Aditi's Unexpected Reverie

I was floating.

I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the night sky, the stars shone brightly above me. I tried to move, but all I could do was wiggle my fingers and toes. What...? Did I just faint? My mind searched through my memories for something that would explain this sudden disorientation.

The last thing I remember was sitting in the back of the car with my mom, on the way to the airport. And then...nothing. My eyes darted around, trying to find anything familiar, but all I could see were more stars, some of them twinkling. And then a thought hit me. The car... didn’t it drive off a bridge? No, that can’t be right, there was no bridge anywhere near our house. All of a sudden, light surrounded me and grabbed my attention.

I blinked hard, attempting to adjust to the brightness. A tall figure stood before me, a man with long brown hair down to his waist. He wore a strange black suit with golden shoulder pads and knee guards and a pair of red shoes with golden buckles that were shaped like roses in bloom. He stared down at me as if he had never seen anything like me before, which made sense since I had never seen anything like him before either. It took me a while to notice what appeared to be a golden mask covering most of his face, obscuring his features except for two glowing yellow dots representing his eyes and thin slits which represented his mouth.

“So you are awake after all!” he said in an oddly high-pitched voice for someone who looked so masculine and imposing. “And you have such pale skin! Like snow!” he exclaimed with apparent delight in his tone of voice as he knelt down beside me and reached out for my hand as if we were old friends who had not seen each other in ages.

I almost flinched from the sudden movement but managed to control myself barely thanks to years of strict training from my parents. There was no possible way that this stranger could have known about my upbringing or the fact that we’ve lived in America our whole lives until now when we moved here because they got transferred by their company. And yet, somehow he did know these things about me without even asking any questions or mentioning any details that I might have revealed inadvertently during our short conversation - which is impossible according to all laws of physics that existed thus far in our universe - but yet here we were having this conversation anyway! And then it hit me: I must be dreaming! This is definitely a dream! All of this can’t possibly happen in real life! But if it is only a dream then how did I end up here? Or maybe I am still asleep back on Earth? But how is that possible if everything looks so real? Maybe this really is another planet entirely? What would explain this strange man? Maybe it is some sort of advanced hologram or something?

All these thoughts raced through my head within seconds which seemed like hours but instead was only milliseconds since the man suddenly raised his hands into the air and exclaimed “Bravo! You are waking up quite fast today!” Then without waiting for any response from me he continued “I am Monkiha - Leader of the Council and Guardian of this solar system! Welcome to Planet Aditi where you shall reside from now on!” As soon as he said those words, bright light engulfed us both again for just a second before disappearing again along with Monkiha leaving behind nothing but darkness once more; dark silence filled the spot where we just stood accompanied by cold emptiness and loneliness that radiated from every side surrounding me making me feel like I was at the edge of all creation...and falling deeper into despair within seconds!

What just happened?! Was it all just an illusion? Was none of it real?!

A loud metallic clang tore through the night sky breaking through this oppressive silence followed by another one further away followed by many others like them rapidly filling up space between themselves until they formed an endless sea surrounding me all around as far as my eye could see, completely drowning out whatever other noises were hidden in there somewhere threatening to pull me deeper into despair but instead pushing me back onto solid ground instead strong enough to pull up my feet from under them leaving them dangling inches above dirt leaving only pitch blackness behind now with nothing else left behind except fear itself staring right back at me with full force sending shivers down my spine causing goosebumps to break out across entire surface area of my skin making tingling sensations spread across surface areas until only pure numbness remained making sounds seem distant echoing inside skull reminding myself that I am not dead yet also not alive either instead stuck somewhere between two worlds unable to feel anything else except last moments before death approaching closer every second reminding myself over and over again deep inside brain: THIS IS A DREAM!!! IT IS A DREAM!!! IT IS ONLY A DREAM!!!