Asylum of Dreams

Every night we dream. Every day we dream. We are always dreaming. Anytime I see an animal in the forest I wonder if it's real, I wonder if me going to sleep is really me waking up. If reality really is how we think then I don't want to live it anymore. I don't want to believe that this cruel world is real, that it really is just everyday, that every human is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

This morning I woke up and everything seemed more different. Not much different, just brighter. There were no birds flying around my room. I didn't wake up to a witch flying outside my window. Every color seemed brighter, like when then sun shines on a flower and suddenly every color imaginable seems to appear.

When I walked to school there were no lanterns floating on the sidewalk, no singing flowers, just silence. It was almost uncomfortable how quiet this dream world was. Maybe this was my real life, maybe I had been living a dream all my life. Either way this is different from what I was used to.

Just as I was about to open the door to school I was jolted awake. This world was grey. Actually now that I looked around my plain looking room I could tell that there was no color at all. All around me was the screeching sound of static. I immediately cupped my hands over my ears. Now I prefer the uncomfortable silence over this. I slowly rolled out of bed for the second time that day, or night I couldn’t tell. The world was just a large, Buzzing, grey. It made it difficult to focus on the homework I had last night. Or the homework I thought I had at least. 

Once again as I closed my eyes I was slowly shaken awake by a kind motherly hand. It was nice to know some was there with me, comforting me through my nightmare. Nightmare. My eyes fluttered open to find a huge disgusting monster hunched over me. My dark, the only light coming from the moon illuminating the decrepit face. It's mouth stretching into a large toothless smile. It made me squirm, or want to squirm at least. I couldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t, I was trapped. I was trapped starring as the huge monster lunged down towards me. I closed my eyes and opened it. Again. I thought Just one more time please. This can’t be my reality. 

As I closed my eyes and opened them one more time I noticed something strange. I could move again, but I was bound. Not all my limbs, just my arms. As I began to come to I realized that there were several strange things around me. Though the last dreams I had were all different, I was in my bed, in my plain room in all of them. When I looked around me I saw all white walls. Not pure white though, you could tell they hadn’t been cleaned in a long time based off of the grime and yellowness of them. Like they were once white and pure, but had been ruined by time and neglect.

As I looked down I noticed I was in some sort of jacket. A straight jacket. I began to thrash, I no longer had control of my body. Though I knew this was just a dream my body wouldn’t stop moving. I couldn’t control it. I began to hit myself against the wall. Stop! I thought. Please wake up. I no longer wanted to be in the magical world that was dreams. This was a nightmare. I began to feel wetness on my cheeks.

“Please” I whispered.

My body made a sudden stop. Tears flowing down my face I layed down. Thinking maybe if I fell asleep in this dream, maybe I could wake up. It’s pretty easy to find a place to sleep in a padded room. 

Bang Bang Bang

It came from somewhere in the room. I sat up imiediatly. Had they come to let me out? My heart leaped as I stood.

A woman with a hoarse voice spoke, “You’re Mother is here to see you.” 

Mom! She would understand. Any mom could understand their own child to them. I heard a number of locks clicked and a hidden door swung open. 

“Mom!” I exclaimed as I ran to give her a hug. 

She quickly pushed me off of her, “Don’t touch me!”

Why would she say something like that? I hadn’t done anything, I was just a normal person wasn’t I? 

That’s when I realized I was still in a dream. Of course she wouldn’t let me hug her, it was supposed to be a nightmare! Now I only needed a way to wake up and I needed it quickly. 

“She’s been sleeping for days on end, as soon as she wakes up she freaks out flailing her arms like a maniac.” The nurse said. Were they really going to talk about me right in front of me? It didn’t matter I needed a way out. 

I need to think, how do people wake up from dreams? They normally blink their eyes but that obviously isn’t working. How do I wake up? That’s it! I need to get to the roof, to jump off! If I died in my dream I would surely wake up. I waited for the perfect moment and quickly ran out of the door and locked it behind me. 

I quickly climbed the stairs of the hospital, being careful not to get caught. It was strangely empty, the only echo was from my own feet, no others. There were no other patients or nurses quickly going up or down, it was deserted. I quickly got to the top of the building and swung open the door to the roof. 

I stood at the edge of the building, watching the cars below me quickly driving by. Once I slept off, I would be taken out of this nightmare. I placed one foot over the edge, feeling my heart race, I must be sweating even in real life. 

As soon as I lept off the edge of the building I remembered something. Not just something but my entire life and the realization hit me. This was my reality. My pitiful life full of dreams was about to come to an end. I was gone and so were all the other worlds that came with me.