I was still drifting slowly, staring at what seemed like heaven to me. I had always been fascinated with space since I was younger, and being here was like fulfilling a lifelong dream. As I continued watching the stars, I noticed a mysterious shape tumbling down towards my direction. As I began edging closer, I saw that it was a large rock. I moved aside to allow the rock to fall past me. However, as I did, I spotted a hole of swirling colours. Another portal?
“You better get going, boy.”
I turned and nearly screamed. A tall, cloaked figure was floating beside me. I could see two grey eyes peeking out from its hood.
“Who are you…?” I began, but the figure merely held out its hand and pointed to the rock.
“Go. I pushed the portal to you. Aren’t you looking for Old Miriam?” it rasped.
After a moment of hesitating, I made my way towards the rock. But before entering, I looked back. The figure was still hovering behind me, watching closely.
“Just go!” it hissed furiously and gave me a small push. I felt one of its nails cut my skin, but I ignored it and put a foot into the portal. In a split second, there was a flash of light, and I could feel a strong force sucking me into it. I shut my eyes, waiting for the ground to break my fall.
BOOM.
I felt my body hit something soft. Something grazed across my skin like paper. When I sat up and opened my eyes, I found out that I was lying on grass. As I stood up and brushed dirt from my shorts, a gust of wind blew across me. I shivered slightly and looked around.
I was in a field of withered grass. The sky was grey and gloomy, with a sign of an approaching storm. There was only a single dead tree at my right.
I blinked. A dead tree!
“Yes, child?” a voice rang out.
I jumped and quickly spun around. It was a woman, wearing an red headscarf and clad in a long brown robe. Her face was heavily lined with age and her frame was smaller than mine. Nevertheless, she had an aura of superiority around her.
“Are you…are you Old Miriam?” I asked, trying not to sound too rude.
“Yes, indeed.” The woman replied. “I find it intriguing that a human has entered our World. What is your name, young man?”
Her bright green eyes met mine. For some reason, I felt nervous and looked away as I answered: “I’m Edmund. Edmund Henric.”
Old Miriam chuckled. “It seems that you are lost, Edmund. Would you like me to show you the way back to your world?”
“Yes, I would, but there’s something I’d like to ask you.” I said.
Old Miriam eyed me curiously. “What is it?” she said, with a toothless grin.
“Where…where am I?”
After several seconds, Old Miriam heaved a sigh. “You, child, had found the main Grotto which leads to the other Grottos .” she explained. “In short – a Grotto of Grottos. There is an endless number of Worlds within the Grottos, with strikingly different surroundings and beings. The World that you are in now, if I’m not mistaken, is the two-hundred and fifty sixth amongst the other Worlds.”
“But…where do the Worlds come from?”
Old Miriam chuckled again. “Why, child, you fell asleep, didn’t you?”
There was a pause, which was soon interrupted by the howling of wind. I swallowed hard.
“Are you telling me…that…that everything I been through…is just a dream?” I spoke in a small voice.
Twiddling her fingers, Old Miriam smiled. “Yes…I guess you could say that this is a dream.”
“The lion…the Mud Marchers…the space…everything?”
Old Miriam raised her head slowly to the sky. “It depends, child.” She said, exhaling heavily. “As the lion told you earlier, our Worlds were calm and peaceful, until the invasion of the Mud Marchers. They haven’t destroyed any of the Worlds yet, but have succeeded in turning our fruitful fields into wastelands and wildernesses, and annihilated most of the inhabitants.”
A quizzical expression crossed my face. “But…if all of this is a dream, then who, or what are the Mud Marchers?”
“Everything begins with a dream, child. There is no one in the world who does not have a dream.” Old Miriam said, a distant look in her eyes. “Indeed, the world is full of dreams. However, as time goes by, people are becoming more developed – more civilized, independent, ambitious, clever. As they continue to create, their ideas will surpass the boundaries of an ordinary dream. Something more complex. And to fulfill a dream, you would do anything to turn it into reality, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, mankind nowadays has defied the rules of existence, and many walk towards the wrong path. A more destructive, violent path. As they go further, the darkness of the atmosphere around them will eventually corrupt and taint their minds. Sooner or later, they will emerge as soldiers of the dark, or also, destroyers from within.”
“If I’m dreaming…if this World is just a dream…” I said silently, “does this mean…that everything here is a representative of the real world?”
Old Miriam nodded slowly. “My, my, you are brilliant for your age.”
“And…the Mud Marchers…?”
“Yes, they are the soldiers of the dark that I mentioned. Everything around you represents reality. The earth, the living…all of them.” Old Miriam turned to me. “What does this tell you, child?”
There was another pause as I thought hard. Then, like a bolt of lightning, it struck me.
“The real world…the dreams of everyone…” I said, fingering my lip, “are being…destroyed?”
Old Miriam grinned. “I guess you can say that…you see, as I said – your world is the same as our World. The only difference is that our World is a dream…an illusion.”
Swiftly, she looked up at the sky, with a sorrowful look in her eyes. “It is sad that humankind sometimes cannot distinguish from what is right or wrong.”
As she finished her sentence, she turned to me and grinned again. “You should wake now, child. The length of sleep is meant to be broken.”
“Yes, Old Miriam, but how?”
Old Miriam lifted a finger slowly and pointed to the dead tree behind me. There it was; another portal. However, there were no swirling colours anymore – it was just a shining, white hole.
“Go, child! Do not hesitate, for you have learned the truth.” Old Miriam’s voice echoed. “Return to reality before it is too late!”
“But…”
“Go! Don’t look back!”
Holding my breath, I leapt into the portal. As I begin falling, an intense light engulfed me and all became white. I uttered a silent prayer, hoping that I would reach my destination…
“Ed! Edmund!”
The familiar voice startled me. “W-w-what?” I quickly sat up. To my surprise, it was Alvin. As I looked around, I realized that I was in the same boat at the riverbank.
Still groggy, I said sleepily, “What happened?”
Alvin giggled. “You were talking in your sleep, Ed!” he said happily. “It sounded funny. Were you having a good dream?”
I yawned and stood up. “I…I suppose so…” I climbed out of the boat and made my way to a nearby tree. Alvin tailed me eagerly. As I sat down, I looked up at the sky. The sun was still shining brightly, in the same manner.
“Ed?”
“Huh?”
“What’s that on your right arm?”
I looked at my right arm. Astonishingly, there was a small cut. Blood was trickling out of the wound. I froze and a chill ran through my spine as I remembered the time when the figure from the space World pushed me into the portal and had accidentally cut me with its nails.
If the cut’s here, then…?
“Ed, are you okay?” Alvin asked curiously.
I grinned, trying to look as cheery as possible. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go home now.”
“All right! Last one’s a rotten egg!” Alvin laughed and began running towards our home. While I followed, a thought was still ringing in my mind –
Was it all just a dream?
