My eyes spring open as my body hurdles to its feet. My vision is a blur at first, but eventually clears. As soon as I look up, I realize it must be past midnight, but I can’t be sure. A plethora of stars sparkle like a flash of blinding light. However, they are the most noticeable thing in a sky that looks like a brush of black has passed over it. This may be a dream, but I can’t be sure. Ever since that night ten years ago, all of my dreams start like this. The memory of the murder lingers in my dreams; I can sometimes smell the blood when I wake up in a cold sweat. I was taking a quiet stroll through the park. Living by the ocean it is only natural to walk this path. I cross through the shady pines into a clearing. The sky is so still, time could be stopped, and I would never find out. I walk a few steps to reach a cliff. It may be midnight, but these strolls are an everyday thing for me. The path that lead me here is a form of cobblestone that can only be born with age. I hear voices, but immediately brush them off. They get louder and louder. In fact they may be yelling. I turn as I hear a gun fire its bullet. A body fall with a thud as the mossy cobblestone stains with blood so red that I almost vomit. I start to run, but am greeted by a bullet in my calf. There is so much anxiety jolt from my head to my feet that I don’t even feel the bullet. I escape to my house; my ears are ringing and my blood is falling. I was then sent to the hospital and invited to court. After the murder, at the trial, I was called to the stand. I saw the killer lip something to me, and me only. He said “I will get my revenge on you”. He was then sentenced to eight years of prison. He has been out for two years; maybe more if he was good, but God knows that wouldn’t happen. My nightmares get worse and worse every day and every night. He will come for me and that is a fact I will not want to deal with once the time comes. I soon snap out of my thought ridden brain and back to reality; I realize it has been at least ten minutes when I see the cloudy moon has shifted positions.
I walk for a while; meanwhile, my shoes leave size nine imprints in the well groomed grass behind me. For the first time, my dream my not be as far from reality as I thought; is it a dream? I start to wonder. It is far too peaceful for one of my dreams. Before I can finish my thoughts, I nearly walk of a cliff not paying attention to where I am going. I maybe would have if I haven’t heard the sound of salty ocean water smash into the cliff. Down below me the ocean waves attack the wall; crashing into it every once in a while, it’s quiet but loud enough to hear. For the first time, as I look down, I notice my jeans are faded and my leather shoes are worn. The silence overtakes what little wind there is. For an Autumn night, it is surprisingly warm. As the feeling of tranquility begins to rule for the first time, I recognize where I am. Fear strikes my whole body as I fall on the puffy grass, which cushions my not so elegant fall, I recall that this is the location of the murder years ago. I start my rough ascend, but I hear footsteps behind me. I brush off what I heard, but then I remember that on the way here I saw no one. I turn around knowing that I need to scurry home. Before I finish my turn, I see a face that has haunted me for the past ten years. I have an option to run, but my legs are uncooperative. The fear stops as cold hands hit my chest.
I hear nothing at first, then it hits me. The killer is laughing, and the sky is whistling by my cold ears. I hate this sound, but it’s not like I get a say. I cover my ears, but he sound is almost too painful to bear.The ocean evens out the rest with its occasional splash. Death is so close I can almost hear it call my name. What s my name? Panic strikes me; I don’t know my own name. All sounds I heard before escape my hearing. I decide it may be best to focus on something else.
It smells nasty ,at least I think. My nose has never been very good; it’s either stuffed or filled with a rotten smell. But this is worse than all of that; this is plain awful. The ocean wreaks of fish, and the cliff smells of mud and clay combining. This may be why I don’t fish; I can’t stand the smell of fish. I decide to look down at my chest, for it’s colder than the rest of my body.
For the first time, I realize I have no shirt. I am in freefall and denial of the fact death is what is hitting the back of my neck, not the wind. Although I may die at any moment, the wind feels nice on my back. My shoes slip off and my feet are free to enjoy the wind. This is one scenario that has never happened in my dreams. My mind is surprisingly at ease; it matches my body. Ocean water hits my back as an aftermath of its battle with the wall. My eyes sting from the salt in the air; however, I don’t mind. If this was a dream, I would have awoke to an empty to room, my room.
As I realise I have no clue how far down I am, I open my eyes with a haste as fast as the rate of which i’m falling. The night sky is a breathtaking one; fitting for my last one. My attention to detail before is nothing compared to right now. The stars look like someone flicked a brush of light onto a canvas of black; the canvas of God. I stare up to the skies and imagine a spring at the bottom that will either send me up to Heaven or let me pass straight through. I force a change in my body and look down. The water would be still if it weren’t for the tides. If I was going to live, this may have become my favorite color. My fear is so strong that I swear I could see it for a brief moment. Is this the end to my pitiful life? My life of living in fear waiting for him to come. I pictured my death so many ways, but this was never one of them.
My head rings with thoughts that replay over and over. Before I realize how close I am to the spear of a rock below me, my stomach rips through my side with the force of an elephant sprinting with full speed. Blood fills my mouth accompanied by a foul sample of death. I shut my eyes hoping the pain will ease from my side. It fails. My hands rush to cover the wound, but a rock covers the gap. The hole grows larger and larger as the force of gravity pulls me down. I hear the crackling of my ribs as I struggle to free my torn up body. The more I try to escape, the more rock shows up on the top of my side. I clench my teeth; however, my tongue flies out before my teeth crush down. I scream hoping someone will hear me and come help me.
My eyes fly up and with my body to see a peaceful night sky. The pain is diminished and my tongue is still attached. Hands paddle my side; there is no hole. I check the moon and it’s at the position it was when I first woke. I stumble to the cliff where I fell; however, what I see makes me throw out my lunch. My eyes jolt away from the cliff. My dead body haunts my vision. I am pinned on a spherical rock. Pain fills my body as I remember first hitting the rock. I try to sprint away, but am greeted by two forceful hands at my chest. I slip once again. I close my eyes and shut out the world. My two bodies combine after a couple seconds and my eyes awaken once again. I don’t remember my name, but I remember all of the pain as I roll over. I tune out everything as I close my eyes, and drift into an endless dream of pain.
I think of all the things he could have done, but why would he do this. He probably never even meant to get revenge. I hate that man with passion. I wish I would just die; no, he wouldn't be nice enough to just kill me. He needed to give me something worse than death. Multiple deaths? No, he wants me to suffer in an endless nightmare. Why now? Why not ten years ago?
I wake with a start only to see air below my body which is in freefall once again. It is still night judging by the sky. I turn and see hundreds of bodies below me; my bodies. How many times have I fell off this cliff? Will I ever wake up? No. I will never wake up because this is the reality I am locked in. When he said he would get his revenge, he meant it. Not physically, but mentally. I scream with anger knowing that I will never wake up to real life. Maybe I already have, but who could possibly know. My brain feels like someone has restrained it from waking up. I stare up. I see something that makes me hate that guy more than I already do. I see myself. How could I be the one push me off of this cliff. I convince myself that this is just an illusion. I can’t. I can’t do it. I force myself to break the air resistance and point my feet. I feel a pain only a murderer can bring. My eyelids shoot up, and I see blackness. I push up, but something blocks my way. I push with all the force my wrecked body can muster. A lid pops up in front of me, and I sit up. I was in a coffin. anxiety hits me so hard I fall on my back. I stand up to see my least favorite place; the cliff. I see a face that I have hated for the longest time. I sneak up and yell “You are a monster!” I steal the killers gun, gun and aim it firmly. It’s a nice gun. The black fits it perfectly. I squeeze the rounded trigger, and his body falls flat. I feel good for one second before I see a familiar face. Without second thoughts I fire a second piece of death at the man. It hits him in his calf,but he keeps sprinting.
In the next few days, I am held in jail. At my trial, I am testified by a fourteen year old boy; that boy is I. I fill up with so much hatred that I tell that kid something that I heard ten years ago. I lip to him “I will get my revenge on you.” I am then hauled off to prison for eight years. When I get there I see many prisoners, and they all look like me.
