The River V

I'm sitting under a dead tree. A mist clings to the ground. I can smell the sea in the air. I'm within his realm once again. But where is he? Where's he hiding?

Or am I the one that's hiding?

I get up and dust myself off. I look around. There's nothing around. There's nothing around. I'm alone. There's just the tree, the mist, and the smell of the sea. And then there's me. But there's nothing else.

I'm alone within nothing.

I decide that I should walk into the nothing. So I do. I walk towards the nothing. I feel myself begin to disappear. It feels quite comforting. Like letting the tide wash over you, and then pull you away.

A hand grabs my shoulder and swings me around.

The nothing washes away and I'm suddenly surrounded by everything. Grey is among it. He has this... emotion spread across his face that I've never seen him wear before. It looked solemn.

"This is your last chance- and I don't want to do this, so please..."

The environment bleeds into one image: we're hundreds of feet above the River. We're floating above it, suspended above everything. Clouds swirl around us and the dead sun shines through us.

"I can't, and I won't. I'm sorry."

He sighs. He looks me up and down. His eyes lock with mine. He tries to speak. His voice cracks. He shakes his head and lets go of me for a moment. He wipes at his eyes. He composes himself.

Grey tackles me and we begin to fall down towards the River at a frightening speed.

It all feels so real. I can feel Grey punching into my gut and kicking me wildly. I can feel the force of the fall and the wind rip into my skin and my clothes. I can feel gravity pulling me towards my death.

I close my eyes and I try to pull myself away from it all.

I'm suddenly eight years old and I'm playing on a playground in the middle of a pale green field. I'm playing tag with my little brothers. I'm winning so hard that it's not even funny. Mom is watching us and

He pulls me back into the nightmare and grabs my throat. He squeezes.

I desperately gasp for air as I'm sitting in the backseat of that old minivan. We're going to the hospital. I'm getting a shot. Mom congratulates me. I'm rewarded with a stuffed camel and

I push Grey off of me. I begin to attack him. I punch, and I kick. And I wake up.