Adventures in Dreamscapering

liberating flight

"Where do you wish to fly over, Gwen?"

"I dunno."

"C'mon. Anywhere."

Max and I stood in an dark, empty strip of freeway with flashing electric billboards advertising gibberish on either side. I could hear the quiet roar of cars but there were none, not even going around us. The sky refused to go full black, instead going the deepest shade of purple that it could go without becoming absolutely and appropriately nighttime.

Max stood a little ways in front of me, looking absently at the flashing promulgations.

I looked ahead, there was a squat building with lights on the side of it that was just a block with window strips that almost appeared to be glued on black paper. I walked past Max to it; it appeared far away from where I was standing but as I walked down the freeway I found it was sitting just on the horizon like someone had dropped it there as a prop.

"What are you about to do?" Max called after me.

I pressed my hands to it, it felt like concrete obviously. I closed my eyes and pressed the pads of my fingers into the building until it turned to sponge.

"Hey, you're getting better at Dreamscapering." I could hear Max's smile in his voice.

I ignored him and began to climb the building until a short while later I reached the top. The now-foam building sunk slightly under my weight as I stood on it. I looked down off the building at Max, who waved cheekily. I smiled.

And then I leaned off the building and allowed myself to fall off belly first. The ground came up toward me like an elevator; the split second before I reached it I turned my chin away from the ground and shot into the sky.

"Ahaha!" I screeched as I flew. I did a loop-de-loop and my black hair smacked my cheeks and tickled my face.
I swooped down and looped my arms through Max's outstretched ones, picking him up and pressing him to me as we continued our flight.

I lifted my chin away from him after he attempted to kiss me.

I meant to do this  gracefully, but it ended up being a violent action that tore myself away from Max, causing him to fall.

"Eh! Sorry!" I called, and then flushed sheepishly when he reappeared beneath me, flying as well but on his back so he could face me.

"You are not getting rid of me that easily!" Max said, and then let out a loud fake laugh.

I raise an eyebrow toward him and he winks at me which for some reason makes me blush.

"Where are we going?"
"Space."

Max sends a wide genuine smile my way and I can't help but smile back even though I was very untrusting of him.

The billboards turned to tiny LED specks beneath us and then disappeared all together as they merged in with thousand similar spots in the ground.

"Higher?" Max asked.
"Is this outer space?" I retorted.
"I love you."

My curse word in surprise was muffled by Max pressing his lips in a quick motion against my own. He had an arm wrapped around my neck and his hand gripping my face like if he released he would die; I couldn't push him away it was like we were glued together.

I struggled anyway, and I considered waking up but instead I did what any aspiring dreamscaperer should do when they find themselves in space with a horny dream boy.

They dreamscaper up stars to burn some flesh.

Max tore away from me, groaning in pain. I opened my eyes from my almost-closed squint to see that we were no longer in space, but somewhere close enough: a dark room with suspended perfectly round light bulbs seemingly dangling on invisible wires. We floated precariously in the exact center--well, at least I did.

"Gwen!" There were bulbs pressed into Max's arms and burning his skin with a disgustingly satisfying sizzle. His face writhed in pain and he dipped his head down so I could no longer see his expression.

I float silently in front of him, watching the makeshift "stars" sear his skin. His shoulders shudder and I hear noises erupting from his mouth that I hoped sadistically were cries.

They were not. He looks up, his chest heaving and tears streaming down his face...but he was smiling!

Crazed laughter bursts from Max as he easily shakes off the bulbs; red welts in his pale skin sizzling off like water on a hot stove.

"Do it again!" Max called. I recoiled in confusion and fear and one of the lights burned my back fleetingly. I pushed him back with my mind so that he hit the black wall behind him and smacked into several hot bulbs on the way.

He kept laughing.
"You're doing great! You're getting stronger!" He shouted from his pinned position on the wall.

I wanted to hurt him more. I didn't know why really, I wasn't sure if I trusted him but I didn't intend to hurt him. Not like this.

Why did it feel so good? I pushed a lightbulb on its wire close to his face so he could feel the heat but not get burned.

Max snorted and sent a quick column of wind my way with his mouth, blowing the lightbulb from across the room until it reached me; all other bulbs dissolving into space. I grabbed the bulb and a scream bubbles out of my chest. I found that I couldn't let go. 

"Max. Max please." Max was controlling me, I couldn't move. 

"Don't be like that to me. I love you!" Max said. It felt like the bulb was soldering to my bones, tears burbled and spilled out of my eyesockets.

"Max! Sto--" I woke up with a flash, my pain disappearing instantaneously. My sheets had been knocked to the floor and I was dripping in sweat.

Phoebe stood over me.
"Um. Okay?" She said in her preteen sassy tone.

"Why are you in my room Phoebe?" I said, annoyedly sitting up. My dark hair stuck to my freckly tan skin in damp strips .

Phoebe put a strand of her own dark hair in the corner of her mouth and rolled her eyes.

"You were totally like screaming in your sleep."