The Dreamscape

The Hallway

Blank. My mind was blank. I had forgotten my name. I had forgotten how to move. It was as if I didn't feel anything. As if I was drifting in space. Not a single thought punctuated this peace. Hm, peace. Was that really the right word? I didn't quite seem to feel anything, either, so I suppose not. It was an odd occurrence, but as it was happening, it seemed as if it was all I knew. 

Slowly, however, I began to regain conscience. It began with the feeling of a rough carpet scratching my bare arms, which awakened my mind and stirred a distant thought or two. I began to remember who I was, where I came from, and... Oh, my. 

I shot up from where I was laying, ripping my eyes open. I hadn't really noticed until then that they were closed, oddly enough. But my last memory... my last memory. I screamed. 

The last thing I remembered was driving along the road. I had only just gotten my drivers license a couple weeks ago, and was quite anxious about driving alone in the night. Rightfully so. Because the last thing I remembered was a rouge diesel coming straight at my car. The headlights had blinded me, but I managed to swerve to the side. For just a split second, I heard an impact... and then that was it. That was as far as I'd remembered. I hyperventilated, trying to understand how this had happened, when I finally noticed my surroundings. 

I was sitting in the middle of an empty hallway, dimly lit, everything an off shade of white. It was completely empty, except for me, and the buzzing of fluorescent lights was the only sound. Well, it wasn't the only sound for long, because I screamed again. This time, a lot louder than the last. 

I scrambled to my feet, trying to figure out where I was. Was this the after life? Was hell really just a long hallway of nothingness? I tried to calm myself down, trying to think rationally. Ah, if only rational thoughts were a part of my personality. Alas, the stranger the idea, the more inclined I was to believing it. The hallway filled me with Deja Vu, as if I'd been there before, and I couldn't help but think of all those wonderful backroom and liminal space pictures I used to view when in need of comfort. 

Unlike most humans, I was quite inclined to those images. They brought peace to my soul, as odd as it may seem. Even as I stood there, in the odd hallway, I couldn't help but feel somewhat peaceful. A lot more peaceful than I probably should have been feeling, in any case. The lighting, the distance, the buzzing, the ability to make me feel more like I was in a dream than usual... it was all just so calming. I began to wander the hallway, which seemed like it would go on forever. There were no doorways, only endless walls sandwiching me between them. I am unsure of how long I walked. Time was funny, in that hallway. Time always seemed to pass slowly for me, in the real world, but in this hallway time seemed to completely stop. 

Somewhere, somehow, I finally came across a door. I paused at it, then lightly jiggled the doorknob, checking if it was locked. I found it was not, and gently opened the door, peeking my head inside of the little room. It was a small bedroom, with an antique bed in the corner, a matching chest, and a few old artworks hanging on the wall. It looked old and abandoned, the paint chipping, floor molding, and furniture covered in a heavy layer of dust. But what really took me by surprise was the women sitting on the bed. She was not human, mind you, not human at all. Well, I supposed her lower half was. All the way up to her neck, which cut off abruptly. A lantern seemingly floated above it, the old kind that people used to use for camping. She was dressed in a dulled pastel Victorian Era dress, the colors of soft pink and faded mint green. The lantern... her head, I should say, was unlit until I took a tentative step into the room. Then it lit up abruptly, and a small voice echoed the room. From whence this voice came, to this day I do not know. 

"Hello, newcomer." The lantern woman greeted, voice soft and calm. If I was to judge her age on her voice, I'd say she was a young lady in her early twenties. "I was not excepting you. You must be one of the sudden ones." She said with a small giggle. 

"I'm sorry, the what now?" I asked. This was so strange. Was I really now talking to an object head? One could argue that it felt like a dream, thus, it must be one. But one probably has not experienced the odd episodes I had. My life felt like a dream on a daily basis, so this could arguably be more than real. 

"A sudden one. Someone who has come to The Dreamscapes unexpectedly." the lantern head explained. 

"The Dreamscapes?" I asked. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that was every so slightly excited. It was as if I was Alice, and this was Wonderland. My version of Wonderland, anyway.

 "Ah, yes, the Dreamscapes. Tell me, what is reality?" she asked.

"Reality is what we perceive it to be." I answer automatically. 

"Then what do people mean when they say 'real life?'"

 "Real life is only what the collective believe it to be. A trend, if you will. So many humans believe it that they are certain it is a fact." I was unusually open to my views on life. Huh. Maybe this girl has some kind of persuasion over me. Or, perhaps the fact that I was in a weirdcore room talking to a floating lantern lady had something to do with it. Uh, yeah, probably the later. 

"Very good. But the truth, the whole truth? Nothing exists. Unless, of course, it has people to perceive it. But even then, one could argue that it technically still doesn't exist. You, me, this room. We're not even here. The only reason we feel we are, is because we believe we are. Now, will you do me a favor, and keep believing?" she asked, almost too serene. 

"Why, when I never believed it in the first place?" 

"Because it is safer that way. Anyway, to answer your question, when someone is too close to death, they enter the Dreamscape. Usually, they tend to only catch a tiny glimpse of it, but there are a certain few who suddenly storm in here for no reason. Perhaps it is fueled by that belief. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that you are one of the few who recognize the truth. In any case, The Dreamscapes are, as humans would say, a collective of alternate dimensions. Planes of nonexistence. Why we see them, remains a mystery. Perhaps we are all just the figment of someone else's imagination, someone who actually exists." 

"Perhaps." I agree, nodding slightly. The information was equal parts easy and hard to swallow. My sense of logic was completely revolted by it, but my emotions loved it. It just felt so right. "Existent or not, I really must get home, though. Can you please help me out of this place, this Dreamscape?" I ask, almost automatically. Much of what I do is automatic, really, but for once, I almost felt in control. Almost. Not quite. 

 "Of course. Although I warn you, child, it will not be that easy. In order to return to the dream that you know, the plane that you have inhabited for so long, you must first pass by many planes. Some are as small as a room, like here, whilst others are as large as your worlds, and still others literally infinite. Each plane has a doorway leading out of it. A gap between it and the next scape, per say." She gestured to her closet door, of which I had not noticed was there until then. The door seemed to shift... glitch, if you will... into a black void. Into pure nothingness, as far as humans would understand. "It will look exactly like this. If you truly seek a way home, I will be your guide. That's what I'm here for, anyway." She explained, another small giggle escaping her... lamp?

 "Thank you." I said, graciously. "But I must ask, what shall I call you?" 

"You may call me Annabelle, or Anna, for short. And you are Piper, am I correct?" She asked. I was slightly taken aback about her knowing my name, although I suppose it really shouldn't have surprised me, considering.

 "I am, yes." I respond. 

"Nice to meet you, Piper." She says, standing up and shaking my hand. 

"You too." I respond. 

She faced the gaping hole that was once a closet door. "Are you prepared for this journey?" She asked. I nodded. I really was Alice, it seemed. 

I took a deep breath, then walked into the hole, allowing the darkness to swallow me completely.