The Dream of Being Trapped in the Sky, Casey Abrahams

The Dream of Being Trapped in the Sky

Last night I dreamt of a foreboding greyness in the sky. The clouds were weighed down by darkness, and the wind whistled an ominous tune. I realized the bottoms of my feet touched nothing but open air. My gaze fell upon the unfamiliar world beneath me. Gone were the innocent faces that reflected the sun’s glare onto their youthful skin. Gone were the eyes encompassed in wrinkles and creases, like cracks in a sidewalk. Gone were the small, identical buildings in which we made our abode. Gone were the cobblestone roads that endured the weight of our bodies day by day. I could see through the thin shroud of fog that the landscape below me was forest. The townspeople had been replaced by woodland animals, buildings replaced by families of oak trees, and winding roads replaced by meandering streams. I looked up at my arms and saw that they were outstretched in a “V”. They were pulled taut by imaginary strings that ascended into the infinite reaches of the sky. I was suspended in mid-air: trapped. I tried to kick my legs through the threads of clouds surrounding me, but my body refused to move. I tried to raise a finger, but it was as if an invisible force was sitting atop it. I could only move my head. My body felt an unfamiliar heaviness, and terror gripped me as I realized I could plunge to my death at any moment. I tugged and pulled to no avail, helpless against my unseen captor. My body slackened as I accepted my imminent demise, and as I closed my eyes, I began to fall, fall for all eternity. Only then did the darkness around me shy away, allowing the clouds to return to their white, silky state. And as the whining wind grew calm, a pair of hairy hands plucked me out of the sky. The hands became branches above my head as I awoke from my dream. I could hear the sweet sound of singing birds, and the roaring of the Brod River. I was home.

Casey Abrahams ’15

6 Pillars of Salt