Hot, dry air blows across his pale face and the sun shines blindingly in baby blue eyes. He lays on his back near the edge of a large precipice. Sand and dirt billow over the edge like orange fog, descending into a dizzying void. Just a few feet away, a woman sits on a low black bench in front of an obsidian piano. Her red skirts billow in the wind and a soft sweet melody floats from the keys. Looking over at the man she sighs and squints her striking green eyes. "Good morning, sleeping beauty." She chuckles as he begins to stir. He rubs his eyes and sits up, taking in his strange surroundings. With a grunt, he hefts himself to his feet and wanders to the edge of the cliff. Down, there is nothing but black to see and in the distance it appears that the exact same set of sandy dunes is mirrored across every scrap of hot and miserable land. The woman stops playing and comes to stand beside him, putting her hand on his broad shoulder. "Welcome to Dreamscape." She murmurs.
"Dreamscape? As in, my dreams?" he asks, fidgeting with his plain t-shirt and jeans.
"Yes and no." the woman replies. Her mouth opens as if she meant to say more but instead she opts for silence.
"What is THAT supposed to mean? 'Yes and no.' Who are you?" he chides, growing more agitated with her. The woman only chuckles and disappears back to her piano. The mention of dreams causes a small alarm to go off in the back of his mind but the reason escapes his recollection.
"I am you. Well, a part of you anyway. Everyone and everything you will encounter here is you and every obstacle you face is nothing more than a figment of your mind." He starts to speak but she raises a hand to silence him. "For the time being you have been placed in a drug induced coma which brought you to this place." She moves to the edge of the cliff and stands facing the man. "Your job, Jake, is to face your demons and escape." As she finishes her sentence she spreads her arms and falls backwards into the void. Desperately he reaches out for her but she smiles as she slips through his grip. She mouths "Escape." once more before her body is lost in the void. Jake covers his face and paces the cliff for a few moments before turning to look out across the land again. What the actual fuck?! What am I supposed to do with that?! Random women playing pianos on cliffs then just throwing themselves off when they're done talking! If this is my dream then I must be seriously messed up… Dreams...
Suddenly, a loud CRACK resounds across the canyon. The dirt that the piano rests on begins to crumble and split. In a panic he throws himself past it, bounding over the top and across the rest of the cliff until he reaches solid land. The rest of the precipice crumbles and plummets into the void, obsidian piano tumbling after its player. For several moments, Jake looks at the place where the piano once sat. His mind reels at his sudden predicament but he refuses to fall into panic just yet. Got to keep moving. Nowhere else to go. Dreams… Dreams? I must remember! He wanders into the arid desert, no particular direction in mind other than away from the cliff. As he wanders it appears that the landscape repeats the same pattern no matter what direction he walks in. Cactus after cactus appears in exactly the same spot but when he looks back it appears as if he hasn't moved more than a couple feet. The hell? Why isn't anything changing? He sits down in a huff and rubs his temples. The sharp pain of dehydration creeps across his mind but he forces it back for the moment and continues walking. Try as he might, soon his thoughts are consumed by his thirst. I'm going to die in my own mind if I can't figure out how to get to water. For a moment it strikes him that he's been here only a few minutes but almost immediately he'd accepted that this was his mind. The thought drifts away and with a deep longing breath he pictures a small puddle of water. He imagines every little detail down to the last drop of tantalizing escape from the heat. A soft whirr can be heard for a moment and Jake feels a gentle pull at his mind. When he opens his eyes he sees a small flickering puddle of water. Before it can flicker out of existence he plunges his hands into the cool water and splashes it across his face before taking several deep gulps. Curious, he closes his eyes and tries to imagine the puddle getting bigger, but the telltale pull doesn't happen. With a sigh he relaxes his focus and immediately the puddle disappears. He groans, frustrated, and gets back up to continue his efforts to move away from the cliff. Finally reaching his breaking point he throws the nearest rock as far as it will go. Why can't I MOVE?! I've only been here a few hours and I'm already tired of being screwed with. He kicks dirt at nothing in particular when he notices something out of the corner of his eye.
Just a few feet away, a man dressed in black and white appears. His hair seems to move and sway in a breeze Jake can't feel as the man takes a slow step toward him. "Who are you?" he asks, hoping that this man had been sent to help. Every step forward Jake takes is shadowed by the strange man. He doesn't make a sound but the closer he gets the more his body seems to ripple. It's as if he is never still, never quite in one place or another.
"I am you." The man grunts in a voice almost unhuman. In a flicker of light he changes to look exactly like Jake. His bald head reflects the sunlight and blue eyes seem to pierce him to his core.
"Yea, yea, you're me and I'm you and we're the same. You gonna help me or not?" Jake grunts, waving his arms in an impatient gesture. The man laughs but the sound isn't comforting. Yet again he changes, this time into an inky black wraith. A single clock sits imbedded in his chest and it moves toward Jake. "Enough with the shape shifting!" he throws a rock at him which only makes the man laugh more. Lightning fast, it appears right in front of Jake, raising a wicked looking knife over his head. Jake launches himself backwards but not before the wraith rakes the blade across his shoulder. His breath picks up and for a moment he stands, waiting to see its next move. Almost statuesque, the wraith freezes with the knife still in the downswing of his stab. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake can see more of the strange creatures appearing on either side of him. Back to the edge of the cliff, he raises his arms defensively. "Alright you've made your point. What do you want?" he grunts as he casts a desperate look across the canyon. The collective cackling of the group is unnerving and sets his teeth on edge but he stays still. None of them move other than the ticking of the clocks which move slowly in the center of their chests.
Jake weighs his options and takes a quick step forward which is countered by twenty sets of inky legs taking a matching step inward. As slowly as he can, he takes one more step forward but the wraiths do not move. So slow and steady wins the race I guess. But what do I do when I can't get away again? With another painfully slow step he finds himself face to face with one of the wraiths. The moment his foot touches the ground, pain shoots up his back and into his skull. "THIS IS YOUR DREAM, CONTROL IT, LEARN FROM IT, OR DIE!" a voice screams from nowhere specific but everywhere at once. My dream? IT WORKED! SON OF A BITCH, IT WORKED! I'M IN MY OWN MIND! This realization is followed by another, more sobering, one; If I die here, I'm done for real. No do overs… All eyes are on him but still, not a single one moves. He takes a steadying breath as he forces himself to focus on the situation at hand. With one agonizingly slow step after the other, the process continues until he slowly makes his way through the crowd of creatures. When he looks back at them they have all turned to watch his departure. Knowing he's close to escape he takes one last giant step, a little too fast. The wraiths surround him again and in a moment of pent up frustration he takes a swing at one, only to be stabbed through the hand by another. Other than a pained grunt he holds his ground and stays stock still. Though several other blades are only inches from him, the moment he stops moving they do. 'Control it, learn from it, or die.' As slowly as he can, Jake pulls his hand from the knife. It's sharp metallic bite eliciting miserable groans and whimpers as he forces himself to go slowly. Finally free, blood drips down his arm and into a small puddle. A ragged breath steadies him as he forces his eyes shut and his mind clears. Golden sun shining off red feathers. White head. Long talons. Large. Golden eyes. Huge wings. Very slowly he crosses himself. Very slowly he steps back to the edge of the cliff. Very slowly he falls backwards into the abyss.