I Remember - It Was Just a Dream

The area behind – that is where I roamed. Dilapidated buildings that leaked rain from above and dusty windows held back the daylight, the feeling of pursuit ever near. As I wandered a familiar pattern in the connections of the back alleys began to form. I was behind the theatre, where performances drew unseen crowds. I sought the main road, the road to more sensible memories.

I entered the theatre at the second floor from a forgotten doorway shrouded in cobwebs and shadow. The theatre had been a safe passage in the past while this time the front hall was dark and the door to the road was closed and locked. The feeling of pursuit again upon me I grasped for the latch desperately, refusing to look behind.

I saw myself open the door and I rushed out into the rain. Everything was wet and the rain fell steady. But I had not found the familiar crowded street. Instead a deserted alley leading to more dilapidated empty buildings lay before me. There did remain the faint echo of the place I remembered and the path to safety should not have been far. The rain fell steady and I grew weary of it quickly. Seeking shelter I entered an empty doorway to a place of particular discomfort. I had made a mistake for sure, this doorway led directly to danger and I was trapped again in the area behind.

A wooden stairway led upward to what seemed to be home to those who would pursue me. Rain leaked in from above. The flesh of my hands had begun to dissolve, the rain itself became danger and I felt no pain only the horror of my anatomy gripped at my heart tightly. I began to run seeking another door or another place, for something familiar.

I stopped for I was surrounded by people I had never met, yet they were familiar for there was one whom I did know and he began to approach. I backed away through another door and fled. I watched the flesh of my hands dissolve, the bones and tendons visible – still there was no pain and I did not panic yet I fled, running blindly into the chambers of the area behind. The rain continued to erode my skin and thus seething burns covered my body everywhere I looked. I could hear his voice but the meaning of the words he spoke meant nothing.

The condition of the buildings seemed to improve yet the rain came in and my dissolving flesh ever melting away. Desperately I sought the road and safety. I ran and stumbled through chamber after chamber seeking shelter from the caustic rain. He was waiting for me and the others joined him in what seemed to be an abandoned saloon, tables and chairs were scattered about and the rain did not fall there. My bony hands began to ache but still no actual pain.

He offered a release from the horror in the form of a large bowl filled with a clear liquid but definitely not water. I put my hands into the bowl and the flesh began to reform painlessly and quickly. He was droning on about how the cure worked, but I did not care. I watched until all but one of my fingers had reconstituted. His words reached me then though the relief. He was speaking of retribution and my part in his actions toward me. Fear of that realisation brought me deeper into the story. I had forgotten that it was a dream. Now it was as real as anything I had ever lived.

We stood at the foot of the stairs, the bowl of curative liquid rested near by as did the others. He spoke to me with a hiss; “This area behind as you see it is for you. It is not the rain but our blood that burns you. The cure is simply salt as I myself had lived. Because of you…”

I could not imagine what I had done to him but I saw his flesh begin to melt away and he smiled. “Salt.” He put his hands into the bowl and his flesh reconstituted quickly. I looked at my own hands, the one finger still missing. I asked, “Why?” He answered with a gesture and the bowl was brought before me. I submerged my hand and the missing finger began to reform. A goopy cylinder replaced the gap and a soft bone in the centre.

He began to explain, from a somewhat removed understanding of my situation. “There was a girl…” Still I could not remember. He gave a name, an image formed in my mind instantly, that of the girl of my dreams and a memory followed. The connection was still unclear but the fault of my part was evident; I had ‘stolen’ her from someone. Who, I did not know. It was not him, the man before me, but another of whom he was in concert and all those surrounding me. My hand remained submerged and the missing finger was completely reconstituted. As soon as I removed the now complete appendage new spots of melting flesh began to form on my arms and presumably all over my body. They were not finished; the lesson of fear and horror was not yet complete. The memory of my betrayal began to burn brightly in my mind – she was beautiful even if forgotten hence. He explained that he was blamed for my actions and that he was completely de-constituted for a period of six months. I tried to escape again risking further episodes of melting flesh, but I was held firm by powerful hands and numerous burns appeared and faded in the moments of my capture, exposing and re-covering bone and tendon.

I knew what was going to happen and there was no escape. I asked, “Why?” And he said “You are making me lie!” His visage fiery and pale and his skin was smooth and fully rejuvenated – impossibly so. Out from under the staircase a padded slab slid out toward me. It was upon this slab that I was to be de-constituted for six months. Again I asked “Why?” There was no answer and all I could see was the slab. So in turn I asked a different question, “Will I be reconstituted?” His answer was simple and final, “I can guarantee it.”

Thoughts of my family filled my mind but somehow I managed to accept my fate and I lay in the bed. I began to slide back into the staircase completely immobilised. The confines grew tight as I waited for the caustic liquid to fill the cavity. “This is going to suck!” were my last words. The space grew even tighter and I squirmed to conform to the space – tighter and tighter. I awoke, much to my surprise, safe in my bed. It was just a dream…