What It’s Like to Live an Entire Lifetime in a Single Dream
Gasping for air, I jolt awake, slamming my head against cold drywall, knocking me down as quickly as I arose. Silently cursing under my breath, I lay on my back holding my hand over my eyes as the early morning sunlight begins to creep in through the blinds covering my window. I chuckle to myself thinking it’s weird that I hit my head on the wall since I always sleep on the outside of the bed, away from the wall, while my wife sleeps on the inside. Without looking I turn over, reaching my arm out to embrace her in a cuddle like I do every morning, but my arm gently lands on a lifeless desk instead.
I sit up straight, eyes wide open and gasp as my gaze is met with the wall decor of my childhood bedroom that I once inhabited 65 years ago. Flipping over, I realize I’m sitting in my 14 year old body in a twin sized mattress with no signs of the love of my life having ever existed. I begin screaming and punching the pillows, bursting into tears as the reality of my entire life having been a dream comes crashing down on me like an unstable roof collapsing in on itself. In a fit of desperation I flip over and yank the bedsheets over my head, squeezing my eyes shut, praying to fall back asleep and escape this unbearable nightmare. Whimpering like…
