The Life of a Daydreamer

#2

                I find myself in the dark. There’s nothing and no one but pitch black. I believe I’m closing my eyes. I can feel myself lying down on something, something soft like silk. I caress it with my fingers and it feels like strands, maybe long strands of silk. It’s so soft and addictive. I just want to lay here all day and feel its tempting touch.

            I could hear birds tweeting nearby and smell the scent of dirt. Am I outside the school? Then a soft breeze welcomes my stable body, resurrecting it from death. I could feel my whole body tinge with spirit and strength. There is no adrenaline to feel but little goose bumps on my shoulders.

            My eyes are still closed till a light worked its way through my eyelids, sending a wakeup call to my hidden eyes. I open them very slowly. First it was a blurry shade of white, and then the view becomes clear. At first I rub my eyes, for two times to see if my mind is playing games on me, but no, what I am seeing is real and it is beautiful.

            It could be something out of a painting or an edited Instagram picture. I see the sky, in a warm color of blue. There are huge white puffy Cumulus clouds flying over me. I’ve never seen clouds like this, because of pollution, all I see every day is the same blue sky with white Cumulus clouds, but smudged with gray. It ruins its image and the picturesque sky will never been enjoyed by the generations to come.

                I stand up, and I see that what I thought were strands of silk are actually blades of grass. I touch it again and they are softer and finer than silk. I wonder what kind of grass this is, because never in my life have I come across it. But instead of admiring a special kind of grass, I need to know where I am.

            To my surprise I really don’t know where I am. All I could see is a huge bed of grass leading through the horizon. The wind is still breezy and hits my face. I turn around to see that not all lead to an endless horizon.

            It is like a painting painted out of a canvas. The sky is still blue with white and puffy Cumulus clouds, but not anymore did I see an unending bed of grass. I saw a dirt path. On its sides are apple trees - to the right, and tall gigantic stalks of wheat to the left. But I didn’t seem to be in a farm because the planted apple trees and the stalks of wheat are also unending.  What I find magical about it, is that when the sun’s rays emit on the apple trees, it’s like it is varnished with a transparent kind of coating making it shiny, while the stalks of wheat bathe in glamour and luxury of the sun.

            Ahead of the path is nothing but a forest with various trees. Since I don’t have an idea where to go, I walk unto the dirt path with my black converse shoes getting dirty from the cloud of dust and dirt. Even though it is sunny and the temperature would make me want to perspire, I didn’t. It’s such a hot looking day but it is cold, not freezing cold, just cold. I can feel the chill of the breeze as it touches my bare legs. Wearing shorts today didn’t seem like a good idea. It is a good thing that I wore a plain vintage t-shirt and not one of those sleeveless kinds or else I’d be an ice cube right about now.

            The path isn’t that far from the forest. It was like 100 meters from the bed of grass. As I enter the land of a billion trees, a kind of aura changed. I could see that the sun’s rays are flowing through tiny openings above and through the trees. The light makes it glow, giving it a magical vibe. I feel like I’m in that movie where a teenage girl falls in love with a blood-sucking vampire. I think the movie was called Twilight. I just hope I don’t bump into a vampire. I was never a big fan of them anyway.

I keep wandering through the forest. Its mysteries gave me that curiosity of a child's. Certainly a place like this doesn't exist in a world like mine, does it? If so, the first thing that pops into my head is Europe. I've read book about it and its natural sceneries that reach out as far as the eye can see, the cool weather that is like a drug to a European's lungs, and the rich culture I would've love to know about. But how on earth would that be possible? I live in cold and friendly Chicago, in the United States. Is it possible to travel like that in a span of a minute? Of course not! A regular flight from the U.S. to Europe would take hours. This is so bizarre. If I'm not in Europe, where am I?

When I thought I was I alone, I am mistaken. I hear a rustle of dry leaves nearby. The leaves are being stepped on. I'm feeling nervous and scared. I am all alone in a place I don't even know, and there could be someone with me who is a complete stranger. Will he kill me? Rape me? Ransom me? I'm just overreacting. I should calm down.

My fingers are going numb and chilly. I'm deciding to either see who it is or run for my life. The second choice sounds reasonable and a person with half a mind would choose it. But without thinking straight, I came closer to the sound of the rustling leaves. I crept closer to the sound; I notice that it's behind a huge oak tree. Fear is creeping in slowly. I could hear a thriller music playing in my head. I begin to imagine what could possibly happen.

A large man with an axe surprises me and pins me to the ground. I cannot scream for his bushy beard covers my entire mouth. It'll be terribly disgusting. He raises his axe above him and swings it through my neck, slicing it like a piece of soft butter. He then stands up and leaves my deceased body to serve as the fertilizer for this magical forest.

I peek behind the tree and something pushes me to the ground. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream for help.

I couldn't hear a voice so I open my eyes to find a squirrel on top of me. It's carrying an acorn with its two little hands. I stop screaming and just look at it. It's a brown-colored squirrel with huge coffee black eyes. Cute would be an adjective to describe it.  It is quite embarrassing to realize that a tiny little squirrel could scare me to death.

It watches me with observant eyes as it stares into my soul. It knocks on my forehead and then scurries away, carrying with it its pride of joy - the acorn.

Since being lost in these woods would seem like a horrible idea to conclude, I followed the little squirrel. I watch as its little paws move in quickening speed. It moves from tree to tree yet visible for me to see. It is because of its little bushy tail, giving it away as it clambers on to the wooden arms of the trees.

"Hey! Could you slow down?! Wait?!"

I've been screaming at it for about five minutes now. The little guy hasn't stop yet. This is without a doubt, very tiring. Imagine yourself running after a squirrel, hoping to see civilization nearby, well, think again. I don’t mind running, it's just where could it possibly go? That I will have to find out for myself.

The woods seem to go on forever. Is everything in this place unending? Is there no end to what I keep seeing? I finally give up. After a few minutes of chasing a squirrel, I stop. I fall unto my knees and I hear the leaves rustle as it came into contact with my legs. Sweat is dripping all over my tiresome face. I wipe it off using my hands since I didn't bring along a handkerchief.

I look up to see that the squirrel is gone with the wind. But I notice something as I stare above. Glistening like stars in the sky is light. Light that is twinkling through the leaves. In the woods with trees as large as a giant, never did I see such majesty.

It feels like I'm back at home, at the park, under the shade of an old oak tree. When I'm tired and just wanting to relax, I sit under that tree and look up. I imagine I'm looking at the stars, mesmerizing stars, like diamonds in the sky. I never saw stars in my entire life. Light pollution is increasing like race cars nowadays. You can only see stars outside of cities but then I've never left the city of Chicago.

I rest under one of the trees and thought on how I can get back to where I am from. But nothing seems to be logical enough. Where am I going to start? I'm lost in the woods for crying out loud!

Suddenly, I hear something. Is that laughter? Finally a person! I quickly get up and wipe off the leaves that hung unto my clothes and hair. I tie together my shoelaces and made a dash to wherever that sound is.

All I'm feeling right now is pure excitement. Yes! A person is nearby maybe he/she could help me find my way back. The wind blows its way to me, sending shivers of adrenaline through my veins. I feel like I'm joining the Olympics. Jumping over fallen branches, hopping on rocks over a river, and sliding down steep lands. All I can say is that the forest is huge, probably bigger than Central Park in New York City.

The laughter is growing louder and louder until I come to a halt. Ahead of me are still trees but further is nothing but a bright wall of light. The laughter is just through there, so I went closer. Now, only the wall of light is my obstacle. It burns my eyes. I put my hand through it and pulled it back. My hand seems fine and nothing weird happened to it. “This is such a strange place. It just gets stranger and stranger,” I said to myself. So with every gut I still have, I walked through that wall of light and blindness took over. I close my eyes for it hurts. I wonder what lies ahead.