Nathaniel lay in his bed listening to the familiar cracks and pops of his old house settling. Rain sprinkled the window and he felt calm and at peace. He closed his eyes and slipped into sleep.
He was in the blackness. There was no up or down, he had the sensation of movement but the inky black was all he could see. Nate felt a presence near him and he turned to see, all there was was the void. He could feel the presence become aware of him and at once he was in a open field with tall grass that touched his hands. The bright sun burned his eyes and he used his forearm to shade them. The smell of the place was somehow off. It was like a poor representation of an Earth farmland, as if someone saw a picture and assumed that is the way grassland was supposed to smell. He reached down and dug into the ground with his hand, the soil was soft but had no feeling. The earth felt more like cotton than dirt. Before he could dwell more on the strangeness of this new world he noticed a boy standing ahead of him.
The boy looked to be ten years old with long curly dark hair. His roundish face and button nose was accentuated by his small pursed lips. He looked as if he were about to ask an important question, but was hesitant. Nate waved to him as he stood, dusting the odd feeling dirt from his hands. The boy stood staring for an awkward time before he raised his arm returning the wave. Nate smiled. The boy seemed to notice his expression and was disturbed by it.
Nate awoke in his bed with a huge gasp of air, he felt that he had not breathed for a long time. He lay in his familiar bed, in his room on Earth and considered the dream of the alien planet and the boy.