She stood gazing at a vast, sprawling grassland. The grassy plain stretched as far as her eyes could see, its flat outline broken by a woodland to the east and a jagged mountain range to the west. Ahead of her, just above the horizon was the bright sun. It was silent. No birds singing – only the faint rustling of grass and the leaves of the scant trees around. She was alone. Suddenly a cold gust of wind swept against her back. She turned and found herself in her bed, lying on her side. It was all a dream. Sunbeams through the window greeted her eyes. She sat up, the dream still lingering in her head. It was so vivid, so real. Then the ringing of her phone snapped her back to reality.
At work she couldn’t help but think about the dream she had. She has become drawn to it. It was probably the tranquility she felt in the dream. She wanted to be in that place again. Later that night, during her sleep, she once again found herself in the grassy plain. Her eyes wandered round the place. The sun was where she last saw it. Judging by its position the time was around mid-afternoon. Behind her was a towering cliff face. It seemed to stretch for miles from both directions like an endless wall. She approached a tree and sat under its shade, enjoying the ethereal tranquility. Her life in the waking world was good but being there in that place in her dream was better, she thought. She wondered if she was all alone in that place. Then from the sky above the distant woodland she spied a flock of unfamiliar birds flying towards the horizon. As she followed them with her eyes she noticed dark clouds forming atop the mountain range in the west. Then she woke up to an overcast morning. Screw work, she thought; and she went back to sleep. But the dream in the grassy plain never came.
The same thing happened that night and nights after that. Instead of the tranquil, grassy plain, she had other dreams which irked her. She was frustrated every time she woke up. She overslept often, hoping to have the dream she longed for, causing her to be always late for work. Even when in the company of her boyfriend her thought was occupied by the grassy plain in her dream. She needs to be there, she thought. Even the psychologist was no help at all.
One day she came up with an idea. Sleeping ***** might help. But when the prescribed dosage didn’t work she doubled it. When that didn’t work either she took more, and more.
Then one morning she was found in her bed lifeless - with a smile on her face. END
Art drawn on Nintendo DS Lite using ColorsDS.
