Freedom of the Wild

After : Revolution

I was drowning. I struggled to keep afloat in the cold, clear water. No matter how much I moved my arms and legs, I just continued sinking into the depths. Bubbles floated up from my nose. I tried to grab them, but they were too far away. Gurgling noises came out from around me. The fishes of every colour and size hung above me, as if they were discussing about me, how I was drowning. I called to then for help, palm opened towards them. They swam down but kept their distance from me, and danced around one another, as if taunting me. I ran out of air.

My world changed. Now I was sitting beside a tree, staring at the broad horizon. From the west, red shapes emerged, and they seemed to be chasing one another. Whenever one touched the other, both would drop down from the sky. Then the sky shifted from daylight to nighttime like someone pressed a button. It started raining. No storm clouds were in sight. I heard thunder. And a flash of lightning struck the tree beside me, unrooting it from the ground as it slowly toppled down, onto me.

I gasped as my body moved forward. I awoke. And I had such weird dreams that I wondered if I was still in one right now. The blinding sun shone its blazing rays on me and I winced from the unexpected impact. Soon, I got used to it. I grabbed my backpack and trotted down the slope. Nobody was in sight. There was still a slight throbbing in my head. I continued my journey towards the city, hoping to find civilisation. I spotted a man. He was standing by a car parked along the street. I crept behind a wall and watched him closely. All of a sudden, three of what seemed in their mid-twenties popped out with baseball bats in their hands. It intensified my curiosity. The man turned around. He was holding a steel pipe in his hand. The young adults charged at the man, one pinning him to the ground and the rest hitting him with their bats. It was gruesome, but I wondered why the man didn't even shout or scream in pain, nor call for help. They beat him until blood pooled around his lifeless corpse. I withdrew my head, horrified at what I had just seen. So this was the new world. I pinched my left arm and it hurt. So I'm not dreaming.

With a new sense of courage and natural survival instincts that came to me, I went to face the distinct world.