Who Are You?
A teasing velvet voice whispered in my ear. “Shouldn’t you be paying attention?”
I jumped. No, I flew out of my desk my feet no longer touching the floor feeling like an NBA player competing for air time.
  A grunt escaped me as my back impacted the hard floor driving the wind out of me. No need to wait for my breath to come back.  By the time realized I lay prone on the floor, I was already pushing myself back up.
The dirty white tile floor was cold against my elbows as I noticed the heels planted directly in front of me.
“Well, aren’t you a frightful one?” The voice, which I could tell now, belonged to a female asked again.
That’s when I noticed two eyes staring down at me with an intense curiosity. She had silk black hair that reached just passed her shoulders and my eyes couldn’t help but drift towards her face.
And what a face it was! No blemishes or acne scars. Her cute reddish cheeks glowing as she gave me a small smirk.
Sweat formed on the back of my neck. I swallowed hard. My heart echoing off the walls of my chest harder than it ever had.
I….I couldn’t detach my gaze from her. It wasn’t her looks that kept my gaze, no, but her eyes, or more specifically, her irises were absent of any color and shaped like sharp narrow ovals. Like a cat.
“Hey.” She greeted her smile never fading.
“Um…. Me?” I asked.
“Yes.” She nodded her eyes growing as teeth showed. “How are you?”
My mind went blank, and I wasn’t exactly in any mood to think long enough for a reasonable response.
I just picked the first thing that came to mind and let it slide out of my mouth. “Who the hell are you?”
Huh?
Actually that does seem like a pretty reasonable response.
“Dream.” She said.
“Dream?” I asked. “What?” She leaned down before I could move and firmly grasped my cheek between her index finger and thumb.
Her touch made me melt. Her touch, gentle but filled with summer warmth, caressed my face. If I had a mirror, I was pretty sure I was two shades of crimson now.
I blinked the sleep from my eyes and looked back up at her.

She spoke again. “I am your dream.”
I sighed through my nose as I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat. “Well, I gotta tell you now this is a pretty Meta dream.”
How was I the only one noticing thi…?  My thought halted. My wide eyes scanned the once lively room. Every desk empty, no books on the tables or jackets hanging over chairs…..just nothing.
I squirmed as a cold spider-like tingle ran up my spine. “Uh, um, uhum….um hm.” I stuttered frantically whipping my head back and forth from one end of the class room to the other.
I wracked my brain with possible explanations. Was this a dream or maybe I’d fallen asleep and Mr. Willow was playing a prank on me?
That seemed likely. Didn’t it?
“Hey.” I whispered to the sharply dressed girl.
“Yes.”
“Are you a friend of my teacher or um something like that?” I asked.
“No, not at all, why?” She asked smoothly.
“You can drop the act ya know? I’ve figured it out. Any second now I’m gonna get a big lecture about not sleeping in class.”
A puzzled frown showed on her face. “Oh, oh dear.” She sighed. “You still don’t seem to be understanding.”
I took another glance around the classroom. “Understanding what?”
“What I said.” She replied. “I am Dream as in I am your dreams.”
I was beginning to lose faith that this was a prank and that I’d either finally gone crazy from being locked up all day or that I’d been left alone with an escaped mental patient.
Still, though, I did my best to manage an even tone. “You’re my dreams?”
“Yes precisely.” Her golden smile returned, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach flap their wings. “I am yours and everyone else’s.”
Hmm.
I groaned loudly and my eyes couldn’t help but roll nearly out of my head at this girl. She was sexy that was for sure and I was pretty positive she was coming on to me.
Then again, there was no way I was about take advantage of a clearly mentally handicapped girl.

She titled her head. “Would you like to have me?”
“What?” I asked half paying attention. Where the heck was everyone?
“Do you want to have sex?”
I raised my head with wide eyes, staring into her intense eyes. I felt my face heat up and a lump build in my throat.
“Wha….What?” I asked lowly.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed about.” She reached pressing her palm against my cheek and a wave of ecstasy washed over me. “You’re a young male, it’s perfectly natural.”
I grasped her wrist lightly, moving it from my face. My inner caveman was practically screaming at this point. “Uh…uh…look just ….” I sighed, “just how the heck did you know what I was thinking!?”
“I told you.” She said clasping her hands. “I’m your dreams and that gives me insight into what you think about?”
“Insight?” I asked raising an eyebrow.
“Well, the short answer is that I know your mind. It’s why I took the form of a beautiful young lady.”
I ran my hand through my hair. This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening.  I repeated.
Or was it?
“It is!” She piped up.
“Shut up!” I snapped.
Okay this obviously was happening.
I wiped the sweat beads that were forming off the back of my neck. I’d never had a dream this vivid, heck….vivid? I never even heard of anyone having a dream this real.
Much to my annoyance or maybe to my joy she spoke again. “I’m making sure you’re fully engaged in this reality.”
“You’re making sure I’m fully, um, what’s the word?” I asked snapping my fingers.
“Aware.” She replied.
“Riiiight.” I breathed. “If you’re my dreams shouldn’t you be, ya know?” I asked. “Dreaming up something for me to do?”
“Well I offered you sex.”
“Not that!” I said pressing my palm against my forehead. “Why are you talking to me instead of doing what you normally do?”
The brightness in her eyes dulled and her lips formed into a tight line. “Boredom mostly.” She groaned. “Making dreams for everyone else and never fully being involved can get rather tiresome.”

I considered what she was saying. How the heck did math class turn into this? I’d just wanted to sleep and turns out even my dreams are lazy.
“I am not lazy.” She sounded irritated.
I started to snap back then remembered, geez, I have to be careful of my thoughts.
“Yes, you should be more careful,” she sounded sinister.
Just as suddenly, her sweet attitude returned, “So what would you like to do?”
Well, I knew I wanted no part of being back in math class. So I decided to stick with being harassed by this lovely vision in my dreams and thought I might as well make the best of it.
“What can you do?” I asked
She spread her hands out her jovial grin returning. “Here I can do anything and everything.”
“What do you know?” I asked.
Rather proudly she replied, “Well, of course, I know all dreams and anything relating to that part of the mind.” She gave a cutesy bow as she said this.
“Wait.” I tapped my chin. “You know about dreams, right? Well just mine or other peoples?”
“Everyone’s silly.”
“Who is everyone?” I asked raising an eyebrow
“Everyone on the planet.”
I was probably going to regret it, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to challenge her and certainly couldn’t pass up a chance to hear some gossip.
“Gossip?” She asked. “Well and you would like to know?”
“Let’s just start small.” I hummed annoyed she knew what I was thinking. “Tell me what four people in my class dream of.”
“Lilly Sanders has been having nightmares about being buried alive and eaten by maggots for the last four years. Greg Harris dreams of his mother who was killed in a car crash. Chance Solomon dreams about flying. Kathy Schultz seems to be keen on the idea of living in a chocolate mansion.” She didn’t skip a beat; it was downright machine-like.
“Well….” My voice trailed off. “That was unsettling.” I admitted.
“You asked to know what your peers dream about.” She pointed out. “Everyone dreams.”

I shrugged. “Yeah but it’s not every day someone mentions stuff like you just did and says it like that.”
“Well it is what you asked for is not?” She asked
Stupid girl had an answer for everything and wait a minute! Why the heck am I just accepting that she was right?
I could feel the gears in my head begin to turn as a smug grin began to stretch across my lips. “Can you prove it?”
She nodded pleasantly and snapped her fingers.
“Here we are.” She said
I opened my mouth to ask an obvious ‘Where?’ But before I could speak, I realized that behind this, uh this, Dream Queen, and surrounding me was darkness just darkness.
No more tables, no more empty desks, well no more walls for that matter either. The floors even had become non-existent.
“Wha…wha…um.” I stuttered trying to form a coherent sentence as I floated in this abyss. She offered the only source of light.
She was glowing and not just with beauty anymore.
Her body was radiating an explosive light giving me a much better view of the endless abyss we were floating in.
“S***!” I finally managed to croak out.
“Your proof.” She said simply.
“Hell?” I screamed. “My proof is hell!?”
She let out a long sigh at my question. “You’re not in Hell. We are exactly where you asked to be.”
“I asked for proof remember, proof that everyone dreams.” I grumbled still struggling to get my bearings.
“We are in your friend Kathy Schulz’s psyche.”
My eyes moved back and forth still examining the shadows we were encased in. “Didn’t you say she dreamed of a chocolate house?”
“She isn’t asleep.” She replied. “Her attention is focused on the lesson that you’re currently missing.”
“So what?” I asked
“It’s like a light.” She explained. “When a light is not shining it usually means it’s switched off or its dead, same concept.”
“So her dreams are switched off….right?”
She nodded. “Hence the blackness.”

Nothing
Like a light bulb huh? I swallowed. “So what happens when person’s light bulb dies?”
Her grin faded into a thin bitter smile at this. “Then nothing.”
“Nothing at all?” I asked
“Not as far as I know.” She floated closer to me. “Just endless nothing when those lights go out.” She circled me removing her suit jacket as she danced around me.
“No more new memories, no more pain, no more happiness just a constant version of this place.” Her Cheshire smile returned. “But as sad as it is, as long as things sleep at least I’ll still be able to have my fun.”
Well that’s refreshing. I ran my hand through my hair refusing to look into her smug eyes. My mind was blank like a sheet of fresh white paper.
Just that word, that word burning into my mind.
Nothing.
My mouth twitched as I finally managed to squeeze out the only words that came to me. “I’d like to go home now.” I sighed quietly.
Her brows furrowed. “Over reacting a bit aren’t you?” She asked
My temper flared. “Look, just wake me up or something, alright!?” I rolled my eyes. “Please this is all too …too much.”
Her smile remained pleasant, but the enthusiasm disappeared, as did the twinkle in her eyes.

Just A Dream
Hovering in front of me, slowly she came to a halt. Oh, the glow of her skin started dimming replaced with darkness creeping in from all sides.  Soon enough all around us nothing just pitch black nothing.
Neither my hands nor feet were visible at least not to the naked eye, how could anything be seen buried in this black vortex.
My pounded ready to explode from my chest and my throat tightened.  Someone something was touching the back of my leg.
Just a dream!
Just a dream!
Just….Before my mind could utter another word in an attempt to try and break the false reality around me, sharp pain pierced my back.
Claws dug into me. Hot animal breath burned the back of my neck. Suddenly, on reflex I gritted my teeth, feeling layers of my back being flayed off, I felt searing pain.
Violent claws and teeth sinking into me pulling me downward.
Oh!
God.
I felt tears form in my eyes and quickly spill out on to my cheeks.
Help me…
The sound of a bell sounded in my ears forcing my tired eyes to snap open. I was greeted by the familiar bright light of my classroom.
I squinted licking my crusted lips as I pushed my sticky face off my desk.
I let out breath after breath as I turned to watch my classmates pour out the door onto next period.
Wha…oh….what?
I didn’t even know where to begin going over what I’d just experienced and before I could dedicate any more time to it a large hand smashed on my desk.
The teacher’s venom filled beady eyes staring daggers into me. “How were your dreams Mr. Swanson?” He asked sternly
“Oh man.” I pressed my palm against my forehead. “A nightmare, Teach.” I replied shakily.
“Just a nightmare.”