Green Hills of Six

"Hi! We're camping nearby, would you like to join us?" a young boy's voice called.

Tyson was shocked. His face looked like he had encountered a ghost. He was driving home from work when he suddenly woke up in this familiar looking green hill, surrounded by more familiar looking green hills. In front of him was where the voice came from, and 4 other kids. They looked around the age of 7-10, still during their innocence. Tyson asked about where this place is and who they are, but they didn't reply. 

But Tyson didn't care. Hills, camping, friends, this is what he wanted to do since he was born! The names of the kids were James, Jeremy, Janet, Josh and Jenkins with James being the oldest, Jeremy being the youngest, Janet being the only girl on the group, and Josh being the voice he heard. They stayed in a campground just a bit downhill. Tyson asked if they have another tent, but sadly they don't have another. Fortunately, Jenkins wanted to share his tent with Tyson, so he finally has somewhere to sleep for the night.

During the day they picked flowers, skipped together like some kind of a happy musical, played hide and seek with each other even though there were no covers except for the tall trees and rocks, and a lot more. Tyson liked the kids very much. He was way older than them, but for some reason they accepted him and wanted to play with him, unlike his own children.

It was night, and they were telling ghost stories on the campfire. James was telling a story about vampires, zombies, and other obviously fake supernatural beings when suddenly everything and everyone around Tyson froze like some kind of video game error. He suddenly felt cold. He wanted to go to his tent, but he couldn't move. He heard constant beeping noises. He felt weak. He was about to faint, when reality finally snapped back.

Tyson inhaled and exhaled like a marathon runner when James was talking about his stupid scary story. Everybody asked him what happened, but Tyson kept quiet, so they didn't say anything else. They sat in the open fire for 5 minutes until Josh broke the silence and he asked them all to go to sleep. Everyone agreed and went to their own tents.

It's eleven in the evening. Everybody else seemed to be sleeping, except for Tyson. He's afraid. He didn't know anything leading up to this point. Where is this place? How did he get here? He couldn't answer. He got up, got out of the tent (silently to not wake Jenkins up), sat down near the unlit campfire pit, and looked up to the sky. The mighty stars looked like they have the answers to everything. The moon shines bright. Tyson remembered his grandma's last words before her passing, "Remember, ignorance is bliss." They have always been in his memory, but that night, it felt more meaningful. Tyson didn't know where he is, or how did he come here, but it's okay, because this is what he had wanted.

Three minutes have passed. Tyson felt more blissful than he ever was. It was time to go back to the tent, when suddenly everything around him was shaking. It was like a great earthquake. Then everything went black.

Darkness.

Tyson couldn't move. Everything else except him is gone. It's just darkness.

He can see the light. He's going towards it, and...

Tyson woke up in a hospital bed, with his best friend, his wife, and his two children standing beside him.

It was all just a dream.

Everyone else in the room cried tears of joy. Tyson had finally regained consciousness. He went on a coma from a car accident when he was going home from work. Thankfully, it only lasted 20 hours.

Everything felt clear now. The hills were just a figment of his own imagination, and also the five children. But there's something that bugged his mind. How on earth did he recognize the hills? He had to find out.

After a few days of recovery, Tyson went home that he dearly missed. He was on the couch, watching TV when he noticed something. The hills were from an old TV show he used to watch when he was nine. The five children were the main characters of the show.