Lost In A Dream

After a long hard day at work, I was so exhausted that I just went straight to my room, kicked off my shoes, and laid down on my bed for a nap. It was not long before I drifted off to sleep, and once I did, it led me to a very unusual dream.

I soon realized that I was in a restaurant of another era. It was designed and decorated in the style of the 1800’s. It had red and white striped wallpapers, but the dining area, and the floors were of walnut. The furniture was all in detailed carvings and by the looks of them appeared to be quite heavy. Above was a crystal chandelier illuminating dimly across the room, which gave the room an ambiance sort of feeling.


I glanced at the people that filled the room laughing and chatting with one another. I was very intrigued by it all. The atmosphere felt relaxed as the men and women continued to chat as if they had little care of the world around them.

The men were dressed in knickers with long fancy jackets that had tails at the end; almost like a butler’s jacket. They also wore boots over there knickers, and many of them wore top hats as well. They all looked quite distinguished, and were absolute gentlemen when they pulled out chairs for the ladies.

The women appeared so elegant. Their long fancy dresses had frills all along the hems that almost touched the floor. Some of the women had small hats with a feather on top tilted to one side. The hats also held netting over their smiling faces. Their hair was done up in buns with ringlets that softly touched their faces. They were all sitting with their legs crossed. Their backs were poised, as they sat like perfect ladies of that time. I stood there admiring the whole scene before me. I wanted to be like them; beautiful and elegantly dressed as they were. I even found myself swaying to the classical music that played in the background. I wanted to stay in that era, but knew that I could not after all I needed to get back to my time period. The one I actually belonged in, but I did not know how, since I did not know how I got there in the first place. I then thought to myself, What if I give myself a pinch? Would I wake up? I decided to try. I gave myself one big pinch, but nothing happened. It now seemed that I was stuck there for the time being.

I began to stroll through the restaurant unnoticed. I was surprised that my presence was not acknowledged in any way. It was then I realized that I may be, invisible.

As I searched the restaurant for a way out, I came to a door in the kitchen. It led me outside to a place I did not recognize at all. All I saw was a long winding dirt road ahead of me, so I decided to follow it, hoping that it would lead me home. Instead I found myself in another time period. Except that one was different. The houses resembled bungalows, and many of them had blue or white brick walls, while the roofs were all in brown shingles. These houses were close together, and compacted. Set in what seemed like a small community of its own.

All I knew was that everything seemed strange to me, and I knew for sure I was lost. I did not know if I was ever going to find my way back home.

Suddenly, day had turned to night with stars shining brightly from above through darkened skies. A half shaped moon was peaking out, shining little light to the community. In fact the moon and the stars were the only lights that shone upon the area. There were street lamps, but for some strange reason they were turned on, so I had no idea where I was going. I just kept walking and walking to wherever my legs took me.
Abruptly, I heard a low growl that frightened me, it sounded like a lion’s growl. I tried to adjust my eyes more, but could only see a shape of what appeared to be a lion walking 30 feet ahead of me through a park. I thought to myself, it can’t possibly be a lion, can it, and if it is, how did it get here? Who would bring a lion where it does not belong, especially in such a small community? I then came to a conclusion, that maybe it was just a figment of my imagination.

I slowly sidestepped to my right behind one of the brick houses, and tried to trace my steps back to which I came. I hoped the creature did not see or hear me. I continued on, until I saw right before me the lion 10 feet away, facing me and getting ready to pounce. I was extremely terrified at this point and could not even move. I just froze, and closed my eyes waiting for the attack to come, but it did not. At that moment, I heard a man’s voice calling out.

“Riley, come here Riley.”

The lion did not move, but stood his ground until a man grabbed him by the collar to calm him.

“It’s alright Riley, now stay, I will take care of things from here on,” said the man as he ordered the lion to sit. “Good Boy!”

By this time, I slowly opened my eyes, and when I saw the lion lie down, my fear subsided a bit. I noticed the silhouette of a man heading towards me with a cane.
As the man came closer, I figured that he must have been in his seventies. He had a medium length white beard and a fisherman’s hat on along with overalls and bulky rubber boots.

“Sorry Miss. Riley gets quite anxious when he sees someone new in this area. He’s always ready to pounce on anyone who does not seem to fit in around here.”

The lion then stood up and approached us, then sat beside his master. The man saw how nervous I had become at the sight of Riley.

“Ah, don’t worry about him Miss. He would not hurt a hair on your body, unless I ordered him to.”

Oh, thanks. As if that makes me feel better, I thought to myself, still unsure of this lion, the man called Riley.

“Miss, did you hear me? You should not be out here alone at night. After all, you never know what can happen in the dark.”

“Sorry sir, but my mind was on your lion there.”

The man then reached for the lion’s collar and headed towards me until we were face to face. I realized that it was not a lion at all, but a very large dog. The dog’s coloring was like the shade of night, which explained why I thought it was a lion.

“You see miss, he’s not a lion, but just a large dog with a mane, so no need to worry. I only had his hair cut this way so that intruders would think he is a lion. You see, we had many break-ins lately, so I felt the need to protect this little community in any which way I can.”

“Well it definitely worked. Not that I was trying to break-in or anything like that, but he certainly frightened me, and caught me off guard.”

“Well, it’s great to see that my great idea did not go to waste.” The man replied with a grin from ear to ear.

He then studied me, and asked what I was doing out there so late at night.

“I am trying to find my way home. You see sir; I’m lost and can not find my way back.”

“Sorry to hear that Miss. Where do you live?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m searching for. Can you help me?”

“Well, I’ll try. I don’t know if I can do much though. I never travel out of this community since I don’t care to be adventurous like some folk around here.” The man paused for a moment in thought, and then said, “Hey, I do know someone that can help you. Come on, I’ll take you to him. His name is Bradley Summers. He’s always been the adventurous type ever since he suddenly appeared in this community. No one knows how he got here, where he came from or why, but we soon got used to having him around. I believed he was a young teenager when he arrived, and quite mature for his age too. He must be in his mid-twenties now. Anyhow, Bradley may be able to help you. He knows more about anything I ever knew about. And I thought I knew everything. Gee, was I wrong.”

As the man guided me toward Bradley’s house, he turned to ask my name, since there were no introductions from the start.

“My name is Aridni.” I replied.

“Say, that is a wonderful name, unusual, but nice. I like names that are different. Anyways, my name is Carter O’Hanson.”

In moments we were at a red brick house with brown shingles, and a blue wooden door. Mr. O’Hanson knocked a few times before we saw the lights turned on inside. The door was answered by a young man; not too much older than I was. After we were introduced, I was taken aback by his chiseled features and warm hazel eyes. I did not realize that he was speaking to me at first, until he spoke again.

“So are you coming in, or are you just going to stand there,” He asked in a sweet gentle, but masculine voice.

“Yes, thank you,” I answered, feeling flushed inside. I could not take my eyes off of him, until I heard Mr. O’Hanson begin to speak. I tried focusing my attention to the conversation that was about to start, hoping that Bradley did not notice that I was blushing.

“Well, this here young lady needs your help. You see she is lost, and cannot find her way back home.”

At that moment, Bradley gave me a one sided smile, and asked curiously, “How did you get lost?”

I was then embarrassed by the question, and suddenly became tongue tied. I did not know what to say. “How do I begin,” I thought.

“Miss, I can’t help you, if you don’t speak,” Bradley commented with a one-sided smile.

Instantly I tried to put my thoughts, and my embarrassment aside, so I could think of the matter at hand. Once I explained my situation to Bradley and how I arrived there through a dream, I thought how silly it all sounded to me. I was quite confused, and wondered what he might have been thinking of me at this point. He must think I’m strange, and out of my mind, I thought. He did not seem confused though. In fact Bradley had given me the impression that he knew exactly what happened.

“Oh, so you are a time traveler,” asked Bradley curiously.

“No, I’m not. At least not that I know off” I replied, now confused.


Bradley then explained the many ways of time travel. “Some people design a large box with electrical devices, some put themselves in a trance, and others fall into a very deep sleep when it’s time for bed. The ones that are trance related, does not last long though. It’s usually quite brief, unless of course, you go too deep into it, and then you wind up trapped in an alternate world. One you never want to get lost in. Anyways, the individuals who fall into a deep sleep do not always know that they are traveling through time, and soon become lost in a dream. They then wind up in another era that is unrecognizable to them, but eventually awaken back to their own time period. Others may never wake up to find their way back to reality.” Bradley then paused for a moment before he added, “I have had the same experience myself a few times, and was just as confused as you are now. Until finally I figured what was happening to me. Now I am trying to discover a way to control time travel through different periods of time.”

“Wow, time travel through dreaming? I had no idea it was possible, but if you find a way to control it, let me know. I would love to travel through time to discover different eras. In fact I would love to visit the 1800’s again, after all that’s where I was just before I mysteriously found my way here.” I commented.

“Really, that must be an amazing experience for you. I would not mind visiting that time myself.” Bradley paused for a moment with a glazed expression.

I then snapped my fingers in front of him to get his attention, “Um, Bradley? Are you there?”

“Oh yes, sorry. Now, where was I?”

“You were explaining how time travel works.” I said.

“Oh yes, anyways you kind of just have to go with the flow. You take it as it comes, but when you do, it’s like an experience of a lifetime.”

“Well, if I could time travel I would really love to know how to control it, so I can decide which eras I would like to visit,” I responded with amazement.

“In fact, I am working on it right now in the basement. Come on, I’ll show you,” replied Bradley with excitement.

We then turned when Mr. O’Hanson had spoken. Bradley and I did not realize that the man was still there listening to the conversation both Bradley and I were enthralled in.

By this time Mr. O’Hanson and Riley was almost out the door when he said, “Well, Riley and I are heading out, now that you’re both acquainted. Besides all this talk about time travel through dreams, sounds like a load of crap to me. I don’t even know why I stayed so long listening to it.” He said while he walked out the door with Riley at his side.

“Oh, don’t mind him. He does not believe anything is possible. He likes to live in his own world without what he thinks are complications to life.” Bradley added.

“Oh no, I did not thank him for his help,” I was about to go out to thank Mr. Hanson when Bradley stopped me, by stepping between me and the door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell him for you, once we get you back to your time. What year did you come from anyway?”

“I came from the year 2012. What year are we in now?”

“Really, I came from that time too, but once I discover more about traveling through dreams, I plan to do lot of it in the near future.” replied Bradley with excitement in his voice. The next thing I knew, he was glancing over at me in a way that caught me by surprise. “Why don’t you stay here with me, so we can travel together and get better acquainted?”

“But we just met. I don’t really know you, and I really think I should be back in my own time period. Anyway, you did not tell me what year this is.”

He then held my hand in his, and smiled at me with more interest in his eyes. Before I knew it, I agreed -- forgetting about everything I would be leaving behind in 2012.

Impressum

Texte: Indira Nankoosingh
Lektorat: Aaron Chain
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 12.10.2012

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