Mr. Misty-Eyed | Josh Dun

dream sequence | five

Even with my eyes wide open it was as though they were closed. Nothing could be seen. But this was different from the other times. Unlike those dreams where I could make out just the slightest bit of the world around me, here I could not. This darkness was filled with nothing. No one.

I let my eyes close as I inhaled a deep, cleansing breath of air. I welcomed the feeling that came along with knowing there was no immediate danger, but I still stood rigid in my spot, wondering when it would change. Safety was never an option in my dreams and as I realized that fact, the calm feeling I had started to dissipate.

A breath escaped my parted lips as I once again opened my eyes. With a few more intakes of air I knew it was time to move away from where I stood. The idea that my shadow would find me faster if I stayed in one place for too long pulled at the back of my mind.

As I took only a single step I knew there was something wrong. I hadn't even realized my hands were shaking until I reached one out into the black nothingness around me, my fingertips tracing along the thin sheet of glass that had halted me in my place. It was then that my heart started to beat just the slightest bit faster.

I whirled around, once again reaching out and coming into contact with the same glassy material. With one last attempt to figure out my surroundings, I held both my arms out to each side of me and as they stretched out as far as they could, they too touched the same surface. My fears came to life as I knew then that I was boxed in with nowhere to run and hide.

Though the air I stood in was temperate, I could feel how cold the glass was as I ran my fingers across it, which meant I was either surrounded by sheets of ice or the air outside was below freezing. I prayed, hoping that I would never come in contact with it. My eyebrows furrowed together as the familiar sound of running water filled my ears.

I let out a surprised yelp, water splashing under my feet as I stumbled backward until my back was pressed up against the wall behind me. My body crouched down as I felt around the area in search of where the water was coming from, but there was nothing. The water continued to rise, now up passed my ankles.

I shot up to a standing position, reaching my arms up into the air above me to find that there was indeed a ceiling to this torture chamber. Involuntary tears formed in my eyes as my arms fell limp at my sides. My shoulders trembled as I ducked my head, letting a few salty tears stain my cheeks. There was nothing I could do. My mind was giving me no options but to submit defeat and give in to the inevitable. Why couldn't I be normal? Why couldn't I dream of peaceful skies and pretty girls like everyone else?

As the water continued to rise, so did my body. I let out a cry as I reached my hands up to push against the ceiling. My feet kicked rapidly to try and keep my body afloat, not yet wanting to give in to what I knew was coming. The water quickly reached my chin and I tilted my head up to keep my nose and mouth from consuming any of the liquid. Only a few more inches until there would be no air left to breathe. I began to hyperventilate, sucking as much air into my lungs as I could before, much like this box, they filled with water.

Just as I took my final breath, waiting for my mind to go blank, something pulled at my legs. Unexpectedly, the water around me dropped along with my body as the floor to the glass box disappeared. As I had assumed the air outside was cold and as my drenched clothes came into contact with it, a light layer of frost formed. My clothes stiffened as I continued to descend through the darkness.

As I plummeted downward I reached my arms out, flailing slightly, hoping I might catch something to stop me from falling any further. My ears pop from the pressure and my breath grew unhinged as I violently search through the dark. The nothingness that consumed the space around me started to fade into a hazy grey and then quickly into a pure white, a white that I could only associate with freshly fallen snow.

The impact of my back colliding with an unbreakable surface was nothing I could ever prepare myself for. A loud cry left my lips as my entire body convulsed in pain, my head rocking back until it too hit the ground just as hard. My vision blurred from the unexpected blow, my head lolling to one side. I couldn't breathe as the wind had been completely knocked out of me and I couldn't move from the incredible pain that coursed through my body.

The icy tundra around me went in and out of focus and before I could fully take in my surroundings the shadow I was so fearful of jumped into view, it's devilish laughter filling my ears before blanketing me in darkness.

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