Passing Through

Chapter 2: Dreams

   Dreams have always been strange for me. Sometimes, I feel as if my dreams are real life events, like I actually went into Magical Candy Land and almost killed myself gorging on chocolate. Well, okay, I never really dreamed of a mystical sugary world. But you get the point. Occasionally, my dreams seem to be from the point of view of somebody else. Like, I would see a person doing things, going places, getting shoved off a cliff, and I would just feel like a ghost. I would trail behind and watch the other person get all the action. Though, that didn't stop me from enjoying the show. Like when my cousin, Brandy Yale, was having a nightmare, I wasn't the least bit afraid to laugh my head off at the fact that she was afraid of squirrels. Apparently, when I was stalking her dreams, she was having fun running from mutant furry rodents. I know. Priceless. But this time, I was having a different dream. One from my point of view, and I certainly wasn't laughing.

   It started with a sea of deep pretty blue. I was floating out in the middle of it, far away from any shore. I could taste the salt on my lips, feel the breeze in my hair, hear the seagulls in the distance. It felt oddly peaceful. A small voice in my head was freaking out about being stranded in a body of sea water, but I tuned it out. It's too nice here, too wonderful for distractions, I thought. I felt the need to soak it all in. Literally. My fingers slowly shriveled from the prolonged contact with water. Then, out of nowhere, a flash of darkness blinded me. Immediately, I felt strange, almost choked, and it was hard to breathe. Suddenly, I felt a tremor vibrate through the sea. A rumbling noise came from the bottom, and I jerked with surprise. Great timing. Just when I was starting to relax, I muttered to myself. I started swimming rapidly in a random direction, hoping I could find land. The peacefulness of the scene was suddenly gone, and all it left was a feeling of tension and an impenetrable darkness. My heart pounding, I swam faster as I heard thunder, this time from the sky. I glanced upwards as I thrashed through the water, seeing dark, thick clouds descending towards me. What the heck? I tried moving faster, but I felt my muscles protest at my urging. My mind was in full panic, my brain scattered all around. I wanted to stop to piece it together, but I felt like having a brain wouldn't help me when I was about to die. Die? How did that get there? What the heck happened to my peaceful dream..? Confusion shot through me, but I kept swimming, watching helplessly as somehow, lightning struck the water. I allowed myself to have some wonderful last thoughts: Oh no. No no no, water and electricity don't m-

ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPP!!!

   I screamed, my body feeling like it was burning; I realized with a start that it was. Flames licked at the curled ends of my hair, rising up towards my face. I shrieked and some rational part of me screamed, GET IN THE WATER, SKYLAR! I plunged down into the sea, barely managing to hold my breath. I waited for the dying sizzle of the flames, but when I glanced down, they were growing larger. I tried to yell, but forgot I was underwater, and succeeded in losing the air in my mouth. I gurgled as I struggled to surface, but it felt like there was something blocking my escape. Slowly, my hands drifted upwards, and I pushed against what seemed like a frozen sheet of ice. WHAT? No! Ice? That isn't possible. What's happening? I tried to crack the ice, but I felt my body sinking, going limp as my air supply dwindled. You're dying... a voice whispered in my thoughts. I sunk slowly, my ears popping as the pressure changed. After relentless fighting to swim upwards, I closed my eyes, inviting the calm of the dark to invade my body. I suddenly felt helpless. There's nothing I can do now...so what's the point in trying anymore?

   When I reached the seabed, I felt half unconscious. Everything seemed blurry and dragging, the slow waves of the undersea plants mesmerizing me. I felt my body land on the rough sand, and I sighed of relief. At least, I tried to, since I was stuck underwater, airless, and half dead. Sounds fun, doesn't it? I wished I could lie there forever, not alive, but not dead either. Some distant part of me wondered why I wasn't actually dead yet; I ignored it. I let loose of all my worries, wanting to lay in peace, and it felt wonderful. "This is your end..." a voice hissed, somewhere from the dark. I tried to jerk upwards, feeling fear course through me. Someone was here. Something was watching me. But no matter how much effort I put into it, I could not rise. After a few seconds of trying, my body tired, and I was forced to lay limp again. I gave up fighting; whatever was to happen, would happen without my physical input.

   I suddenly felt a feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not a feeling...THAT feeling, I realized. I was Passing Through something. I painfully managed to turn my head so the right side of my face grazed the sand. I felt my cheek sliding into it, the feeling in my stomach intensifying as my bottom half dissolved into the seabed. Well, at least I know that I can Pass now. Lucky me, I find out right before I die. Then, to my dismay, I feel a slow crash vibrate through me. What the heck? CAN I NOT DIE WITHOUT REMINDERS OF MY WORTHLESSNESS?

   I felt my shivering body react to the crash, slowly floating out of the sand, and up towards the surface of the sea. As I drifted upwards, my body gained speed, and before long I was hurtling towards the thick layer of ice on the surface of the water. I closed my eyes as I crashed into the ice, breaking it harshly, shards of ice digging into my skin. I shrieked as I shot upwards into the sky, higher and higher, straight into a thundercloud. As soon as I entered the cloud, lightning jabbed at me, and my body, frozen from the cold water, suddenly felt warmer. I blinked sluggishly at the flames that quickly consumed me, not caring what happened to me. I was gonna die, one way or the other. I didn't really care anymore. As I burned, I felt strangely okay, maybe even stronger. I felt a sweet warmth burst through me, and suddenly, my whole body burst too. I broke into a shimmering glittery dust, which gently swirled in the sea breeze. Somehow, even after I exploded, I knew what was happening. I noticed a bright light piercing the black that had consumed my dream. Huh. Who woulda thunk? I felt myself suddenly coming back together, and started falling again, towards the sea. It was right before I hit the surface, which had somehow turned back into water, that I jerked awake in bed.