 |
I've got something to submit!
User Name: Xanaduhaz
Title of Piece: A double dream life
Genre of Piece: Fantasy?
Any Comments?
Have you ever wondered what it is like to have all your dreams come true? Are you imagining wealth, harmony, fantasy walking among reality? Well yes, it could involve all this but it would involve so much more. Imagine if ALL your dreams that you dreamt night after night could come true, not just the good but maybe your darkest nightmares too. What if you walked down the street then a three-headed, drooling monster jumps out of nowhere, or dark spirits rise out of the ground to take you with them. What are you going to do about it?
Well, this is what one person has had to deal with for all her life. Oneira, a fairly average fourteen year old girl; from a fairly average street; living with a fairly average family. However to most of us, she lives a far from an average life. Ever since she can remember clowns have been trespassing into the family house, vampire bats have lived in the loft and toys have been regularly delivered to their front door from anonymous donors.
Every person can dream many dreams a night, Oneira is no different. The only problem with dreaming so many dreams is she cannot know which part of which dream will show up when; however, some dreams can give an indicator.
I will give you an insight into a not so average day of her not so average life.
Oneira is sleeping; she tosses and turns, tomorrows not going to be a good day….
The sun once again creeps through the cotton curtains. Oneira isn’t relieved to be awakened from the dreams and nightmares like most people; she knows she will have to relive it again at some point today. Yet this was not what frustrated her most, she was used to the dreams coming true. A certain dream was troubling her. That dream that recently she has been having rather frequently. Not her average dream, this dream has never come true; also she cannot remember in the vivid detail that she does with the other dreams. All she knows is the dream will always come after the nightmares; like a light after the darkness.
Sunday morning is a leisurely affair in the family’s household, sitting down drinking tea and eating toast. Yet Oneira is on edge, she is constantly on edge with every right to be as her dreams will come true at anytime and today is no different. As the postman makes a delivery… on a Sunday? As the doorbell rings Oneira is rooted to the spot, her mind racing trying to predict what the postman was bringing. Her questions are soon answered as a rather flustered and confused father hands over a large package and a bouquet of flowers to her. So as not disturb her family anymore she rushes upstairs with heart pounding to see what lay in that package. As she tore into it, white lace and silk spilled out of the box; holding up the mass of materials reveals a fairytale wedding dress with diamonds scattered over the silk bodice and white lace flowing creating a veil.
‘Oh no’ cried Oneira cursing at the dress, this could only mean one thing, yet another wedding. As do most young teenagers, she too has crushes on cute boys and hot actors and can occasionally dream about them. This means she has married quite a few people at the tender age of fourteen. Off the top of her head she can count at least three marriages to actors and seven to boys she had met.
You are probably wondering how this is possible, people surely must notice. However as dreams are forgotten by most of us when we wake, so are the things of Oneira’s dreams when the people involved sleep. Only she can remember them all, to the rest of the world all they will remember is a typical day as if none of Oneira’s dreams had come to life.
Oneira is left to decide whether to ignore the dress and leave the poor groom standing, or at least attend; if no one can remember the wedding surely it can’t be a real wedding, though the stack of marriage certificates are growing underneath her bed. The thought that no one remembers is what keeps Oneira sane, well as sane as you could be with all the crazy things that appear day to day in her life. Though no one remembers you don’t want a heart broken man on your conscience; slipping into the perfectly fitted wedding dress she is ready to face another day, Oneira style. At the precise moment that she is prepared, a horse drawn carriage pulls up outside her grand house. Even though her family are on a low income, it is a large house fitted with all the mod-cons due to the random windfall of money that occurs in the family’s accounts every so often; one of the perks of having dreams come true. The family and everyone else assume that they must have won the lottery though no one can remember when.
Stepping into the white carriage she can feel the tension in the heavy air as if thunder and lightning would occur at any moment yet the sky was a blanket of blue. Going down the street she notices a house with a large hole in the side of it, she remembers the giant beast, one of her nightmares that had chased her had crashed into the side of the house as she killed it. Most people seem to think a lorry drove into the side of the house. Unlike her nightmares she has never been killed or caught by the monster, beasts, aliens or criminals, she may find this type of existence hard but she doesn’t ever want to die.
The carriage slowly moves along; with every step the air becomes denser, unbearably so. Frantically looking round she can feel something getting closer. The fact of the matter is the thing she feels has been close for quite sometime, the moment she descended into the first stages of her dream reality it was waiting just like any nightmare. Under the carriage lies the dark creature, eyes glowing waiting to pounce on the not so non expectant victim. Just in time Oneira jumps out the carriage penknife in hand, she has learnt to be prepared, no matter the occasion. As she looks under the carriage it jumps at her eight arms all aiming at her face, in a split second she could feel the furry arms crushing her body, its fangs waiting to dig into her delicate flesh, however she had made her move, clutching the blade of the penknife the creature had lunged straight into it. Her fairytale dress was ruined as thick fluid oozed out of the creature, but she had lived to fight another nightmare.
Looking up she saw the driver and horses run off in fear and the street was silent. Taking off her crystal high heels a bedraggled Oneira takes the long walk towards the church. Yet the heavy feeling was still there, growing stronger still. The church seemed to drift off into the distance, no matter how long she walked; for the spire was still on the horizon. Giving up, Oneira stopped and collapsed to the ground in annoyance and exhaustion.
As she lay there, a sea breeze developed and the lapping of the tide sounded gently. Looking up she could see her town submerged in the turquoise liquid. She saw a large ship’s billowing sails coming towards her, a Pirates ship, and another dream descended. The huge vessel stopped meters before her lowering down a battered rope ladder. The ragged crew call to her, inviting her onto their grand ship to ride with them. Looking down on deck she glimpses her new attire. A town dress rather suited to the pirate era. At least it is easier to walk in than the wedding dress. As the crew haul up the anchor and sail towards the horizon the church spire eventually starts to draw closer. With no warning Oneira found herself at the wheel of the ship, the weight of the ship pulled at the wheel, the stiff breeze veering the ship in the opposite direction to the spire. With all her strength Oneira manages to get the vessel under some sort of control though the resistance was as if the ship had a mind of its own. Oneira was feeling physically sick with the physical exhaustion and the swelling of the sea. But she just has to get to that church, she has no idea but she knows she just needs to get to that church coincidently the sight of the base of the church.
Once at the church the buzz and nerves of the wedding loomed, she doesn’t even know who she is about to get married to. She opens the heavy oak door, with a load creak ringing in the idyllic silence of the church. Looking around she sees the sheer white marble surround and an empty church apart from the back of the groom, the priest and the mob of pirates entering around her. No wedding march plays but the overwhelming silence, not even the noise of shuffling feet can be heard. A booming voice echoes
“Please come here my dear Oneira” his voice velvety and inviting. Each step down the aisle was muffled. She reaches her future husband, his face in a shimmering shadow from the stain glass window, but he reassures her with the gentle touch from his hand. The wedding flows with no hitch, the formalities and ‘I do’s’ flowed off the tongue and no sooner than it had begun Oneira could find out who the stranger is as they seal their marriage with a kiss. As their face’s draw closer Oneira’s heart begins to race, she looks up into the stranger’s face, not to be greeted by a loving familiar face but an emotionless face, which was until he opened his eyes….
Light streams from where his eyes should be; a Familiar light. An eerie scream comes from within is body and quakes through the building. But is too late Oneira’s lips reach his face before she has time to realise what is happening apart from overwhelming fear.
As her lips touch his stone cold skin he evaporates into light surrounding her and engulfing her. She feels something lift from her something that weighs heavily but she has known all her life, is this death, is this what happens when a nightmare catches you? She accepts her fate she has tried so hard to evade death by nightmares but now it is finally done. She no longer fears death or life. She embraces the peace and turns her back on the double dream life she has been living.
She opens her eyes and warm light enters her consciousness, the priest looks down at her.
“I think you fainted, are you alright?” concerned he helps her up to her feet. “Do you need escorting home?” Declining his offer, Oneira heads to the door her mind confused, surely he can’t have not just seen what had happened. Her husband evaporated and she was some how engulfed and in a pirate dress. Going down the street there was no sea only a few puddles and people going about there business. Her carriage that was meant to take her to the wedding was in the distance and the crystal heels lay in the middle of the road in pieces as cars drove over them.
She makes it home, something is missing. She looks round her family are still here; her house is exactly how she left it, right down to the marriage certificates under the bed. But no more dreams come true today. A sense of normality enters her life, something that she has never truly felt before.
She has been able to feel this normality since then, she still dreams at night but none have ever come true ever again, that weight she lost that day took away the nightmares and dreams that had possessed and haunted her. Though they will never be forgotten, Oneira looks at her possessions from her dreams with a fondness and nostalgia. She still has her ambitions and hopes and there is nothing to stop her fulfilling them.
|
 |
Reply
