Shift Into Dream

A burst of white slowly dissolved to reveal a midsummer festival. Tony found himself in the arms of his father as they walked through the crowd with his mother. He believed that he must have fallen asleep on the way to the festival because he did not remember how he got there. It was a hazy day, all that Tony could see was somewhat distorted and everything looked pale and washed out like a shirt that has been through the laundry too many times. Tony’s father set him down so he could walk, and they moved slowly; passing white roof tents housing games and goods for sale. Tony gazed at the games, longing to try the ring toss, though he did not say anything to his parents. There were no other children that Tony could see, and the people in the crowd moved methodically and almost seemed to part and make room for Tony and his parents as they walked through the festival. It was as if they were the center of attention, yet no one was truly looking at them. It was a place foreign to him, yet Tony felt a strange connection to his surroundings.

As Tony and his parents continued to walk, they left the festival behind and found themselves in a meadow of freshly mowed grass. The haze was gone and the sun shined bright on the family, though Tony felt no heat on his skin. The countryside was picturesque; the grass pristine, and the cerulean sky was perfectly dappled with white downy clouds. Then he saw it, this must be what his parents had been searching for. Appearing almost out of nowhere was a vast array of hot air balloons. Tony had never seen such a thing in all of his young life. The reds, blues, yellows, greens, oranges, and purples lit up Tony’s eyes like he had just been given the gift of sight and is seeing for the first time. He was fascinated by their magnificence as he and his parents continued to walk toward them. As they got closer, he noticed several men at each balloon with large ropes anchoring the balloons to the earth.

They finally arrived at the base of one of the hot air balloons and a man with a rope gestured to Tony, as if inviting him into the basket of the balloon. Tony looked at his parents and they gave him a smile and a nod and he darted to the basket, leaving his parents behind. Tony climbed into the basket and imagined what it would be like to actually fly. The next thing he knew, the basket slowly began to leave the ground. Tony clutched the edge of the basket and looked down to see everything on the ground getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Tony then realized that he was the only one in the basket and does not know how or why the balloon rose into the air. Suddenly the balloon jerked to a stop and he looked out to see several of the men checking the ropes that were anchored into the ground. He was frightened, yet relieved that the balloon had stopped rising. He looked out only to see that the haze had returned and Tony could only see what was directly beneath him. He could not see his parents, only the men shuffling around checking the ropes.

Tony was uncomfortable; he had been in the air long enough and he was ready to see his parents. He got on his tiptoes to peek his head out over the basket so he could yell that he was ready to come down when a strong gust of wind knocked him down onto his back. He felt the hot air balloon rising and looked out and all he could see were the ropes dangling in the air and the men running around trying to grab them. He looked for his parents and they suddenly came into view smiling and waving at Tony. Tony began to panic, he tried to scream, but he had no voice. The balloon rose higher and higher and soon all Tony could see was his parents with their arms around each other, smiling and waving at him. Tony felt a tear roll down his cheek as he watched his parents disappear as his balloon rose into a cloud. Tony closed his eyes.

A burst of white suddenly caused Tony to open his eyes; he saw clouds slowly parting and dissolving into darkness. It was pitch black and Tony felt tired. He was disoriented, lying on his back, and all of a sudden he realized that he was at home in his own bed. Confused, Tony lay in bed for a while trying to figure out what had just happened to him; he had never experienced anything like this before. Just then, Tony thought about his parents and climbed out of his bed to see if they were in their bedroom. He slowly walked down the hall; almost afraid of what he would find when he looked into their bedroom. He slowly peeked his head into their room and let out a great sigh of relief when he saw both of them sleeping soundly in their bed. Feeling exhausted and relieved he walked up to his mother and nudged her. She opened her eyes and he asked her if he could sleep with them. She asked him if he had a bad dream and Tony did not know how to respond. He did not know what a dream was, but what he experienced was indeed bad. So, Tony nodded his head, his mother scooted over and Tony climbed into bed with his parents. He was unable to sleep for the rest of the night. The next day, Tony celebrated his second birthday and he never told anyone about his bad dream; even though, after 40 years, he still vividly remembers it. Once in a while, when Tony is startled in the middle of the night, he sees again those same clouds fade away into the darkness of his room as he did on the night of his second birthday.