The first thing I remember is awakening in a garden. Though the word "garden" may be lacking when describing the place's scale and grandeur. This felt like what a triple-A movie company with too much budget might produce when a special effects company teamed up with a brilliantly imaginative horticulturist to create something similar to a cross between The Gardens of Villandry and something out of Alice in Wonderland. The walkways were pristine polished marble and led between rows of immaculately sculpted hedges, which provided just a slight barrier between the walker and a variety of colorful flower arrangements, herbal gardens that filled the air with complex scents to soothe the soul, and ponds arranged by an artisanal eye, spreading on and on as far as the eye could see. The odd thing was everywhere you looked, there were doors. Not doors leading anywhere, mind you, connected to a building or some other garden section, but rather just random free-standing doors scattered around like they were part of the scenery.

I was not alone in this garden, for I could see countless people meandering to and fro without a care in the world, couples, families, and even individuals enjoying their solitude among the various other visitors. Everyone was dressed in something between wedding attire and their easter best, making my typical blue jeans and plaid shirt stand out all the more. I remember passively wondering if I should go get changed, but no one seemed to pay me any mind, so I shrugged and just enjoyed the peacefulness of my location.

After wandering around for a while, I finally caught someone's eye. He was a man in his mid to late twenties with platinum blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a white dress shirt with a tweed vest and khaki pants. I remember thinking this could have easily been a younger version of Michal Sheen from that one show with the Angels and Daemons, Good Omens I believe it was called. Rather than seeming off-put by the oddness of my attire, he appeared delighted, walking over with his hand extended for only a slightly awkward amount of time in his rush to introduce himself. "You look as new here as myself! I'm William, by the way. A pleasure to meet you!"

I might have felt slightly put off by the formalness of his appearance and manner of speaking, but his earnest nature overpowered any misgivings I might have. Instead, I shook his hand while looking around, still trying to grasp the scale of this place. "Um, yeah, I am new here. Speaking of, where exactly is...here?"

William smiled eagerly while looking around. "This place is hard to grasp, isn't it? I think this is what people refer to as the Dream Hub."

I blinked a few times, trying to grasp what he'd said. "The Dream Hub? As in, we're dreaming right now?"

Turning back to me, William nodded, that infectious smile still on his face. "Yes! Well, no. We're between dreams right now. This place connects to every dream anyone has ever had. From this place, we can visit anywhere anyone has ever dreamed of! Isn't it fantastic?"

Typically speaking, most of my dreams are what most people would call nightmares. Almost all of them feature a post-apocalypse hellscape, a haunted house, or some sort of nigh inconceivable monstrosity. They used to frighten me as a child, but I've grown accustomed to them over the years. It's rare for me to wake up with so much as an elevated heart rate anymore. But still, not the kind of place I'd want to take someone on a tour through, especially someone as polite and finely dressed as William. Still, he hadn't said *our* dreams; he'd said any dream.

So instead, I just shrugged. "Sounds interesting. How do we get there from here?"

William pointed to the obvious answer, the doors. I walked over to the closest one and inspected it while walking around in a slow circle. It seemed like an average door, perhaps more finely crafted than standard. I'm no expert, but it looked like Mahogany with a nice trim. Nothing I would have thought too out of place at the entrance of any house or storefront.

Coming back to the "front," relative to my starting position, I could see William standing there, looking up with that same big, friendly grin. He turned to me. "Well, one way to find out where this leads!" He then opened the door and...nothing. The door simply opened, revealing the same garden on the other side. I even walked around the other side, and there, clear as day, was a mildly confused-looking William.

Walking back over to his side, I looked around. Various other people were opening doors and walking through, seeming to disappear across the threshold. I even witnessed empty doors opening and saw new people walking out as if appearing from nothing. You could see the dreamscapes they were visiting through the open doors, but there was no indication they were doing anything out of the norm when opening or closing them. With a "Harumph," William closed the door and stared at it in confusion.

I had an inkling of what was happening. "You know, in my dreams, everything changes every night except one thing. The only consistent rule in my dream is whatever you expect to happen next is what will happen."

William looked delighted. "That sounds wonderful! So anything you want happens?"

I shook my head. "No, that's not what I said. I said what you expect is what happens. Say you have that dream where everyone flies. If you doubt your ability to fly for even one second, you will fall, reinforcing that doubt and making you fall faster. If you're hiding from a monster and become even momentarily afraid that he'll find you, he will. The upside is if you can develop the mental discipline to control your fears and plan out what you believe is the most feasible way to overcome any obstacle, it will always work. You just gotta learn to silence the doubts and truly believe in yourself."

William looked slightly off-put. "That sounds quite challenging. What kind of dreams do you have that you've developed this kind of discipline to deal with them?"

Avoiding the subject, I smiled. "Well, would you rather hear me tell you about dreams, or would you like to see a dream?"

That same smile was back on Williams's face. "Oh yes, please! Let's visit a dream!"

Walking up to the door, I gripped the handle, closed my eyes, and tried to believe while mentally speaking to myself. "Obviously, this place was a dream, meaning this should work. All I have to do is imagine a place and..." I turned the nob and pushed the door open.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

When I opened my eyes, on the other side was a jungle vista. If anyone had shown me video footage of this and told me this was filmed in Central America, I wouldn't have doubted for a second. I walked through and immediately felt the humidity of the air and heard the echoing sound of birds calling to each other while leaves rustled in the trees. Behind me, William walked through as well, his grin growing so wide that his mouth was open in a permanent expression of delight as he looked high and low, inspecting trees, ferns, insects, or anything else that grabbed his fancy. He was so enthralled with every little thing I had to physically grab his shoulder to direct his attention to the massive ruins near our position. It looked like some Mayan temple, rising out of the jungle, covered in vines and shaded by the gigantic trees surrounding us almost all the way to the top, where it barely cleared the canopy.

With a grin that wouldn't be out of place on an infant getting his first taste of cake, William leaped up the stairs, laughing and babbling at the majesty of it all. I followed after at a more leisurely pace. There was the occasional snake or spider, but I knew from long practice that so long as I didn't let my mind get away from me, they wouldn't bother us.

From the top of the temple, all we could see was miles and miles of jungle, going on seemingly forever in all directions. It was breathtaking, and I wish I could do it more justice here, but let's just say that for once, my expression of amazement matched my companion's.

I'm not sure how long we waited up there. Time in a dream is oddly both stagnant and fleeting, but eventually, I asked, "So, how do we leave?"

The ever-undaunted William turned to me with his same massive grin and simply said, "I haven't a clue! Isn't that marvelous?"

I blinked a few times and laughed. Usually, not knowing how to get out of a place like this would be frightening, meaning I'd start to doubt myself, but it was hard to be scared of anything with my companion's childlike glee. Instead, I closed my eyes and thought to myself for a moment. "If this is a dream, and we can control it, then why not..." Opening my eyes revealed another door, just like the first had appeared right before us, on top of this ancient temple in the middle of nowhere.

William actually clapped. "Delightful! Oh, oh! This time, see if you can take us somewhere truly marvelous! Somewhere that can only exist in a dream!"

Now that one gave me pause. All the places my dreams take place in are based in reality. How could I find a location unlike anything I have a basis for comparison? That's when I realized it doesn't have to be based on any place I've been. With all the movies I've watched and games I've played, I've seen some fantastic sights. Even if none of my dreams had ever been based in one of those locations, surely someone's would have been. Closing my eyes, I took a breath, tried my best to believe, turned the nob, and opened the door again.

This time what appeared in front of us was a faintly glowing pathway leading out over a vast empty space, through which sparkled countless stars and planets. As we stepped onto the path, we could see it seemed to go on forever into the distance, occasionally flanked by prominent crystalline structures built to a scale of some colossal being.

As we wandered along the path, we watched speeding comets pass by lazy asteroids. Stars collapsed and were reborn in fiery explosions. It all looked so distant, but on an impulse, I reached out to a clearly visible nebula. My fingers felt warmth as they passed the much closer and much smaller than previously assumed stellar cloud, and as I pulled my fingers through, whisps of the nebula trailed after before slowing and swirling, then settling into a new formation.

Needless to say, William had that same look of childlike wonder, his mouth fully agape as he looked around before turning back to me. "Now, this is a spectacle worth seeing! Even in my dreams, I've never witnessed anything even remotely this fantastic!"

I grinned in return. "You know what, I agree. This is pretty awesome."

William winked. "You can certainly consider me awestruck! I dare say this is a high point on an already fantastic night! I wish we could explore forever, but all good things come to an end. I suppose we'll have to call it a night soon, or rather a morning!"

I chuckled. "I suppose so. Any idea how we do that?"

My companion shrugged. "Most likely, the same way we've been getting around. Call a door!"

I nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

Closing my eyes, I decided to call a door for William first, then when I looked, sure enough, a door stood in front of me. I stepped to the side and held my hand out, indicating he should be the one to open it.

William stepped forward, took a deep breath, and opened the door. From my position, I could just make out the sleeping form of William. He looked as goofy as he did here, with the same stupid grin despite being asleep.

The Dreamscape William turned to me with a smile and offered a handshake. "It's been a pleasure! I hope we'll meet again someday!" Then he stepped forward...but nothing happened. Or rather, something happened; he bounced off as if hitting some invisible barrier.

Losing his grin, William stretched out a hand and touched the barrier on the open door. As he did so, ripples spread from each finger as though he'd touched a still pond, and the image on the other side of the door changed. Slowly, the bedroom changed to a darker color, with now familiar curtains covering the window, while the person sleeping in the bed faded from the ever-cheerful William into me.

For the first time since I met him, William frowned. "Nonononono... This can't be... What does this mean? I think, therefore, I am. But I don't know if I think..." Turning to me, his eyes screamed a desperate plea. "How can I not know if I think?!?"

I raised my hands to calm him. "Maybe you just need to call your own door! It's fine! I'll teach you how!"

William was in full panic mode, pacing a small circle, muttering to himself. "No... I get it now... It's the only explanation... I can't open doors... I don't remember... I don't remember anything... It's like..."

Turning to me with fear in his eyes, he spoke to me again. "It's like I never existed before we met!"

I shook my head. "No, there's got to be something else! This is a dreamscape, after all! Who knows what this place is or what it does?"

By now, William had a vice grip on my arms and an anguished look in his eyes as he franticly pled. "Whatever you do, just remember me! I don't want to die! Remember me!"

I wanted to console him, to explain to him it would be alright, but the world was fading, and I was falling. I could feel my heartbeat pounding as I slowly became aware of my surroundings, but still, his voice echoed in my ears, increasingly desperate and despairing by the second. "Remember me! Please, god, remember me! I don't want to disappear! Please remember..." And then I was awake.

His voice was gone, and as I stared at the ceiling, I realized my heart was still thundering, and I had tears in my eyes. I lay there for several minutes, mourning the loss of someone who'd never existed. His last words, pleading for me to never forget him, echoed in my mind.

And so, after I calmed myself down, I sat up and recorded this dream in my "Short stories to be written" journal to share with all of you.

As for me, I've never dreamed of William since, though I think of him surprisingly often. Maybe, if you remember him too, William will never die. With luck, perhaps one of you will meet him in a dream between dreams, and you too can explore the wonders of the dreamscape.

To William, my friend who never existed. I just want to say, I remember you.