Twenty Four Seven || Adam Park

forty seven

At some point, I was so exhausted – which I don't even know why because I literally had no reason to be – I fell into a deep sleep. A deep dangerous sleep because I knew when I opened my eyes and saw that I wasn't in the basement, I knew right away that I was in a nightmare. Only this might have been the nightmare that officially broke me... and it wasn't even half as bad as the last two I had... but it was the one that hurt the most. I came to terms with seeing my parents die in my previous one and having my grandmother abuse me in the other... but this one... this was the one that I could have gone without seeing. The one that made me hurt the most and as sad as that is to it, it was because my feelings were pure but this dream that appeared told me the complete opposite.

I found myself sitting in the park on a bench that was wet. I was in warm clothes even though I couldn't feel a thing but then I saw there was snow on the ground and just a little area that looked like it had been shoveled out where the walking path should have been. Fresh snow was falling, and it was cold out. Winter. Winter had finally set in. I didn't think winters looked the same in California, but then again... it was a dream so anything could happen. Reality was altered in ways that I didn't know, and the dream showed me what it wanted me to see.

I looked around, wondering why I was here. But I wasn't cold – I was in a dream, so I really couldn't feel anything. I couldn't even feel the snowflakes when I reached out to touch them or even the snow when I scooped a handful of it up. I let it drop back to the ground as I started walking through the fresh snow. I think I was going towards the Juice Bar but my head was kind of fuzzy and things seemed all mixed up in this nightmare. Some of the areas that I looked at were a complete blur and I felt like I was looking at things from a distance even though I really wasn't.

But as I started walking, I heard laughter and it made me stop to look and see where it was coming from. I looked to my left and saw nothing. When I looked to my right, I saw two people throwing snow at each other. They looked like they were having fun and I remembered how excited I used to get as a child when I was able to play in the snow. It was something that I missed. I missed the innocent of being a child and finding things like just playing in the snow enjoyable.

When I took a few steps closer, I realized that it was Adam... and Kimberly. Okay, nothing unusual. I didn't think nothing else of it. Two friends playing in the snow. At least that's what I thought at first so I stopped and watched them when they didn't seem to notice me standing there. They looked like they were having a grand old time playing in the snow and I didn't want to interrupt them. It looked like a peaceful moment. A peaceful moment between friends, I thought. I wondered where the others were and if I would get to see them too. I missed them all... but I knew something was bound to go wrong in this dream... just like it usually did. I just didn't know how much of it was going to play out. I wanted to pull myself out of it before I saw something I didn't want to see... But, that's never how things worked for me... and that's exactly what happened.

They grabbed handful after handful of snow and tossed it in each other's directions while laughing over it. They formed snowballs in their hands and playfully tossed it at one another. I watched as one hit Adam on the top of the head and he only laughed harder. He threw one right back at Kimberly, but she dodged it. They looked happy. I took a few steps closer, happy to see them... but Adam looked up at me he didn't seem happy to see me. Neither did Kimberly. They both looked mad at me and I didn't know why, so I stopped before I got any closer to them. I folded my hands in front of me, unsure of what to say but Kimberly spoke before I could even do anything.

"Why are you always stalking us?" Kimberly crossed her arms in front of her.

"What are you talking about Kim?" I asked. I didn't know what she meant.