Dream Journal

29 Seconds

(This was a very old dream that I had written on paper and only found it now, after many years. I don't know the date, but it must've been early high school. Instead of recording it as a dream, I wrote it down as a short story. I will not change what I have wrote unless it's hard to understand. This raw short story based off of my dream is called "29 seconds.")

The sun shone brightly on the warm summer afternoon. The forest surrounding the campsite was filled with chirping birds and musical cicadas. It was break-time for the energetic high school students, who laughed and played games throughout the camp. Most of my classmates were swinging on the abnormally long metal swing set, just outside the main building, chatting and trying to "double-date." I sat in the soft grass, watching my class and taking in the afternoon breeze as it gently blew on my face and made tiny ripples through my black lacy dress.
I liked to use my break-time to relax and listen to everything around me. It was a perfect day, and I didn't want to waste my time playing games, getting all tired and sweaty. I breathed in the soft breeze as I braided my long, blonde and white hair, so it wouldn't be too hot for my neck and back. The air felt nice and cool.
As I was sitting in the grass, enjoying my time, one of the high school teachers started to walk towards me, just after chatting with some guys above my grade. The teacher came right up to me and suddenly grabbed my shoulders and held them firm, keeping me from trying to stand up.
I knew exactly what this meant.
He, along with the upper grade group, wanted to play "the sitting game."
I, being shy (and quite afraid of this certain teacher), screamed and tried to wiggle myself free. It caught the upper groups' attention, realizing that it was time to start the game. As the group made their way over, the teacher started to talk,
"Let's play the sitting game" he said with a playful voice, laughing at my attempts to break free.
"No! Please, I don't want to!" I yelled at him and the approaching group. When they came up to me, they gave the teacher a "she won't cooperate" look. The teacher started to explain the rules:
"I will give you 29 seconds to run and hide, and then I'll send out the first person to catch you. If he sits you down, then he wins. But if he can't catch you, the next person will come after the first person's 29 seconds is up. Each of us will count to 29 before being sent out. I will go last if no one has caught you yet."
It was obvious I didn't want to play, but they ignored me. As soon as the teacher let me go and said, "you have 29 seconds," I sprinted. I ran past the swing set and stumbled up the small hill to the main path that lead to the lodging house.
"29... 28... 27..."
I was terrified, and hated that stupid game. I especially hated that, since I'm so shy and will usually do what most people ask, they ignored my refusal. I ran as fast as I could down to the lodging house (a big house with rooms for different groups), and, at arrival, opened the door and went inside. Looking through the window, I could already see the first player running toward me. I locked the door and quickly made my way through the kitchen and into the dining room.
The room was set up with a big square dining table in the middle with long couches parallel to each side of the table. I decided to hide myself in the corner, in between 2 couches. As soon as I fit myself in, I could already see the legs of the first player walking around the room... and the table. I wasn't sure how he got in, considering the door was locked, but my biggest problem right then was getting away.
I quietly started to crawl behind one of the couches and then sprinted to the living room. I spotted one of my classmates sleeping on the couch.
"Wake up! I need help, I'm being chased!" I yelled at him, shaking him a little. Rather quickly, he rolled off the couch and pushed it over, making it a tent.
"Crawl under!" he exclaimed.
Even though it was an obvious hiding spot, I obeyed and crawled under. Immediately I could see 2 other players trying to get through the living room doorway, but my classmate was trying to block them. I knew there wasn't much time, so I crawled out and sprinted out of the room, down the hallway and towards the staircase leading to most of the rooms. I needed to get away!
I tried to run up the carpeted stairs as fast as I could, but it was hard with a long dress trying not to trip every step. Also, it was a bit dim and a little hard to see. But I made my way up to the second floor where most of the rooms were located and walked swiftly down the hallway, feeling the walls so I wouldn't trip. I opened the first door I found and ran inside the bright, medium-sized lodging room. To my surprise, I found 3 little boys, maybe from ages 6-10, playing with wooden toys and a wooden rocking horse fit for a small child. I wasn't sure why these children were lodging here, perhaps they belonged to a teacher, but I did not want to worry about that at the moment.
The boys looked up at me with bright curious eyes. "I'm sorry," I said, "but I need to hide! Does anyone know where I can hide?"
The oldest gladly came up to me and took my hand. "Follow me," he said with a smile and a little concern on his face.
I nodded and he took me to the window. The other 2 boys sat on the ground, watching curiously. The little boy opened the window.
"We need to jump," he said to me rather calmly.
I nodded my head, worrying a bit, but I somehow knew that I could trust this boy. We both crawled up onto the window sill and arched our backs to fit under the window. With our hands held tightly, we jumped.
Clang!
I opened my eyes and saw that we landed on a metal roof. I looked around. Roofs? There seemed to be a lot of roofs surrounding the backyard of the house. Maybe they were cabin roofs? It was weird to see a cluster of small buildings all in one place. But the boy tugged at my hand and we started jumping from roof to roof.
Suddenly, I realized we were being chased by 5 other players now, all jumping across the roofs towards us. My heart jumped. I had to get away. I didn't want this! Why me!?
The boy lead me from roof to roof, trying his best to avoid all the players who were getting closer. One in particularly, the first player. He was too close, about to grab me, but then the boy started to get down from the roof, still holding my hand, and climbed down the short wall to the ground. We ran towards the back of the lodging house and he hid me in a corner between 2 of the small buildings whose roofs we landed on.
2, then 3 of the players came around the corner. I was trapped. The concerned boy picked up a long stick, possibly a walking stick, and tried to keep the players away from me. I sat in the corner, holding my knees, watching the boy batting at the players. Why was he so concerned about me? Why can't the players just go away?
Suddenly my skin started to crawl. I remembered what the teacher said. "I will go last, if no one has caught you yet."
No one has caught me yet, and I've already seen 5 players trying to catch me. He was the 6th player. The last one.
I shivered and held my knees tighter. The boy kept batting his stick at 4 players now, even though some of them were yelling and shoving and hitting him. The boy didn't give up. He kept fighting to protect me. He wanted me to be safe and it was obvious to everyone.
"Please, go away! Leave him and I alone!" I yelled at them.
The players mocked and laughed at us. They were acting like evil little children, greedy and inconsiderate. The boy did his best to shield me, but the players moved closer and closer to my corner.
"The teacher will be here soon," one of the players said with an offensive grin, "this kid can't keep him away!"
My life felt like a horror movie. I was scared to death and there was nothing else I could do. I did not want any more scary hands touching me. I didn't want to be treated like a toy. I have feelings, I have rights. This is not right. It was especially wrong to have a young boy who didn't even know me to fight off immature guys for my sake.
I whimpered in the corner, tightly holding my knees, watching this horrible scene, fearing the last player's arrival. I hate that stupid game.

(I feel the need to let you readers know that I had not gone through any sort of traumatic experience that would spawn this dream. I was just very timid in my school years and legitimately feared one of my teachers. Before taking TaeKwonDo classes, I felt rather helpless and alone throughout most of those years, hold a few people who I could trust. Although I did not know who the boy represented. Maybe he was an angel, I don't know. I just know now, that if anything like that were to happen, I would fight. Despite the fact that I'm still kind of afraid of that teacher, I will not cower anymore.)