Dream

              Chapter 1

“Let it end,”
I thought to myself.
“Let me pass out, someone knock me out. Please, just let it end.”
The car jumped up as my dad went a little too fast over a speed bump. I wanted to scream in pain as I felt my brain rattle against my skull. It felt like toxic acid had been injected into my skull. When I moved, the acid moved, searing, blistering, and melting my brain. I laid across all the backseats, my hands over my eyes trying to protect myself from the light. I had one eye open and my fingers slightly apart so I could make sure my father didn't see me. Through my barely opened fingers, I saw my father go to check the rearview mirror. I jumped up into a sitting position and uncovered my eyes. My head burst as blinding headlights breached my eyes. It was pitch black out but even the slightest bit of light was murderous. my head throbbed, and my eyes felt like they'd been stabbed with a toothpick. He didn’t see me laying down and he turned his head back to the road. I laid back down, but this time I used my hand to slowly lower my head. That way, it wouldn't hit the seat too hard. Just as I went to put my hand back over my eyes, my father turned around again. This time I didn't sit up in time.
“Valerie, get up! I told you, “Don't lay down!”
He screamed it at the top of his lungs. The loud noise made my head hurt even more. It throbbed and burned and ached. I wanted to scream, to yell, Stop! but I knew that was a bad idea. Instead, despite the pain I made myself sit up. Staring out the window, head resting on my palm, tears began to pour out of my eyes. I tried to hold them back but I couldn't, as they slowly rolled down my cheek. I looked out the window into the milky blackness, streams of water rolled down the glossy window, and you could barley see the lines of dense trees through the darkness. Normally, I would have been angry and frustrated with my dad for making me go with him. all my pain was his falt, I didn't ask for this. The pain was the only thing keeping me from inner rage. The agony of a migraine is enough to drive out any want or reason. The only thought not shattered by the pain was one that played over and over in my brain. Please, let it end.
   I woke up at what had to be closer to morning. I don't know how long I was asleep. probably at least a couple of hours given that my migraine was almost gone. It was at a point where it was bearable but really annoying. Moving, coughing, and sneezing hurt, but at least it didn't feel like my head was being crushed. like a clamp had been placed on my temples and then tightened. I pulled off the covers and slowly sat up. I opened my phone and checked the time, 5:00 Pm. I was relived the worst of the pain was over. Here in my room, my head felt so much better. It was dark and quiet, and my head wasn't being jostled in all directions by my father's reckless driving. I sat in silence for a couple of minutes just looking around my room.
My room was cozy, and filled with memories. A picture board hung on my wall containing all the drawings me and my mom had created. I had lots of pictures filled with the smiles I probably would never see again.  There was no closet so I kept my clothes in a big wooden chest that was decorated and covered in childish things, like pink butterflies, and brightly colored flowers. Me and my my mom hand glued the butterflies and flowers on the chest after painting it. I hated and cherished the thing at the same time. Half of me wanted to burn it, and the other half cowered at the idea. Same with the drawings strung along my wall. I had a poster of a deer standing majestically in the sun hanging on my wall, and cute fawn figurines sleeping on my desk. My favorite and spirit animal was the deer, and more specifically baby deer.  Attached to my room by a doorway was my bathroom. It had a mirror and a sink, and a granite countertop. I got up and walked over to the bathroom and gazed into the mirror. I was in awe of what I saw. Purple stared back at me and I gasped, jumping backwards about a foot. I stared even more intently at the mirror, making sure what I saw was actually there, and not a trick of the light. There was no mistaking it, A brilliant dazzling purple observed me from the other side of the mirror, My eyes had turned purple.
A beautiful magenta was shining and shimmering where the dull brown used to be. I ran towards my door and flipped on the light switch. The light singed the back of my eyes, but I didn't care, not now. I sprinted back to the sink and gazed into my eyes again. In the light, I realized a cloudy ring of blue encircled my pupils. It was like wavy blue clouds against a beautiful purple sunset, or a purple and blue milky way. I looked down at my phone. It was small and the screen was cracked all over. I unlocked my phone and took a picture of my eyes, just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating or something. I looked at the picture, purple and blue shown on the phone's screen as well.  What’s happening? Why are my eyes purple and blue? I mean, they’re beautiful, but how did this happen? I left the bathroom and flopped back down on my bed. The springs creaked and the mattress bounced. I stared up at the ceiling thinking, what would my dad think? Why did they turn purple? And why? Eventually, because of these impossible questions, my brain started to hurt from thinking too much and I drifted off to sleep.
The second I fell asleep, my eyelids shot back open, but I was no longer in my room. Instead, I was in a clearing surrounded by a great green forest. In the middle of the clearing was a huge, beautiful castle that reached far into the sky. A single pillar branched out into other pointed corridors. There was a bridge not far from me that looked like it led to the castle. At the end of the bridge was an archway. It led into a courtyard that was surrounded by the castle. Was I in a lucid dream? I had to be, there was one way to know for sure. I punched my fist into the air, jumping forwards at the same time. In lucid dreams, you can fly. expecting to go soaring into the air, I was stunned when gravity forced me back to the ground. I went face-first into the ground.
“ow,” I groaned. “Not a lucid dream after all.”
Where am I?  Am I in a dream?
It didn't feel like a dream.
I got up and turned to the castle, then walked along the bridge, closer to the archway. I realized there were people in the courtyard, They were all wearing bright-colored cloaks. The back ends of the cloaks were a solid color, then the bottom separated into multiple long colorful strands. They were so colorful and vivid that it was impossible to miss them, it was like the color was alive, moving, and dancing. There were people wearing red cloaks that slowly melted into orange and red flowy strands, as well as green and blue cloaks that did the same. The people in the cloaks were all talking and laughing. I walked over to the closest person, who was sitting alone on a nearby bench wearing a beautiful red and orange cloak.
“Hi,” I said. She turned around and I almost screamed in surprise. She had eyes like mine, But they were red and orange, the same color as her cloak. They were like little fires burning deep in her eyes. She must have seen the expression on my face because she looked confused.
“Sorry,” I said. “But your eyes there, well they’re like mine”
“Yeah, everyone's eyes are like that here. Don't you know where you are?” she said with a confused note in her voice.
“Yeah,” I remarked mockingly. “I'm in a dream. I think.”
Now it was her turn to make a face. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
“What,?” I asked.
“You're an inzererezi!” She exclaimed. “From inzozi.”
“Wh-what?” What the heck was an inzer thing? and where was inzozi? This girl is insane, I thought, But she had the same eyes as me, maybe she could explain. She was like me, and she was also a person who spoke gibberish and was in my dream.
“You’re an inzererezi. A dream wanderer, like me” she responded.
“A dream wanderer? What's that?” I asked. “And where's inzozi? Oh, and what's your name.?”
“I'm charlette, and a dream wanderer is someone who can cross over dream realms, and inzozi is where you're from.” yeah, you already said that I thought, but it still doesn't help. You fell asleep, didn't you? Charlette asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“And then you ended up here.”
“Also yes.”
“You just crossed over realms, and your eyes are purple and blue so you’re an inzererezi. Here,” she added. “Let's walk around the castle and I'll explain.”
We wandered around the castle and charlette began to clarify things. She told me that there are three dream realms,  yarose,  inzozi, and kurotan. Yarose means dreamed, inzozi means dreamer and kurotan means dreamen.
“Right now,” she said, “you in Yarose,” she explained. I nodded and pretended that what she was saying made even the slightest bit of sense. “But you were in inzozi before you fell asleep.”
“So my bedroom is inzozi,” I said jokingly.
She chuckled then responded.
“No, not just your bedroom, your whole world. Everything you know to exist is inzozi. Except for me and this castle of course, like I said, this is yarose.”
“Ok,” I replied, I was sort of beginning to understand. “Then how do I get back ho- to izozi?” I corrected myself mid-sentence.
“Aww, don't leave yet.” she pleaded.
“Ok,” I said. “But I can get back, right? I asked.
She said that I would return to inzozi soon enough.
“Hey charlette,” I asked.
“Ya,” she replied.
“Are there other inzererezi in my realm?”
“In yarose?”
“yeah,” I said, “in yarose.”
“Of course,” she answered, “there's inzererezi in every dream realm, you really don't know anything, do you?
“Hey” I replied, but it was true. I hadn't the slightest idea about all these dream realms or the inzererezi.
“So you’ve never been here before?” she asked.
“nope, “ I said while looking around and taking in the view.
“So you’ve just never slept a day in your life? Then, you thought, Oh, I'm pretty tired tonight, I'll sleep,” she said sarcastically.
“No, I sleep every night,” I said
I liked Charlotte, she was nice and funny. She's the first real friend I've had. That is if she is real, and not a fragment of my imagination.
“No, I sleep every night,” I said, “I think it's my eyes, they turned blue and purple, then I fell asleep. Then I was here”
“So your eyes just turned purple today? Charlette asked with a quizzical expression on her face.
“Yes, usually they're brown, but I got a migraine, then they were purple.”
“That's strange, charlette said. “ most inzererezi are born with their colored eyes, unless you were hiding them without knowing.”
“You can hide your eyes?” I asked excitedly. “Can you show me?
“Shure, ready?” she asked. I stared into her ember-like eyes, bright blue grew from around her pupils and spread to the rest of her eyes.
“Wow,” I said. “How do you do that? Can you show me? I don't necessarily want my dad to see my eyes, he'd freak out.”
“I'm sorry Valerie,” charlette said, looking out at the sky “ the sun’s about to set, I don't have time. When the sun sets, you'll wake up back in izozi, but come back tomorrow, ok.”
“I will,” I said, “do I just fall asleep, and then I'll be here again?”
“no, when you go to bed tomorrow night, just think of this place. You'll wake up in the place you're thinking about when you fall asleep. Actually, how did you get here if you didn't know what this place looked like? Were you thinking of this place when you fell asleep?”
“No, but I was thinking about my eyes,” I replied.
“Oh, ya that would probably do it,” she said.
We sat on the roof of the castle watching the sun fall behind the Infinite green forest. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen.
“By the way, Your eyes are the coolest I've seen so far, very unique,” charlette said.
“Thank you,”  I said.
“But honestly, your eyes are- but I was cut short and didn't finish my sentence. The sun went behind the green forest and I was plunged into darkness. I felt myself get yanked backwards and fell back into a normal sleep with normal dreams, dreams that weren't real.
Drearily, I woke up. I reached under my pillow, pulled out my dream journal, and went to write down my dreams. Most people can't remember their dreams when they wake up. So I keep a dream journal. Writing down your dreams tells your brain that they are important so you are more likely to remember your dreams the next time you have them. However, The real reason  I have a dream journal is that I'm a lucid dreamer. If you don't know what lucid dreaming is, let me explain. A lucid dream is a dream where you know you’re dreaming, you are aware that you are inside a dream. Lucid dreams are more real than normal dreams. You can feel, taste, smell, hear, and see everything on another level. It's like all your senses have been amplified. Like you’re free, lifted from a chain that tells you what to do. In a lucid dream, you can fly, go anywhere you like, and do whatever you want. You can control everything.  I love lucid dreaming and dreaming in general. It's a break from reality and it's a better reality. Plus  I can do whatever I want.
Weirdly I couldn't remember my dream. It was strange,  I remember that. And it was one of those dreams that you don't want to end. The ones where you close your eyes and urge them to come back. Then suddenly, a picture of red and orange eyes flashed behind my eyelids. Then it all started flooding back, everything Charlette told me, the castle, the robes, and everyone's eyes that were like mine. quickly
I dashed out of my bed and ran towards the mirror, I gaped into it.
“No!”
“What?”
“This can't be.”
My eyes were no longer purple. They were back to their original, boring, ugly brown. Was  I imagining everything? Was I going insane? Would  I be able to go back to yarose? I ripped my phone out of my pocket and opened the photograph. purple, They were purple. I wasn't hallucinating or imagining things, and here was proof. I turned back into the mirror, still brown. Would they turn back? I wanted them to, They were beautiful and elegant. The picture was proof that they were there, And that the dream I had wasn't just a dream. but what the heck was it? Common sense told me it couldn't have been real, but I knew it was. I couldn't have been more convinced. it wasn't a lucid dream. I remember trying to fly, to do the things I usually do in lucid dreams. It didn't work, instead, I fell flat on my face and into the dirt. Whatever was happening was weird. Really weird.
I got dressed and walked into the kitchen for breakfast. My father was eating scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms. It looked delicious, I wanted some but I knew he hadn't made me any. Instead, I went to the cupboard and got a box of dry cereal, then to the fridge for milk. I was still thinking about my purple eyes and my dream. My mind wandered while I was pouring my milk. I felt something hit my foot, then I looked down and realized that I was pouring milk all over the counter and it was dripping onto the floor.
“Valerie!”
   I froze. I hated when my father yelled at me like that. The deepness in his voice sent a surge of fear into my heart. When he said my name at the beginning of his sentence, I knew he was about to insult me as much as he possibly could.
“You oblivious twerp, clean that up,”
he screamed at my face, his veins bulging through his neck. Then he turned and mumbled, but loud enough so  I could hear,
“God, you're always in the way.”
I wiped up my milk, chucked the paper towels in the trash can, grabbed my dry bowl of cereal, and stomped back down the stairs. I ate my cereal and then started staring at the mirror again, urging my eyes to turn purple. I tried closing my eyes and then opening them again, that didn't work. I tried to imagine the purple spreading through my eyes the way Charlettes did, nothing happened.
“Ugh”
I kicked the side of my bed and hurled my pillow against the wall.
“God, my dream was way better than this,” I said.