I tried to sleep. But instead of sleep, a heavy sense of dread took over me. I started to doze off, but I don’t think I slept.
Even though it seemed like it, I know this wasn’t a dream. I don’t know what it was, but I am still very confused and frightened. For now, let’s call it a vision.
As I entered my vision, I looked around. I couldn’t see clearly. There was a heavy fog covering nearly everything. I could, however, see a couple of dead trees. This is not the kind of place that you’d like to be.
I stood in awe for a moment. Although this mysterious place was scary, it also had a weird beauty. Like an ugly place that is only considered art because of the photography of it. A shriek of a crow broke the silence. I looked for the bird that had brought me back to my conscious, but there was none.
I started to walk. I slowly made my way out of the fog. Now, I can actually see ten feet in front of me! As I walked, more and more dead plants caught my attention. It almost seemed like they were moving. Creating a path just for me. A small fraction of the plants still had a great amount of life in them. Some of them grabbed at my ankles, their thorns digging into my flesh. They cut deeper and deeper.
I looked down at my ankles, expecting to see warm blood dripping down. But instead, there was a thick, cold, black fluid running out of the gashes in my ankles.
I ran as fast as I could. I didn’t want any more plants to get me. I ran through trees, over little hills, and around big rocks. I ran until I thought my lungs would burst. I stopped, panting, trying to catch my breath.
I sat there, breathing heavily for some time. When my breathing was somewhat back to normal, I could hear a low, rolling sound. The noise would get louder until, at its very loudest, it boomed and crashed.
“Waves? Where am I?” I thought it might be a beach, so I got up to keep going.
I followed the sound of the waves right to a cliff. The edge was steep and the waves were big at the bottom. I looked down, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, trying to wake up. When I opened my eyes, I was still there.
“Why am I here?” I asked out loud. “And where is here?”
I looked out over the ocean and scanned my surroundings. I decide I might be on an island. I couldn't see any other land than the land I was one.
Behind me, there are dead plants and still a light fog. I turn and start to walk. Hopefully, I can find a way to get back home. I walk and walk, probably for a few hours. I pass some uninviting beaches. Broken glass and sharp rocks were mixed with the sand. A dirty foam is coming up and down with each wave of unclear water. There are pieces of broken wood and garbage hanging from them.
I keep my head down and walk. I keep the ocean in sight so I don’t get lost. I had to climb over some piles of big rocks a few times on the way. Then I recognized something. It was the cliff I had seen earlier.
“Jump.”
“Come swim with us!”
I heard voices. Looking around, I saw no one. I made no noise. I told myself that I was having an episode. I’m going crazy! Again, I heard the voices. Is it just the wind that is picking up? Or are there really voices coming from the bottom of the cliff where huge waves are crashing? I looked down the rocky ledge. A storm was coming, and the waves were getting bigger.
“Maybe,” I thought, “if I jump, I’ll wake up.” So, I took a deep breath, and I jumped.
I fell slowly towards the water. The closer I got, the more faintly I could hear familiar sounds. I heard laughing. As I was trying to figure out who the familiar laughs were coming from, I hit the water.
A wave immediately caught my body and sent me spinning. My hair covered my face and water stung my eyes and filled my lungs. The terrible aching in my chest was unbearable.
As I spun around in the water, being whipped around by the strong force of the waves, I told myself to think of something happy. I gasped for breath as my head broke the water barrier and hit air. But almost immediately, I was pulled back under.
“Think of something happy! Think!”
But I couldn’t think. I just wanted to get out of this miserable place. I wanted to go back home and back to a normal life. I can’t deal with this anymore!
Just as I thought I might be going back home, I felt long, skinny finger slowly wrapping around my ankles. “No!” I froze. Suddenly, the hands tightened their grip and pulled me down with a sharp tug. I was being pulled down into the darkness of the ocean. As I went further down, I felt more hands grabbing my arms and legs. I tried to open my eyes to see what was going on. But the water stung my eyes.
The more I struggled to get away, the tighter I was held. I tried to stay calm, but how could anyone be calm in this situation? Then I realized I hadn’t taken a breath since I went under. “I just died and got dragged down to hell! Oh my gosh.” I screamed, but it was more like a gurgle. But I didn’t notice that I was still in the water. I could breath! “I am dead for sure.”
I tried to open I my eyes again. This time, The water didn’t burn my eyes. I looked around. All I saw was black. All the boney hands that had a hold of me had disappeared. I looked up and saw sun shining through the water. I pushed my hands through the water, trying to swim back to the top. It wasn’t enough, so I started kicking my legs. I only got up about a foot when I was stopped.
“Austin!” I heard someone yell. They sounded terrified. They needed help. I turned around to see a little girl crying. She wasn’t wet, it was like the water down here had no effect on anything.
“Who are you?” I asked, staying where I was. The little girl looked so familiar. But I couldn’t figure out why. Why would I recognize a nine year old girl at the bottom of the ocean?
“Don’t you recognize me?” The little girl stared at me. I looked at her and searched her eyes. They seemed to burn into my eyes. The little girl slowly drifted closer to me. Her eyes widened as her lips parted and she took a deep breath.
“Austin, be careful. Don’t do this. Bad things will happen.”
I continued to look at the little girl. She was about nine years old, how did she know about my intentions? Who was this girl?
She got closer to me and I noticed that her feet were in chains. Terrified, I looked back up to her face. The sun hit her just right, and I saw a girl I knew well. The girl was me.
Feeling more scared than I have felt in my life, I started frantically swimming. I swam as fast as I could. Not once did I look back. Finally, I got to the top of the water. My heart was pounding and my lungs were hurting. I took a deep breath and continued to breathe heavily. I looked around for a place to go. I couldn’t see the cliff that I had jumped off, but there were some big rocks coming up out of the water. I swam over to them and climbed up.
I breathed heavily as I searched the water, expecting to see myself again. I hoped that the chains I had seen were holding her down.
I just want to go home. No, I don’t want to go home. I’ve made bad choices. No one will be happy to see me back home. What have I gotten myself into? I can’t fix any of this. I can’t go back home. I just can’t.
