In Your Dreams

Chapter 22: The world

Humidity. If this is a sauna, I want to get out of it. I'm lying on something rough that pokes painfully against my back. I push myself up and gape in horror. There's no one in sight, just faded concrete buildings and wide, grainy brown land. I jump to my feet.

"Hello?" I strain my eyes but there's no sign of a skyline. "Hello?" I start walking faster, then sprint, finding nothing but flat sandy brown Earth in every direction. Where am I?

Wait. I wipe the sweat off my forehead. A wide, shallow set of steps leads to a tall grey building. Zeus res. I push open the front door and head for the elevator but the doors are already open, revealing an open shaft and a long, bottomless drop. I jump back in panic, my heart racing.

I run up the stairs, huffing for breath, and burst into the empty hallway on my floor. "Is there anyone here?"

The door to our room is ajar, and completely empty except for two bare beds and a dresser. Why aren't my clothes on the floor?

I race to the window. All I can do is stare, my mouth open. Even from this height I can make out absolutely nothing but dirt in all directions; I couldn't see any trees or buildings earlier because there was nothing more to see.

I full out panic. "Mom! Dad! Aunt Lindsey? Casey! Someone! Anyone!" My heart is pounding as I scream. "Chris!"

Hope leaps in my chest. I run into the hall towards his room, yelling, "Chris, Chris!" Something tells me I can reach him if I try hard enough. "Chris!"

I feel his arms close gently around me. I exhale. Chris.

"It's okay, Jessie, I'm here."

I let myself sink into our hold, watching as the vision beyond the window shifts. The brown fades to yellow, then green, then pushes up into soft blades of grass.

"It's okay." His voice comes from somewhere near my ear. "It's just a dream."

I close my eyes, my heartbeat calming down. Just a dream. It's just a...

My eyes flash open. "Chris." I turn to look at him, our faces only inches apart. "We're dreaming." I gesture to the pale green walls—they're supposed to be grey. "We're dreaming!"

"What?" Chris' face cracks into an awed grin. "That's it. I knew something was off—my room looks different, the walls...This is incredible!"

I can't believe this is happening; I can feel the rough carpet beneath my toes, I can smell the slightly historic smell of an older building, see the same plain doors marking students' dorms.

It's one thing to know we're sharing dreams, another to experience it like this.

"This is crazy." I put my hand against the wall, astounded by how concrete it feels, but it isn't real. Not to anyone else but us.

I want to scream at the top of my lungs, and since no one can hear me, I do.

I jump up. "We are in a dream! We are in a dream! We are in a dream!"

Chris cheers with me, scooping me off my feet and twirling me round and round. In real life I would have gotten dizzy.

Not here.

Chris puts me down gently, his arms still around me. "Before, when you were calling me, what was wrong?"

It comes flooding back to me, like a bad dream. That's what it was.

I gulp and everything warm drains away to cold, even Chris' body heat. "I dreamt everything shrivelled up and everyone was gone. There was no campus or trees or grass or people, just sun and heat and..." Death. "It felt like...like the world died. Like there was no one left." I shake my head to chase away the thought.

I rest my head on Chris' neck, feeling like I can do that here. In fact, even if this weren't a dream, I feel like I could do that. Chris is one of my best friends.

"That's scary, but it was just a dream," Chris murmurs, his chin against the side of my head. "And even though this is too, I'll always be here."

I let him squeeze me tighter, his presence a stronger comfort than anything. I play the moment over and over in my head, clinging to words no one has ever been able to guarantee. I'll always be here. 

Alternate wording for chapter ending - your opinion welcome (thank you!)

"It felt like...like the world had died. Like there was no one left." I shake my head to chase away the thought.

"That's scary, but it was just a dream," Chris murmurs, his chin against the side of my head. "And even though this is too, I'll always be here for you."

I rest my head on Chris' neck, feeling like I can do that here. In fact, even if this weren't a dream, I feel like I could do that. Chris is one of my best friends.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

I let him squeeze me tighter, his presence a stronger comfort than anything. I play the moment over and over in my head, clinging to words no one has ever been able to guarantee. I'll always be here.

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Note: I'm not sure about Chris twirling Jessie. I welcome your ideas for how two people might celebrate a moment like this :)

Happy reading! And thank you, dear readers!