Timeless

Untitled Part 5

   

  After what seems like a mere five minutes since sleep took me away, I jolt up in my bed, my heart racing and sweat dripping down the back of my neck. At first, I am completely unaware of my surroundings. My eyebrows furrow as I try to dissect what had just happened. Then, in an instant, I can easily recollect why I woke up in a puddle of perspiration.

I experienced a dream, similar to what would happen if it were one of my memories. The meaning behind it was absent. The dream lasted for quite a while, or so it seemed, being that the average dream has a duration of only twenty minutes. I knew it was significant from the start because I had a cheerful purple and pink rope bracelet tied to my wrist. My grandma assisted me in creating this sacred item when I was eight years old. She always understood me, and I could never disregard the overpowering feeling inside of me that a part of me was in her. Grandma would attentively listen to every word I said, and would never fail in responding favorably. I made the bracelet with her the day before she was taken away. Grandma was extremely old and wrinkly as a blouse yet to be ironed, so her passing shouldn't have been so brutal. However, when I was informed of the news, I bawled my eyeballs out in devastation for the longest time. A smile never tiptoed its way onto my face for an entire month.

Nevertheless, I have learned to cope with this loss. I know Grandma is forever with me in spirit, especially when I am wearing the bracelet. And that's when it hits me. Hard. The Daisy I saw at the pool yesterday had a delicate, petite, flashy colored bracelet daintily wrapped around her arm. This confirmed my belief that the whole situation was too insane to be a simple game of chance.

Back to my dream. It was the most realistic one I've ever had. I started off in a breathtaking forest. No words could accurately capture its effortless beauty. The vigorous, viridescent grass was aligned with endless rows of uplifting, pastel-colored flowers to complement it. A towering waterfall with crystal blue water cascading downward captivated my heart. Kaleidoscopic birds and butterflies hovered above the rich, green tree leaves, singing a heavenly tune. I just stood there, jaw open, completely dumbfounded.

Positioned in the center of the surreal sight was a pool, with its welcoming water calling me. It was quite strange for a pool to be located in a forest, and should have given away the fact that it was not real. Yet, I longed for the scene to be bona fide, and therefore, to me at least, it was.

Without a moment's hesitation, I scampered toward the water and did a cannonball right into it, clothes on and all. Nothing else mattered at that moment. Times like this should be treasured.

It didn't go as expected. My instantaneous assumption consisted of indolently drifting around, allowing myself to go wherever I was taken. Of course, not all things in life go according to plan. Instead of being amid tranquil waters, gratitude and contentedness overflowing my body, everything changed. The stationary water transformed into overhanging waves and rapids, swallowing my helpless, feeble figure. The complete woodland was torn down, like a piece of paper being shredded, vanished and forgotten in a snap. The lovely memories I had saved of the scenery seemed to diminish.

Water pervaded my nose, mouth, and lungs as I was brought deeply under the surface. I repeatedly hacked up regurgitated fluid, endeavoring to clutch any lingering air. Alas, I was unsuccessful.

I began to believe that death would soon take me away. I could scarcely breathe, and soon enough my soul would be forced to leave my suffering shell. When I thought my heart would pump blood for the very last time, I was promptly dropped into a threatening pit. When I convened a sufficient amount of willpower as to open my eyes, I received a dark, fiery visual. It gave me the impression that I was located at the bottom of a volcano, impatiently waiting for the right moment to erupt. My stomach churned, and I desperately longed to return to my world. The place where I was treated like a mishap and was trampled over by mankind. I was agreeing to depart due to an aching fear of the unknown. In my opinion, misfortunes that have already been decided are easier to take on than the dangers loitering in the dark. Then again, Grandma always said that the easy pathway is usually not the correct one.