Dreams: A Compilation of Short Stories

Story V: The Midnight Pool

I'm ill, very ill, and I don't have much longer. I'd rather die in the forest than in this bland hospital room. It's absolutely sickening and reminds me of porridge, tasteless with bland chunks of grain, except you can put berries or sugar in your porridge. There is no sugar to sprinkle on death, it's the cold reality of life.

Am I asleep now? Great. Eight hours of not having to deal with a cold fever and shaking muscles. I can be free at last, and so I wait for a dream to begin. Suddenly I jerk awake, but I do not feel sick anymore; I just assume it is going to hit me in a second. I begin to lower myself back down onto the pillow, dreading the wave of nausea that is sure to come...but it never did. Am I cured? No, that's crazy, impossible to say the least. The doctors said I was sure to die within the next week.

With my newfound energy and wellness, I urge myself to sit up. How long have I been laying in this bed now...a week? Months? A year? Whatever the case, it feels too long. I swing my feet over the bed and let them touch the cold floor. I force myself to stand, feeling dizzy for a few seconds. It did not compare to what I felt before. This feels like a new me, different, yet somehow the same.

***

I step out into the cool, night air. I take a deep breath and feel my lungs inflate below my skin. I can control my breathing now without violently shaking. There is no one else around at a time like this, and there are no hospital staff- I guess they just went home for the night.

The hospital parking lot is silent and eerie. Bordering it is a forest of large firs. It's pitch black under the starry night sky. I notice a light in the trees, sparking curiousity. I begin to stumble towards it.

***

I find myself in front of a large building in the forest. The light I saw before was now a dim emission radiating from the glass sides of the building. I walk in; it was a large pool. I feel the urge to dive in, but something is holding me back. It is a voice, shooting down my desire to dive in....yet another is telling me the opposite. It is a battle in my mind. Finally I make up my mind-I jump. I feel the liquid surround me as I sink in. It is comfortable, and warm. It's a lot deeper than I first thought. I keep dropping.

It starts getting colder, and darker. Goosebumps spread across my arms. I feel small shards of ice brush my sides. I could not see. I feel my body gradually become numb. Slowly, I rest on the bottom of the pool: a clean, freezing, slab of ice. I feel the cold climbing up my arms and legs, and I know it's heading towards my heart. I am here alone, my heart being consumed by the cold. It's frozen now. Am I gone?

What a strange nightmare...