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Marian was by all accounts an
average girl with a vanilla lifestyle. She lived alone in a small apartment,
held a modest job and graduated with adequate grades. Her life in this world
was as plain and standard as they came, but in other worlds, circumstances
changed.
Whenever Marian drifted off into the
world of dreams, a strange phenomenon would overtake her. When she next awoke
she would not be in her bed, she would be in some strange far off land.
Sometimes it was an endless forest, with tiny trees that seemed to stretch into
the sky. Other times she appeared in a desolate wasteland that resembled the
moon. However, when she looked into the sky the planet above was certainly not
Earth. Instead of appearing like a blue marble, it was a colorful array of reds,
oranges, and yellows. As though the planet was bathed in eternal autumn.
A scant few times Marian found
herself in a vast mansion, straight out of the imagination of a surrealist
painter. Doors lined the walls and ceiling and stairs emerged from every angle.
Jubilant voices could be heard from every direction, but Marian never saw
another person within the mansion. Yet, she always felt like she was being closely
watched. Like a faint presence constantly loomed over her shoulder.
At first Marian was afraid of these
places, "I want to go home," she would shout. These places felt too
real to be dreams, but her mind and body felt so disconnected they didn't feel
like reality either. The dissonant sensations disturbed her to the very core.
Originally, she remained in these
places for such short amounts of time she'd pass them off as dreams when she
finally woke up. Even if deep down she knew they were not. Eventually, her stay
became longer and longer. From mere hours to days and sometimes weeks. She
could no longer deny the reality of the situation, no matter how impossible it
felt.
As her stays lengthened she found
herself forced to explore these bizarre locations. If only to maintain her own
sanity. Thankfully, she found it unnecessary to eat or drink in these other
worlds. Although sleep was still needed. She dove deeper and deeper into the
"dream worlds" as she called them. Yet, Marian only found herself
with more questions.
The moon-like wasteland held nothing
of interest, it was simply empty and desolate. The planet above was beautiful
but provided no more information. However, the sky above held a vast network of
stars and other celestial objects. Many of which were visible to her naked eye.
Small planets, flat planes of rock and strange structures dominated the view.
The planets were equally vibrant as the one nearby. Coming in all colors from
purple to silver and even green. The planes were surreal hunks of rock, with
flat tops. Some carried small cities, while others had forest or small
mountains. Each was distinct and seemed to follow some kind of theme.
The strange structures were
something else entirely. They followed no theme or reason. They could be giant
hunks of crystal that floated in space or space stations of pure iron. They
could even be impossible sights like a giant sphere of water that just floated
in space.
The forest held less surreal sights
but was no less strange itself. It was truly endless, as no matter how far or
how long Marian walked she never found an exit. The landscape of the forest
never changed, it was the same grassy terrain with the occasional small rock.
Each tree was no more than four feet apart.
Despite how open the area was Marian
felt the forest was claustrophobic. The static nature of the area rubbed her in
the wrong way in the same way one has an itch they cannot find. "I hate
this place," Marian would often find herself mumble. Her visits to the
forest would always leave her uncomfortable and unnerved. Whenever she finally
awoke at home it brought her a greater relief than any other time.
Marian's rare visits to the mansion
left her little time to explore it fully. Not that she could conceive of such a
thing even with all the time in the world. The surreal nature of the structure
made it impossible to tell where she had or hadn't been. The mansion's many doors
had no logic and often lead to random locations. The stairs were so twisted and
windy that going down could lead you up a floor and vice versa.
The most she found was a small
bedroom and a dusty closet. She could occasionally smell food down the hall,
but it seemed like the more she approached the smell the further away she got.
She spent most days within that mansion asleep in the bedroom. The room
possessed the bare minimum in amenities, but it was comfortable. Yet, that
subtle sensation of being watched never left and made sleep a constant
struggle.
As Marian explored these fantastical
locations deeper and deeper, she came to a painful realization. Her time in
these places continued grew longer and longer. It was only a matter of time
before weeks would become months and months into years. Her time in these
locations had begun to overwhelm her waking life. She didn't despise her time
in these other worlds, but she didn't want to lose her former life either. However,
a dreadful thought welled up inside her. It didn't matter what she wanted. Soon
her life in "reality" would be the faint occasional dream, and the
other worlds would be her regular life. She came to a mental crossroad. Would
she choose to accept a new life, or would she try to save her old life? Did she
really have a choice? The answer felt intangible and distant, more so than her
tenuous grip on reality.
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Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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