Infinite Dream

Infinite Dream - Sua Kim (Oxford Academy, 7th Grade)

As she sat beside a tree, she wondered how her life had gotten to this point. When had it all gone wrong? When did it suddenly change so dramatically? Most importantly, why? She gazed at the town before her, her town. But also not her town. It was more vibrant, more bright, better in every way. Yet, all she wanted was to see her real town, even with all its drabness and imperfection. 

She closed her eyes, and tried to picture the last few weeks of her normal life, or at least the life she had before, without constant fear. Before it all went wrong. 

“Hurry up, Molly!” Clara, younger sister, screamed, “I’m gonna be a minute late for my rehearsal!” 

Molly wordlessly stood up from her couch, walked over to the elevator, and pushed the button for ground floor. Clara stood by the door, dressed in the most ridiculous, expensive, fancy dress ever sold. She was pretty sure even wedding dresses weren’t this extravagant. They were the richest family in the village, and in all the neighboring towns for miles. Money wasn’t an object for them. Still, not even top singers dressed like this, not even for the biggest concerts of their lives. Yet here her sister was, going to a rehearsal for the worst choir in history, where all the other kids would wear everyday clothes. It was always embarrassing to know that they were related. The whole family would be there though, her mom, dad, sister, and even her cat. Molly didn’t go anywhere without her cat, as it was a therapy cat, but she felt sorry for her beloved cat, who was about to get an earful of screeching that her parents called “lovely singing”. 

As the carriage moved along with a steady rhythm, Molly began to feel drowsy. She slowly nodded off, leaning against her father’s shoulder. She awoke in a perfect town. That was the first of many dreams about the colorful village. Apparently her parents couldn’t wake her up when they had arrived, but she only knew this because the family doctor told her. They had tried everything to wake her, from taking away her cat to blowing a trumpet in her face. Her sister had ended up missing her rehearsal, but that was the least of anyone’s worries.

As the nights passed, the dreams became more vivid, and lasted longer. Soon her parents became concerned. When she was dreaming about the village, it was impossible to wake her up, and soon she was beginning to miss school entirely due to them. Her parents called doctors, but nothing seemed to help. One night, she ventured further into her dreams than ever before, and met a little boy, trapped there. They talked for quite a while, and Molly found that the little boy, whose name he did not remember, had an nearly identical experience as her, except that when he had arrived, there was another boy already trapped.

 Strangely enough, he had disappeared from the dream, though when that happened, one could not remember. She visited him every night. He seemed so lonely, and she cherished each encounter with him. However, the visits soon began to blur together in her mind. Had they gone to the river a day ago or a week ago? She couldn’t remember, and soon began forgetting entire events.

 One day, the boy was gone. She couldn’t find him anywhere. It was the same day that she hadn’t been able to wake up. Like the boy had said, she couldn’t remember when he had disappeared. It was chilling, especially when she had grown so fond of him. With no one around her, she had a lot of time to think. After a few days of thinking about the disappearance of the child, she came to a fearful conclusion: only one child could be trapped in the dream. When a new child was stuck in the dream forever, the old one would disappear, die, wake, anything was possible. Why had she not realized sooner? Had the boy known? What would happen to her? She did everything she could to help him…but here she was trapped as well, waiting to be replaced. The dream had been scary, but also…almost…pleasant. But now, it was nothing but horrible. 

Shaken, she opened her eyes, and saw a small girl, looking at her with fear in her eyes.