Was it All a Dream?

The vibrant, bustling colors assaulted my eyes as I took a hesitant step out of the gloomy alleyway. The plethora of sights to take in overwhelmed me, and a dizzy wave of fear washed over me. However, just as I was about to step back, I felt my feet move of their own accord, dancing me into the light.

Bright, beautiful bulbs hung from strands attached to poles on either side of the street. They burned a deep red, unlike anything I had ever seen. Stalls and carts littered either side of the crowded path, where creatures of all shapes and sizes walked purposefully, bags and backpacks filled to the brim with things they had bought, or empty for the things they had yet to buy.

“Where am I…?” I muttered to myself, equal parts awe and terror sparking within me. The ground was a vivid orangish-red, unlike anything I’d ever seen, and the sky was a deep purple, as if it had been dipped in paint.

Where did Earth go? Just a minute before, the cloudless sky, vast and mysterious, had been smiling above me, soft green weeds caressing my ankles as I stumbled through the field, tripping against small rocks and the uneven ground.

It had all started as I’d sat in my barn, dreamily gazing at the peaceful composure of the land around me, when a fiery trail from the stars had rushed to kiss the ground, resting not a mile from where I’d been laying. Curious, and with nothing better to occupy my time with, I’d leapt up to investigate the odd occurrence.

Living alone out in the open country, far away from the loud noises of city life, there was no one to stop me from rushing out through the grasses and the wildflowers on a whim. While many people would consider this a lonely, sad existence, I didn't mind. With the wind of my face, and the sun reflecting my hair different colors, I was happy. The fresh air and the breeze was all I needed in this beautiful land.

Oh, and the stars!

At night sometimes, when I couldn’t sleep, or wanted to stay up, I would climb up, up to the tip top of my barn and just lie still, taking in the sights of space. My breath would catch at the amazingness of it all, at the billions upon billions of stars, so many light years away. I would think back to how I was looking at the same stars that the Greeks and olders peoples did, admiring the constellations they had come up with.

When I fell asleep up on the roof of the barn, my dreams were filled with thoughts of these stars and faraway planets, and the urge to one day see them up close, and look upon my Earth from a different perspective.

The smell of smoke was what hit me first, the sulfuric stench clogging up my senses and forcing me to breath in through my mouth. A tinge of fear struck me, but I wasn’t about to back out now. Despite my misgivings, I was too close and too curious to do anything other than forge on.

Parting the tall grass in front of me with calloused hands, I had gazed in amazement at the sight before me.

Surrounding a crystal of pulsing energy, a circle of grass lay scorched. Blackened and burned, I gagged at the smell.

What had done this?

Focusing my attention on the small jem, I knew that it had to be the answer. It looked bizarre, not of this world, and a shudder of excitement flew through me. I looked up.

Could it be from up there? From the stars? Eying the object again, I felt my heart beat faster. The luminescent surface that radiated such an unnatural light almost looked like it was the essence of one of the stars itself. The sight dazzled my eyes, and I felt my thoughts grow muddled.

Stars… one had come down to Earth… the voices in my head sang, filled with happy turmoil. It was so close… just a few feet in front of me. In fact…

It was just close enough…

To touch…

…

The whole event all felt so far away as I tried to get a bearing of where I was, though it was only around five minutes ago… probably… By now, the weird looking creatures around me were starting to look a little annoyed at my lack of movement. One mother with purple skin, carrying a blue-skinned child, gave me a lengthy glare as she walked past. Another creature, this time a green and orange speckled man with tentacles at the ends of his fingers even went so far as to ram a beefy shoulder into me as he walked past, sending me stumbling into the crowd.

“Hey!” I tried to shout, but my voice didn’t seem to work. Instead, I croaked out an unintelligible groan, and stood up-- straight into another creature.

With an inhuman screech, blue, black, and fruits of all colors and textures went flying into the air, a few splatting wetly against the back of my hair. The gooey mush slid through my hair, flattening it, before crawling stickling behind my shirt and onto the bare of my back. I choked out a noise at my disgust, shook myself off before turning to survey the damage I’d caused.

A pretty, yellow-skinned, -- alien?-- woman was lying on her bottom, with what looked like the beginnings of tears pooling in her eyes. A few more of the strange creatures were gathered around her, putting their hands or tentacles on her to help her up. A few were speaking softly, though the language was like nothing I had ever heard before-- full of squeaks and screeches.

“Um, I’m-- I’m--” I began my apologies, making the woman look up. Her helpless, sad look instantly turned into a frosty glare. I felt my throat constrict as I scrambled back helplessly, only to find my way out blocked by a wall of legs.

Terrified, I turned around.

Other aliens in the marketplace had heard or seen the commotion, and I formed a barrier around me, blocking me in. My breaths grew fast and short, and I looked up, only for my eyes to be met with the sight of various burly aliens with furrowed brows, looking about ready to kill me.

One of them growled something down at me in the foreign language, then took a menacing step forward. Desperately, my eyes flitted back to the woman I had knocked down, who was slowly standing up. Her glare still froze my veins.

Not taking her eyes off me, she stated something with a calm, if slightly wavering voice. Then she pointed. Her finger landed on me.

What had I done to deserve this? Didn’t these aliens know that I wasn’t from here, wherever ‘here’ was? Couldn’t they cut me some slack? Desperately twisting my head around for a solution, I felt a salty heat as tears started to well up in my eyes.

The once beautiful lights above now seemed menacing, their light a bit too dark, and flickering too slowly. The purple sky was nearly black now, though I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for that purple color to get any darker.

Just a moment ago, this marketplace had been a bustling center of the economy, and now it was a hatred-filled pot, just about to boil over. One of the aliens cracked his knuckles together, and took another step forward.

My knee-jerk reaction was to scream, and scream I did. No longer was I the peaceful farmer, cool and proud among his fields. I was a coward, and I knew that, more so than ever now. Lifting my voice to the heavens, I poured out all the terror I had felt up to that point, all my confusion, all my desperation, amassing into one long, shrill howl that wounded even my own ears.

Heaving deep breaths, I gave myself a moment for the headache that had sprung up to subside before I started again. Around me, the aliens looked shocked and concerned, if not a little disappointed too. My eyes darted quickly between them, in an effort to see which one would make the first move.

The aliens looked back and forth between each other for a tense moment, in which I desperately sucked in air. Then, one of them put a rubbery leg forward, and I opened my mouth to scream again.

I filled my lungs, expanding them to their full capacity, with a single deep breath. I would scream. I would scream until Earth, wherever it was, could hear my strangled cry. I would--

A gruff voice broke my concentration, and I let my breath go, looking around in surprise. The faces of the aliens also expressed confusion, but soon enough they parted obediently according to the orders that I assumed were given to them.

At the end of the pass created stood an alien in dark blue armor, covering him so that I couldn’t see their face. Behind his mask, he barked orders until the crowds stepped back further, and he could walk through.

Was this their form of police? Everything in this new world was so strange and different to me. When the police officer walked forward, I didn’t know if they were coming to save me, the damsel that I am, or to carry out what their citizens’ wishes and beat me to death.

Not knowing what else to do, I stared at them silently in wide-eyed shock. They grumbled something low, but I shook my head. I couldn’t understand a single word they were saying. The police officer seemed to understand this, and they pushed a button on their armor.

“Hello,” the police officer said, a voice of a man crackling to life. I said nothing, letting him continue. “Are you human?”

Feeling slightly numb, I nodded a “Yes” on reflex. I barely felt my head bob up and down, and I certainly couldn’t remember telling myself to do it.

“Ah, that explains it.” The officer walked over, grabbing me roughly by the arm and yanking me up. “Sometimes things like this happen; one of our transporters finds its way to Earth, a human picks it up, and causes some damage to our world. Don’t worry, I’ll get you back to where you belong.”

I could feel myself going cross-eyed as my brain tried to process this information.

“How…” I managed, finally finding it within myself to speak. I cleared my throat. “Where… what is this place?”

Though I couldn’t see it, I could tell that the officer gave me a sad smile. He put a hand on my soldier, ignoring the locals that were still glaring around us, while the other hand unclipped something from his holster.

“What…?” I said. Then I saw what he had grabbed, and my face went pale. I had been wrong to think he’d help me, hadn’t I? I tried to twist out of his grip but I couldn’t. Slowly, he brought the gun up to my face.

“I’m sorry, but you aren’t going to remember this,” he said softly.

“Wha--!” There was a bright flash, and then everything went white. The lights and the sounds faded around me, and my body became weightless.

I was floating. Lost in an endless void of white. I couldn’t remember who I was, what I was doing, or where I was. It was like being in a dream…

… and like a dream, memories and answers to those came rushing back as I snapped back to reality, my eyes blinking open to the bright sun from the top of a barn.

Had I fallen asleep? I rubbed my head where a mild headache was blossoming. I must’ve. I felt a little weird, and my memories of the day were a little blurry, but I could manage.

I’d just had the strangest dream.