“Ouch, just what the heck was that…” I said while softly touching my nose.

The wet feeling in my nostrils made it hard for me to breath. Wiping it with the back of my hand, I could see the crimson red fluid dripping down to my fingers. No doubt about it, this was definitely blood.

“Woah, thats quite a bleed there Yuu..” said a person in front of me. The dizziness was making my eye blurry and the person moves closer. His face was definitely familiar to me. He bend down and said “here…” as he lend me a pocket-sized tissue pack.

“Aaaa, thanks Aki…” I replied, taking the tissue out of the pack and whipping off the blood. There was still a tinge of sharp pain in my hand rubbed roughly on my nose. The dizziness was making it hard for me to even control my hand. I took another tissue out of the pack and role it to make a pointy edge. Slowly, I put the rolled tissue into my nose to stop the blood from dripping off my nose. It took a several try for me to actually stick the tissue into my nose with this dizziness.

“Geez, I thought you were dead. Just what the heck are you doing here. Did you get punched and knocked out?” said Aki with the usual concerned face. He stood up straight while adjusting his glasses.

Aki lend out his hand and I grab it. Slowly he pulled me up and continued, “You're lucky i was found you here, if it was someone else they would have taken your wallet and ripped you off.”

Still twisting the tissue in my nose to absorb all the blood, I just replied him with a nod. However, it does not make sense for someone to do so though. People frequently passed by this road so no thief would be brave enough to steal from an unconscious guy in broad day light with pedestrian looking.

Whipping off my pants from dirt, I looked towards a baseball field at the end of the road. I somehow remembered the reason why I was unconscious in the middle of the walkway; something hit the back of my head. Then I passed out from the hit and fell face first on the floor. Think I got my nose bleed from that.

“Oii Yuu, where are you going?!” Aki shouted towards me, he held my shoulder but I shrugged it off and went straight to the baseball field.

“…where else, beating those jerks off for making my nose bleed!” I said rolling up the sleeves of my uniform. I cannot think of any other that I passed out other than getting hit by a baseball

As I arrived, no one was there. No one was playing baseball at all. I swear all kinds of curse words in my heart to the person that hit the ball. They must have ran away while i was unconscious. I can’t wait till tomorrow when I will teach those jerks a lesson.

“Seriously?! You’re gonna get another nosebleed dude! Lets not mess with someone more physically fit than you,” Aki said with a face of annoyance. He looked at me like I was going to get beaten. “Anyway Yuu, its rare to see you back so late.”

After he said those words, I finally realized that it was already getting dark. I looked at my watch and saw it was already half past five. “What?! Its already this late?!” I shouted with shock.

How long have I been unconscious? I remembered that I left school at 2 and was on my way back. Then I must have passed out for three whole hours?! The only reason I went back early from school was because I was not in any club while Aki here is the president of social studies club.

“Hey, I gotta hurry back now..” I said and I shoved the tissue pack to his chest pocket, “..thanks for this though.”

I face my back to him and walked away, putting my hands up, “See you tomorrow Aki.”

“Yeah, fix that nose of yours or you’re gonna make Sensei mad again,” he said as we parted away.

Walking the walkway towards my house, I could still feel the dizziness in my head, spinning the world that I am seeing. In fact, I could that its getting worse than when I woke up. My feet were slightly numb and my balance was not particularly good. I had to walk with my hand holding the walls and fences and whatever there was just to keep myself from falling and dragging my feet across the floor. Again, I cursed those people who threw the ball and made me walk like a drunken salesman who just had a fail business with his clients.

I looked at my watch again and saw it was almost six o’clock. If I was not this dizzy I would have already reached my house in just 10 minutes from where I passed out. I walk back in this situation and arrived 20 minutes later.

Arriving home, I used the back door like I usually did. Slowly turning the door knob, the rusty axle of the door made a squeaky sound before it got stuck halfway.

“Curse you rusty old door!” I shouted. Pushing the door with my body, I continued “Move aside damn it!”

The door opens wide and with the momentum I fell face flat on the floor. If I was not so dizzy I would have stop the fall with my hands but my body just would not react quickly enough as I wanted. “Arghhh, damn it door! Why do I even used the back door.” I continued complaining as I walk towards the kitchen rubbing my nose. “Aaaa yeah, they’re not home..” Then it came to my mind that my parents were not home and that explains why I would use the back door. It was lucky that they were not here to see my nose bleed and back home so late. They would flip out if they knew about this. Its not likely they will find out about this since it doesn't have an obvious mark so I have nothing to worry about. They will be back in a week for a trip and by then my nose would be healed.

After having a light dinner, the usual food that any high school boy would eat when their mother is away, a cup ramen, I went on to have a nice bath. Slowly, I sit myself in the bath tub and the warmth of the water slowly seeps into my body. I could feel my senses were getting back to normal. The numbness could still be felt slightly but it would be gone after a good night sleep. Submerging myself up to the mouth, just barely leaving a space for my nose to breath, then I closed my eyes. My minds slowly drifted away assisted with the calmness effects of the warm bath.

There I saw it, a dream where I was in the middle of a forest with the spring flowers blossomed radiantly, attracting butterflies and bees with their fragrant nectar seducing them to take a sip. The birds flew in a beautiful manner, as if dancing with the beats of the choir of their chirping song and the orchestra of trees with the instrumental string of the rustling leaves. While watching the harmonious nature, a sudden stinging pain could be felt in my head and woke me from the peaceful dream.

The sudden jolt of my body made the water to rippled and some of it went into my nose. I had to cough out the water and it woke me up fully. After sneezing out the chlorine filled water out of my nose, the stinging pain was gone but was removed with the annoying runny nose. ‘Just how bad could this day be…’ I thought to myself.

I wanted to finish my homework but the dizziness were still there. I had already took a pill but I guess it would take a while before the pill kicks in.

Laying myself down on the bed, I took a look at my phone and saw the time was still 8 o’clock. I would usually hit the sack just before 11 but since my head was spinning continuously, I would have to end the day early.

After laying the phone on the bedside table, I move my hands towards the blanket at the end of the bed. Somehow, I could hear the soft ruffling of the fabric as my hand rub against the smooth bed sheet. I pulled the blanket to cover my whole body as it was quite cold in the room. As the heat builds up in the blanket. I felt more comfortable and the sandman was already doing his job.

The dizziness in my head was kicking off again as I walk into my slumber. Right before I closed my eyes, the scene of my bedroom ceiling was swirling like a vortex. Finally closing my eyes, my body felt very light, and warm. The warmth was not the same as the warm from the blanket, but something different. It felt more natural. The lightness in my body weight felt as if I was floating. This must be a dream. However, what was so strange was that I am fully aware that I was dreaming.

While I was enjoying feeling of floating around in my dream, an abrupt force pulled me down. Similarly as gravity pulls an apple down from a tree. Right at the end of the fall, I felt like I was entering something. The feeling was more of an insight rather than a sense of touch.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Quite a while after I fell, I could finally regain every movement of my body. Despite that, I could feel that every parts of my body was numb. My sense of touch and sense of heat, none of it was accurate. I could feel the ground below my feet but I could not sense whether it was rough or smooth. I could sense the wind hitting my face but I could not perceive whether it was cold or warm.

Slowly opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was the beautiful moon, glimmering with a pale blue light. I finally realize that I was looking up. Slowly I shift my sight down to the front. It was even harder to move my muscle as it was feeling numb. As my view was shifting down, despite the blurry vision, I could see the shape of trees in front of me. Inhaling the air, I could recognize a tinge of grassy fragrant in the air. No doubt about it, I was in a forest.

All my senses were dull, but I am fully aware of my body and the surrounding. I knew, I was dreaming. What else could it be. It was hard to believe it but I could say that it was lucid dream; where I can control myself in the dream and are fully conscious about it. This was my first time experiencing this.

Despite the bad premonition that I have about this dream; mostly the fear of being chased by a ghost, but curiosity always win. The excitement of adventuring in this dream poured adrenaline into my blood veins and my feet started to move. Now it was finally time for me to see how far can this dream go.

As I continue on walking the grassy ground, I came upon an animal trail. It was lucky for me to find this. It was hard for me to walk on the grass because I could not see the rocks or roots as they are covered by the grass plus with the poor visibility due to lack of light. I have already tripped many times and somehow, I could slightly feel the pain in my toe as I trip.

I was amazed while continuing the stroll. I found many beautiful flowers blooming with a glow, radiating with the breath-taking moon. Not just the flowers, some of the grass before glows blue as I stepped on them. Even the animal trails have its own colorful glows.

After a while, I realize that my senses were getting better. I could feel and hear the soft crunching sound of leaves beneath my feet and the rhythmical chirping of crickets at night. The fragrant smell of the glowing blooms of the flower was getting stronger as time goes by. The view was getting more exquisite. Every cracks and every detail from a tree and the leaves, I could see it. Somehow, I was doubting that this was actually a dream.

Amazed by the dazzling view of the forest, I did not realize that i had reached the end of the trail. In front of me, it was a small grassy opening where there are no trees. The blue ray of the moon shone the grass and a small yellowish light floats above them. Without a second thought, I knew it was the firefly. I went to the middle of the opening. The fireflies moved away as I approached near them. Somehow, I could feel that it was getting chilly. The moment I looked down on my body, there were no string attached, literally no strings at all. I was naked. That explains why I was feeling cold between my thighs. Well it was still a dream so who cares, no one is here to see my dangling man sword and its two round shields. I closed my eyes to feel the feeling of being free with the nature both physically and mentally.

However something was off. It was unusually quiet. The sound of crickets suddenly stopped and left with only the rustling leaves as a gale of wind blows. A chill ran down my spine as I got the feeling of being watched. With haste, I turned around to find what cause this intense glare and the eerie feeling. As my vision shifted along the spaces between the trees, one thing caught my attention. Another chill ran down my spine as many things come into mind to what was this two floating balls of red light. Could be a ghost?! The very thing that I was afraid from the very beginning of my journey in this dream had come to manifestation. 'This beautiful dream is going to become a nightmare now.'

Like how anyone would act when confronting this thing in their dream, I ran of course! I ran towards the opposite direction of where the thing was. I ran as fast as I could. Gasping for air, pushing away the branches that was over my head. I almost trip by the roots beneath the grass. However I continue on running without looking back.

I could hear the rustling of leaves from high above where it sounded like something heavy landed on the branches. The sound keeps getting closer. I could imagine that the thing was hopping form one branch to another just from the sound. I just knew this thing would happen. Just who can overrun a ghost in their nightmare. One would just always lose against this creature when it comes to chasing people down.

When the sound of rustling leaves were directly above my head, I closed my eyes and readied myself for the thing to pounce on me.

“Ughhhh…” I coughed out the air as something heavy pushed me. I landed on the ground heavily with a loud thud, rolling a few rounds as the momentum carried me further.

“F*ck you ghost..” I said as I came to a stop. Pushing myself up I grunted, “why cant u just leave me alone in my dream ughhhh…” I was stopped halfway as my left leg were in so much pain as I tried to stretch it. I sat myself down. Even with the poor visibility, I could make it out that my leg was bleeding. I could only guess the wound was quite deep as it pours out blood vigorously. There were so much blood that the blood splattered on the glowing flower turning its original blue fluorescent into a red glow.

The pain felt so real. I could feel the wound throbbing and my sweat pouring like a broken dam. Every inch of my face was crunching its muscle, making me wrinkled with the agony. “Arghhh!” I screamed. The pain was so intense that my mind was starting to get blank. Just how could a dream feel so painful. I had never felt this much pain ever in my life.

As I continue on wailing my throat out and holding my leg like I was going to lose it, a shadow moved closer in front of me. With tears in my eye, I shifted my vision towards this shadow. My body was starting to get cold as more blood is lost. I continue on examining this creature as I shift my vision towards its legs, body and the head. It’s height was similar to me while sitting on the ground. With its slender legs moving forward one after another, the body leaned forward, prowling towards me. The feet wasn’t a feet, but paws with golden claws protruding out. It had a silky jet black fur. Our eyes met each other. Those gleaming blood-red pair of eyes were focusing as to create a small slit as if stares into my very soul. I could feel a sense of anger coming from it. Its whiskers were long, painted with gold colour as it reflects the light from the moon and the glowing flowers. Those pointy triangular ears flickers as if reacting to the sound of rustling leaves. And the tail behind sways left to right dancing eagerly.

No doubt about it, this was a giant cat. A jaguar probably, with the way it leaps on me from above. And those pointy hocked claws would easily penetrate my skin with its weight and momentum. That would easily explains the deep wounds on my leg.

“What the f*ck is a huge cat doing in my drea-!!” I shouted as rage fills my entire mind on this mere thought.

As if agitated by my shout, the jaguar leaped on me, mouth wide, with its paws swinging towards my face. The sheer force of the slap turned my head so hard that a crack could be heard at the back of my neck. A sign that my neck was broken. Theres no telling what the claws did to my face. I could not feel anything. My left eye was probably popped out of its socket. My right eye was the only part of my face that I can feel.

With my head laying on the floor, the jaguar on top of me. I looked at its face. My heart was filled more with rage as this creature puts up a little smirk. Opening its mouth wide, it ripped off my throat with a thunderous roar.

Until that point the pain that I was suffering, vanished immediately. My mind was still filled with annoyance and rage towards the smirking face of that leopard. Was it trying to show off that it was stronger than me?

******

“Wahhh!!” I woke up with a shout. The usual shout that any movie character would do after waking from a bad dream.

My head was throbbing again, aching with its dizziness. My body was wet with my sweats. The churning of my stomach just wont stop that all the ramen that I ate for dinner painted my room floor as I vomitted. I emptied the content of my stomach so much that I even vomitted the hydrochloric acid in the stomach. The after taste of the vomit in my mouth made it worse. The pain in my nose after vomiting only invites more mucus to make itself home in my nose.

I ran to the bath room, stepping on the fresh beautiful painting of my half digested dinner. It took a while before the nausea was gone. The dizziness on the other hand, just wont cease to make a mess in my head.

I cleaned my feet and took a mop. I cleaned the floor and throw away a slimy-chunk of what I thought was my dinner. Taking a sip of the salt water that I got from the kitchen, the salty taste down my throat just isn’t enough to make me forget the dream. The pain was too real, the agony, the fear and the rage looking at the beast. The image that I saw of that jaguar was so define, even for a guy who 'don’t remember every single time why he entered the room', those detail just wont go away. I wonder if this was how a lucid dream was supposed to be. I wonder if others who experience lucid dream felt the same way.

I brew a black coffee and started my research on this lucid dreaming. The swivel of my desk chair squeaked as I sat my bottoms on it. Switching on the table lamp, I took my phone and saw the time was almost 9. I was confused. I slept at around 8 o’clock. Then I must have just slept for a few minutes because it took quite a while to clean up myself and the floor. But the dream felt so long. I felt like I have walking around the forest for hours before that f*cking cat chased me and ripped my neck off.

“hahhhhhh…” I let out a long sigh and continue on clicking the browser icon. As I typed the keyboard on my phone screen, I realized something. My senses, was dull like before. Instead I felt it was getting better. Too much that it frightened me a little. Why do I say that? I could hear things other than the digital sound when I touched the keyboard on my phone screen. The dripping water from the tap in the bathroom, the rustling sound of fabric brushing against each other as I move, and mice of which I don’t know where. I know its at night and hearing would be easier but this was too different. It was like my ears were directly beside the sound, of which I could hear it clearly.

Thing just get stranger after I got hit in the head earlier. The dizziness just wont go away and its making my muscle numb. Now my senses just gets like a hell lot of levels up. And there was the thing about that dream. As I pressed enter, the first thing I saw was a description from wikipedia. The only thing right about this was that im fully aware but the rest doesn’t really apply to me. I could not control it, the environment was there by itself and fuck no I can’t control the characters. Those shitty cat just ripped my neck off and it hurt like hell. If I can control the dream I would have summoned a sword with my mind and fight it off or something. Oh wait, I didn’t really think of that. I was too scared that I ran for my life and didn’t even try to fight back. Now I feel pathetic of myself...

Then, I just got to check on medical site just why am I feeling dizzy like this. That hit on the head wouldn’t take this long to recover.

Before I could read the details, my eyelids were feeling so heavy. I must have somehow taken the sleeping pill just now. I don’t really know though. That just show how bad my memory was. Well the coffee was really unnecessary, I didn't even get to take a sip.

I turned off the lamp and stand on the side of the bed. Letting the gravity pull and lay me on the bed, I landed head first to the soft pillow. With my listless hand, I pulled the blankets and covered some parts of my body. Closing my eyes, I let the sandman do his job again. With those strange event out of my mind and good sleep as my target, my consciousness slowly drifted.

Wait, if I’m going to sleep then am I still having that weird dream. Without me noticing, my eyes had already closed itself. But usually dreams won’t come out when we are drugged with sleeping pills. So I have nothing to worry about.

However, this uneasy feeling just won’t go away. My consciousness did not fade like how it usually does. I tried moving my body but I can’t feel anything. The feeling of being suspended in the air engulfed my whole body. It was the same as it was before. ‘Don’t tell me im going to go back to that dre..’

Before I could finish my words, I was pulled down by some force. In an instant, I could feel my whole body again. I could feel the warmth, the warmth from a sunshine. The dangling feeling of my manhood sword and its two shields, was telling me that I’m naked. I this was it. I really didn’t want to open my eyes but I did it anyways. The bright sunlight forced me to wrinkled my forehead and shut my eyes again. I pulled up my hands and covers the bright ray. There I saw the same forest that was in my dream when I fall asleep in the bath.

I looked around to find that damnation cat but it was nowhere to be found. I thought of wanting to walk around to find the cat. Something hooked my feet and I almost fell head first if not for my hands stopping the fall. This was a bit different from the last dream because I could fully use my body and my reflex were top notch. I looked at my feet to see what did I stepped on.

“Just what the f*ck is this?!” I screamed as I felt a sudden urge to vomit. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Just how is this possible…