A Summer’s Dream or a Dose of Reality

It was a hot summer day in the hills of Gallatin. The breeze was nice and cool and gave you a moment of relief from the hot air. Stacy was on the porch enjoying it when Mark came and asked her if she wanted to go into town with him. “Sure, it will give me something to do,” she said. They both walk to Mark’s Jeep, and as she opened the car door, she got this weird feeling, and a chill ran down her back.

The drive into town was peaceful until Mark turned on the radio with the volume turned way up. I let down the window so I could feel the breeze on my face. So soothing, so refreshing, such a beautiful drive. I wish it could always be like this.

We pull up to the store, and I get out, stretching my legs as if the car ride was that long. I start to walk into the store when I hear my name called in the distance. I look around but do not see anyone right away. I hear it again and look, and still nothing. So I walk into the store and start to look around.

Mark is grabbing his items, and I'm just looking around when something catches my eye. I'm not sure what it is or where it's coming from, but I cannot take my eyes off it. Marks calls my name, and it's not until he touches my shoulder that I snap out of it. “Hey, didn't you hear me calling you, ” he asked. “Sorry, I zoned out for a minute.” “Let's go,” he said.

Just before we get in the car, he looks at me and asks, am I alright. “Sure,” I say. Opening the door and getting in. “I am just fine.” The ride back home was just like the ride there—the breeze on my face, the music blasting.

We pull up to the house and while Mark takes his bags into the house. I plopped down on the swinging bench and relaxed, and I was taking in the day. So peaceful, I wish every day could be like this.

I was sitting there for hours, but it felt like minutes. As the day started to turn into night, I see this green light in the distance. The same one caught my attention in the store, but I see it more apparent now, and I hear my name again.

I still see no one, and there it is again. This time a little louder and a little clearer. I get up and start to walk towards the voice even though everything in me is saying don't go. I press on, getting further away from the house down into the woods.

The green light is getting brighter like I'm getting closer to it, and I hear my name again. This time much clearer and more intimate; it's a woman’s voice. Sounds so familiar, but at the same time, strange. I keep going until I come to a clearing, and in the middle is a green light, circler and relatively small when you think of how far I could see it.

I walk right up to it and touch it. So beautiful and mesmerizing. I hear my name and turn, and standing there right beside me is me. “What kind of trick is this?” “No trick, I am as real as you are.” “Yeah, okay, ” I say with a smirk on my face. “I’ll play along.”

I turn to check my surroundings, and when I turn back, she's gone. “Hello, hello, ” and nothing. The light has disappeared, and I'm just standing in the middle of this clearing, trying to make sense of it.

After a couple of minutes, I start to head back to the house. Maybe I hallucinated the whole thing. I heard the heat can do that to you. I'm a couple of feet from the house, but something feels different. I don't know how to explain it, but it just seems off.

I hear laughing coming from the porch, and it sounds so familiar. As I get closer, I see Mark and me; I mean her, the one that said she was me. I call out, and nothing. I walk onto the porch and try to grab Mark’s hand, and it just goes right through. This cannot be happening! This isn't real!

I am screaming at the top of my lungs, and nothing. He is just talking to me, and then she looks right at me with a smirk on her face and laughs. With tears down my face, I ask, “Why.” No response, then the two of them get up and go into the house.

I sit on the steps with my head in my hands, and the lights go out. It's now pitch black, and I'm alone. Alone in the dark, nowhere to go, no way to reach anyone, just alone in the dark.

Suddenly, I spring up, arms flailing from the sound of my alarm—heart about to beat out of my chest. Mark came rushing into my room. “Is everything okay?” he asked. “Yes, just a bad dream.” “Okay,” he said as he walked away. It was just a dream, a horrible dream.

I got up and went to the bathroom. As I was throwing water on my face, I looked in the mirror and saw my reflection. Then as I turned to leave, my reflection smirked at me. Just like in the dream, or am I still dreaming. I don't know what to think. I rush out of the bathroom and sit back on my bed. “Wake up! Wake up! This nightmare needs to end!

It's so quiet; I look around, and all I see is the night sky. Still on the steps, still alone, and then out the corner of my eye, I see a green light in the distance. I take off running. Can this be the answer and help me get back home. I guess I'll see when I get there.