A whispering breeze carries the scent of thick pine bristles sprinkled with mist from the rain overnight. A babbling brook born in the night flows eagerly past me in the shallow ravine underneath the fallen log now laced with mushrooms and fungi. As I rest upon the thick oak log, I admire the clearing some yards across where several venerable trees stand guard. While relaxing in the warm surroundings, I listen to a steady metronome emitted by the brook as it falls from a four foot cliff into the puddle of water below my dangling feet. Faintly, the steady beat becomes accompanied by a soft pulsating melody that grows ever louder, ever faster. No, ever overlapped. Suddenly, an earth of foxes bounds into my view and stretches on for what seemed to be rather short. Their red-orange fur paints the perfect supplement for the blue, green, and brown mural- not too eye catching, not too dull, but comfortable. What I knew was definitely longer than 3 minutes seemed as if it was gone in a flash. I would not have even known that mesmerizing moment occurred if I had not heard a breath of utter amazement, “Did you see that?”. Staring at the clearing now in disbelief, I slump onto the fallen log, listening again to the metronome tick as the surroundings change.

    Abruptly, I could not breath. I could not speak. I could not move, but I was. Awkward strides shuffle me towards the polished black bench. In the teasing reflection, I see a shivering, nervous wreck. Now at the bench, I cautiously sit down with my eyes fixed on the piano, not wanting to see all the piercing eyes staring at me hungrily. On the black bench, I close my eyes and pause to collect myself. An impatient cough snaps me back to reality. In reply, a shaky breath rattles out of my mouth, silently announcing that I was going to start. One, two, three pauses and my uncertain fingers start to bounce off black and white keys in rhythm to the choppy music sung by the piano. My vision floats away, trailing the music.

    A twang of despair rams into me as I stand in front of a boulder impeding a small stream. This, however, is no ordinary gray boulder. I never would have felt such anguish for a plain boulder. As I contemplate about the it, a sudden shiver takes over. My vision abruptly blurs and I catch a glimpse of a distressed whimper. To my astonishment, I trace the discordant weeping to myself. Out of embarrassment, I blink away the hot tears rolling down my cool checks with no avail. They just kept coming. But through the temporary panels of clear vision, I spot a forest green shell tinted with mustard yellow. As the now blurry turtle slowly crawls away, my chest tightens. An encumberment of agony portrayed perfectly through my jarring wails claws at my chest. One by one, my surroundings ripple away with my hot tears, drowning in the brook.

    Again, a pain rams into my chest. However, this one does not sting, but spreads an energetic warmth. I appear to be on the pinnacle of a steep hill coated with snow. Despite my freezing body, I do not shiver but rather shudder with excitement. “Are you ready?,” a comforting and rich voice asks, soothing my doubts. I nod feverishly and grip tightly onto the slippery black handle of the ruby red pool float streaked with teal flames. Although my knees are squeezed tightly towards my chest, my breath is steady. Suddenly, a blast of cold air whips my long hair back, making it lash out in anger behind me. A crazy laughter ripens the frosty air as the adrenaline builds inside of me. The average size sled paves the way into the slippery snow, gliding closer towards the imminent evergreens. A jolting crash into the spiky pinewoods causes a bucketful of snow to slam into my face changing my vision yet again.

    This time I spring out of a queen sized bed, panting. Small beads of sweat dot my forehead as I try to recollect my encounters. To my left I hear a groggy voice ask, “nightmare?”. I slowly shake my head.

    “Then what was the dream about,” the voice pries.

    I want to say I had the worst moodswing ever, that I felt youthful and exuberant while being utterly heartbroken and frightened, that a faceful of snow leaped out to meet me, that I witnessed a whole earth of foxes- that I relieved my childhood. However all that came out was, “In my dream… in my dream… in my dream… in my dream, I sat on a dead tree.”