Over the Rainbow

Chapter 2: The Dreaming

Sarah lay in bed, eyes closed, twitching slightly from time to time. The back and forth of her eyes under closed lids indicated that she was deep into REM sleep; dreaming. The dream was always the same, at least this one was.

Exiting the restroom, Sarah tried to block out the blare of electric guitars and amplified voices coming from the stage. She had no idea what she was doing in a country bar in the first place. Maybe Jared would have an explanation.

She had no idea where Jared was, but glancing around the bar, she spotted him at a table near the back. She made her way to the table. It took some side-stepping and elbow action to get through the dance floor, but eventually she made it.

"So what I was saying is that this new game idea came from you." Jared spoke loudly to be heard over the music.

"Me?" Sarah asked. This came as a bit of a shock. "How did it come from me?"

As she pulled out her chair and sat, Jared finished his beer and began looking around for a waitress. He needed to get someone's attention to get the next round ordered. Sarah, still confused about finding herself here, tried to get his attention herself.

"Jared!" She shouted over the music, "What are you talking about?"

"The new game," he responded. "The one we've just started working on. It was your idea!"

"My idea?" Sarah was confused. She didn't know what she was doing here, she didn't know what he was talking about. She just knew she wanted to go home.

"Yeah," Jared continued without missing a beat. "I was telling Johnny about your match story and we got talking and came up with a cool idea for a game."

The matches! Of course. Why didn't she think of that herself? She was sure she had some left. While Jared explained the premise for the game, Sarah fished a small box out of her purse. Giving it a little shake, she could feel something in the box bouncing around. It wasn't empty. Trembling slightly, she slid the box open and saw that there was a single, gold-tipped match left in the box.

One more chance, she thought. If this doesn't do it, all is lost. While Jared rambled on about his new game, she took out the last match. Holding it out in the dim light of the bar, she regarded the little implement with trepidation. The band was playing something vaguely familiar. She had to listen to a couple of lines of the song before she recognized it.

"Over the Rainbow." She said to no one in particular. Over the rainbow, she thought. Didn't someone go over the rainbow? Dorothy! Dorothy went over the rainbow. But how did she get back?

Nodding politely to Jared, pretending to be listening, she ran the plot through her head. All Dorothy had done was click the heels of her ruby slippers, and say 'There's no place like home.' Could it be that simple? Could she just wish herself home? Could it really work?

She struck the last match.

That's where the dream always ended. Dreamland Sarah would strike the match. The world would go white and Realtime Sarah would wake up in bed, heart racing, head pounding. But once awake, there was no Jared. She had no magic matches. She was home, such as it was.

But why did the dream feel more real than real life? Why did she know Jared so well when he didn't seem to exist? Most importantly, why did this not feel like home. Not at all. Laying in bed she could still feel the heat of that match as the white light spread over her, wiping her world clean and delivering her to this strange place. The disorientation from the dream was terrible. More terrible than the lack of sleep she'd been experiencing.

Shaking off the lost feeling of waking from the dream yet again, Sarah got out of bed and headed to the kitchen to get some coffee. At least today is Saturday, she thought thankfully. Saturday's were search days. Jared, her dream date, was so real to her that she was absolutely sure she would find him if she spent enough time walking the city.