I laid there, my back held up by a sweltering sand dune. Thy sky was a ripe blue, almost undeniably, unrealistic and picturesque. I connected the clouds with my fingers, shaping a circle. With my finger I hooked the circular cloud and dragged it down to where the ocean connected to the sky, plopping it down to float on the water. Standing up, my toes became entrapped by the sand. I struggled. The tiny sand particles weighed me down as I tried to pick up my feet. Instead of shouting out, I dropped to my knees and began to crawl. My knees burned as the sand so tiny and smell, yet painful and abundant brushed against my skin, blistering me, leaving behind tiny scars. As I approached the waters mouth, my eye caught the reflection of light. Entranced I followed its gleaming magnificence. Head first I delved into the water, the dark blue abyss surrounding me and entrapping me. As I continued to swim, the light began to grow, bigger, then bigger, then bigger. The heat from the light was unbearable. I could feel my flesh begin to rise from the bone and disappear. Instead of swimming away, the light pulled me in. The burning sensation didn’t dissipate and before long I was completely bare of flesh. Nothing but bone, I was fragile and weak yet as I approached the light further I felt immense peace and strength. As the light got closer and closer I closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes again I wasn’t in the ocean, but entangled in the billions of stars that connected the universe as a whole. Strangely, I felt at peace. Earth sat in front of me, her intrigue flashing me a quick smile, almost taunting me. Before attempting to float away I noticed a small triangle carved into earth. A voice from inside the triangle called out my name. Drawn toward the voice calling for me, I reached inside the triangle, and climbed in. Inside the triangle was a tropical oasis filled with exotic plants and animals that only exist in imagination. To my right was a waterfall whose water was that of every color in the rainbow. In front of me was a tree, thousands of feet wide, which reached to the heavens above. If there was ever a place I wanted to stay, this was it.
Something crawled across me, not quite like a spider but what resembled a spider and a millipede. It stretched its body across my feet leaving behind a stream of slime. I stared at the creature below me in awe. At first, I felt the need to scream out loud, until I noticed it murmuring my name in the same voice that had been calling me before.
“Hello” I whispered, hoping for a response. It looked confused, as if it couldn’t believe that someone had spoken to it. The creature began to crawl up my leg. Tendon like arms grew out from its sides, engulfing me, suffocating me. The forest in the background was being swallowed by a body of water, swiftly moving toward me. I stood, unable to move, the creatures tendons now covering me entirely. The roar of the water was closer. And then… I was sinking, slowly, into the dark blue abyss. Above me I could see the distorted reflection of the sun gleaming atop the water. I gasped for breath swallowing the water, and choking. Suffocating.