Prologue
The darkness chased me, following my every step, staying one step behind me. I ran, my breath beating off my chase, dust flew into my eyes but I ignored it. I was running not just for my life, but for existence itself. I knew the answer.
In front of me I saw the not the purple sphere I had expected, but a man. It was Daniel; in his hand he held the sphere of the universe. In his other hand he held a gun. As he fired it at me I realized… I didn’t know the answer at all.
Chapter One.
4 Years Earlier
I gave Daniel the last cigarette and passed him the lighter. He rolled his thumb down to spark it and breathed in. I smiled and held out my hand for a drag.
“Fuck off you knob. What’s the point in giving me a cig and then taking it off me?” He asked in a mock high-pitched voice.
“Fucking one drag isn’t the whole cig is it? Give it me.” He laughed and handed me the fag. “Thanks… you dick”. He smiled as I took a drag and handed him the cig back.
The park was pretty empty at this time; the kids had been taken inside by their parents and the chav teenagers weren’t here yet. Not that you wouldn’t have thought we were chavs sitting there smoking, but honestly we weren’t.
I never used to act like this though, not that smoking was anything really rebellious but I had just never done it before Daniel gave me one. Even then I didn’t like it really but I learnt to. I still didn’t smoke that much, maybe a 20pack a week, hardly Rod Stewart.
Daniel was always making me do stuff I hadn’t done before. It was scary but fun, you have to try new things and Daniel made me. He was fearless, with his black hair falling down by his shoulders and his bright blue eyes begging you not to let him down. He was better than me; his friendship was a kindness I could never repay. But I could try. I would try.
“What you thinking about, you massive gay?”
“What?” I asked roused out of my musings.
“I asked you what you were thinking about.”
“Oh, nothing. Just that,” I cast around for a subject “Simon Cowell’s a cunt isn’t he?”
“Yeah mate.” He answered lazily, “He’s a total prick.”
“Rich though, I’d take his life.” I said, desperate he wouldn’t know what I’d really been thinking.
“Not me.” He turned round and I saw that look that so engrossed me. “I’m gonna be so much bigger, money isn’t enough, you’ve gotta have power with it.” His eyes burned with a passion I could never have.
“What like Prime Minister or summit?” Daniel looked at me for a moment and then laughed, he laughed so loudly it made my skin prickle.
“You… are… a… total… arse.” He just about got out between he gales of laughter.
A few hours later I was on my own in the park, the chavs hadn’t shown even though the sun had set. The park was intimidating in the dark. The children’s play things remained un-ridden, and there was no laughter. Instead there was a deadly silence. This park had been built for a reason and when it didn’t fulfil it, it just felt wrong.
When I got home my parents were asleep as usual. I fell onto the sofa and switched on sky sports news. There was some shit about a transfer and then an ad break. I switched it off and went to bed.
Dream One
I walked through the webbing. It was thick and strong, like an old pillar in ancient Greece or Rome. The whole world around me had a reddish hue about it, apart from the distance. That was purple, as usual and it swirled in a spiral. I walked forward, dodging the holes in the ground. Eventually I saw in front of me the man with no eyes. He held his guitar close to him, strumming the same three chords he always did, E minor, A minor and C. A brown coat adorned his back, tatty and torn. He wore a hat of brown leather and had black trousers with a hole at the knees; his feet disappeared into the void below the webbing. I smiled and walked past him. I had tried to speak to him before but he had just kept strumming. As soon as I got thirsty I saw the well to my left. It was made of grey stone; a brown roof protected it from objects and rain that never fell. The water was black as it always was; I drank it anyway and proceeded onwards.
It seemed to take longer than usual to reach the house. It was a small cottage, a wheel turned by its side though it courts no water. The roof was obviously thatch, though it was red. The big lady stood at the front outside an open door, with her arms wide open.
“Youngster!” She shouted as I ran towards her and gave her a hug. Inside I ate a good meal of food I had never seen before and talked a lot with the big lady and her husband, who never said much but just nodded along.
As I left the house I looked towards the purple sphere that stood just beyond the cottage.
“You don’t wanna go there, youngster.” The big lady told me. She bent down and smiled. “You just stay in the webbing alright.” I nodded and walked back the way I had come. As I felt myself waking, I knew that when I did I would remember none of it.
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