Luminous

                                                                             Chapter One

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    A sound that I can’t identify suddenly wakes me up. When I open my eyes I’m not staring at my bedroom ceiling - I’m looking at gorgeous blue sky. How did I fall asleep outside?

    I try to sit up, but I can’t even move my arms. I try with all the strength I have, but I can’t move any part of my body. I can’t even feel my body, I can’t feel anything at all. I can’t even speak. My mind goes into such a panic I can’t keep a single thought straight. But I soon realize this must be a dream - it’s the only explanation, right?

    I move the only thing I can - my eyes. I’m in a wooden boat that’s filled with  beautiful dianthus flowers - Claire‘s favorite, because they‘re pink. I can tell it’s a boat I’m in because of the shape - but I can’t actually see over the sides of the boat. I assume I’m on water, but if I was shouldn’t I hear water flowing, or crickets chirping, or just something? I can’t hear anything at all.

    I can’t hear. I can’t feel. I can’t smell anything, and I don’t taste anything. The only sense I have is sight.

    I decide to close my eyes and just wait for this dream to be over. I can’t close my eyes though - I can’t feel my eyelids, I should have expected that. This is a dream, and this definitely is not the strangest one I’ve ever had. I try to relax and simply look at the peaceful sky. Some birds fly overhead, and I can see some trees in the distance.

    I don’t know how long I laid there looking at the sky, but it must have been quite a while. I glanced down and realize my boat was filling up with water. I didn’t even realize it because of the whole fact that sight is my only sense. And even my sight is limited since I can’t move my head. I start to sink more and more into the water, I obviously feel scared…but this is a dream, so there isn’t much of a point to panic. I just pray that I’ll wake up before I fully submerge into the water.

    I don’t wake up. The boat fills up with more and more water, and soon my head goes under. It’s strange that I can’t close my eyes, but it doesn’t matter because I can’t even feel water on them. In fact, I like having my eyes open because this is the clearest water I have ever seen. I can see fish and plants and everything else you would see as you sink down to the bottom of the lake. I’m still in my boat, and I watch as all the dianthus flowers slowly rise to the surface above me. Suddenly, this dream is very serene and I easily relax.

    I stop sinking, I’ve hit the bottom of the lake.    

    Out of nowhere my dream begins to go fuzzy - I’m waking up.

    No, I’m not awake - but I’m standing up. I’m in the middle of a forest of pine trees. I can feel wind blowing, hear birds chirping, smell the wonderful scent of pine. It feels so great to feel alive.

    “Hello?” I say. I can talk too.

    No reply comes. But a boy that looks a couple years older than I am emerges from the forest. The first thing I notice is that his entire face is red and his eyes are wet.

    “What’s the matter?” I ask.

    “Crystal, I wish I could tell you,” he replies. If this were real I would be frightened at the fact he knew my name - but this is a dream.