The Dream 01

***The Dream Series are based on actual dreams that I have had.***

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I was in Hawaii on a short personal vacation. I had never gone on a vacation by myself before and found myself spending endless hours sitting on the beach reading books and relaxing in the silence I couldn't get at work. Unfortunately it was time to leave the tranquility of my temporary paradise and return to the hell of reality.

I was standing in front of the hotel with my suitcase beside me waiting for the airport shuttle when I noticed the guy from the bar last night. He had tried very hard to hit on me despite being quite drunk. I was amazed that he was up and around. I would have been nursing a serious hangover had I been him. He seemed to be doing just fine while he loaded his friends' suitcases into the back of his red rental jeep.

He spotted me watching him and started to walk over toward me. Oh dear, now I was in for it. He was an ex-army guy or something and still had the body. His arms swayed back and forth held out from his sides by bulging muscles.

"Do you need a lift?" He looked down at my suitcase. "We're headed for the airport too. We could squeeze you in."

"Thanks but I'm waiting for the shuttle." I replied politely.

"Oh, that thing is always running late because of the road construction. You should come with us." I looked over at his jeep. A couple was snuggling up in the backseat and a middle-aged woman was sitting in the passenger seat adjusting her hat in the vanity mirror.

"Are you sure you have the room?"

"We can make room." He smiled at me and reached down to pick up my bag. Not bad for a jarhead I told myself, maybe I had been wrong about him after all. I followed behind him toward the jeep trying to figure out where I would sit. He threw my bag on top of the others and told me to climb in the middle of the front seat. I took up my spot next to the middle-aged woman and we were off.

The traffic on the road was pretty bad; no wonder the shuttle hadn't arrived yet. We sat, baking in the sun, in bumper-to-bumper traffic for a while. I began to worry about making my flight when suddenly Jarhead took a hard left across the highway and up a grassy embankment. I grabbed for the top of the windshield. Everyone held on as best they could while the jeep bounced up and over the rough terrain.

"I know of a shortcut along a trail." He called out to us above the whine of the jeep's engine. "We can bypass all of that mess below."

Sure enough, the tall grasses opened up to a narrow trail just wide enough for our jeep to pass through. The hill was pretty steep and as we climbed the surrounding trees became closer and closer to the grassy trail. Soon a lush tropical forest surrounded us. The ride was actually kind of fun and it would be a great parting memory from my vacation. I don't think the woman next to me felt the same as she yelped and clutched at her hat and the dashboard with every bump.

Soon I noticed that someone had tied long blades of grass across the trail. They were suspended between the trees at eyelevel with nothing beneath. If you were climbing the trail, you would have to duck beneath them. As our jeep went forward the windshield broke through the long green blades like little banners at a football game. I was puzzled by the meaning of these things. Someone had gone to a lot of time and effort to tie all of these things across the trail. The further we went up the hill the more there were. It suddenly hit me that we might have to duck. Maybe there was a fallen tree across the trail.

"Everybody duck!" I yelled. We all ducked our heads down, even Jarhead. We continued to climb the hillside and break through the now hundreds of grass barriers. I noticed light seemed to be coming from ahead. Perhaps there was a clearing coming up and we could figure out what was going on. As the light approached I started to feel much better. We were almost there.

We broke through the last of the grass barriers and flew out into the open of a bright blue sky surrounding the shining blue sea. The jeep hung for second and then began to fall as if in slow motion. It took a split second for it to register with me that we had driven over a cliff. The couple behind me began to scream, as did the woman next to me. I felt hot liquid hit my left leg and knew that Jarhead had just lost his bladder.

I needed to get out of the car; I couldn't be in the car as it fell down toward the ocean below. I scrambled over the hysterical woman to my right and through the open window.

I was freefalling over a twinkling ocean; the brilliant sun lighting the waves like the facets of a diamond. The emerald green cliff shooting past me shimmered and rippled as the wind played across its grassy slope. It was a beautiful day.

Through the wind rushing over my ears I could hear the muffled screams of the people in the car. I would not look at them as I stared out at the open ocean. From the corner of my eye I could see them clinging to each other, climbing over each other, over the car, panicking, knowing they were dying.

I looked down and saw the ocean rushing up to meet me. Oh god this is real, what do I do? What do I do?! Should I hold my breath and pin drop? Should I exhale and ball up? Its coming, it's coming! Screaming panic filled my head as the blue was nearly on me, I began to hyperventilate in shrieking gasps. I hit.