A Normal Dream

 I woke up to the touch of someone's hand on my blanket. I thought it would be my fathers, but I opened my eyes to a random woman sitting on the side of a bed that isn’t mine. I take a look around to see a small room with a desk across the bed and nothing else. Pretty plain. No colors at all. Monotone.

The woman continued to stare at me for a while. I stared back. I wanted to scream but I couldn't. I don’t know her, she doesn’t know me. She looked like a country bumpkin. Blonde hair, blue eyes and a really round upturned nose. Basic looking. But when the sleepiness went away I noticed what she was wearing. It wasn't any normal outfit. Well, the one I was expecting. She was wearing a tight white button up and a black mini skirt (way too short) and what looked to be 4 inch heels. I had mixed feelings. I sat up in bed and finally said something. “Who are you and where am I?” I said, trying to stay calm. I was breathing heavily. I asked again, “Who are you?”. She looked at her chest all mad..

She randomly got up and paced around the room. She was searching for something. “I don’t have time for this,” She whispered. She had a country-like accent. I saw her write on a little notepad sitting on the desk. “Read this and take it with you. It has everything you need to know for now.” She explained quickly. I got out of bed as soon as she went out the door. I followed her out of the door. And I saw a room that looked like a casino. I immediately went back to the small room and shut the door.

I wandered and searched around the room. I heard the woman and a man talking. I stopped in my tracks to listen.

“Yes officer David?” The woman said nervously. “I’m looking for a boy named Leo. Leo Torres. Have you seen him anywhere?”. He had a deep scratchy voice. One that can pierce your skin. I quickly searched the room for anywhere I could hide. I felt like a fish out of water. “No I haven’t sir but I’ll tell you if I see one, alright?” She said, I could tell she was walking towards the door. Her heels clicked on the floor. The man didn’t question further. Looking back I don’t know why he didn’t. The woman walked in the room quietly and said, “Take the notebook and go hide up those stairs. You have to be quick.” She then walked back out.

I turned around not knowing there were stairs in the room. I snatched the notebook off the desk and quietly went up the stairs. When I opened the door I saw a place that looked exactly like my house. The ground level. Kitchen, lounge, bathroom, and my bedroom down the hall. It was creepy. I don’t know why I didn’t react differently to this whole situation. Maybe because I was trying to be mature. But either way, I was really dumb.

Side note. I may seem really smart, but I’m an idiot. I really needed to question the world more. You’ll see this moving forwards.

I checked around the house. Everything was identical. Carbon copy. The world I’m in was so confusing. Hard to comprehend. I calmed myself down. I went to my room and read what the woman wrote.

Follow these directions. Go get your closest friends and you need to find a book. A book that will clearly explain everything. Bring you to a safe haven for the time being. You’ll need some things to be able to get there. Rope, tool box, and food to last you for a while. This world is very different from the normal one. People are after you because you have an important mission. You have to rebuild a new world, one that is better than this messed up one. Find the book and make it out with your lives. The book is hidden somewhere you know well. And many others do.

I've never been as confused as I was standing there dumbfoundedly. I thought it through. Decided to believe the strange woman. I thought it was a dream. Since I don’t have many I decided to follow through with it. If it was real life I wouldn't have listened. And since the police are looking for me I’ve got to go.

I got my biggest bag I had. I packed all the canned food and some pre-made meals. I also packed some of my clothes in another. I was thinking of the people I want to come with me on this journey and who would want to. I also thought about how I’m listening to a complete stranger. But I also saw a purple looking sky outside. Anything is possible in this world.

I got everything I needed for the journey ready. I had to be careful, if what the woman said was really true, I had to be careful. I was going down the street to the first person I could think of. Someone who could really help along my journey. Bet you know who I’m going to choose. I headed to the closest house down the block.

I was going to march down the street to my bestfriends house, but as soon as I opened the front door I saw the weirdest thing ever. I looked up and saw a purple/ magenta sky with thin wispy gray clouds. I wondered if anything else was weird. I checked my watch and the seconds were taking forever. One second took exactly one minute to change. “This will come in handy later” I mumbled under my breath.

I continued with my plan and marched down the street. Even if time goes slowly I can't buy time back if I waste it. I had two heavy bags with me. One filled with tools and clothes and the other with food. I packed a bunch of shirts and sweatpants, with one pair of tennis shoes and crocs. I was wearing my gray pair already. I decided to leave my stuff in the bush in front of Oliver's house. It was currently 6:55 in the morning when I got there. He’ll be awake by now.

To give context, Oliver and I made a system of using doorbells during the summer. I’d ring him 8 times, and for me he’ll ring 11. It’s our favorite numbers. We even switched our doorbell systems to our voices. Whenever a person rings the bell for a certain amount of time it will say, Oliver is at the door or Leo is at the door.

I rang the doorbell 8 times. I heard thumping on the floors. The white door opened and through the screen door I saw Oliver in his sky blue pajamas. He opened the door, and I walked in. He had a really nice house. Always clean, smelled like lemons everytime I came over, and had a nice calm vibe. His parents are like that too. Calm and sweet. I spend most of my time over at his house and with his parents. Wish I could just move in.

“Leo, what are you doing here so early?,” He said while yawning. You could tell it was fake. His hair was neatly brushed, he looked fully awake, and he wakes up at 6 everyday. I rolled my eyes, “I need to show you something.” I said. “This early?” He sounded even more confused. I walked over to the lounge couch, he shut the front door and followed after me. I plopped down. I began to speak, “I woke up to a bunch of weird things happening to me, right?” “Right” He echoed back. “This strange woman wrote some things on a piece of paper. I need your help.” I stopped. I couldn’t find the right words to explain. “With what?” He said. He looked intrigued in what I had to say. “The woman's note said I needed to make a new world. A world that's not as weird as this on-” He cut me off. “I knew something was off, my parents aren’t in their room, I’ve been much more sluggish today, and Bun bun is missing. Bun bun was his cat. “So you never notice the purple sky?” I questioned. “There's a purple sky?” He

replied. I never hit my face as hard as I did that moment. “Maybe your parents took him somewhere?” I replied. “They work from 12 to 9, and they sleep in everyday.” He sighed. “This might tell you some things”, I gave him the woman's note. He read it to himself under his breath.

After a while he said, “Why are you believing a random woman, that's dumb.” I know I probably sounded like a psycho to him. “ So you noticed all these weird things and you don't believe the note?” I snapped back. “Hold on, let me say something. A random woman gave you this note. She tells you that you have to build a new world. But where are the directions? How will you do it? There's no real information here that tells you how to do it. It only says why.” He looked at me with a blank face. “You know I don’t trust people often, can’t you believe it? I swear it's real.” I said. I retraced my morning to him. Told him everything. He nodded and shook his head while I was talking. I must have looked really crazy to him. I didn't have time to shower or change out of my pajamas.

“I’ll go with you, fine. But if I was right all along you owe me so much” He said. He went up stairs, I followed. “Can you pack my bag for me? I'm going to get ready.” He said. He eyed me up and down, “You should do that as well.”. He then went down the hall to the bathroom.

I was going to listen to Oliver's orders. I walked to his dresser and got his necessities. Underwear, active wear, deodorant, and some shoes next to his bed. I found a light green duffel bag. Neatly put everything in and went downstairs. It was so quiet. I enjoyed a good 5 seconds (5 minutes) of calming sounds. Until I heard Oscar yell for me, “Go get ready!”. I got my stuff from outside and went to the bathroom. A while later we were both ready to go.

We needed a plan. Oliver said we should go get Elliott next. Jasmine’s house is a long walk away. Elliott's house is the one at the end of the block. The brown one. It really stands out. Every other house is beige and boring. 

I checked the time, it was now 6:55. I checked my second counter. 30 seconds spent in Oliver's house. Made alright progress. We walked down the block to Elliot's house. Unfortunately, he didn’t use the same system like me and Oliver. I rang on the doorbell. No answer. I kept ringing and ringing. Oliver looked frustrated. “Lets just go around to his window. I’m getting tired of waiting.”. I took his suggestion. He stayed at the door and I went to the window. Since I’m taller. There was a pretty big rock right at Elliott’s window. He used it a lot last year. Whenever he got grounded for doing something dumb, he would sneak out to meet up with us. We never said anything about it since he would get mad.

I climbed up the rock and banged at his window. I could see inside his room and it looked like a mess. Clothes everywhere and empty food bags. He was lying on his bed with headphones on listening to music I suppose. I noticed there were latched on the window, the very top. I wobbled on the rock and hooked onto the latches. I pulled it down. And the room looked like a mess, it smelt horrible. Unbearable. I don’t understand how he lives there. I left back down the rock and walked back to my house. I got a mask and went back. Oscar was just watching the whole scenario. I could tell he really wanted to laugh. “Don’t look at me like that!” I said jokingly. I sprayed it with a chocolate scented spray and put it back on. He then let out a huge laugh. He fell on the grass. I don’t understand what was so funny. I went back up the rock while Oliver continued to laugh. I struggled to jump in. I landed in the empty spot on his bed. Which wasn't much. He noticed the movement from the bed and looked up. He screamed so loud that I bet the whole neighborhood could hear him. I then hit his leg to bring him back to his senses. “Chill out, not that big of a deal.” I said. He looked towards the window and back at me. I guess he put two and two together. “You broke into my house!” He yelled. “Well you didn’t want to open the front door,” I replied. He got quiet. I let myself out of his room and opened the door for Oliver.

I heard Elliotts footsteps from the stairs. “You were part of this, huh?” He said in a sigh. “Yep!” Oliver said too happily. I pointed Elliott to the direction of his kitchen island. He took a seat and I let Oliver explain the situation to him. While he was talking I took off the mask. His house didn’t smell like his room, but it was still dirty. While I was in deep thought about it, Elliott said, “Yeah, I want to join y’all.”. “Really?” I said. He agreed eagerly. “It would be fun. I’m the smartest one here—”Oliver cut him off. “Stop lying to yourself”. He then got a notification on his phone and ignored us. “Don’t you think he said yes too fast?” I whispered to Oliver. “You already know he's gullible, it only matters because he said yes.” He replied. Oliver is very smart. Tactical as well. Oliver snatched the phone away from him and said “Go get stuff you need and we’ll meet you outside.”. “Can I get my phone back?” Elliott asked as he reached for it in Oliver’s hand. Oliver smacked his hand and Elliott was side-eyeing him all to his room. Me and Oliver continued to have a chat.

We wanted to assign roles to the people we were bringing along. He was the brains, smart but fun. Elliott was the Brawn, he's strong but not smart at all. Jasmine would be the counselor and nurturer. Even though we know her for a little while she seems trustworthy. She's smart and caring. But only if she agrees to it. But I will be the craftsman and inspector. Oliver recommended it because I don’t like to waste time or distractions. Keep things on track, you know. But I also like to build. Love making diagrams. I have my own station at home with blueprints. But we want to bring another person. A person I haven’t talked to in a while.

Her name is Esther. Esther is a 15 year old who has white hair and black eyes. She's sweet and all but there's some things I don’t like.

We’ll get into that later.

I told Oliver what I wanted to do and he agreed. I want to invite her with us because she has some qualities we need. She’s very into the wilderness. Like hunting, camping, ect. She knows her way around the woods. She's street smart too.

By the time we left Elliotts house we spent 10 seconds there.

We walked down Melody Drive. The street Jasmine lives on. Elliott was able to catch up to us. You could tell he was running. The sweat gleaming on his forehead was nasty looking. “You guys walk too fast.” He said panting. No one replied. I’m not going to lie, my legs were hurting really bad. We were walking for 10 straight minutes with no break. Oscar looked tired too. Jasmine’s neighborhood is really big. Bigger than mine. “Can we sit down? I’m very tired.” I asked Oliver. “We’re almost there. It’ll take about 2 more minutes.” He replied. I know he was tired. You can hear his heavy breathing. I grabbed his arm and he turned around. “Let go.” he said. “Take a break, we're all tired.” I said. “Yeah!” Elliott instigated. He looked between me and Elliot and sighed, “2 minute break.” He said. We sat down on a rock near a pond. I don’t know if Jasmine is rich or something but, her neighborhood is really fancy. When she told us where she lived I didn’t believe it. I never heard of it before. The pond was so beautiful. The nice Iceberg blue with the magenta sky gleaming on top was so mesmerizing.

After the 2 minutes were up we trudged down the neighborhood. Soon enough we were walking up the driveway. Her house was so modern and pretty. Black and beige with beautiful plants. “Her family must be rich.” Elliott said. “I bet.” I replied, just staring at the fully grown sunflower. Oliver walked past both of us and rang the doorbell. I was kind of nervous because, what if her parents were home? What would we do if they were? How will they react to us?

I walked up the steps next to Oliver. The door then started to slowly open.