Fantasy Island

Often when I wake up I experience either one of two opposite emotions, distress or peace. Currently as I wake from my slumber I experience a great pang of distress. I’m abruptly aware of the hot sand caressing my body as it slowly burns my skin. How did I get here? What is this place? Thousands of questions race around in my mind as I rise from my cradle of sand.  Out of the corner of my eye I spot a dash of blonde. A dog? I turn towards it and watch as a labrador races off into the bamboo forest. I look around more for answers but find none in my surroundings. Only the bamboo forest that lies before me. I shrug and rush after the labrador. The forest seemed endless, the bamboo seemed to be repeating itself, but still I press on. Suddenly I was on top of a cliff over looking a waterfall. I scramble to a stop and watch as the labrador grew wings and leap off, gliding into the horizon.

“Sick.” I say in awe of the majestic beast.

“Ain’t it.”

I whip around to see who said that. It was Wilfred, or a homeless man in a grey dog suit, who really knows.

“The labra-egasus is such an elusive creature, I would love to finally catch up to one.” He said in his smooth austrailian accent. “You know what I would do if I could get my paws on one of those beauties? I would-”

I raised my hand to stop him, for I knew what vulgar sayings he would have spewed.

“Ok yeah, I got it. So do you know why I’m here?”

“Um not really, but it seems you’ve already got all the answers.” He gestured to my right hand. I was suddenly aware of the weight in my hand and raised it to see a black text book titled, ‘All the Answers’. I nodded in null approval.

“So this is kinda awkward but I gotta push you off this cliff now.” Wilfred sucked in his teeth and shrugged and presumed to push me off the cliff. I let out a low whine as I slowly descended down the side of the cliff. I held tightly onto the mysterious book as I splashed down into the pool below. It was icecold, and I quickly swam to the surface taking in a huge breath as I broke the surface.

I became aware of someone humming from behind me. It was the beautiful melodic toon to Flawless by Beyonce. I turned around in the water and saw the most beautiful sight I’ve ever witnessed in my life. A mermaid, oh what a sight, she was gorgeous and voluptuous. Her hair spilled on each side of her shoulders almost covering her shapely bodice. She was staring into a hand mirror touching up her full lips with a dark red lipstick.

“Laverne Cox?” My knees felt weak as I shuttered her name.

She popped her lips together and turned to me, taking my breath away.

“Yes baby.” Her voice rang through my bones making me shiver in the cold water. She noticed my shiver and extended a down facing hand, beckoning me to her. I swam towards her, hesitating to take her flawless hand. I took it, warmth filled my fingertips and spread throughout my body. She lifted me up into her arms and there I sat in her lap like a child. She looked at me with her chocolate brown eyes and I felt lost. Her eyes caught  something in my arms. “What’s that?” She asked extending a questioning finger at my chest.

I was so captivated by her presence that I forgot I had the book in my hands.

“Oh, it’s just a book.” I blushed profusely as I uncurled my arms from their embrace. My heart dropped as I noticed the book was soaked. I peeled it open and sighed in dismay as I saw that the ink had bled and the words were now illegible.

“Oh no. I’m sorry about your book boo.” Laverne said in a comforting tone. “What was it?”

“It was all the answers…”

I hear her laugh, “Oh hun, you know you can’t just find all the answers in some silly book.”

I look up to her hopeful and watch as she reaches into her full hair. She pulls out a gold iphone and cradles it with both hands. She smiles and it feels as if the heavens have opened as she says, “You gotta google them.”

I smile back at her and take her golden gift. “What else you got in there?”

She fluffs her hair replying, “Whole bunch of stuff, mostly secrets.”

She winks at me and my heart melts. I look back to the iphone and watch as a drop of water splashes across it’s screen. I gasp in horror as the phone begins to melt in my hand, the gold running through my fingers.

I wake up again, this time I’m filled with a sense of peace. I realize that I don’t need all the answers, sometimes I just need to go with the flow. But yet I still wonder was that experience real? Or was it just a fantasy?