Wishful Dreaming

01

Everything was peaceful.

The sun was rising, a soft breeze was blowing through Mono's hair, and the grass beneath him felt warm and comfortable. Mono felt peaceful, and for the first time in a long time he took off his paper bag. Which was a huge thing for the bashful boy, as he usually felt like the world was against him. For once he felt safe. For once he felt like everything would be fine, that he would truly be fine.

He sighed and laid back, watching clouds lazily drift across the sky. He would sometimes try to make shapes out of the fluffy clouds, laughing at the more ridiculous ones. He was enjoying how every once in a while, a cloud would cover the sun, dimming the blue sky to a more gray color, then it would turn the pretty blue once again as it allowed the sun to shine once more. The wind continued to softly swirl around him, lapping at his hair every once in a while. Mono always wondered if it was the clouds that depended on the wind to continue its journey or if it was the wind that depended on them to continue blowing. Not understanding much about the world, he would often question a lot of things, though he rarely got an answer. He didn't mind it, as it made life all the more interesting and mysterious.

Mono hoped that everything would stay like this, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him that it wouldn't. No matter how much he wished, how much he dreamed, nothing would stay peaceful. He knew that, sadly, far back into his head he knew that nothing would ever stay peaceful. The feeling he has right now, will eventually leave, and he'll go back to longing for it to return.

Though for now, he could just lay back and enjoy the scenery. He might as well take advantage of this wonderful moment before he's forced back into a hazardous world. He continued to stare at the sky and the sun that was ever so slowly sinking. He wished the sun would stay up and continue to warm him and the grass around him, to continue to make the world around him bright and less terrifying. He wanted to be a kid, but instead of letting this get him too worked up he let out a breath. He would just listen to the background noise of rustling trees and grass while he had the chance.

Wait. . .

Trees? That's not right. There were no trees when Mono first looked around, what was he hearing? Mono sat back up and looked around, hoping that he just wasn't remembering right. All that hope drowned when he saw miles of treeless plains, stretching for as far as he could see. He then stood up confused when the rustling was getting louder. What was going on? What was happening?

Then a shadow fell on Mono and he looked up, to see that the clouds that were moments ago white and puffy were now dark and gray. The soft wind that was blowing suddenly picked up, almost knocking Mono over in shock. The sun quit moving, and instead was soon covered by stormy clouds. The world that was just normal and nice had turned chaotic and strange. Why couldn't it just stay the way it was? Was it his fault? Did he cause this? Then it started to pour, but Mono didn't get wet. Somehow he didn't get wet! How was this possible?

At this point Mono started to freak out, and went to grab his paper bag back for protection. To hide him from the hateful world that wanted him to underachieve, to fail, to die. Though it wasn't there. Now he didn't have anything to help him, to give him comfort and make him feel secure in this unkind world he lived in. Where did it go? Did it get blown away? Mono knew he shouldn't have taken it off. He knew the peace wasn't going to last long, yet he still let his guard down. The world hated him, everything wanted him to fail, and he was letting it. He was letting the world get to him, he was allowing it to cause him pain.

Mono looked back up at the dark cloudy sky, and wished that everything could just be peaceful. That he could have a moment to relax and breathe. He really did wish too much.

Mono woke up in a start, his breaths coming out ragged and short. He touched his face to feel the paper bag still there, he let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't gone, he was fine. It was a dream, or more like a nightmare. Mono tried to calm down his breathing, afraid that The Hunter was nearby and could hear him, as even the slightest noise could alert the monster of a man, if you could even call him a man at this point.