Jumbled thoughts, twisted distortions...this is the only thing that I
truly know, not that I have, in fact, jumbled and twisted myself among the
sheets, damp with my own sweat. Not knowing that my face has contorted
into a fierce grimace, seemingly in pain, but truthfully, in an effort to
concentrate. Subconsciously, I think that this is one of those dreadful
nightmares that have frequently haunted me in the dead of night for the
past several years. But, somehow, I know that this is different...
A vortex of images surges past in blinding, piercing flashes of color and light. I follow, and immediately am swept away, hurled into the tornado. Now, focusing on the swirling mists, I can just make out fleeting images melding together in the chaos to recreate my past and present. Dazzling lights burst forth to reveal the joyful moments, dancing in the confusion like minute rainbows. Shrinking back in the disorder are disturbing images of pale gray, which clearly project my troublesome memories, even as they flicker and fade within the hurricane. Eventually, these representations diminish and are replaced with images of my future, blurry figments of light, which are hardly conceivable. But the meaning is clear: change is about to occur, a dreadful change, with no destined outcome.
Somehow, the mists dissipate, and I find myself standing alone on a rocky crag, jutting out of the earth's crust. All that can be seen before me is a strip of black pavement, leading out towards the horizon. Thoughts drift through my head, marveling at what this could be about.
"YOU ARE THE ONE, CHILD!"
A voice of agony rings out through the crisp air as my body, racked with an unspeakable pain, suddenly twists and convulses. Every individual nerve ending seems to burn, sear. My own flesh threatens to consume me as horrific spasms streak down my limbs. Pain. Torture. Agony. These feelings overwhelm my whole being as I scream for mercy.
Forced out of my own mind, I can now all too clearly see the tortured form that is me. Naked, clad only in the stinking sweat running down my skin, I see myself in the most primordial of forms. But in a sense, that couldn't be true. Because the body was suspended above the earth by a silver web, as no man has ever been suspended before, shining as the waters gleam. Now I could see where the wracking pain came from, as the brilliant threads pierced my flesh again, and again, until my whole being seemed to be consumed by the innocently blinking lacework.
All was then dead silent, suspense still hanging heavy in the air. In the back of my mind-for somehow, my own mind welcomed my spirit back into the dark, inhibiting lair in which I was still twitching, more out of nervousness than pain-I can't help but wonder how this has come to be. The rest of mind, though, is in over-ride. Uneasy, confused thoughts rack my head, as if I was a trapped rabbit, acting out of pure instinct to survive, struggling and yanking against the bonds, without any rationality about the situation at hand.
I have to escape.
I have to see the light.
But the gossamer cords hold firm, and I can only scream my despair.
Suddenly, I awoke with a jerk of my head and tumbled out of bed, along with the twisted bed sheets still damp from the night's torture and the lingering, desolate scream that eventually faded into the misty bog of my mind.
A vortex of images surges past in blinding, piercing flashes of color and light. I follow, and immediately am swept away, hurled into the tornado. Now, focusing on the swirling mists, I can just make out fleeting images melding together in the chaos to recreate my past and present. Dazzling lights burst forth to reveal the joyful moments, dancing in the confusion like minute rainbows. Shrinking back in the disorder are disturbing images of pale gray, which clearly project my troublesome memories, even as they flicker and fade within the hurricane. Eventually, these representations diminish and are replaced with images of my future, blurry figments of light, which are hardly conceivable. But the meaning is clear: change is about to occur, a dreadful change, with no destined outcome.
Somehow, the mists dissipate, and I find myself standing alone on a rocky crag, jutting out of the earth's crust. All that can be seen before me is a strip of black pavement, leading out towards the horizon. Thoughts drift through my head, marveling at what this could be about.
"YOU ARE THE ONE, CHILD!"
A voice of agony rings out through the crisp air as my body, racked with an unspeakable pain, suddenly twists and convulses. Every individual nerve ending seems to burn, sear. My own flesh threatens to consume me as horrific spasms streak down my limbs. Pain. Torture. Agony. These feelings overwhelm my whole being as I scream for mercy.
Forced out of my own mind, I can now all too clearly see the tortured form that is me. Naked, clad only in the stinking sweat running down my skin, I see myself in the most primordial of forms. But in a sense, that couldn't be true. Because the body was suspended above the earth by a silver web, as no man has ever been suspended before, shining as the waters gleam. Now I could see where the wracking pain came from, as the brilliant threads pierced my flesh again, and again, until my whole being seemed to be consumed by the innocently blinking lacework.
All was then dead silent, suspense still hanging heavy in the air. In the back of my mind-for somehow, my own mind welcomed my spirit back into the dark, inhibiting lair in which I was still twitching, more out of nervousness than pain-I can't help but wonder how this has come to be. The rest of mind, though, is in over-ride. Uneasy, confused thoughts rack my head, as if I was a trapped rabbit, acting out of pure instinct to survive, struggling and yanking against the bonds, without any rationality about the situation at hand.
I have to escape.
I have to see the light.
But the gossamer cords hold firm, and I can only scream my despair.
Suddenly, I awoke with a jerk of my head and tumbled out of bed, along with the twisted bed sheets still damp from the night's torture and the lingering, desolate scream that eventually faded into the misty bog of my mind.