Historical Hallucinations

3. The Pharaoh's Torture

John woke up, lying in a bed of sand.  His eyes were greeted by a blast of sand crystals.
He opened his eyes fully only to see the pyramids. The Egyptian pyramids!
The scorching hot sun pierced his skin. He was baking in an oven.
John thought he was dreaming, but it seemed too real for his imagination.
People were in the distance.  They were walking around gathering papyrus, but their tunics were old and torn.
"Am I in ancient Egypt?" he wondered out loud.  "Is this a dream?"
He walked even closer to the pyramids, seeing that those people were in fact the ancient Egyptians.
He heard screams behind him.  It sounded like Egyptian!
They surrounded John and pointed the spears. Shouting something in ancient Egyptian, the pharaoh approached the ring of death.
He looked straight into John's eyes. His eyes were a chocolate brown, which was also the color of his hair.
John tried to make out what he was saying, but it was pointless.
"Arkan gah ru," he said, wincing. It was just a mere guess, but they reacted.  The Egyptians looked back in horror, offended.
Did he say something in their language?
The pharaoh ordered his men to take John to the dungeon. They brought him in a temple.
All the faces of the Egyptian people were facing John as he was brought down to his doom.
The temple looked nice and ornate on the outside, but on the inside, it was depressing. The walls were made from old sandstone, and the floor as well.
No light shone in the temple. There was only one dim torch.
The pharaoh had John trapped in a tomb.
John knew he was dreaming. There was no way he would be hurt or he would die.
They held him down while the pharaoh inspected the intruder.
He yelled something in Egyptian, and four burly guys came in carrying a bucket.
They poured the steaming hot water into the tomb. John was smiling, but not any longer.
He could feel the boiling water! He tried to wiggle free, but the muscular men held him down.
The pharaoh was calling for more guards to come in when John woke up.
He was sweating in his bed.
He was glad it was over, but as he got out, his back burned. His back was burnt from the boiling water the Egyptians dumped on him.
The dream was a dream, but it was real!  How is that possible?
He felt everything they did. He felt them hold him down and he felt the lava.
His books were next to him.  At first, he thought this realistic dream thing was a curse. 
But John thought some more and realized that maybe this phenomenon wasn't so bad.  After all, he did have to study and review for the entrance exam.
These dreams were life-threatening.  He was basically awake and living while he was sleeping. He could be harmed during the dreams, which makes them dangerous.
What if he died before he woke up?
It was morning, so John decided to shrug it off and head down to grab breakfast.
He decided to take the opportunity to learn about history more. It would be a lot more realistic, perilous, and exciting than reading from the books.
John enjoyed the day, because at night, he would be taken to another place again.