Today was bad. Extremely bad. Today was the day when it was all going to end, according the child. Okay, so I don't really believe the little homeless girl I found on the street that had strange eyes. Still, I couldn't help but get a bit worried.
~~~~~
"Two weeks from today," she said as I walked by. Her high pitched, sweet voice catching my attention. A red blanket covered her head, and she looked sick and skinny. "You'll lose everything you thought was real, and fall into a different fate." I stared at her confused, stopping for a moment. Then I shrugged and dropped a dollar for her. Just another beggar on the street, right?
~~~~~
I shudder a bit as I brush my hair. It still looked like a curly blonde mess though, but I'll have to deal with it. I went and put on some clothes, just the normal jeans and a t-shirt, and walked outside to get to school.
Outside it was dark and rainy. Clouds covered the sky completely. Suddenly I wished I had gotten a jacket. Too late now I guess. Footsteps splashed in the puddles behind me. I quickly looked around. Nothing. That's weird. Not to mention the streets are practically empty, usually there are more people out and about. Well, I did get up somewhat early, or more like I didn't sleep. Hopefully that was the reason.
Whoa. I clutched my head, trying not to fall. For a second everything got all blurry, a wave of vertigo. My knee's collapsed from underneath me and everything started to go dark.
Laughter, there was laughter. A woman laughing, in a cynical, twisted way. She grabbed my arm, or something did. Wait, there wasn't a woman. My eyes opened and I looked at the bleak grey floor. But there was still a pressure on my arm. Looking up I saw brilliant blue eyes and long windblown brown hair. It was Ian.
"Hey you okay ditz?" He said laughing and then helped me up. My arms crossed and I pouted.
"I'm fine, you?" I muttered and brushed herself of. What came over her? Nothing like that has happened before. Maybe it just had something to do with not sleeping. I'm relying on lack of sleep quite a lot lately.
"I don't really know. I feel kind of off, and you feel kind of klutzy!" he said as if it was the funniest thing in the world. I felt my face heat up, and then I registered the words. What did he mean when he said he felt kind of off? That's not really something he would admit, even if it was true.
"Today is off…" I admitted sullenly. His face darkened and he looked at me, then he shrugged.
"If only we didn't have to go to school, I think that would make everything better," then he smiled, trying to reassure me. That was just like him, hope when things were hopeless. I had a weird taste in best friends.
As we walked to school there were still no signs of life. Did everybody just up and leave while we were sleeping? That honestly didn't seem too impossible with everything that's going on.
"Do you feel that?" Ian asked with wide eyes and he held his arms out as if trying to balance. Then I noticed it, a low rumbling. The ground was shaking and it became harder and harder to stand straight. I stumbled forward and grabbed Ian's arm. Then in my peripheral vision the world behind me. Quickly my head jerked and I took it all into account.
Puzzle pieces, that's what it looked like. Puzzle pieces ripping off buildings and the ground leaving gaping holes. The gaping holes revealed more of the sky, as if there was nothing there in the first place.
"Oh… my…" my voice stopped short, like I couldn't breathe enough air.
"Run!" Ian yelled and dragged me forward until I was running myself. All of a sudden I wasn't thinking, I was just acting on instinct. Then the world fell beneath me and I let go of Ian's hand and stumbled forward.
The floor between us separated just enough so we couldn't cross. I'm pretty sure I have the same bewildered look on my face as Ian does.
"Time to wake up," a voice cascaded from the sky, or maybe it came from all around. It was a woman, and sounded familiar. The woman, it was the woman laughing, from when I passed out earlier. Like I had run into a wall, a flash of memories hit me. From before…
~~~~~
"Mommy why am I here?" I asked in a childish voice, strolling in the dark halls behind my mother. All I remember of her is a dark figure.
"Because we need to create dreams," her mother said matter-of-factly.
"Can I dream mommy?" I said in a squeal of a voice, excited in my childish idea.
"Only if you really want to. I can have you dream, but you need to know you are going to have to wake up." She said, then paused, something cruel lying deep within her voice. I guess I was too stupid to hear it because I immediately responded.
"Yes!" I clapped my hands together, and I could almost feel my mother smile.
"Follow me," she commanded, and then all I heard were her heals clacking against the floor.
We passed a few hallways and entered a room. Most of it was like every other room in the house, grey and bleak. There were lots of controls and screens, but in the middle there was a large purple velveteen pillow. It had what seemed to be a soft and fluffy blanket.
"Go ahead, sit," I eagerly listened to my mom and felt the textures of the items and snuggled up in them. Little did I notice my mom typing away, until the glass dome surrounded me that is. Quickly I tried to escape but my hands only met glass, all the pushing my little hands could do wouldn't move it. Then I noticed a weird feeling I never noticed before, my head clouded up, and my eyes got heavy. My body started to sag, leaning into the blankets.
"Go to sleep, I'll see you when you wake up…"
Then there was laughing.
~~~~~
A gust of wind nearly made me fall off the edge of my little island floating in the sky. I saw Ian, and a sudden realization came to me. This wasn't real, my life wasn't real. For the past decade or so, I've been living inside a dream. My family wasn't real, my friends weren't real, even Ian wasn't real.
"Are you going to wake up? Come with mommy, she needs you." the voice boomed again, a wicked voice filled with such malice. I shivered and fought back tears.
"No!" I shouted as loud as I could, but my voice still squeaked a bit. Then I tried making my face look defiant, but I don't think I'm doing such a good job.
"So you'd rather have your friends and family disappear?" she said, and for a second, everything was whole again, but then it flashed away. "Well, it's your decision."
Then slowly, puzzle pieces started flying off of Ian, one by one he started disappearing.
"No… no, no, no. Stop!" I begged, and the pieces flew back.
"What are you doing!" he finally spoke. He must know, or at least have an idea. He was smarter than he looked.
"I have to…" I looked him straight in the eyes, I couldn't let him just disappear. It was my fault he existed in the first place. This was pointless though, if it was my dream? What would happen if I wasn't dreaming? I didn't really think about it. But I had to do this. I had to… right?
"I'll go with you!" I shouted, then mouthed bye. I saw Ian saying something, but I couldn't hear, I couldn't feel. Then everything blurred, and I couldn't see.
~~~~~
My heels clicked against the floor as I moved from computer to computer. Building dreams was time-consuming. But I didn't have to sleep, I never had to. Luckily, it wasn't my job to create dreams themselves, (that was another story) but nightmares. My mind worked to analyze people's fears and lives, and then create the perfect nightmare. Mother told me my job was important. It was used to put people in their place, to tell them to stop being such idiots. The weirdest part was, I enjoyed it. It felt good to put others in fear in pain. Somehow it made me feel superior and it left a sweet taste in my mouth and a satisfying feeling in my head. But I noticed some part in the back of my mind screamed whenever I worked, which was quite often. I ignored it, although I admit I was curious as to what it said.
Something glimmered in the corner of my eye, and I could see my reflection in the wall. My perfectly curled blonde hair fell in pigtails across my shoulders. I wore a dark dress that went down to mid-thigh, and black heeled boots. For some reason, the picture seemed alien, like it wasn't me, as if I was someone else entirely. That was impossible though. I needed to stop being so ridiculous. As I went to move, I tripped a bit.
"Hey you okay ditz?"
The words echoed in my mind from some unknown place. I grabbed my head, extremely confused. The voice sounded familiar, but it couldn't be. The only person I've ever talked to was my Mother. Eventually I calmed down and my breathing slowed. What could that be?
Trying to get my mind of things I walked to the other computer, and automatically my mind analyzed the data. I started typing something in, and realized I messed up and put something about clowns instead of dolls. As I deleted it, puzzle pieces flew off of it, into some unknown space. This triggered something. I hit undo, and the puzzle pieces flew back, good as new. Why was this familiar? Of course I've deleted things before, but why did I notice it now? Why was it so important?
Flustered, I sent the dream. I needed to think, to compose myself. While I was walking my mind raced, searching and searching for answers. Then I passed a room that was oh-so-familiar. Memories flooded back, but this time it was more reassuring then painful. I exhaled, not even noticing I had been holding my breath, and then I walked into the room. It looked exactly the same. My hands gravitated toward the computer and I started searching through things, trying to figure out how to work it. When I finally did I smiled and even set a timer so I could get on the giant pillow, or what I now know as a bed, in time. When I sat down, I welcomed the feeling of sleep, smiling as I went back home.
~~~~~
When I entered I was out in front of the school. The sun shone brightly above me, blaring down on me. I smiled and felt the rays heat my skin. Then I just about ran to the place Ian and I usually meet up after school, winding between countless students. Once I saw him, a balloon of happiness swelled inside me.
"Ian!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. He turned around and flipped his hair and adjusting his backpack. I gasped and stopped, catching my breath. His face was scrunched up, as if he was thinking.
"How do you know my name?" He asked and I froze, everything inside me froze. My heart stopped beating, I stopped breathing. "I know it's not exactly uncommon but it's still not easy to guess."
"You're kidding…" I breathed, inaudibly. I felt a hole growing inside me, eating me from the inside. It felt like someone punched me in the gut, and tore my soul in two.
"Or are you an FBI agent!" he exclaimed, but by then I had stopped listening. I wished I never came back. I wished I never remembered. I wished I never let her take me. I wished I had never talked to that girl. I wished I had never woke up. I wished I had never dreamed at all.