Anthony woke up in a fright. He had cold sweats and was breathing heavily. He’d had a nightmare, again. This was the third time this week it had happened to him and it was starting to adversely affect his life. His girlfriend of three years was beginning to get annoyed with the constant, late-night awakenings. It was not his fault though, he was not an entirely happy person and his life had no general direction at the moment. He started having nightmares about a year ago, but it was only once every couple months. Then it was once or twice a month, now it’s up to two or three times a week. This poor man was suffering and he did not know what to do. He was only 25, still fairly young in this day and age. It’s even acceptable to live with mom and dad at this age. He, however was not living with his parents, he owned an apartment with his girlfriend.
Anthony and his girlfriend, Sarah, had quite the odd relationship. They lived in downtown Washington D.C. in a rundown apartment. It was not the ideal place to raise a little girl. The two of them had a child together, a little girl named Kami. She was one year old and was just a little angel. They had been having some issues for quite some time. She complained he worked too much. The problem with the relationship was Sarah. She was the most selfish girl that you could meet. She worked a lot as well, but when she didn’t, she did nothing but sit around all day or cheat on Anthony. He worked a lot as well, never getting to finish college due to the baby, he worked almost 60 hours a week for eighty percent if their joint income. She took him for granted, and saw the baby less than some babysitters did. It could have been on a daytime trash show in a heartbeat. The problem was Anthony knew all of this was going on, but couldn’t break up the family for Kami. She had been his entire life, since the day she was born and he knew he had to be there for her. But he was preforming poorly at work, due to the nightmares and lack of sleep. His boss was starting to notice, as were his friends and family. The poor guy couldn’t eat, or sleep, or basically function at all. He knew he had to seek out help.
The first step of solving a problem is knowing you have one, and Anthony knew something was wrong. He kept having the same nightmare over, over again and it was starting to frighten him. The dream starts, with him driving to pick up little Kami from her babysitters. But something goes awry, there is a big traffic jam, and he can’t get to her. Sitting in traffic for what seems like hours, he gets a call. Kami is missing. It’s his worst nightmare come true, he gets panicked and decides to get out of the car and run the remaining mile to the house. He runs and runs, weaving through stopped cars, some people are even standing outside of them. After what felt like thirty more minutes, he reached the house and discovered the cause of the traffic jam. The house where his daughter was supposed to be was surrounded by police. He ran toward the scene, screaming for Kami. Stopped at the caution tape, he was met by a detective. The detective, dressed for business, and completely serious, told Anthony of the story. His daughter had been kidnapped by two men, one of whom was still in the house.
Before he could blink, the police had busted into the house. Tear gas was flowing out the windows and in seconds the authorities were exiting the building with a Hispanic suspect. Anthony had to fight every will to keep from attacking the man. He smoked a cigarette while he waited for the police the question the man. Offering him freedom, he spoke of the location of the girl, headed toward Mexico, where she could be lost forever. He wished so bad he could be in Mexico to be there to save her when she got there. His mind was one step ahead in his dream state.
The next second, he was deep in a rainforest. Anthony was not a dumb man. He realized he was dreaming the instant this happened. This was too impossible to be real. He however, as with every night this happened, remained asleep and deep into this dream world. From his earlier thoughts and the way the dream progressed, he assumed he was in Mexico, but where? He began to wander, trying to find any sign of civilization. He walked for miles, and miles, over thick roots, and fighting his way through thick vines. Trying to escape the entanglement of the vines, he became wrapped up in a boa constrictor’s death grip. He knew it was a dream so he closed his eyes and believed it to be stuffed. Instantly, the pressure was released and the stuffed snake onto the ground. He marched on, avoiding any more possible obstacles along the way. Then, he smelled a faint smell. It almost smelled like a fire, like someone was cooking food! Could it be? He ran toward the smell and when he got there he didn’t know what to believe. It was a horrific scene. People were dying left and right. A tremendous battle was taking place, the Aztec warriors being slaughtered by the Spanish Conquistadors. The savagely fighting tribes, with bows, arrows, wooden spears and shields, against superior European warriors equipped with more than enough bronze and steel weaponry to slice through any feeble defenses. They were even dying of sickness, people lying in the street, covered in pustules. They were coughing and were sweating like they had a fever. They were screaming and reaching out for help but the healthy wouldn’t go near them. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He was seeing the last of the Aztec empire.
Afraid of the situation around him, he looked around the city, hoping for a place of refuge. A large stone temple immediately caught his eye, and he instinctively walked toward it. It was a pyramid-shaped structure, made of some kind of intricately cut stone, with steps going all the way to the top. He had no choice in his actions. He slowly walked up the steps. Pace by pace he grew nearer, the size grew immensely. It had to be over 100 feet tall and, as he had done so many times, he began to climb. The chaos below getting more and more subdued as the invaders were finishing up their deeds. He could count the 365 steps to the top, trying to keep his mind off of what was going on around him, he thought of the odd number of steps adding up to a year. Maybe they were smarter than he thought after all. Maybe they knew something he didn’t. He could see the top of the pyramid now, with a large man, heavily painted, perched on the top.
Struggling up the last few steps, he was greeted by the Aztec King. He as a monster of a man, over 7 feet tall, covered in tattoos, piercings, war paint and a very intimidating headdress. The ruler’s mood was very somber, his eyes were glassed over and he seemed to be aware of the fact his empire was collapsing. His head hung low as he denied acknowledging the young man standing in front of him. Anthony spoke to the chief. After a long, awkward pause, he spoke to Anthony. It was in a strange, foreign tongue, though he could somehow understand. The message was clear. He needed to save his daughter from an unfortunate fate. Before Anthony could say a word in wonder, the ruler burst into glowing red and orange flames. They were, by far, the most beautiful flames, and he flew off into the sunset as an eagle. Soaring along the wind, the last remaining Aztec flew free from the unwanted rule of the Spaniards. Once the eagle was out of sight, Anthony immediately woke up, sweating, and on the verge of a panic attack. His mind was streaming, he couldn’t deal with these dreams anymore.
These dreams were haunting him even during the daytime, he had to protect his daughter, but from what? That morning, he decided that he was going to have a good day, despite the troubling dreams he’d been having. He got out of bed, tired and weary from the stressful night. He didn’t have time for a shower, so he used a spray deodorant even, though he knew it would only mask it and make it worse. He headed to work, a short walk through the center of town. It was a warehouse that supplied lumber to the local hardware stores. He walked down the street, looking in all the windows as he passed, but then he noticed something he had never seen before. It was a small, beat up looking shop that did all but asked him to enter. Covered in old-blue, chipped, and most likely still lead-based paint, the shack looked as if it was something that was going to crumble. He didn’t have time to stop, or he could lose his job, but he did. The shop put him into a sort of trance. He felt sudden need to check out this store. As he entered he had a strange feeling, as though he’d been there before. He saw things that he had never seen before; petrified animal parts, and preserved specimens of every animal imaginable. There were bunce and burners, urns, and essentially a 1950’s chemistry lab. It was full of liquid and ingredients on burners, even some things were cooling. There were very old inventions more technologically advanced than the top-of-the-line products on the market today. The store was full of gadgets, inventions, and ingredients for some potions. Anthony was unsure how to feel about the store for now, he was slightly frightened. When the owner realized he had a customer, he became jubilant.
The old man welcomed Anthony with a very big handshake, trying to pull away, the old man held tighter, and began to show him around the store, all the miraculous inventions he created. A teleportation device that connected to another continent, a very large, brass case with colorful lights flashing on the front, it even seemed like it was beeping, and actually he could hear a faint beep, like the whole store was beeping. Anthony quickly realized what the beeping was. There was a binary code machine, used to see the future. He could hear the beeping, and see the numbers flashing on the screen. He could not, however, read it. He knew he must not be dreaming. And, finally, his coup de gras, a time machine. The time machine was huge, the size of a sauna, and had twice and many lights and bells than the transporter. Anthony couldn’t believe his eyes with all the things he’d just seen. He needed to calm down, and relax. So many things were running through his mind. His idea or probable science and physics were completely shattered. The man was very interested in why Anthony decided to come in, he asked odd questions like how had he been sleeping? He asked if he had a job, and what he was missing by being there? Anthony answered honestly and he explained the entranced feeling before entering. He told the man about Kami, and the dreams he’d been having. He even told him he was skipping work to be there right now. The old man just sat, and patiently listened as Anthony went on to explain how he was doing, which at the moment was not great. The old man softly smiled as he crossed his legs. He explained that with the binary code, he would be able to tell if something would happen to his beloved daughter. With great gratitude, Anthony decided to go along with the plan. The man began to look at and read the numbers, he carefully read, and re-read the numbers. There was no mistaking it, horrible things were going to happen. Seeing the future and every tragedy that occurs in the world, definitely takes its toll on a person, he learned to not look at the numbers flashing on the screen. Over time, it was nothing but a burden. Knowing all that information is too much for one man, for any amount of men. He became more and more saddened. The numbers did not bear good news for Anthony, or the rest of the area.
Anthony was primarily concerned with his daughter, but little did he know, the fate of his daughter and the world went hand in hand. The old man would not tell Anthony what was going to happen, but he made sure to let him know that in the coming days, terrors will happen. This news frightened Anthony, he wanted to do something to help, but he had obligations and he continued on to work, an hour late. The boss yelled, and he got written up, but none of that mattered, his mind was occupied. Going through the motions at work, he counted the seconds until he could see his daughter. But when he got home, something was wrong, she had fallen ill. It wasn’t bad but she was a very sad little girl she had a rash on her legs. They rushed to the hospital and, after waiting for 6 hours in a room to see a doctor for 15 minutes, they were sent home with lotion and were told she had the flu and a rash. Anthony just knew it was something more. She was getting sicker by the minute.
Over the next few days more and more people got sick, all with the same flu, and the government health agency called for a state of emergency and told all people to stay sanitized and wear masks if possible. These people were not getting better for some reason, and all of the victims had a rash, just like Kami’s. Something was similar about these peoples’ sicknesses, the fever, the rash, the coughing. Anthony had seen these symptoms before. It only took a few minutes to realize where it was, the dreams! It was the same sickness the Aztecs had! They were in bad shape and he knew he had a very short time to act, especially if he wants to save his little angel. He knew the doctors would know more than he did so he went to them with his information. They laughed in his face about the extinct disease without contemplating, and he was brought down so many notches. It was his turn to find the cause. He researched ancient Aztec culture and found that smallpox was the prominent killer of indigenous people in the ancient world. He thought to himself how so many people could have this “extinct” disease and how could they have gotten it? If it was extinct, then it mutated to survive. The question is was it natural or man –made? He prayed it was a natural cause, because he knew the nature of people and they can do very evil things.
He called his girlfriend to tell her what he discovered, she did not answer. She was supposed to be watching their daughter in the hospital, how busy could she be? He jumped into his car and rushed to the hospital, the scene around the hospital and into the street was worse than ever. He had never seen so many people, in misery, dying, crying out for help. All Anthony had to do was get to the hospital, easier said than done as thousands of people were sick and dying. He and he had a gut feeling this wasn’t natural. Once he got to the hospital the doctors tried to check him in. Out of breath, he told the doctors all he knew about the smallpox epidemic and how he thought it was maybe an intentional attack, and they wondered how he knew this information, but had too much work to do. They thanked him for his help, but he had another place to go. He searched the hospital for
Ashley and Kami, but they were nowhere to be found. He was scared sick that something had happened to them but he couldn’t do anything about it now. He hurried back to the beat up old store, through the thousands of bodies, he caught a glimpse of a man actually die and it made him vomit. Once he recovered, the found the place where the shop was, but it was nowhere to be found, like it was never there. He was beginning to lose it; he needed that man’s help in order to solve this. He was scared, and thought back to his dream. Come to think of it the Chief looked a bit like the old man in the store. What were these beings doing with him? Making his last days hell? He thought of the battles and fighting and hoped he was not foreseeing a future in his dream there was an enormous battle. His answer came soon enough, and an explosion boomed from across the city. He needed to find the old man, and quickly. More explosions roared, and fire started being returned. It was a battlefield, hell on earth.
His instincts kicked in, and Anthony started to run. He ran, dodging missiles, bullets and shrapnel, until he got to the steps of the Capital building. When he got there, he immediately knew what to do. He had to stop all the fighting, all the carnage, but he was only one man, what could he do? He thought if the young man at Tiananmen Square and he knew what to do. Sprinting up the steps, he needed to get to a high point. He got there just in time, as he stood on top of the steps and watched as this foreign army marched forward up the steps. He made it clear that he was unarmed as they drew closer with assault rifles pointed at him, waiting for their orders to kill. The order never came. The general of the foreign army saw this man’s bravery and wished to meet him, and the president. That night, Anthony, the President, and this foreign General had dinner and discussed a truce. Anthony felt out of place as he was covered in filth from the wreckage, and enduring the battle with no weapons. The President, and General were formally dressed and they had far superior etiquette. The men discussed women, yachts, cognac, and of course the truce. The countries ended the fighting and the antidote to the specialized small pox was handed over to save all the people.
Anthony was a global hero, and just days before he was a struggling father with a horrible girlfriend. He left the ceremonies to go back to the hospital to check on little Kami, his pride and joy. He wasn’t planning on having to save the nation or the world this week and missed his daughter dearly. When he got to the hospital, Sarah was nowhere to be found, but he’d decided that they could no longer be together long before this latest mix up. He could really care less where she was. He just wanted to see his daughter, but something was wrong. The doctors were frantic, rushing to save a little body. Anthony prayed it was not his little girl, but he was not so fortunate. She contracted the disease so early and was so little that she didn’t stand a chance. His life was crumbling, as the doctors worked continuously on this child’s lifeless body. He was losing control of himself when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He slowly turned, tears streaming down his cheeks, and he saw the last person he expected, but the one he wished would appear. The old man from the shop helped Anthony up and they walked over to the doctors as they were giving up on little Kami’s body. He gently smiled, put his hand on her chest, closed his eyes and she burst into laughter. The little baby began to laugh like she had just been tickle attack.
If Anthony was crying before, he was sobbing now. He’d lost his world, his lifeline, and this kind, quiet gentleman brought her back to life and he could not be more grateful. He bent down to pick up his sweetheart and when he turned around the man was gone. When Anthony asked the doctors and nursing staff where the old man went, they acted as though he were crazy. They told him that when he touched his daughter’s chest, she just sprang back to life. He was so confused, and it took him a long time for him to realize that he had the powers of love and bravery inside him the whole time. The old man may have been real, or he could have just been a figment of Anthony’s imagination in order to bring out the best qualities in him.
Anthony now lives, in Arlington, VA with his daughter Kami, who is now 6 and in perfect health. He does not need to work for the government gives him $1 million a year for the rest of his life and Kami gets $250,000 for college when she’s ready for it. He left Sarah right after the incident, once a reliable source caught her sleeping with another man, even while Anthony was being a hero and their daughter was deathly ill in the hospital. He is currently the most eligible bachelor on the east coast, and he his loving the high life. He didn’t not miss her one bit and she is in bad shape, She now lives in a trailer park with her husband “Earl,” who had been layed off from the coal mine for 5 years and drinks more than anyone should. They are on welfare and have five children. Sometimes being a good person does pay off.
But again, get into Anthony's head more. Reading onward, yeah, you did a very nice job developing the dream feeling...
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