SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH!
I rolled over as my alarm screeched loudly. Not bothering to open my eyes, I turned off the alarm. It was seven in the morning, the time my alarm always went off. Classes started at nine, so I had a while to sleep in. I opened my eyes a crack. It was still dark.
Within seconds, I was back asleep, oblivious to the fact that I had ever awakened in the first place. When I woke up next, it was probably about an hour later. I didn’t ever find out, because it was still dark, so I stayed asleep.
I dreamed then. Not just any ordinary dream, it was one of those dreams where you know you’re dreaming, but you can’t do much about it. I think they call it a lucid dream. It was as if I had been aroused in an entirely different world. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was an endless, empty field. I walked along a faint path beaten out by some previous traveler or two. There didn’t seem to be anything else to do, so I just kept walking along the same path. It never turned, never hit a hill or an obstacle, and never changed. It felt like I wasn’t moving at all.
After several minutes of walking, I began to feel like I was missing something. I kept my eyes peeled for anything that might clue me in on what was wrong, but I couldn’t see anything. In fact, I realized as my eyes started to water, I hadn’t blinked at all since I started. I tried to keep my eyes open, afraid that I would miss something, but they kept watering and started burning. Finally, the sting became so overwhelming that I had to blink, whether I wanted to or not.
Just as I blinked, I heard a sound, short and staccato, as if something had just flown by at a super-high speed. My eyes snapped open again, and I quickly scanned the area to see if I could locate whatever it was I had heard. There was nothing there but the pathway and the meadow. I stopped walking and turned around several times, trying to find out what it was I had heard pass. Nothing.
I imagined the sound again, replaying it in my head, and tried to remember where it had come from. It seemed to have come from everywhere. I closed my eyes again, trying to visualize the sound in my mind.
I heard the sound again, but this time I kept my eyes closed; I had finally figured it out.
I looked around, my eyes still closed, and saw a barren, subterranean cavern, which I was in the middle of. I was standing on a flat pillar of red rock, surrounded by a mote of roaring flames. Beyond the flames was darkness. In front of me was a catwalk of the same red stone that I was standing on. It was in the exact same place as the path I had seen with my eyes open.
Keeping my eyes firmly shut, I followed the path I could see before me, listening to the sound of the red flames, wondering where I was and how I could escape. I peered into the darkness before me, the path seemingly endless, trying to see where it ended. I had just spied a bright light- perhaps an opening to the cavern, when I heard a deep voice calling from behind me. Turning around, I saw a figure standing on the pillar behind me. He motioned for me to come to him, and I retraced my steps until I stood in front of him.
He was tall, maybe six foot seven, with short black hair and sunglasses. I couldn’t see his eyes at all. He was lightly tanned, and was wearing a long, white robe. His hands and feet were concealed in the robe. Around his waist was a thin, black band made out of well-treated leather. He was clean shaven except for a small tuft on the tip of his chin.
“Do you know what time it is?” he asked, his voice deep and rumbling, like a waterfall heard from afar. I shook my head. “It’s three in the afternoon.”
“What!?” I shouted, wondering how I could sleep for so long without the sun waking me up. My eyes snapped open, wide with surprise. Looking around, I found myself once again in a field. The sun was shining on my back, most of the way up in the sky, but sinking slowly. The field was different, as well. It was burning. I could see black flames in the distance, with even blacker smoke turning the horizon line gray. I looked down to see that the grass was dead. I don’t want to be here! I thought emphatically, and I closed my eyes again.
“Welcome back.” The man was standing calmly in front of the catwalk, arms folded across his chest, hands still hidden within the folds of his robe. A small smile played on his lips. I was sweating.
“What’s going on?” I asked tentatively, afraid to hear the answer.
“Quite simply,” the man replied, “you are going blind.” WHAT?! I thought, but the man continued before I could speak, “The field you were just in represents what you see with your eyes. Where you are now represents your other senses. Your eyesight is being consumed, and will soon be gone. If you opened your eyes now, you would see that the black flames have come even closer to devouring you.”
I gulped, holding back tears as I imagined the implications of going blind. I was just a college freshman, majoring in Animation and Graphic Design. I spent much of my time on the computer, creating art, talking to friends, and watching videos. I wouldn’t be able to do any of that if I was blind! This couldn’t be real- it was just a dream, right?
“But you have a choice,” the man tore me from my thoughts. I cocked my head quizzically. He continued, “I can give you your eyesight back.” I listened intently.
“However,” he continued, “I can’t just give without taking something in return.” I frowned. This didn’t sound very good to me.
“What will you take from me if I get my eyesight back?” I questioned the mysterious man. The man stepped to the side and pointed to the stone catwalk. “You want to have the bridge?” I asked, confused. What was so important about the bridge?
“No,” the man replied seriously, “I want you to destroy it.”
I thought carefully. What was so important about the bridge? Why would he want me to destroy it? How would that be a fair trade for my eyesight?
“What’s so important about the bridge?” I blurted. The man grinned.
“This dream is more than just an analogy to your senses,” the man replied, “The plain also represents your life. This cavern represents your afterlife.”
Oh great, I thought, a riddle instead of an answer. What did he mean? The plain seemed pretty empty and long. Was he saying that my life was meaningless? No, that didn’t make sense. What would that mean about this room, then?
No, I realized, it wasn’t about my life being boring. The plain wasn’t all smooth. The footsteps in the grass were those of others who had made similar choices in their lives before me. The beaten path represented my role models and examples; those whom I wanted to emulate. It might have seemed endless, but it must have ended at some point- otherwise the flames would never be able to reach me from the edges of the plain. So when it ended- that meant life had ended- then I came to this cavern.
So this cavern represented my journey from life to afterlife. There was a single catwalk that led to some uncertain end, and the rest was flames. If I destroyed that path-
“No!” I shouted at the man. The man frowned, and I immediately knew that I had made the right choice. His robes were no longer white, but were pitch black. The leather band became a red chain. His sunglasses were gone, and his eyes were soulless red orbs of fire. His hair was still black, but was now wild and tangled. His hands were black tendrils of smoke. Crying out in anger, the man came after me threateningly, black tentacles upraised. I cried out, calling for help and putting my arms up protectively in front of me, waiting for the smoke to wrap me in their acrid embrace.
But the man never came. The figure burst into flames behind my upraised arms, and faded into nothingness. Putting my arms down, I turned back towards the path. As I began to cross it, however, a new thought came to my mind. The path lead to the afterlife; I wasn’t ready to die quite yet. I opened my eyes again. The flames were right around me now, barely ten feet away and closing quickly. I fought black the urge to close my eyes against the burning darkness, and I cried out in pain as the black flames engulfed me. In seconds, I could see nothing.
When I woke up, I still couldn’t see anything. I opened my eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the light outside, hoping and praying that my dream was nothing more than a dream. My eyes never adjusted. As they filled with tears, I sat up and called for help.
One of my roommates rushed into the room, asking what the matter was. He could see what my problem was, I knew, for he gasped when he entered the room. I heard him rush back out of the room, and heard him call for emergency help. A few minutes later, I was being rushed to the hospital.
None of the doctors could explain what happened. I hadn’t been injured, and I had always been able to see. My eyesight hadn’t been perfect, but it wasn’t terrible either. I was later released and sent to a special facility that taught me how to live without my eyes to guide me. I learned how to pay attention to my other senses, how to “see” things by using my touch, smell, and hearing to figure out what it was.
I am still blind, and I know that I will never be able to see again in this mortal life. But I look forward to the day that I can cross that catwalk, escaping the red flames and finally reaching that pinpoint of light I had seen before. I still dream of that field, now an empty black void, and of the cavern. But it is no longer a cavern. I no longer stand on a pillar of rock, surrounded by red flames. I now find myself on a white, marble pillar, surrounded by a beautiful ocean, rich and blue, stretching out into infinity. The catwalk is made of shining gold, engraved with beautiful carvings that no tongue can describe. It is blocked by a silver, shining gate, and I hold the key. In the distance is a bright, blue-white light, and a rich, crimson carpet covers the pillar I stand on, as well as the catwalk in front of me. The sky is rich and blue, with puffy clouds and a warm, brilliant, yellow sun. I haven’t yet unlocked the gate, but I know that it will be there forever, and that the man with the black, smoky hands will no more threaten me.
I still cannot use my eyes, but I nevertheless see more clearly than I ever had before.
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