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Day # 66
Theme: dream
Time spent:
For a moment the dream appeared innocent. I floated in a dark void. It was quiet and placid with a slight chill. Peaceful. But before I could even hope that the dream would remain this innocuous, a burst of flames appeared in the distance. Even from there, I could feel its heat against my skin, stiflingly hot.
Now, all the things that had been serene became my enemy. The temperature was scorching to the point it was becoming hard to breathe; the silence was replaced with a crackling roar as the flames raced closer, getting hotter and louder with every passing moment; and the fact that I floated left me unable to run away--I could only flail fruitlessly in the emptiness around me.
Eventually, the flames were all around me, but despite the unbearable heat, the fire did nothing to physically harm me. My body remained intact, leaving me to suffer indefinitely, choking and suffocating as the flames expunged all the oxygen from the air.
Amidst the roar of the fire, there was another noise, something that I couldn’t identify. For a moment it remained, right at the edge of my hearing, almost melodious, but as time passed in this hell, this new noise grew louder until it shrieked above the cacophony of the flames. It was no longer melodic; it was a scream that sent jabs of pain through my head.
And then I was falling. The fire remained above me, disappearing as I continued plummeting further and further. Eventually, the firelight winked out leaving me in complete darkness, and still I fell, the rush of the wind around me the only sound.
I wasn’t used to this.The fire was in every nightmare, but the scream and this sudden plunge into darkness had never happened before. On the one hand, being out of the smothering heat and intensity of the flames was relieving, but on the other hand, I had no idea what to expect of this new development. Would I keep falling until I finally woke up? Or was there a fresh hell waiting for me at the bottom?
As if to answer my questions, the drop suddenly ended with my body landing against a hard surface. Surprisingly there was no pain despite the state of my arrival.
I struggled onto my knees, staring uselessly into the darkness and panting to catch my breath. Like the scream and the drop, being on solid ground was something that had not happened in these dreams before, but at least this let me have some control, whereas floating in the void had left me powerless against the flames.
I remained on my hands and knees, afraid to get to my feet when I was unable to see anything. The solidity of the ground was my only connection and I didn’t want to abandon it.
A light blinked on ahead of me. It was just a small, simple glow, but for a moment I felt blinded by it’s glare and had to shield my eyes. When I looked again, I saw that it was a contained flame, floating a short distance away.
I finally climbed to my feet and, after only a moment’s hesitation, made my way to the light’s source. As I got nearer, I realized their was something holding the fire--a woman. She wore a dark cloak, the hood pulled back to reveal honey brown hair and dark skin. Her eyes reflected the firelight in an ethereal way.
I stopped before quite reaching her, feeling nervous. This was, after all, supposed to be a nightmare, so I couldn’t trust anything that seemed safe--there was always the possibility it would become monstrous.
The woman looked directly at me. “Finally,” she said.
The sound of her voice reminded me of the noise I’d heard among the flames before it had become a scream--soothing with a song-like quality.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“My name is Nyx,” she replied. “I’ve been trying to speak with you for some time.”
“Why?”
“I need your help. There’s--”
She stopped, frowning, but before I could question her further, the fire in her hand disappeared and I was plunged back into darkness.
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