The evening before was ordinary.

Mathew recalled looking up at the night sky, as he always did, finding the north star and wondering if someone was looking at him as he was looking at its faint gleam.

He slept well. Dreamless. Waking timelessly. Legs tangled in the covers. Stretching arms out large with a groan. Only then noticing the morning sky. He rubbed his eyes and pulled aside the drapes to believe.

The sky was green. Not a mossy normal morning sun shooting through a blue dawn sky green but green. Bright green filling up his space like an LED on a cosmic alarm clock.

************

https://theprose.com/post/259869/your-turn-collaborative-challenge

Mathew stared up at his father, willing him to answer. Who am I?

Marcus looked back at him, eyes shining a bright red, mouth curving into a warm smile.

Did Mathew’s eyes look like that?

Mathew noted that the fishing rod had disappeared from his father’s hand, and the ground… the ground was gone, dissolved into a green void.

Mathew spun in a circle, looking for something to hold onto, but everything was such a bright, sweet-smelling green. He blinked. Where was Marcus?

“Forgive me,” came a distant voice. Mathew swam through the green fog. “Dad,” he said, confused. “Dad!?”

Mathew clawed at the fog, and it thinned.

Louder, he heard again, “Forgive me.”

Eyes snapped open.

Mathew was on his back, his body aching, his eyes burning. Groaning, he pushed himself up, head thumping.

He was moving, he realized. The backseat of a car.

“What--!”

It was a familiar voice, but Mathew couldn’t place it just yet. He looked to the driver’s seat, but his eyes caught on what was outside.

The car was barreling down a dark road, headlights off, but the sky shone emerald, illuminated what was ahead: water.

Mathew thought he heard mermaids calling, but really it was the sound of the car being swallowed by water.

The water surged in the open windows, because the glass was gone. Aquamarine water surrounded Mathew, lifting him.

Dr. Madison let out a bubbly yell from the front seat, but Mathew felt strangely calm.

https://theprose.com/post/259869/your-turn-collaborative-challenge

He placed the phone on a small table and looked out the window again. The sky was even greener than before, strange clouds coming from the East. Eyes narrowing, he tried to see more details; the edges of the clouds seeming to be shredded somehow, a strange light coming out of the center. He felt sudden nausea taking over him, the shade of his face probably resembling the color of the sky. What was going on around here?

He sat on the sofa for a moment, his lost stare glued to the dark screen of the TV. His mum’s words ringing in his ears. “It’s not, Matty. Please...” If he couldn’t get out of the house or call anyone for help, then what could he really do? He sensed the panic rising, heart rate going out of control. This was just like the dream that he had since he was a little boy. The emerald sky falling down on Earth. The meteor shower, all those pieces falling into the lake. The water rising and... Mathew quickly got up, almost knocking over a coffee table. He ran over to the door.

“This was insane. It must just be a nightmare. Yes, that’s exactly what it was”.

He mumbled to himself and grabbed the handle, then turned it around. The door squicked slightly and a delicate breeze blew in. The air smelled of - his mind froze for a moment. It smelled sweet, a truly overwhelming scent. He could feel his eyelids get heavy but he still walked out of the house. He felt something pulling him in the direction of the lake.

______

https://theprose.com/post/259077/part-1-the-sky-is-green

https://theprose.com/post/259085/part-2-disconnected

https://theprose.com/post/259869/your-turn-collaborative-challenge

Her arms, like covers, enveloped him. Though, not a babe and with a larger frame, he still fit snugly within her wings. Softly, the hum began and moved into a chorus, when, among the colored clouds that night, the song pierced the dense forest.

“Matty, close your eyes

and sleep

For the hour’s nigh

I shall serenade you

With my lumen lullaby”

The wind blew through the barren branches, bending them like bows. The colors of the night began to breath, as if to blow upon the waters, parting them to walk through on a ledge. They crossed it, slowly, as she sang. The place was still familiar. Mathew’s mind, at one with hers, was drifting with her lyre.

“Dream of colors

Rich and deep

A place where time

Moves slow

Close your eyes

And drift to sleep

Wrapped in

The lumen glow”

*********

The song seemed to move in perfect time with the flashing lights of the clock beside Mathew’s bed. The glow of the green numbers and red power button remained flashing after the power surge. The colors were muted, however, as they illuminated the amber plastic of the prescription bottle upon the nightstand.

https://theprose.com/post/259077/part-1-the-sky-is-green https://theprose.com/post/259085/part-2-disconnected https://theprose.com/post/259148/part-3-nightmares https://theprose.com/post/259175/part-4-dreamscape https://the prose.com/post/259220/part-5-the-raging-sky https://theprose.com/post/259364/chapter-6-time https://theprose.com/post/259377/part-seven-the-shadow https://theprose.com/post/259393/part-8-the-voice https://theprose.com/post/259403/part-9-the-star

https://theprose.com/post/259415/pt-x-mummy-dearest

After all this time, she finally got a chance to see her own son. Maybe it would be better if she took on a less haunting form.

Mathew stared in awe at the being morph into a different form. Her red~eyes seemed to have been in control of the sky. He was certainly dealing with a peculiar lifeform.

Memories came rushing back like a flood back to when he was just a little boy. He was terrified of sleeping with the lights off, but whenever he would get scared he would hear a sweet lullaby ringing in his mind. It was her all along! She had kept watch over her baby from the other realm.

He felt more at peace now. Mathew stared into his Mum’s eyes. They always seemed to have zillions of stars shining in them like the night sky.

Mathew stood very still, not knowing what to do next. His Mum smiled and moved toward her son. Then wrapped her arms around him. Mathew took a deep breath and smiled, too. Never before had he felt so content.

#Pt.X:MummyDearest.

https://theprose.com/post/259077/part-1-the-sky-is-green https://theprose.com/post/259085/part-2-disconnected https://theprose.com/post/259148/part-3-nightmares https://theprose.com/post/259175/part-4-dreamscape https://theprose.com/post/259220/part-5-the-raging-sky https://theprose.com/post/259364/chapter-6-time https://theprose.com/post/259377/part-seven-the-shadow https://theprose.com/post/259393/part-8-the-voice https://theprose.com/post/259403/part-9-the-star

Beverly turns around and looks at herself in the mirror, frightened by her appearance, when she hears the voice say, “Get dressed, get in your car and head down to the lake. Now!”

“Wait, what!?” She says to the empty room, even though she understands it is her mission to follow the command of the voice.  “What exactly is in those orange pills?” She thinks, but obediently grabs her sweats and sneakers, unable to stop herself from quickly grabbing her brush off the vanity, running it through her hair before she grabs her keys, fully aware her action is in violation of the urgency to get in her car.  

With her eyes closed, she might be able to find the lake, regardless, there seems to be an autopilot driving her, because with each passing second, she feels less in control of the wheel and more presided over by someone or something.  The road is littered with debris, mostly wet leaves and branches, so she’s realizes there was a storm that came through, and this catches her by surprise. Trying to roll back the day in her mind, all she can remember is the debilitating headache, the orange pills, and the call to rush to the lake.

The bewildering autopilot pulls her towards the parking area within closest walking distance to the lakeside, and although it is dark, the moon illuminates just enough light to draw her eye to two forms of what? Unafraid, she walks closer, quickly, pushed along by the voice, when once upon the apparent bodies, she hollers into the night air,

“Help! Somebody help!” And she bends down over the two sodden, human, lifeless figures to check for a pulse.  “Dr. Madison, Nurse Ruth. How did this happen, and why am I here?”

Dizziness set in as he felt his stomach lurch.

Matty grabbed the railing at the top porch step, but lost his footing. Sickening sweet as the smell of fresh vomit after a heavy infusion of rum and pineapple juice, a pasty toxin painted his throat and waxed his tongue as he stumbled to the earth and fell — yet continued to crawl to the lake.

The call was mesmerizing from deep within his soul. The need, the overwhelming quickening to become one: The calling— ? The intoxication— ? The Nightmare? But the mental blindness thickened.

Struggling down the grassy hillside Matty neared the destination. The aurora burned at his retinas and radiated his strong cheekbones and nose as his natural sensitivities were trying to warn the brain to stop, but the young man was deaf to normal impulses.

https://theprose.com/challenge/8337

https://theprose.com/post/259077/part-1-the-sky-is-green https://theprose.com/post/259085/part-2-disconnected

https://theprose.com/post/259148/part-3-nightmares https://theprose.com/post/259175/part-4-dreamscape

* * *

https://theprose.com/post/259220/part-5-the-raging-sky

https://theprose.com/post/259364/chapter-6-time https://theprose.com/post/259377/part-seven-the-shadow https://theprose.com/post/259393/part-8-the-voice https://theprose.com/post/259403/part-9-the-star

https://theprose.com/post/259415/pt-x-mummy-dearest https://theprose.com/post/259432/xi-prescribed-a-lullaby https://theprose.com/post/259439/part-12-no-refills https://theprose.com/post/259455/chapter-13-howling-wind-from-within https://theprose.com/post/259480/part-14-the-intake

https://theprose.com/post/259758/pt-15-doctor

Part 16 - Whispers

“Matty?”

The voice seemed distant, yet commanding.

“Matty — it’s time.”

The young man raised his eyes slowly. It’s so bright. Blinded within the void, his sensations were numb. He could not see his arms, yet they were the only thing he could still feel, — crossed on his chest but lifeless.

“I need you to come with me.”

The voice sounded closer.

“Who are you?”

“I am Gabriel. —— Remember —? I’ve been here for you.”

The facial image broke through the haze: the strong masculine feature with a faint smile floating amid the void. Mathew could not place any memory.

Am I dead?

“Come with me Matty.”

Mathew heard a ruffle, — a breeze on his cheek but the muffled sound was out of place, — incoherent with the white emptiness of the void. The young man turned away from the apparition, — scanning his surroundings, “It’s so bright.”

“That will pass.”

The voice was reassuring, but anxiety surged within the young man’s chest, — choking forth fear. “I’m not ready.——Ma’ma?” His cry was broken and lost. “Ma’ma,—— please?”

The facial mirage moved closer as a shape took form to the left of the strange image. A wing?

“It’s time,” a second voice whispered from deeper within the empty.

Matty felt a tug on his arm and then again — slipped into unconsciousness.

The pill, Matthew's saving grace that slid down his throat as swiftly as he had tossed it into his mouth. It was tough with a taste like stale candy. Stale candy, but with a sweet lingering taste, wrapping his tongue in sickening flavours.

Matthew stopped falling, but howling wind picked up and the rain came down faster. Water soaked his clothes as they stuck to his shivering body like a second layer of skin. Matthew attempted to hide from the storm by covering himself in the white sheets of the bed. He closed his eyes so tight, crying out for the terrible storm to pass, but even in his makeshift safehouse, he was unable to escape its terrible chill.

The room dropped to freezing cold temperatures. Soon, the rain turned to fractals of ice that pelted him in the blankets. They cut Matthew's face and arms, and he realized the bed sheet would not protect him. He pulled it away, sitting up in bed, and still the shards cut him. Crimson patches bloomed on his clothes, bright and mesmerizing like the raging sky.

Matthew desperately struggled to stand, because even though fear held him in its cruel grip, he realized long ago he was quite a stubborn man. A stubborn man willing to face all odds, for it was better to face fears head-on, then hide in bed sheets and wait for the storm to pass. What would life be if all he ever did was hide indoors and under blankets?

So, finding his footing on the tiled floor of the psychiatric ward, Matthew screamed at the top of his lungs, in a ragged yet powerful voice like a mighty warrior rising once more on the battlefield.

″-

https://theprose.com/post/259077/part-1-the-sky-is-green https://theprose.com/post/259085/part-2-disconnected https://theprose.com/post/259148/part-3-nightmares https://theprose.com/post/259175/part-4-dreamscape https://theprose.com/post/259220/part-5-the-raging-sky https://theprose.com/post/259364/chapter-6-time https://theprose.com/post/259377/part-seven-the-shadow https://theprose.com/post/259393/part-8-the-voice https://theprose.com/post/259403/part-9-the-star https://theprose.com/post/259415/pt-x-mummy-dearest https://theprose.com/post/259432/xi-prescribed-a-lullaby https://theprose.com/post/259439/part-12-no-refills

Mathew treaded deeper, circling around the bank of the lake when he suddenly felt a tug. He whipped head to the side, and there he heard it agian. It was the cry of a crow overshadowed with the crushing sound of an ocean. He turned and stepped into the lake. The water was ice-cold. Sinking slowly into the water he closed his eyes, and the smell was unbearable. He closed his eyes tighter, clenching his hands. It was flooding his brain and melting on his tongue. It overflowed him. And there it was agian, that tug pulling at him. Pulling and pulling at him- before he shot his eyes open agian and the world shifted around him.

He wasn’t in the lake anymore. He was in a city. Thousand of fluorescent lights burned around him. And he noticed the sky was emerald green agian, a hot rich green running through the centre but unlike before there were drops of blue spreading into the green.

He was sure now this had to be a dream. But at the back of his mind, he couldn’t shake off that odd feeling. He could still hear the raw and desperation in her voice as his mother’s words repeated in his mind. “It isn’t what you think—”

“It’s true. ” He jumped at the deep voice. There was a shadow perched on a rooftop. “It’s not a dream, it’s a nightmare, ”

He couldn’t see their face, but he could feel they were smirking. “Wh–”

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