A brief word to the readers:
I originally wrote this piece back in 2006 to be included in an internal newsletter, published by some friends. The language was simple and relatively accessible because the newsletter itself was going to be in another language. I feel that, while not in keeping with my current mantra of writing, it is closer to my present writing style and should provide an insight into my way of writing. Enjoy!
Dreams
Kevin Debler
Published by Kevin Debler at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Kevin Debler
I was sitting at the kitchen table, leaning on my arm while I slowly ate my breakfast. Brother walked in, grabbed a plate and then put some strips of bacon on his plate. He sat down across from me. That was when he noticed how tired I looked. He asked me what was wrong. I said that I hadn’t slept well because of a dream that I had. He asked me to describe it. So I told him my dream.
I told him, ‘It started in my bed. I awoke and saw a strange man sitting in a chair across from my bed. I sat up and got a better look at him: he was wearing grey business pants, a pale blue over-shirt, and a white t-shirt. His hair was short and spiky. What was most striking was a tattoo that he had; it was a red dragon that was on his face and seemed to stretch past his scalp and spread to his hands; somehow, I knew that it covered most of his body. He smiled at me; it made me very uncomfortable. He said, “I am Prometheus,” but I didn’t believe him. “Would you like to follow me?” he continued.
‘I said, “No.” and I got off the bed and ran from him. I was surrounded by shadows and darkness; it was suffocating. I found a wall and then a door. I looked back and saw that the man who called himself Prometheus was rising from his chair; he was still far away. I opened the door and entered a dark hallway. Aside from the floor, there was no light; only pure blackness everywhere. I walked at a pace, trying to avoid that man. When panic left me, a new fear grew. I felt insecure; I felt invaded; it was like I was being watched. I looked up and spaces within the darkness had been filled with countless pairs of unblinking eyes; they stared endlessly, probing every inch of me. That was when I ran.
‘I don’t know how long I ran; it seemed endlessly to me. The eyes were everywhere. That was when I saw Laura; that girl I liked from school. She was wearing this beautiful blue and green kimono. She was standing in a light and smiled at me. Then someone hit her with a club of some sort. She hit the ground hard and I could see that she was bleeding, badly. I looked up at the man and I shook with fear rather than anger. He was wearing camouflage pants and a policeman’s armored vest; he wore black gloves. His face is what scared me most. His skin was a shade of sickly grey and lacked a nose; only the cavity for the nose shown. His eyes were black and big; almost twice the size of normal eyes. He stared at me. His thin lips curled into a smile. Once more, I ran. This time, I found a door.
‘I couldn’t shut the door behind me, because as I stepped in I fell. I landed hard on grass. I looked up and I saw that I was in a forest; it was night, but there was no sky. I ached; my knees hurt from the fall, and I was tired from running. I leaned against a tree, when a hand grabbed my ankle. I looked down and it was a rotted and dead hand. I tore myself away from its grip and stumbled backward landing on my backside. I frantically glanced about and saw dozens of people. They shambled towards me, groaning. They were dead and yet they walked. I knew, somehow, if I stayed, they would kill me; and then I would join them. I got up and left them; they followed. I need not run, they only pursued at a crawling-speed. I kept watch on them as I backed away from them.
‘Tripping on a root, I fell backwards into a pond. I sank deep within it for a few seconds. I saw bodies everywhere. They didn’t float up to the surface, nor did they sink. They just floated, as if suspended within the fetid water by invisible wires. Despite what I thought, they weren’t dead; they were alive! Several turned their heads to look at me. They stared at me with something akin to curiosity and bewilderment. Unlike them, I was choking on the water. So I swam to the surface.
‘When I broke the surface of the water, a pair of hands grabbed my arms and pulled me the rest of the way out. I was then slammed against a table. I couldn’t move; nothing seemed to keep me in place and I was completely aware of everything going on around me, but I hand no control over my body. I wanted to stand up, I wanted to jump from the table, I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. I started to panic. I felt like thrashing, trying desperately to be free.
‘Somehow, I rolled off the table. I got up and ran as fast as I could. I was running through corridors; corridors upon endless amounts of corridors. With every step, I worried that I wouldn’t find a way out; even worse, that I wouldn’t want out. It felt like days before I saw a light coming from the ceiling; there was a hole in the darkness that led upward. I clambered up into the hole, where a tunnel continued straight up to somewhere else; a place of light instead of darkness. I managed to breach the light and I was in a small dirt pit. It was shaped like a rectangle, with sheer walls that led up to some grassy land above me, just out of grasp. I peered upward into the light and perceived a fox with white fur. It looked at me sympathetically and seemed to smile. Everything faded and that was when I awoke.’
I looked to brother and asked what he thought. He smiled at me, like an older brother does to a younger brother, and asked me if I had eaten anything before I went to bed last night. I told him that I ate some yogurt and a popsicle. He continued smiling and said that it was I ate that caused the dream and that was all. Somehow, I felt that wasn’t the real reason.