The Unsatisfying Trilogy

2nd story: Lucid dreams

"You can't enter," the mouldy tomato said through shrivelled lips. 

Thomas kicked the soil and walked up to the tomato guard. He was going to protest his right to enter the bar. It was his dream anyway.

"Uh yeah I can," Thomas's voice was dry, he needed a drink, "I must get some water. Is there anywhere in this hellhole of my mind that I can get any H20?"

"Thomas, I get it. You've been queuing up for ages and you've found out you can't enter." the tomato scowled.

"Not just that! I've been in this stupid nightmare for ages and I want to wake up!" Thomas poked the tomato and it moved to the side, "When will I wake up? Can anyone here tell me! Anyone?!"

Thomas had been stuck in a continuous dream for what seemed like hours. His mind and body were trapped in surreal and bizarre worlds that kept getting more peculiar by the second.

But what was worse was that he knew he was dreaming, aware.
He was desperate to wake up, to return home.
Yet doubted he ever would...

Everything vanished, including his tears and Thomas was back in his hub. He called it his hub because just silence and his thoughts existed there. He had space from the crazy dreams hallucinations. 

"My name is Thomas Evans and I'm dreaming. I'm eighteen and live in Australia with my half-deaf mum. I can speak Arabic, English and French. My dad lives in South Africa and is a rich engineer." he repeatedly told himself, so he wouldn't forget, for forgetting was easy in dreams.

He did this every time when he was in his hub. Then he would try and think of escape. Pinching himself didn't work. Neither did panicking. So instead, he would close his eyes and relax, trying to get into deep sleep. Yet this mindfulness technique hadn't helped him yet.

His hub disappeared and Thomas was back in hell.

He was back in another dream.
Another strange world created by his mind.

Thomas looked around, examining what he had to work with.
He was in a freezing swimming pool that somehow blended into a larger lake. There was a hilly landscape in the distance that stretched out for miles.
Large spruce trees covered the nearest mountain, which was frosty and didn't look too appealing. If Thomas explored that area, he could freeze to death. He knew he couldn't properly pass away in dreams but the experience would still be unpleasant... 

The other mountains were plain green grass and bubbling with beautiful wildlife. They reflected perfect images of themselves on a crystal clear lake.

Now, they looked safe.

As he was bored in this false reality, Thomas needed something to cheer him up. These mountains were extremely fascinating to look at. Exploring them would be even more fun!

"What's your name?" croaked an elderly man who appeared out of nowhere, most of their face hidden from blades of grass.

"Thomas," Thomas told the man, not paying too much attention.

The man already knew his name. After all, the man was made from Thomas's thoughts.

"I'm in a dream, so that means you're not really real. So go away and question your existence while I enjoy this weird world," Thomas walked away towards the hills.

"You're a feisty one," the man was smiling.

With his crooked walking stick, he slowly made his way in the opposite direction as Thomas. Then he faded into false air, back into Thomas's subconscious. 

"Creep. See you next time I dream you up," Thomas greeted the man farewell. 

He continued walking.

"Why are dreams so god damn fast moving?" he told himself as he slowly strolled towards the hills.

However, there was something much more interesting that caught his eye... 
Thomas's broken heart lit up when he saw, under a collection of forests and mountains, a small valley and spring. It was a beautiful sight, something that only existed in fantasies.

He ran towards it, eager, desperate and completely driven by a desire. Through sun glares and clear sky, Thomas saw that he was getting closer.

So close.

He ran and ran and ran and ran... and kept running.

Closer.

His legs were still moving.

Closer.

Almost there.

Closer.

Just one more minute.

Then he he realised it, shouting, "are you kidding me? It's one of these dreams isn't it!" 

Thomas was going nowhere.
His mind was playing tricks on him, fooling him. 

It entertained itself with building dream clichés like this.

Thomas had experienced many dream stereotypes in his life: ones when he kept drowning, ones when he was naked in public, ones when his car crashed and fell into the sea and so on.

Yet in this lucid dream he was trapped in, things like this were much, much more worse. Nothing looked real, but it all felt real. Things were way more serious, way more deadly. Thomas had no control whatsoever on what would happen next, he just had to go with the flow. 

And that's when Thomas's whole mind flowed in a separate direction...
This was the moment when Thomas woke up.