skinny, his face perfectly symmetrical and pleasant, with a mouth curled into a nightmarishly sincere grin. Definitely familiar. You were about to say something to him, but he decided to answer before you asked.
"Yes, we've met before. Many times, in fact." He uses your voice while releasing you. "We're the same person."
"But we don't-"
"-look the same? Well, duh. I'm how you want to look. Lets walk and talk."
A dirt path suddenly snakes through the grass, stretching out as far as your eyes can see. You're not really sure where the path came from or how it got there, but you're not questioning it for some reason. It just seems very normal. Yes, this is a regular occurrence, nothing to be alarmed about. The two of you begin your stroll. The world around you grows a bit darker, you check to make sure the sun is still blaring. It is now a moon-lit, starless night. Massive metallic obelisks ascend into the sky all around. The dust beneath your feet has turned into asphalt. Silent cars travel around you, narrowly missing, but you are not scared. Hours have passed. You've been walking for hours, surely. But why has it only been a few seconds?
"Because this is a dream." He remarks before you can vocalize.
"No, it's not."
"Think about it. A little more, now. Come on, you can reach this conclusion."
"No, this is real, this is my life."
"Don't you remember this?" The scenery whirls into one big mass of color before reforming as your bedroom. You are in your bed, sleeping peacefully. That is you. Someone is yelling. This is a dream. You see the world around you in a brand new fashion. Suddenly you're surrounded by the only people you've ever cared about. The perfect version of you disappears, leaving you in a world of everything you've ever loved. All the good times swirl around, repeating themselves infinitely and all at once. The sights and sounds and smells and feels overwhelm your senses to the point where you can no longer tell if anything exists. You're in a place that's soft, warm, safe. People are holding your hands. There's hugging and kissing and listening and talking. Everyone is here and everything is better. They're all whispering the most pleasant things that one can fathom.
"Rest now. I promise, things will be different. It gets better." Your voice whispers. There's a crash somewhere and your eyes open wide. Your room is all that surrounds you now. You stretch out from the ball of human flesh you were to discover your mother has dropped a glass vase. She is spewing forth every curse under the sun. You rise from the warmth of your covers and don your pants and shirt once more. Things are not good right now, not in the least, but maybe one day, things will get a little better.