Was it a dream?

I found myself walking on the trails above our house. The snow was deep, but oddly, I wasn’t cold. My bare feet were pushing the snow forward with every step, but I didn’t feel the snow. Funny thing—I couldn’t remember climbing the hill. Was I dreaming? It seemed like a dream. The snow was coming down harder, making it impossible to see the house. I needed to get down, but without visibility, I was frozen in place—no pun intended. I was still able to make jokes in my sleep, if I were asleep, that is.

I decided to descend the hill, eventually running into my house. After about five steps, I ran into something—not the house, but a large rock. It was not familiar. We didn’t have large rocks like this around our house. It was a tall, smooth rock, more like a wall. I turned and looked behind me. I had just come down a hill, but now the hill was gone. Behind me was another wall, and I realized that the snow was also gone. How odd, I thought. Looking around, I could see that I was enclosed but not trapped, for there was an exit. It was like a hallway. I walked a short distance before I needed to turn right, then left. I felt like I was in a gerbil maze, like the maze I created for my science fair project at school. It was definitely a maze.

Then came a scream from behind. Turning, I found myself face-to-face with what could only be described as a monster. It had a large mouth full of long, sharp teeth. On top of the thing’s head was bright red hair—but it was not hair, but fire. The top of its head was on fire. In fact, most of its body was ablaze. There were sharp black claws protruding from the monster’s hands and feet. It let out another scream—louder this time—and started moving quickly toward me, taking long strides. I turned and ran, trying my best to navigate the maze and hopefully not make a wrong turn and wind up at a dead end. I was running as fast as I could. My feet were moving, but my forward progress was at a sloth’s pace. I could still hear the monster behind me. Taking a chance, I glanced back. It was gone—and so was the maze.

The area around me was lush with huge trees the size of skyscrapers on all sides. Hanging from their branches were long vines, like you would see in any Tarzan movie. I reached up to grab one of the vines, and it bit me. It was not a vine but a snake. My hand was gushing with blood where my finger had once been. The snake had taken off my index finger. How would I manage without my finger? And shouldn’t this hurt like crazy? There was no pain. This can’t be happening to me, I thought. I must be dreaming, and I needed to wake myself up. Wake up, wake up, wake up…

I was lying in my bed. It had been a dream. I immediately checked my hand. My index finger was back. What a nightmare. The sun was shining in through my window. I was still shaking from the dream. I needed my mom. She would help me feel better. “Mom,” I called. There was no answer. I called again. This time I heard her coming down the hallway. What came to my doorway was not my mom. It was the monster, with fire shooting up to the ceiling, turning it black. I screamed and closed my eyes. Then I woke up… again. I thought I was awake, but I thought I was awake before. “Mom,” I called. She ran into my room and sat down beside me. “You must have had a bad dream,” she said and rubbed my back. “It’s okay now.”

It was a horrible feeling to think you were able to wake up from a nightmare and then find that you were still in the nightmare. Now there is always a blurry line between dreaming and consciousness. I wonder—am I really awake?