That night, I found myself in a dream.
Not the pleasant kind of dream you'd expect after you find out you're going to the dance with one of the hottest girls at school, mind you, but the bone-chilling, terrifying yet somewhat interesting dream every demigod gets once in a while. Just a side-effect of leaving the camp's borders, I guess.
It started off fine, though.
The ground beneath my feet was made of a soft, springy substance that felt like marshmallow but with the bounce of a trampoline. It was an endless expanse of pastel shades as if I were walking on a sea of cotton candy. With each step, it gave way beneath me, leaving imprints of my shoes like footprints in the snow.
Above, the sky stretched out in a perpetual sunset, casting a warm, golden glow over everything. It was a sky made of spun sugar, with fluffy clouds that resembled tufts of whipped cream. The air was filled with a sweet, tantalizing scent, a mix of chocolate, caramel, and a hint of fruitiness that made my mouth water.
You see, I'd always have a soft spot for candy. My mom used to work at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd always bring me a huge bag of "free samples," when I came home from school. Even now, she kept our pantry stocked with all kinds of candy, much to Triton's amusement.
As I ventured deeper into this candy wonderland, I discovered trees made of licorice, their branches dripping with gummy bears and sour candies that sparkled like gems. Giant lollipops stood sentinel along the paths, their colors so vivid they looked like they'd been plucked from a child's painting. Rivers of chocolate meandered through the landscape, their banks lined with gingerbread houses with frosting roofs and candy cane chimneys.
I half-expected to see gingerbread people peeking out from the windows, waving with gumdrop smiles. Creatures unlike any I'd ever encountered frolicked in this sugary realm. Gumdrop bunnies hopped through fields of rainbow sherbet, and licorice eels swam gracefully in the chocolate rivers. Every now and then, a cotton candy cloud would float by, carrying with it a chorus of giggles and laughter.
Gummy worms wriggled like snakes, and jellybean flowers sprouted and bloomed in seconds. It was a place where imagination and indulgence reigned supreme, where the line between reality and fantasy blurred like the colors of a swirling lollipop.
And then suddenly, it all began unravelling, like a spinner's thread.
The very ground beneath my feet quivered, and the sky above darkened, as if someone had cast a colossal shadow over the sugar-coated landscape. The laughter of the candy creatures turned to uneasy whispers, and the once-glorious gingerbread houses seemed to sag like melting frosting.
A table made of steel rose from the ground, and I was forced into a seat.
My heart raced as I stared across the table, my eyes locked with those of the person sitting directly opposite me. It was as if I were looking into a mirror, a distorted reflection of myself.
I blinked, convinced it was some kind of bizarre trick of the light, a figment of my imagination. But there was no denying it. The person before me was an exact replica of myself, from the unruly mop of hair to the slightly crooked nose. It was like staring at a doppelgänger, a perfect copy of my own visage.
The room around us seemed to fade into the background as I tried to make sense of this impossible encounter. My mind raced, considering all the possibilities. Had I stumbled into some parallel universe? Was this a trick played by the gods? The titans?
I watched as they mirrored my every move, their expression mirroring my own bewilderment. It was uncanny, as though I were watching myself from the outside. I felt a strange mixture of fascination and unease, as if I were caught in a puzzle I couldn't quite decipher. A hundred questions flooded my mind, but before I could voice a single one, they spoke, their voice echoing eerily like mine.
"The future..."
A piece of paper unfurled in front of me. It read:
I took a walk with the palm trees,
As the daylight fell,
Sangria in a canteen,
Talking to myself,
This tattoo on my left hand,
Is turning purple-ish blue,
Daydreams of the romance,
Daydreams of you,
My pretty woman in a ballgown,
I'm Richard Gere in a tux,
Getting married in a courthouse,
Writing vows in a rush,
Making out before the judge,
With my teenage wife,
Got a wedding band done,
That I just might die with...
M-R-S dot Alcyone,
She signed her name in pen,
In the fancy, fancy cursive,
Then, she turned her term papers in,
A thesis on Islamic,
Virgin brides and arranged marriages,
Hijabs and polygamist husbands,
Those poor un-American girls!
After school, she ran to me,
Jumped in my 5.0,
This is the home of the brave, the land of the free,
But your parents still didn't know,
She said, "I've had a hell of a summer,
So, baby, don't take this hard,
But maybe we should get an annulment,
Before this goes way too far."
Well, you can have my Mustang,
That's all I've got in my name,
But Jesus Christ, don't break my heart,
This wedding ring won't ever wipe off,
But if you stay,
Oh, if you stay,
You'll probably leave later, anyway,
It's love made in the USA!
"What the hell does that mean?" I asked the version of myself across the table, but he just smiled and shook his head. The dreamworld darkened, and I found myself waking up in a frenzy.