NEW LEAF

PART 6: DREAMING OF SUNDALE

I emerge into a realm of dreams. Many different sounds flutter and wisp past my ears as I transcend blindly into this world. As scary as the concept would seem, I actually feel more tranquil than before.

I feel a regaining in gravity and feel my body becoming heavier. I can breathe in air—very crisp and clean air, much like my own town. I open my eyes and find myself staring up into a starry night sky. I hear the common sounds of the outdoors, except everything almost sounds like they have a slight reverberating effect. I blink several times and see Luna looming over me from the side.

LUNA: Welcome to the world of dreams…Right now you're having a dream of a sleepy town called Sundale.

I slowly give rise to my upper body and feel a bit of wooziness kick in. I shake my head and analyze my surroundings. The bed I am resting on is now in the middle of a gravel-paved plaza, much like the one in my own town. That's only where the strangeness begins.

Luna wishes me a good time and tells me to flop back into bed if I want to return to the real world. I let my bare feet sink off the side of the bed and touch the stone floor. The sense of touch is vivid in this dream world. I'm afraid if I stay for too long I'll start to think this in itself is the real world.

I investigate my surroundings some more and notice that this town appears to have a celebratory tree as well. The vegetation of the town is a wonder to look at. Trees are strewn all across the grasslands to resemble a forest. Bushes, shrubs, flowers, and all sorts of other plants have populated the town a good deal also.

I rummage my pockets upon realizing I have something inside them. The item turns out to be a map of the town itself. The layout is not entirely identical to mine, but the legend and symbols are very similar, save for some new structures all across the place. There are ten villagers living here, a police station, a café, and what appears to be a campsite. I heed these structures and see if I can have them built in Quietown as well. The café does definitely sound pleasurable to have.

The event of visiting the villagers carries its own blend of weirdness. They are all different from the ones in my town (thank God, otherwise I would've questioned my sanity even in a dream state), but they all act like they are present in this dream world and self-aware of their surroundings. I have heard of something called "lucid dreaming," but for all these guys to be self-aware? It didn't sit right with me.

I try visiting the structures across town, but to no avail. They are all lit up like Christmas trees, but are closed and locked up tight, sometimes sporting signs with unsettling messages on them.

"Temporarily closed forever."

"Closed 24 hours."

"The town hall will be closed today. Thank you for your understanding!"

I wonder after waiting for about a day if I would see another version of Isabelle. I chuckle to myself at this thought, although I soon remember that the building has windows, although it isn't lit up like the other buildings. I take a peek inside and cannot see anything save for a couple pieces of furniture here and there. I then think to myself, "This is a dream, so what I do doesn't really affect the town."

Right?

An idea pops up into my head. I dash back to Luna, destroying some flowers along my path. I notice a dancing phallic object nearby the bed, its twisty movements accelerating the closer I got to it. In its squeaky voice, it offers me a selection of tools. Score! I take everything the bugger has on hand and make a run for the town hall again, equipping my trusty axe.

Before I take a swing at one of the windows, I sense someone behind me.

LUNA: Mayor Mark?

I slowly turn my head and gaze at the tapir from the corner of my eye. She looks at me with concern, as if expecting something like this.

LUNA: Do you really want to do this?

ME: What do you mean? This is supposed to be a dream.

LUNA: Yes, Mayor Mark…but these dreams are a complete amalgamation of a townsperson's memories, outlook, and remembrances of their town. It's not just the arrangement of buildings and plant life.

I think about what she is saying. Would a person have to scan and remember every single inch of his or her town to really project an entire image as a dream? What is the end point of this dream world anyway? My first motive in even planning this was to simply see what the inside of the town hall looked like, but now Luna has me thinking of the lack of a boundary.

ME: If this whole thing is from someone's head, then there should be a limit or something, right?

Luna shakes her head.

LUNA: There does not have to be a limit. I am not sure of the limits of Sundale itself, but somebody can certainly expand their dream and break through a boundary to create even more land in the surroundings. Somebody can create an entire world if they wanted.

Luna sighs and folds her arms.

LUNA: I'm not going to stop you, Mayor Mark. What you do here won't affect the dream, but it may affect you.

Wouldn't someone have done something like this before? One can't possibly tell me that they'll see most of the buildings being closed and not wanting to play 'explorer' a bit. I shrug it off. Luna has already walked away.

I shatter the window with my axe and break into the town hall. It is already quiet in the dream world of Sundale, but somehow it seems even quieter inside the building. It gives me a feeling of tension almost. I flip on the light switch and look around, noticing that not only does the building itself look similar, but its interior also. I begin to think if maybe the whole dream could be affected by someone else's imagination and recollections. It would be too much of a coincidence for two towns to look almost identical.

I investigate around the mayor's table. There are a lot of different papers scattered around, most of which I cannot understand because of the complex and almost illegible writing on them. I lose interest quickly and start checking around the secretary's desk.

There is something on the desk that causes my insides to feel like they've gone frozen and I am not sure how I didn't see this before. The name plate propped on the surface says, "Isabelle."

What was once a little joke has turned into something horrific. I remind myself that this is just…a dream in a dream. Yeah, that's exactly what this is. None of these different towns probably even exist. This is just some crazy concoction from my overly active mind. I can't think too hard on this. I exit the town hall to see one of the animals, a rabbit, staring at me like I fell from the sky. I ignore him and head back to Luna.

The tapir eyes me with indifference, but I bet that with one look at my face she could tell I probably regretted my action. No, that's not how this is. It's just a dream, and my own mind contributed to it. That's all this is!

LUNA: Are you ready to go back to the world of stress?

Yes, but not for very long.