As I fell asleep, I drifted off into a very familiar dream.
A dream I have every time I go to a new school or leave an old one ....
You see, ever since around 3rd grade, I've had this strange reoccuring dream.
Or ... I guess "nightmare" would be a more fitting term.
See, my first elementary school, "Brockway Elementary," had these long hallways.
I think they split off into four different sections.
One was RED and led to the KINDERGARTEN sector.
The next was BLUE and led to the FIRST GRADE sector.
Another was YELLOW and led to the SECOND GRADE sector.
The final hall was GREEN and led to the THIRD GRADE sector.
Along one of the halls was the GARDEN.
You may be wondering how this all relates to the strange dream I keep having.
Well you see, 3rd grade was my last year at Brockway.
This school had been my life for 4 years at that point. I already struggled with first days ...
just imagining moving to a whole new school was gut-wrenching.
Faint memories of my first year at Brockway lingered in my mind, worrying me to no end.
I think all these worries sort of manifested themselves into a nightmare.
I can't really be sure if this was the origin of this dream, but I'm pretty sure it was.
... Oh, what's the dream like, you ask?
Well ... all those elements of Brockway's halls and such that I mentioned before ...
it was sort of like that.
Except it was a huge maze.
And the whole building seemed empty.
Each sector had lost the windows looking out into the nature surrounding the school.
Every classroom in every. single. sector. was devoid of life.
No people.
No windows.
Nothing.
Well, of course, there were the usual classroom decorations, supplies, desks, etc.
But it was a mess. Tables were flipped over, pencils were scattered across the floor ...
it looked like some sort of scuffle took place.
Like the building had been evacuated ...
but what did everyone run from?
As I got deeper in, the walls were no longer color-coded.
Not to say they were blank or something.
Just that there were no more groups of each color ....
Each wall was painted something random. It was getting harder to track where I was ....
There were random rooms and sectors along the walls.
Each one was just as messy and empty as the last.
I tried using them as breadcrumbs, to have any idea of where I was.
... Though, it isn't easy to do that when every room looks the same.
I just trekked along, hoping I'd find some way out ....
Finally, my surroundings began to change.
There was a more open area where all the walls converged into one color.
It's different every time, but it's never RED.
The walls led to an open room with a big window looking out to a TREE.
It sort of looked like the GARDEN, but the only thing of interest was the TREE.
Around the GARDEN, there were four windows, each looking into a different colored room.
The RED room was different, though. The window had a door that led to the GARDEN.
I had to get there.
I frantically ran around the maze, searching for the RED room. I had to be getting closer!
Yet, as I ran through, the air began to change. It got cold. So, so cold.
I became paranoid.
It felt like something was watching me—no—following me.
It got colder.
So ... so cold ...
SO COLD!
And then I saw it.
It sounds childish to describe it this way, but ...
it looked like the boogeyman on those neighborhood watch signs.
None of its "clothes" were made out of fabric. It was all part of its body.
Its fleshy, grotesque body.
It slowly walked towards me. I had to get out of there, but ...
it was too cold to move.
When it finally reached me, it picked me up with its fleshy, clawed hands.
And then ...
It opened its mouth. I could see down its spiked, fleshy, pulsating throat ....
I screamed in horror as it slowly lowered me into its mouth ...
And then I woke up.
