Unknown Reality

  

How are we to know whether or not we are living nothing more than an unending dream? Perhaps we are living the “life” to which our mind projects. Our mind has been made with intricately complex structures and capabilities. Even so, our supposed inadequacy and weaknesses keep us from fulfilling the purpose we were created for. We have a mission to accomplish, a mission that has been assigned to each of us; a mission for us alone. We all have a different mission, and only the one assigned it can accomplish it.

 

“Maya Foster?” 

“Yes, that is me.” I said with obvious wonder.

 

    "We have been anticipating your arrival. Please, have a seat.”

 

The dark room revealed nothing about this man.  The only proof of his existence was the deep voice that filled the room. The door opened and a bright light from the hallway shone in, joining us was another man. After a brief moment of them conversing through whispers, a light was turned on. The man with the deep voice stood by the door as to guard it; his appearance clarified the seriousness of such a meeting. Both men dressed alike-black suits, combed back hair, and a general stiffness in their demeanor.

 

“Do you know why you are here, Miss Foster?”

 

My confusion and anxiety left me speechless so I simply shook my head.

 

“You are here for a very special purpose. You see, we have been investigating the quality and impact of dreams. We have discovered that several different people can communicate through stage four REM-sleep.”

 

“REM-sleep?”

 

“Yes, rapid eye movement sleep. When you enter stage four, that is when your imagination is activated and you begin to really dream. We will discuss this further in the future. For now, it is critical that you corporate with us during this process.”

 

 “I don’t understand. Why did you choose me for this project, and under whose authority are you enforcing this?”

 

  “We chose you, Maya, because we believe you are capable of accomplishing the task that will soon be put in front of you. As for the authorization, we are not permitted to tell you. It’s confidential.”

 

“Maya! It’s time to get up!”  Opening my eyes, there stood my roommate.

 

 “Rebecca, you are sounding more and more like my mother.”

 

 Rebecca laughed and then replied, “You’re the one who told me to wake you up if your alarm didn’t go off!”

 

  “Yeah, I’m sorry. Thank you!”

 

  “No problem! I’m heading to class, I’ll see you later! Don’t forget our plans!” she said as she left the room.

 

 As I got out of bed, I noticed a few envelopes; as usual Rebecca had gotten the mail and generously placed mine on my night stand. Next to it was my alarm which stubbornly refused to wake me up. I quickly got ready and, tossing the mail in my backpack, headed out the door in hopes to make it to class on time.

 

“Good morning, Professor Davis” I said as I rummaged through my bag for my take-home test.

 

 “Good morning, Maya” he said with a smile.

 

 I found my test and placed in on his desk, then proceeded to find an available seat. Rebecca kindly saved me a seat in the back next to her. She gave me a welcoming smile as Professor Davis began to introduce the lesson for the day.

 

“I trust you all enjoyed time with family for the 4^th of July,” said Professor Davis. “As many of you know, today we will be finishing our discussion on the topic of having a naturalistic worldview. Next week we will be studying creationism vs. evolution. And I am pleased to be able to introduce you to our quest speaker Monday. He will be-”

Darkness, reality fading. Silence. Drip, drip, drip.  I’m sitting in an alley. It’s cold and fog keeps me from all identification classifications. Sudden yelling, hitting, crying. Someone is running toward me, he reaches out his hand and I thoughtlessly grab it.

 

“Where are we going?” I fearfully asked.

 

  “We must not talk. We must focus and keep running” he said with a voice that declared our current danger.

 

After about a mile and a half of silence, we reached a long driveway and then headed for the woods where we were able to rest.

 

“You are Maya, right?”

 

“Yes,” I said with eager curiosity. 

 

“Do you know who I am?” he asked hopefully.

 

“I do not.”

 

“They did not tell you anything about me?”

 

“Who?”

 

“We are running out of time, Maya,” he said, “this is only a dream, yet the circumstances are very real. We must-”

 

I felt a nudge then a whisper, “Maya, wake up.”

 

I felt startled but kept composure realizing that I had just fallen asleep in class.

 

“How long was I asleep?” I asked.

 

“About twenty-five minutes,” Rebecca replied.

I couldn’t help but to wonder what had just happened. I had those types of dreams before, but now they seemed so much more real.

 

“Well, class,” concluded Professor Davis, “you are dismissed. I will see you all back on Monday.”

 

             My friend Ben approached me as I walked out of class, “Hey, Maya!” he said with much excitement.

 

“Hi, Ben, how’s it going?”

 

“Pretty good, thanks. I just thought I would see how things were going with you. We have not talked in a long time!”

 

“Yeah, sorry, that’s my fault. I’ve been really busy.”

 

“Yeah, I understand. And you have not been sleeping well either I gather?”

 

My thoughts began to fill my mind. How would he know that?  From my shock, I did not say anything in response. I just stood there-I’m sure with a look of both worriedness and surprise.

 

“I saw you sleeping in class…” he said, filling the silence.

 

“Right, yeah, I fell asleep. Thankfully Rebecca woke me up!”

 

“Yeah, you seemed pretty shook when you woke up. Nightmare?”

 

“No, well, I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”

 

“I understand. I get those types dreams quite often. Well, Maya, it was a pleasure talking to you! I have to go, but you have a great day!” said Ben with a friendly smile.

 

“You too, Ben; I’ll talk to you soon!”

 

Relief spilled over me knowing that he had made that statement based only on observation. The whole thing still really confused me though.

             

Reviews

[Jeremia]

Interesting, I like it.

[That1Nerd23]

Thank you. (:

[Geist Von PA]

Reminds me of Astral Traveling, mixed with the Australian aboriginal belief that we are all characters on a plane in some great creator's dream. :-)

[That1Nerd23]

I'm glad you were able to pull something out of this like that! That's really cool!

[B-poet]

We all have a purpose as it relates to our existence. I loved how you touched on that topic from the start. This theme resonated all throughout the story. Maybe our dreams are the basis for our overall purpose for existing. Great write here. You've touched on a lot of issues concerning where someone stands in life as it pertains to their dreams within their subconscious. Great job again, I enjoyed the overall message conveyed within your story. :)

[That1Nerd23]

Thank you so much. Oh, and stay posted if you'd like, this is only part 1 of chapter 1. I'll try to add part 2 today. ((: I really appreciate you taking the time to read my story and also review it. This was only the second story that I really jumped into writing. I have very little experience with story writing so I appreciate your encouragement. ((: