The Dream

The boy was striding up a spiraled staircase, ascending through space. He looked below and could see through the clear glass steps that ascended from a vast and colorful spinning vortex that coned out of a cluster of stars. "Where am I?" His voice echoed into the endless sea of stars. Further ascending the stairs, but he did not know where they were taking him. They showed no ending insight.

He thought he must be dreaming, but it did not make it feel any less real. Noises seemed to echo back at him from far out in space. Staring off into the distance, he did not focus on one location, and was shocked at his lack of caution of falling off into the stars. The noises had been voices he had decided. Some voices sounded like people he remembered once, and some sounded like much further memories. He kept climbing.

Looking up again, he saw a blaring white light he believed must be a doorway at the top. It was strange, like a memory that was once lost, but remembered again. But it was there. He felt a sense of joy knowing he would probably wake up soon, for fear he may see what was inside of the door waiting for him. Why was he so scared? Actually, he had a tough time deciding what the emotion was that was exuding from his thoughts. It seemed to shift the appearance of the surrounding space.

Sometimes when he felt he was more terrified than anything else, the luminous twinkling stars surrounding him seemed to fade out, and when he was anxious and excited, they seemed more bright and vivid, and changed into cool blues, or bright greens. He kept climbing.

Finally, he reached the top, but in the moment of staring wide eyed into the lighted doorway, he felt no emotion and felt no sense of anything else around him. His vision was no longer aware of his surroundings, just the light, and he felt he was floating. Now shapes and colors began to appear through the doorway. He had not blinked in hours it seemed. He had tears streaming down his cheeks from the brightness pushing against his eyes. Was he crying? What was the reason for these tears? He had nothing to be sad about; it was just a dream. The most important and beautiful dream of his entire life he was sure. He dared not blink nor look away now.

Wind began to ripple around him as green and blue hues spiraled more frequently through the light. He smelled salt and felt sprays of water maybe, or maybe it was just the tears continually streaming down his cheeks. He was not crying, but the ocean felt like tears. He let the wind rip through him. Tears flew from his cheeks and began to wet his hair whipping behind him. Salt, it must be an ocean. What was this dream? Staring, waiting for what was to come.

His feet drenched in water now, and the ocean breeze and light seemed to work together and intensify. He still kept his eyes open, and they were burning now while the tears kept flooding. He had to close them; he had refused for as long as he could in fear of losing the feeling or sensations that were happening around him. He was not sure he wanted to be awake anymore. Eyes closed, he took a step forward; The water was at his knees now, and soon after he was neck deep in the water. A wave crashed over him, sending a roar that only the ocean could conjure. He felt himself being drug out to sea, he opened his eyes, they burned from the salt, but all he could see was blue, no top of the surface or a bottom to this place. He did not panic.

He swam, but was unsure in what direction. He swam until he had no breath left. He opened his mouth as the blue abyss filled his mouth and lungs. He closed his eyes as he let the salt fill his stomach drench his insides. Still no panic. Why panic when he felt no reason? More at peace is what he felt.

His vision went dark, light, and then dark again. His consciousness drifted in and out, he clung for any sense of awareness he could find in that moment, desperate to not let go of himself. He could no longer feel the ocean or taste the salt that had filled him. Tasting nothing, he felt nothing. There were no surroundings, and he was unsure if his eyes were open or closed. And then there was another light, faint at first, and then began to approach him ominously. Watching only. The light gave off no heat, and this light did not seem to burn his eyes. He realized tears were no longer streaming down his cheeks as he stared at the light piercing through the dark. This was a struggle between life and death. The light was winning, and this was a good thing he felt. The darkness seemed more evil the longer the two sides fought. Finally, the light over took everything and his lungs filled with air he did not realize he did not have.

Gasping, he took every ounce of air he could find there. Sucking in like it was the only source of life his body needed. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, until his body lurched forward, or was it upward? He could not tell here. Still no sense of direction. Again, his body lurched. Again... again... again.

It felt as if a bolt of lightning hit him, he thought he would die if another struck. Still seeing nothing but white, another hit, his chest seemed to explode, and suddenly his heart began to beat, something he had not realized that was missing.

Muffled echoes of voices were in his head again. He thought of his mother and father. The white still blazing around him. Looking at what he thought to be down, but could not see his body. Wanting to wake from this dream now was all he wanted. Death was peaking at him from a crowd of colors just outside the light. Finally, the sea of white flowing through his vision started to fade out, multiple colors followed, first the blue trailed in a thin line behind the white. Green colors in the shape of water droplets followed, and behind that red blobs dotted and danced behind it. His face felt cold. Moving his fingers he knew of his hands again, but they felt numb. The legs he once walked on, were no longer there. He began to cry again. Just as the tears began to fall, his eyes shot open and he could finally see.

He was in the middle of a city, the buildings and trees lining the sidewalks stood what seemed miles over him. A crowd of people muttering and some he could hear weeping. There was a man standing over him, but he could not see his face. He tried to speak but he couldn't. Rain was falling, and suddenly he could hear it hitting the concrete all around him. It seemed to pound on the umbrellas of the pedestrians littered around the scene. They all had no faces. Just blurred outlines. The man standing over him began to yell, but something muffled it in his ears. It was strange, he thought he knew this man, at least once before in another life, maybe. A woman came running to his side, they were both bawling. They clutched each other and turned their heads away. Something was wrong but he could not make himself understand the situation. He only understood the rain, the city, and the crowd around.

He lifted his head, there were flashing lights, reds and blues, and the leaves of the trees shone with the saliva of the rain still pouring down. An ambulance and police cars surrounded the scene with the crowd of people blocked off by a barricade. He could see he was in the middle of the street, and there was a crash of sorts close to where he was. Just behind the crowd of people was a very distinguished man, dressed in all black, with a black cane and black top hat staring at him. The man stood out from the rest of the crowd, and the boy thought he could point him out in a crowd of a thousand. The man in black nodded towards him, and the boy felt his head hit the concrete. His vision began to blur and shake. He closed his eyes. "Such a strange dream."