I'm can't tell you at what exact moment I first became… aware. It wasn't sudden, but rather slow, and soft. I think the first thing I noticed was the gentle breeze that tickled my face. My hands gently grasped around me, and I felt the soft, lush grass beneath me. I slowly opened my eyes, squinting fiercely at first because of the sudden brightness that sent bolts of pain through my eyes. After a couple moments of blinking and more squinting, I was finally able to open my eyes, and I looked around.

I lay in a meadow of sorts, with some trees all around, the wind rushing through their leaves and causing the branches to gently sway as if dancing. I heard the laughing gurgle of water nearby, although I could not see where the noise came from, and my only thought that accurately described was I saw, what I heard and felt.. was peace. It just felt like home, even though I was fairly certain I had never been there before.

This is a lovely dream I sighed to myself.

After laying where I was for a bit longer, without having 'woke up' yet, I decided to get up and explore. "This is my dream, after all! I can do whatever I want!" I grinned to myself. It never occurred to me that it might not be a dream.

I wandered about for a bit before stumbling into (quite literally) the water source I had heard, and was both delighted and confused at the fact that I could feel the water. I could ignore the grass beneath my feet, and the breeze that rushed past, but now I could feel water. "This is… the weirdest dream ever. Huh." I shrugged my shoulders. Perhaps I was just having a realistic dream after the trauma and exhaustion of the past couple weeks.

"Well, since this is the nicest dream I have ever had, and I have no idea when I will wake up, I should go exploring while I can." And with that, I set off on my own adventure of sorts. I watched the birds that flitted about in the trees and occasionally dropped to the ground to grab a bug or worm, or twig their nest.

After walking for a while longer (I had no sense of time, and I was no good at using the sun to tell time) I found a road that seemed to be well traveled, and decided to walk along it just to see where it lead. I stopped frequently to smell a flower or just to view the scenery, but always continued onward, feeling called to keep moving (by what, I do not know).

The sun began to lower in the sky, and as time moved on, I still had not 'woken up', the knot in my stomach grew. I finally sat beside the road, starting to feel truly disturbed and even a bit afraid. "This is just a dream! This is just… *deep breath*… just a dream." And then I pinched my forearm, having not quite convinced myself yet. I yelped at the sudden pain that I inflicted on myself, and felt the bubble of panic rise in my throat as I truly began to understand.

This was not a dream, and I did not know how to go home.