Dreams and Death | Teen Ink

Dreams and Death

December 1, 2013
By nan.sarkar BRONZE, Cupertino, California
nan.sarkar BRONZE, Cupertino, California
2 articles 0 photos 3 comments

I sat in my room, crying. I shivered. It was cold outside, just beginning to look like spring. The sky was cloudy and grayish black. My knees were pulled up tight against my chest. I wrapped my arms around my legs. It wasn't fair. Nothing ever went right. I had been hurt today- kicked and punched and teased. I told the kids in my school about my premonitions again. I looked down at my hands, still quietly sobbing. I should have known better. Since just about two months ago, when I had turned 7, I started getting weird dreams that would come true very soon. At first, I had been excited. I mean, who wouldn’t be? Who would turn down super awesome futuristic powers? But ever since I started telling people what I saw, they called me crazy. I developed a reputation, one that I had made myself, as a liar and a lunatic. I had dug my own grave. Now, though? I hated my life. No one liked me. Everyone teased and made fun of me. What was left in this world for me? I was all alone. I sniffled and got up. A washcloth was laid on my bedside table for situations like this. I gingerly cleaned my wounds. Yes. That’s what I am.
Alone.

Slowly waking up from my 9 year old subconscious, I gave a tiny little frown. Today was going to be a bad day, I just knew it. My thoughts were lightly tugging at my mind, forcing me to remember the way people had teased me in my dream. Teasing was a daily occurrence for me. Everyone talked about the “loony girl” with their friends behind my back. The girl who had lost her parents in a freak accident. A stupid freak car accident that had happened when a rookie criminal shot a bullet through the car window. The criminal had been caught and was sent to prison, but my parents hadn’t survived the encounter. When the bullet hit the windshield, the glass shattered and impaled my mum and dad, killing them instantly. They got the brunt of the accident, sitting in the front seat. They were gone. I was alone. I had no other family because all of my grandparents were dead, and I had no cousins. I didn’t even have any friends to stay with. Everyone called me a loner, but they had no idea what I went through, what I had seen. I had been tainted. I had seen death, and because of that, no one would go near me. They could tell that there was something wrong with me, but they didn’t know what. I knew that. Even adults were slightly wary of me. I was no more than 6 years old, but I was independent, and I could hold myself up better than anyone else after losing the most important people in the world to me. I was a smart kid, even at the first grade. I knew what living on my own would be like. But I didn’t care. I needed time to grieve. Even three years after the incident, I shivered whenever I saw a car, which was a lot, here in California. My heart ached and I always felt a little short of air. Everyone always asked me if I was alright, even teachers and concerned parents. Each and every time, I would tell them that I was fine, and no, I did not need any psychological treatment, thank you very much. They laughed at me for proudly announcing that I could see the future. The kids at Shining Star Elementary had even given me a nickname- Loony London. London Eldir, the weirdest girl you’ll ever meet. Every time someone tripped me in the hallway, or turned away from me- it hurt. It hurt so freaking much to deal with all the hate that people threw at me, and them expecting me to just catch it and shake it off. But people are cruel, especially kids. I knew this better than most of the children out there. This was what happened everyday to me. Ever since I had turned 7, I started getting premonitions. I didn’t know why I had this ability, but I did know that there was a good reason. Sometimes, I hated my so-called “power”, but whenever things got a bit too rough, I remembered a quote that seemed like it was tailor-made just for me. “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.” Why dwell on dreams, indeed, when you have so much left to live for? I laughed a little. I never would have said that I tilted my head back, determined. I'd face my world with the only way I could show defiance to it- a smile.

6 years later (13 year old London)
Have you ever woken up from a nightmare? Scared, snippets from the dream very clear in your mind? Everyone says that once you have a nightmare, you wake up suddenly, gasping, but that never happened for me. I could clearly recall every trivial fact that occured in my dreams. While a meteor was hurtling in slo-mo towards us, I saw the color of the sky, a beautiful reddish- pink. I could plainly hear what the men and women in the background were screaming, along with their panicked and hurried footsteps as they run about like chickens in the foggy air. Screaming things like, “Get the kids!”, “We’re gonna die!”, and “Somebody help us!” The meteor had almost reached our planet. Just when it seemed like it couldn’t get anymore scorching hot, my eyes opened. I blinked my drowsy blue eyes to bright sunlight, so out of place from my gloomy dream. Freezing up, I realized the implications of my thoughts. I had been able to see minor future events ever since I turned 7 years old. Some might call them premonitions, but I just thought of them as tiny deja vu moments. Letting out a slight sigh, I focused on what I was going to tell everyone. It wasn’t like this was just unimportant Cupertino city news, or even just state news. No, this was on a worldwide scale. Bleakly getting ready to head out, I grabbed my keys and pulled on a pair of grey Nikes, knowing that I’d have to run at some point of of the day. As I walked outside, I zipped up my fleece jacket and pushed my raven colored hair out of my face, frustrated at knowing that no one would listen to me when I told them of what would be to come. All of my visions came true soon, always within two days or so. I knew from experience, though, that the more important the image, the faster it would come true. Figures. I frowned lightly. Only about 24 hours to get ready for mass panic that would only occur when people saw the meteor coming towards them. I shook my head, slightly laughing at what everyone’s reaction would be. Speeding up my pace, I shrugged my jacket on my shoulders, setting out on a journey to convince people that my dream wasn’t just a figment of my imagination.
I sprinted down the street. Curving around the block, I tripped over something. I brought my hands in front of my face, bracing myself as a landed hard on my arms and side. I grunted as pain shot up through my forearms and stomach. Standing up as quickly as I could, I winced and rubbed my arms free of the sting and little dots of blood that had sprung up on them. Sensing a presence, my navy blue eyes shot up to meet beady black ones. A glimmer of recognition appeared on my face. This was Montgomery Black, the city’s residential grump. The heavy set person grabbed my arm, but I shook it free and yanked it back. I scowled.
“Tell everyone you know. A meteor’s heading towards us, so if you want a measly chance of survival, I suggest you get going now.” I backed away a few steps and ran around the man. Focused on reaching the nearest NASA station, which was (conveniently) only a 5 minute’s run away, I left a gobsmacked grump in my wake.
When I reached the NASA station, I was tired and out of breath. My legs were burning and the muscles in them were sore. I had reached here in under 3 minutes, which was very fast, if I do say so myself. I smiled a little and headed inside of the tall double doors. I barely looked around at all the cool space suits and rocket models, instead choosing to head directly to the main desk at the front of the room. I waited, a bit impatient, as the tall lady on the counter shuffled away a few papers and turned to me.
“Hello”, she smiled brightly. “What can I do for you?”
“I need to talk to the head of this place. Urgently.” The woman frowned uneasily.
“I’m sorry, but he’s a little busy right now.” I growled and slammed my hand down, startling the brunette woman. I leaned a bit over the counter.
“This is a matter of life and death- heck, it’s the matter of the world’s survival! Don’t tell me that you’re just going to sit here and do nothing!” At this point the woman looked annoyed. She frowned at me.
“Please leave, miss. We do not tolerate people coming in to this station and yelling at us.” She turned away and started to clean up some stray pens lying around her desk. I just stood there for a few seconds, my jaw hanging slack at the impudence of the auburn- haired woman. Then I spun around and walked out of the building.
I walked slowly all the way back to my house, pondering my thoughts. I sighed in irritation, kicking a small black pebble with more force than was necessary. Reaching the grey concrete steps, I hopped up to my front porch. Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I focused on getting the key into the keyhole of my house’s victorian-style door. I walked in, tiredly pushing off my shoes and leaving the door open. Laying down on the soft couch in front of my TV and turning to the news channel, I raised my eyebrows when I saw people yelling on the screen about a giant meteor heading towards us, big enough to take Earth with it on it’s path. It was so huge, you could see it outside, heading this way in just under a minute. I ran out the open door, watching the scene from my nightmarish dream play out in front of my eyes. The meteor loomed closer and closer, lighting up the sky in a beautiful fiery inferno. As everyone ran around gathering their belongings, I stood, watching the magnificently colored sky, waiting for the inevitable.

So, there you have it. The end. The end of the world. The end of life. The end of me. I remember what I told Montgomery Black that fateful day when the world ended. I had told him to tell everyone that a meteor would be coming this way. He hadn’t. Even in death, huh? No one believes me, even in the afterlife. Even in the end. We’re still here, of course. If you count being ‘here’ as floating in a deep void, drifting around, attached to this unknown realm only by our souls. All around us is a blackness as dark as the Greek pits of Tartarus. I have forgotten what the stars look like. I have forgotten the feeling of the prickly grass that would grow like weeds around my house, and the touch of the breeze that brushed lightly against my pale skin. I still remember sounds and colors, but even those memories will eventually fade away. We'll still be here, though. Waiting for eternal peace.



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