A Dream

 "Where am I?" I questioned. My vision was blurry

and it felt like I was in a trance. I laid down patiently
for a moment, trying to gather my wits and regain
my clarity. As my senses slowly recovered, I could
feel the glorious Sun emanating its warmth onto my
skin. The ground cushioned me with its plethora of
weeds. I squinted my eyes, reopening it in hopes of
getting more clues of my surrounding. At first sight, I
saw a blue canvas covered with an abundance of
white fluffy cotton balls. The air was crisp, carrying
with it the scent of blooming wildflowers,
immediately invoking a pleasant memory of
childhood in my mind. I gulp the fresh air down in
heaps, rejuvenating my fatigued soul.The morning
zephyr, coupled with the rustling of vegetation and
the chirping of nearby birds, whispered a sense of
calmness into my ears. Those sounds, they
reminded me of something familiar. I arose from the
ground, eager to explore the strange world around
me. The Sun dipped below the horizon, casting a
warm golden glow across what looked like a
meadow. The field was enlivened with all kinds of
exuberance. Fountains of flowers emerged from the
ground, their petals surfing along with the breeze.
There was a lake ahead, an ecosystem teeming
with diaphanous life forms. I stood there, gazing out
at the vast expanse before me, a smile tugging at
the corners of my lips. This moment, this very place,
was a place of my childhood.
 However, there’s more than what meets the eye.
Something laid ahead of this vast land, behind the
woods where the adults prohibited us to enter.
Something dark, something melancholic, something
resentful, something forsaken. The thought of such
a place sent shivers down my spine. But those
feelings, why do they feel so relatable? So painful
yet so comforting at the same time. Before I knew it,
my frisson of fear turned into curiosity. Without
hesitation, I dashed across the woods towards the
direction where my senses were most attracted to.
The cracking of leaves and the whispers of the wind
left my ears to be deafened.

While racing there, I was oblivious to my

surroundings and failed to realize the significant
alteration in the weather. A torrential rain poured
down from ominous dark clouds that formed above
with bright and flashing lightnings zipping across the
night sky. The wind also grew intensely, it howled
and the trees groaned. I wanted to seek refuge, but
with where I’m currently at, the only way to avoid
the weather was reaching the end of the woods.
And so, with all my remaining strength, I ran
through the woods with all my might and not a
single thought in my mind. My heart pounded with
each breath. I felt like someone had set a slow and
steady match beneath my center, deep in the pit of
my stomach. I was reaching my limit, my
movements slowly faltered, but I finally caught
glimpse of what seemed to be light at the end of the
woods.
 Soon, I stumbled into a theme park, but it was
dilapidated and devoid of life. I could feel a sudden
change in the atmosphere, it was as though I was in
a completely different land. The relentless weather
had stopped. The place was gloomy and dark,
thickened with dense built-up fog, making the place
all the more arcane and enigmatic. My arrival was
greeted by a corroded and rusty grinning clown, its
mouth acting as an arch for the entrance, forming
the shape of a haunting smile. A wooden roller-
coaster surrounded the entire isolated park,
trapping any visitors in its depressing labyrinth.
Everything was so sombre, so colourless, so sulky it
could’ve brought even the happiest soul to despair.
A once beautiful carousel was the epicentre of the
park. Scraps of gold and turquoise paint tried
ineffectively to make their way through the rust and
the horses stood eagerly awaiting for someone to
ride them one last time.

At the edge of the circus stood a solitary haunted

castle. The urge to explore it overtook my mind,
leaving me uncontrolled of my own body. My
muscle tingled and soon I was entering the castle
against my own will. The interior was dusty and
gray, being infested with all kinds of pests. Various
sizes and shapes of doors opened the castle to a
realm of endless possibilities. I was dragged
through the empty hallway, toward a grand
staircase. It held two paths, both leading to the
same destination. Suddenly, the pulling force
stopped, as though I was where I needed to be. I
tried to embrace my restored freedom. But to my
dismay, there was an indiscernible figure perching
at the staircase's landing. The eyes of the figure
was like a chain fettered around my neck, holding
me, compelling me, forcing me to stay where I was
and not to walk away. My heart sank as I could
sense the aura of anger, regret and grief contained
in the figure. Something this broken shouldn’t exist.
The figure took one step, and I screeched, “Help!” in
a timorous voice. My words reverberated off the
lonely cracked walls. My helpless body quivered
and apprehensive voice quavered as it took another
step. I couldn’t do anything other than watching him
descend and being tortured by the interval creaking
of the stairs.

Something horrible is happening inside of me

and I don't know why. I think my mask of sanity is
about to slip. I couldn’t take it anymore, my face had
already turned pallid, I felt like I was melting. I was
in the verge of life and death. Before the figure had
made any contact with me, I shut my eyes,
repudiating my story to end this way. As my vision
faded, the darkness and void started drowning me, I
felt light and free. I sought solace in it, like the place
could console my deepest fear. Yet, the presence of
an entity could be felt, so voracious and ravenous
for destruction. I tried opening my eyes to escape
but to no avail. I couldn’t open it, as if they were
sealed, just like my fate as the entity spotted me,
the desire of it to devour my emotions caused me to
surrender as I blacked-out into a land of vast
blankness.
 Somewhere in the world, a paperboy throws a
copy of newspaper towards an empty home, with
the headline being “Fatal roller coaster ride, leaving
1 dead and 1 on emergency medical care”