TOO MUCH TIME

TOO MUCH TIME: PART ONE

PRELUDE

TAYLOR

Taylor felt as if he should be able to wake up but sank into darkness each time he tried.
Not that he was particularly inclined to begin the school day on a Monday morning, however he continued to feel a pulling sensation as if he were being drawn further downstream by a strong current.
It was an interesting sensation and it was as if wakefulness were in one direction but in the other, a different feeling entirely. He turned in this not asleep and not waking world, looking in the other direction with astonishment.
Bright points of light, stars maybe? He was in space and staring at a constellation or galaxy. No. He had seen images of star scapes before and this was in an entirely different formation. Perhaps it was the distance from his position or his perspective but it appeared as if this star scape began at a finite point, an astronomical distance away, and expanded into a widening funnel shape further into endless space.
Taylor wondered how far away he actually was and reached out but was startled to realize he had no hand, no fingertips. Then he understood he could see in all directions but that seemingly endless star formation was the only thing in view. Everything else in the three hundred and sixty degrees and three dimensional view was pitch blackness.
Unsettled, he decided to wake up. Hopefully it was still some time in the middle of the night and he would simply be able to roll over and fall back to sleep, musing only momentarily of the weird experience.
Yes, a deep sleep, shutting everything out. That's what he needed, however first he had to wake up.
Wake up, he told himself. The darkness disappeared as the star scape enveloped him.
No blink. No jolt.
There had been mostly darkness except for the bright spectacle before him and now he was overwhelmed by the light. Once he gathered what he could call his 'bearings' he realized he was surrounded by countless, shimmering specs. They were everywhere but he had no eyes to close to block the saturating glow.
Wake up, he told himself again and abruptly collided with a bright point, one of the countless prisms in this endless realm and...
...he was in the early morning darkness of his room, still seeing in all directions and directly below was, him?
His body lay star fished on his twin bed.
Amusingly he thought of how he looked much too large to be comfortable in the twin bed.
This had to be a dream. He wasn't that broad and tall in real life. At least that is not how he saw himself.
Again, he thought, well this is really weird. However, he was relieved the starscape was gone. He no longer floated in mostly empty space but he was still levitating in his room. He decided to take a moment to enjoy the sensation.
Of course he had flown, sort of, in previous dreams but it had always been a clumsy affair. Now he was amazed that he clearly felt awake despite seeing his body beneath him, as well as the entirety of his room. There was no haziness. Everything was moving in real time.
Then there were new sensations; points in different directions, pathways he could follow.
He knew he could follow them because of the slight pulling sensation as he had felt when being enveloped by the starscape. Briefly he thought about letting himself drift towards the closest point but decided against it. This was getting too weird, after all.
More strangeness.
Beneath him he saw his body twitch and his eyes open.
Taylor decided this was enough.
His body rushed towards him and the familiar and comforting foggy, grogginess took over. It was relieving to feel the sheets, blankets, and pillows against his body as he began to stretch in bed.
Taylor closed his eyes and arched his back in a full body stretch but jerked with a start.
There had been a darker shadow in the blackness which had been pulled away as he awoke, the unmistakable outline of a head and outstretched arms receding with a jolt.
Taylor swore under his breath and without looking reached for his nightstand to grab his phone.
A little past three in the morning.
He put the phone back and shook his head, then glanced to his left, the direction in which the unmistakable human formed shadow had receded.
After looking in either direction, then up, Taylor shrugged and decided he would go back to sleep.
Another shitty day at school waited for him later that morning.