*Hey guys, I'm back! I just wanted to say that there were a few things in this chapter that needs a bit of touch-upping (can't think of another word haha) so try to ignore any unexplained information or actions for they will be resolved in later drafts. :D
Chapter Four
I woke up, expecting to find myself back inside the hospital. Is the surgery over? I thought.
My eyes were still closed, but I could already tell that something wasn’t right. I moved my hands around, feeling them scrape against something that felt like shredded paper.
Is that . . . grass?
I could feel the sun’s warmth against my skin, and my clothes were extremely baggy. I wasn’t in the hospital gown anymore. What’s going on . . . ?
The buzzing of insects approached my ears, clarifying that I was outside. But why? Wasn’t I in the operating room before I fell asleep? Shouldn’t I be in bed, recovering right now?
I took the risk and slowly opened my eyes. The sunlight blinded me, and I shielded it with my hand. That’s when I realized something extraordinary: I can move. The harmful effects of the car crash were no longer apparent in my body, and I felt as if I could do practically anything. But the only thing convincing me that I wasn’t dead were those two words floating around in my mind: I’m dreaming . . . I’m dreaming . . .
Once my eyes adjusted to the light, the scene emerged in front of me. I was sitting in the middle of a vast, open plain, dotted with flowers pink and white alike. A forest lay behind, it’s undergrowth blazing with life; two deer, dozens of yellow butterflies that radiated an orange light, and I swore that I spotted an overgrown grasshopper off in the distance. Huge Roman-like columns towered above the trees, odd engravings etched into their sides.
Up ahead, I could see that the meadow ended in a sharp cliff, giving way to a swampy flatland with some odd triangular structure. Almost like the pyramids of ancient Egypt, only this one was metallic, and the second half was hovering about ten feet above its base, which was rooted to the ground. At the top of the second half sat a golden gazebo, two statues of a boy and girl standing proudly on the roof.
I stood up and stretched out my arms and then rubbed my hands together, realizing how real everything felt. The friction of my palms rubbing against one another caused heat, something that would happen in the real world.
But wait,I thought, if this is a dream, why is everything so . . . tangible?
I bent down and plucked a couple flowers from the ground. I pressed them against my nose, inhaling their sweet scent. Even the scents seem real.
I didn’t understand what was happening, but those same two words kept popping up in my head.
I’m dreaming . . . I’m dreaming . . .
“Hello?” I called out.
A flock of startled birds chirped about as they flew from a nearby tree. Is this normal?
“Hello?!” I screamed. Where was I? I knew that I was just dreaming, probably still being operated on, but where was I in my dream world?
I felt a sharp searing pain in my calf, and I knew that the surgeons must have started cutting into my leg. It receded quickly, almost like it was nothing more than a minor bee sting. To be honest, I felt like gagging after that realization hit me. I mean, there were knives cutting into my flesh at that very moment.
I put the thought aside. I couldn’t be there for long, right? Dr. Sarrel said the operation would only take . . .
Six hours.
