I get into bed, ready to rest after a long weary day. My head hits the soft pillow beneath it and immediately the fog that separates reality from dreams settled in over my consciousness. The stage was set and the adventure began without my consent or knowledge. Off to the dreamland I fell.
I am in a familiar place...yet surrounded by unfamiliarity. I know definitively that I am in my hometown, but the world around me looks completely alien. Everywhere I look I see the images of everyday life but in unnatural colors. My eyes have become like a stagnant kaleidoscope; where the sky is red, the grass is blue, and the buildings form a misshapen mosaic on the horizon.
I look out at the city's skyline from the bow of a large yacht speeding and bouncing through dark green waves. The red sky and a blue sun cast rays of purple sunlight on every building that I can see. For the moment I bask in the beautiful picture set before me.
For an unknown reason it becomes evident to me that the yacht has become instantaneously dangerous. I huddle with a group of women at the bow of the ship for safety. A terrorist duo has decided to take over the yacht; they begin throwing the injured bodies of its former passengers overboard. One is a gray-haired gentleman of stern behavior and demeanor. He has a stiff gait, tall with a barrel chest. His partner is a formidably tall blonde woman whose every movement is sharp and resolute. They came upon our group, shivering in fear of their weapons. They decided they need hostages and we are the ones to be kept alive from the takeover. As the ship leaves the harbor I looked back from the stern, contemplating my new unindentured servitude.
An unclear amount of time goes by in flashes of memory. In each one I am working on the ship at sea as a slave to the two terrorists. The water surrounding the ship becomes the shackles that keep us slaves enchained. With each passing flash of memory a stirring of emotion creeps into my heart as I feel the presence of love grow and grow. I come to love one of the fellow slaves on board; a young woman of blurred face yet immense beauty. I know which woman she because her love shines in my vision like a glowing aura. And yet her face is kept unclear, unwilling to be fully perceived. The flashes continue as the years of service drift on and our love grows stronger. Flashes of me comforting her in times of illness and sharing rations of food with her bring forth feelings of joy and requiescence; even though we have nothing we still have our love.
Rose Window
Homecoming
After years at sea our captors had grown soft and loosed their grip on us. Inadvertently they gave us free time together, allowing us to talk and hatch a plan.
A final flash memory brings me to the bow of the ship in the dead of night, embracing from behind my love as we look out into the distance, seeing the lights of an approaching city blinking off the water.For an unknown reason our captors decided they need to return to my hometown. The long-lost harbor comes back into view after years of desertion. The sea spray kisses our faces as the yacht soars through the waves. "If we make it through this," I whisper into her ear. "I want to marry you." No response was heard and no smile could be seen from her blurred face. But I knew in my heart the answer was a resounding yes.
Our plan worked. When we were not far from the entrance to the harbor, we surprise attacked both of the terrorists. We overtook them, not by strength but from sheer will and bravery. They lay tied up at the bottom of the boat as we pulled into the dock, cheering and realizing our time of hardship was over. We made it. Now was the time to enter back into our lives again. My love and I were to get married and a happily ever after was in store.
A final flash memory brings me to the bow of the ship in the dead of night, embracing from behind my love as we look out into the distance, seeing the lights of an approaching city blinking off the water.For an unknown reason our captors decided they need to return to my hometown. The long-lost harbor comes back into view after years of desertion. The sea spray kisses our faces as the yacht soars through the waves. "If we make it through this," I whisper into her ear. "I want to marry you." No response was heard and no smile could be seen from her blurred face. But I knew in my heart the answer was a resounding yes.
Our plan worked. When we were not far from the entrance to the harbor, we surprise attacked both of the terrorists. We overtook them, not by strength but from sheer will and bravery. They lay tied up at the bottom of the boat as we pulled into the dock, cheering and realizing our time of hardship was over. We made it. Now was the time to enter back into our lives again. My love and I were to get married and a happily ever after was in store.
Church
I approached the medium-sized Romanesque style church from the backside. The only thing that broke the monotony of its light brown brick wall was a magnificent circular stained glass window. I paused my stride to gaze up at its beauty; a yellow background with a single large red rose radiating in the purple tinged sunlight. I walked into the church with a feeling of insurmountable joy. It was empty with the exception of the priest standing at the alter waiting for my arrival. I was expecting no one in the pews because no one was invited. It was a moment for me and for her. Just as our relationship began it was to come to fruition, the two of us being together. I waited at the alter and my knees began to shake from excitement. The day has finally come.
What was taking so long? She knew the time we were supposed to be here, the time the ceremony was to begin. Why hadn't she come out to meet me? I waited and waited and yet she did not appear. The excited shaking of my knees transformed into the nervous movement that sent me looking for her in the church. I prayed with all my might that she was just late and that nothing terrible had happened to her. I walked across the church toward a small door used by priests to come into the main sanctuary. I opened the door... and beheld her face.
She was... beautiful. She had a slender face, dark penetrating eyes, and a small delicate nose framed by a sprinkling of freckles so light they were barely noticeable. It was my first time seeing her yet I knew exactly who she was; she was my love, my bride. Our eyes connected and for a full second she was the only thing in the room I could see. The tunnel vision widened and the rest of the room filled my perception. She was in a rectangular space of simple decoration and white walls. She was there with two other men bent close in a hushed conversation. She was wearing a simple white wedding dress but the men were wearing dark heavy street clothes: boots, leather jackets, and beanies.
Upon seeing me, the three rose from their seated position and flew themselves through the door on the opposite wall of the room. There was no hesitation in any of their steps, not even a look backward. Where was she going? Why was she running? Doesn't she know what is supposed to be happening?
I ran after the three of them. I flew open the door on the opposite side of the room and was greeted with a another room of similar size and shape with another door on the opposite side. Wait... where are you going? Why? Every room I ran through produced another room exactly the same and every door I flew open their bodies made it farther into the following room. I chased them through a dozen doors and a dozen rooms and they always got a little farther from me each time. On the last room I threw open the door and the door on the opposite side was already closed; they were no where to be seen. In desperation I sprinted across and flung the door open and... rays of yellow sunlight burned my eyes blinding me and causing me to stumble and fall over forward onto my knees.
What was taking so long? She knew the time we were supposed to be here, the time the ceremony was to begin. Why hadn't she come out to meet me? I waited and waited and yet she did not appear. The excited shaking of my knees transformed into the nervous movement that sent me looking for her in the church. I prayed with all my might that she was just late and that nothing terrible had happened to her. I walked across the church toward a small door used by priests to come into the main sanctuary. I opened the door... and beheld her face.
She was... beautiful. She had a slender face, dark penetrating eyes, and a small delicate nose framed by a sprinkling of freckles so light they were barely noticeable. It was my first time seeing her yet I knew exactly who she was; she was my love, my bride. Our eyes connected and for a full second she was the only thing in the room I could see. The tunnel vision widened and the rest of the room filled my perception. She was in a rectangular space of simple decoration and white walls. She was there with two other men bent close in a hushed conversation. She was wearing a simple white wedding dress but the men were wearing dark heavy street clothes: boots, leather jackets, and beanies.
Upon seeing me, the three rose from their seated position and flew themselves through the door on the opposite wall of the room. There was no hesitation in any of their steps, not even a look backward. Where was she going? Why was she running? Doesn't she know what is supposed to be happening?
I ran after the three of them. I flew open the door on the opposite side of the room and was greeted with a another room of similar size and shape with another door on the opposite side. Wait... where are you going? Why? Every room I ran through produced another room exactly the same and every door I flew open their bodies made it farther into the following room. I chased them through a dozen doors and a dozen rooms and they always got a little farther from me each time. On the last room I threw open the door and the door on the opposite side was already closed; they were no where to be seen. In desperation I sprinted across and flung the door open and... rays of yellow sunlight burned my eyes blinding me and causing me to stumble and fall over forward onto my knees.
Real World
With the last charge through a church room I was transported somehow out of dreamland and into the real world. I found myself in the street outside of my father's house. I looked around and saw that the sky was blue, the sun was yellow, and the world's colors were renewed to their former selves. I bowed my head and I looked down at the black asphalt as the most intense wave of emotion I have ever felt consumed me. Why did she run from me? Why did she leave me? Who were those men and where were they going? Desperation, rejection, and sadness were like vultures circling above me, cawing at the sight of a fresh carcass. They were everything I heard, everything I saw, everything I felt.
After some time I began to walk aimlessly down the street, feeling empty and ashamed. I walked in any direction with nothing to guide my feet but grey slabs of the sidewalk. An old friend approached me from behind. "Hey! how's it going?" he said. I felt the urgent need to go back to the dreamland, to leave this real life behind me. "Can you take me to the back to the church?" I asked, not knowing whether this person of the real world could bring me back. With a confused look on his face he responded,"Yeah, you mean the one down the street?" A tone of frustration could be heard in my simple response,"No. The one in dreamland." "Yeah... I can take you there," he said slowly as if he finally knew what I wanted. We walked together in silence down the street heading on some unknown course.
After some time I began to walk aimlessly down the street, feeling empty and ashamed. I walked in any direction with nothing to guide my feet but grey slabs of the sidewalk. An old friend approached me from behind. "Hey! how's it going?" he said. I felt the urgent need to go back to the dreamland, to leave this real life behind me. "Can you take me to the back to the church?" I asked, not knowing whether this person of the real world could bring me back. With a confused look on his face he responded,"Yeah, you mean the one down the street?" A tone of frustration could be heard in my simple response,"No. The one in dreamland." "Yeah... I can take you there," he said slowly as if he finally knew what I wanted. We walked together in silence down the street heading on some unknown course.
Rose Window
The red sky returned and the irregular colors of dreamland once again surrounded me. I approached the church from the same direction as I had before my wedding. It grew in size as I walked slowly closer, alone and deep in thought. But once again as I drew nearer I became fixated on one thing: the stained glass window. The disjointed image of the red rose that is now burned into my memory. I stopped just outside the doors, my neck craned upward in awe. And the fog that separates dreams from reality slowly distorted my vision.
The dream was over and I lay in my bed paralyzed in the grasps of a crippling fear: the fear of premonition. Did I just somehow glance into my future? Is this what i have in store for me? Only time will answer these questions. I committed this dream to memory so that I might ascertain it's hidden clues into my future. Hopefully one day I will be able to evade fate's attempts to suck me into such an unfortunate series of events.
The dream was over and I lay in my bed paralyzed in the grasps of a crippling fear: the fear of premonition. Did I just somehow glance into my future? Is this what i have in store for me? Only time will answer these questions. I committed this dream to memory so that I might ascertain it's hidden clues into my future. Hopefully one day I will be able to evade fate's attempts to suck me into such an unfortunate series of events.
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