They were surrounding me, pouring in by the dozens of thousands. Kara and Mike were on either side of me, standing firm but their minds were in doubt. I gripped the golden staph more tightly now, as my knuckles turned white. This is it, I thought. I am a victim of my own ambitions. I began to sweat, and now millions of drones surrounded my friends and I. We all took deep breaths, waiting to see who would make the first move. The tension in the air rose, and it felt thick and hot. The smell of decayed bodies permeated my nostrils and made me feel sick. But that was why I had to fight, to stand up for this god-foresaken hell, once a beautiful land. I raised the golden staph above my head. "C'mon!" I shouted. "Give it your best shot!" They wasted no time before charging at me. I closed my eyes and awaited fates decision.

I bolted upright in my bed, shaking and sweating profusely. My heart was beating wildly, and I shivered. Not from the cold draft in the room from the snowy winter night outside my window, but from the realness of my dream. "Same dream again," I whispered to myself, careful not to wake my younger brother, Joey, who was in the bunk under mine. I sighed heavily. "How many nights has it been now?" I quietly pulled the stuffy sheets off my body, sticking to me from the sweat. Tiptoeing, I climbed down the ladder from my bed to the floor, threw on some clothes (I sleep in my underwear, OK?)and went out of my room. I was as silent as possible passing the room where my parents slept, then went downstairs to the fridge. Hoping to forget about the nightmare, I made myself a small mug of hot chocolate and turned on the TV, and turned the volume down to 5 "Some mind numbing television should help me," I whispered aloud, flipping to nickelodeon just in time for Drake and Josh. As the comedy played on the TV, the wintry mix outside turned into a full-on blizzard. The snow fell in heaps, sticking to the ground like peanut butter. Soon, there were inches of the stuff on the ground. I flipped quickly to channel 5, hoping to see that school was canceled. The news reporter droned on, and the school closings rolled across the bottom of the screen. "....And wait until the morning, New York. There will be even more snow down. But already piles of the stuff have fallen. Snowplows patrol the streets, hoping to keep up with the falling snow...." She kept talking, and the school closings continued. There! Henry Meat Middle school! Closed! That was all I needed. Turning off the TV, I finished my cocoa and went back to bed, hoping not to run into the dream again. But fate was not on my side.

There I was, in that strange warped world again. everywhere there were only dark colors, tie-dyed almost; on the floor, the ceiling. And Kara and Mike (how did I know their names?)were there, too. But this time, they saw me, and acted surprised. "Who is this?" Mike asked. "I've never seen him here before!" Kara tsked him. "Oh, relax, he's probably a newcomer." She turned to me. "Hi there! What's your name?" I delayed my response. What was going on here? "I.....um.....Dream" I responded. "Dream Caligan" She laughed, and Mike rolled his eyes. "You're so silly! How ironic! Your name's not dream, is it?" I looked her in the eyes. "It's a weird name, I know, but it really is Dream" Her expression of laughter faded, and was replaced with shock. "It can't be....." She said to herself. Mike was also surprised. He looked at Kara, then back at me. "Interesting..." He said. Kara shook her head, then her expression turned hopeful. "Well, Dream, welcome to REM!"

I was stunned. REM? I thought. What was REM? And how come I could control my thoughts? Kara seemed to notice my confusion. "REM is a world that only very few people can access" She explained quickly. I nodded slowly. "When these 'special people fall asleep and reach REM sleep, the state of sleep where you usually would dream, they instead reach a dream world where anything and everything is possible" I nodded again. She took a breath, then continued. "These special people, we call them Nightfalls, can control what happens in the world with one of these" She held out a ruby red staff, infused with exquisite gems and crystals. "To get one, you have to pass a test at the high council" She paused and noticed my dumbstruck expression. "Are you absorbing any of this?" I didn't move. She sighed. "The council of elders......forget it" She grabbed my arm. "Let's go" Mike turned and followed Kara, who was dragging me along. "Where are we going?" I asked. Her impatient expression grew even more agitaded, and she looked like she was going to explode. "How thick are you?!" She chided. "Are you deaf?! I said we're going to the Council of Elders. Now c'mon!" She gripped my arm so tight it began to turn a whitish color. It was all tingly, and it hurt really bad. "Youch!" I yelped. "Quit gripping me so tight!" She looked confident, but I realized she was gripping my arm.....because she was nervous? It may have been true; her heart was beating faster than I could count. I decided then to stop dragging my feet. Maybe, by showing I wasn't scared, it would boost her confidence. She stopped in front of a massive white building that resembled the white house, but suspiciously smelled of dead bodies. I gulped, and Kara turned towards me. Her face was solemn. "Look," she said. "One thing before we go in. Whatever happens to you in this world, happens in real life" She paused, and what she was saying was beginning to sink in. "Look, what I'm trying to say is if you die in this world, YOU DIE. End of the line, say goodbye" She grabbed me again, but this time, she grabbed my hand. It was warm. And soft. I gripped her hand, her blond hair being blown by an invisible wind. "C'mon, thick head," she said. "We're about to find out if the council allows you to stay here and get your own staph, or if they prefer you dead, burning in the flames of hell" I gulped. Why am I even here I thought. Again, fate was pulling the strings, and I did nothing to stop it.


But I'll let you in on a little secret: I was scared out of my wits.