Somewhere in Dreamland


I went out to wait for the bus as usual. It was dark out, snowing, and was extremely cold. I walked to the end of the driveway. For some reason, the bus wasn't on time, but I thought it must be on account of the snow. To amuse myself while I waited, I slid around on the ice. I heard a very loud screech. I looked up just in time to see two very bright head lights coming strait for me. Time seemed to slow down, giving me time to think; 'This is it. You're going to die. There's no escaping it.' All that came out of my mouth was a barely audible 'Oh'' That was the last thing I remember before every thing went black.

When I woke up, every thing was different. No longer was I standing in the frozen world of my driveway, but in a dry, old fashioned claw foot bathtub. I found my self wearing an aviator's cap and goggles, that some how fit over my glasses. I looked over the edge of the bathtub, and found my self miles in the sky, falling at an accelerated rate. I immediately thought of flying and suddenly in a flash of bright light, the bathtub had the wings, engine, and propeller of a biplane. I took hold of the stick that controlled the odd machine. Wait a minute, I remember this! This was the same bathtub in that dream I had. Dream' I processed the word in my head for a moment. That's when it came to me. I was in my head, maybe dreaming, maybe not, but at the moment, I was having the most fun I ever had in my life. Soaring over fantastic places I'd thought up over the years. There were forests, jungles, mountains, oceans, every sort of land form imaginable. Unfortunately my state of bliss was interrupted by an enormous storm that appeared out of nowhere. The storm emitted a strong feeling of insecurity. I attempted to maneuver around it, but the storm had a power of its own. I felt a sudden jolt, as though a giant invisible hand clamped on the bathtub. It began to pull me into the center of the storm cloud. As I entered, the color of the cloud began to change from pitch black to a blood red. The feeling of insecurity was replaced with a feeling of absolute terror. I remembered this dream. Or, should I say, nightmare. The center of the storm was an infernal vortex, surrounded by monstrous demons, all shrieking and roaring. Streaks of lightning lashed out, disintegrating the bathtub. I fell screaming, reaching out and grasping nothing. As I fell, I noticed something strange was happening. The air screaming past my face seemed to get slower. Was the vortex pulling me back up? No, I wasn't going upwards, I was just descending at a slower rate. Then I realized that the vortex was sucking air in, pulling air my way, thus slowing my fall. I observed the ground as I came closer. It was a dark forest with bare, crooked trees. I thought this was strange, I usually don't dream about those sorts of forests.

My feet gently touched the ground near a small canal. The water was clear enough to see to the bottom. It was covered in tangled weeds. I thought I saw some thing move near the weeds closest to me. As I bent down to take a look, a giant grey-blue claw snapped two inches in front of my nose. A five foot long crayfish began to crawl on to the beach, holding his claws up in challenge. Fortunately for me, crayfish, even giant crayfish, are slow on land. I turned and ran into the forest, wondering why in all of dream land I had to end up here. It must be luck, which makes sense, as I usually don't have any.

The forest gave me the most peculiar feeling. It was a mixture of confusion, dreariness, and fear. Nothing seemed right, not even the trees. I silently crept among the tree trunks, pausing every few steps to glance over my shoulder. That's when I heard a low growling. I turned around carefully to see something that horrified me. It was something I'd come to call the bone monster. It had a giant horned cow skull with large fangs, and the ribcage of some enormous snake, mounted on short hoofed legs. It stood there, staring at me with empty eye sockets. The only noise that could be heard was the dripping of its mouth, which salivated excessively. With a blood curdling roar, it gave chase to its prey. Which unfortunately was me.

The bone monster had been pursuing me for about five minutes, and I was growing tired. I was about to collapse when I saw the most wonderful thing that could have been there at the moment. The tin shuttle bus! One of the coolest vehicles I'd ever dreamt up! It was parked on the side of an old dirt road. Then I realized the dilemma. How was I supposed to open the door if no one was inside? I heard the bone monster galloping closer. I attempted to pry the door open. It did no good. Then I remembered the emergency door. Quickly I ran to the back of the vehicle, and grabbed the handle of the little door. I must have been on an adrenaline rush, because it opened quite easily. I heard the clattering of the bone monster, only eight feet away. I jumped in the bus and slammed the door shut. Frustrated, the skeletal abomination began to rattle the bus. I jumped in the driver's seat, and as if by magic, the engine roared to life. I clipped on my seatbelt (the tin bus goes very fast) and sped away.

After a while, I found myself on a four lane highway, being chased by winged creatures from my encounter with the portal. I was starting to wonder if the portal creatures were trying to find a way in to the real world. I analyzed the situation. Demonic monsters were using past nightmares I had to try and capture me. Though the monsters themselves were made up by my subconscious imagination, they have somehow acquired knowledge that there was a bigger world outside of this one. If they did manage to break free of my mind, the consequences would be disastrous. I can't have figments of my imagination gallivanting off to conquer the known world; it'd be terrible for the survival of all life as we know it. Unfortunately, my brain storm distracted me from my current situation. The tin shuttle bus was swerving off the road, strait into an enormous white stone wall. The bus rammed halfway through it, getting caught in the middle. There was a loud thump at the back of the bus, which I suspected was the two demons. I quickly got out of the bus, to find myself in a vast desert on the other side of the wall. I saw something sticking out of the sand a short distance away. My curiosity got the better of me, I began walking toward it.

As I drew nearer, I saw the object was a very large and ancient pirate ship, slightly tilted on its side. There was a rope ladder hanging at the bow. Making sure it was safe, I climbed aboard. Then I saw something interesting. Sitting on a chair near the cabin, blissfully smoking a pipe was a ghost. He was dressed like a pirate. Guessing he was the owner of the ship, I went up to greet him. 'Good day sir' I said.
The ghost lifted up his dusty tricorn hat. 'Hello' he said.
'Do you know what's going on around here?' I asked.
'The Red King has retuned from the land of nightmares with the intention of
revenge.' said the ghost.
'Red King?' I asked vaguely. I didn't remember a red king.
'You know, the ruler of the demon storm.' The ghost said, moving his finger in a
swirling motion.
'Sir, I think this Red King is after me. Do you think you could help me?' I asked. The ghost stood up and put his pipe away in his pocket.
'I will help you, after all, without you I wouldn't exist.' The ghost said. He walked up to the helm. Suddenly a strong breeze filled the sails. The ship began to move forward, sliding through the sand.
'By the way, what is your name?' I asked.
'Captain.' said the ghost.

So we sailed the desert for about three hours. Surprisingly, it was more fun than you think. We moved rapidly over the dunes. Unfortunately, I saw the terrible sight of the cloud again. Although it was far away, it still terrified me. It seemed stronger, and beneath it a sand storm was brewing beneath it. Without warning, the storm picked up speed, heading over to the ship.
'Captain!' I shouted.
He tried to turn the ship away, but the storm already had us in its grip. It was so strong now that it pulled the ship off the ground, into the air. I heard a loud thump on the deck behind me. I turned around to face a huge and hideous demon. It had horns, claws, and wings, covered in red scales. 'The Red King' I thought. The monster grabbed me by the neck. Suddenly the tip of a cutlass shot out of his chest. Though he was injured, the Red King was still alive. He tried to swat Captain, but suddenly I saw fear in his eyes. The ship was close to the center of the storm, which I guessed was a black hole. The Red King panicked and tried to fly off the ship. But the storm was too strong, and he was pulled in the vortex. At that moment I woke up.

I woke up back in my driveway. My mom was standing over me. The car had crashed into a tree. The driver was trying to call some one on a cell phone. My mom explained to me that I had fainted just before the car hit the tree. I guess every thing must have been a dream. Or had it?