I was eating a large burger at a park bench, because I couldn’t find it in myself to fix some other food at home. Nobody was out today, leaving me in an unusual quiet peace. But I guess I could only enjoy myself for so long, since an aggravating stomach cramp decided to thrust itself on me, making me have to stop when I was barely even done. All I could do was groan and decide to go for a small walk in hopes of my stomach ache slowing down or maybe even going away. I really didn’t want to pack up and head home already. I wrapped my half-eaten burger back in the package, and was ready to dispose of it as I passed a trash can, but I decided to just save it for later. Maybe I’d find somewhere else to finish it.

  Today was more still than usual for some reason, no cars flying down the road, no strong winds, and not many people, as before. Grey clusters of clouds moved slowly behind me as I walked down the choppy sidewalk, like they were following behind to accompany me. I brushed some strands of hair away so I could actually see in front of me, then slipped my hands into my pockets. One hand found a loose thread to twirl around, and the other held my phone to make sure it didn’t fall. The blisters on my fingertips fired a thin sting from each spin of the thread while I watched my red sneakers’ steps. There wasn’t much to look at that was more interesting than the concrete, unless you consider lamp posts particularly exciting.

  I was about to turn around after walking for a short amount of time, since it didn’t seem that my stomach felt any better from doing this, but a small stream flowing aside a mossy sidewalk came up at my final few steps. It made me stop from how random it was, not before I stepped in a puddle and soaked the bottom of my shoes. The water turned around the curve of the sidewalk, progressing to its next destination down the horizontal street, however far ahead it was. A small toad bounced across the stream, stopping on a brown mushroom.

  The walk had been entirely barren, for the most part, so the sight persuaded me to lift my head. I had stopped in front of some sort of abandoned town. There wasn’t much noise here either, besides the ambient crying of frogs, cicadas or other bugs. A small blue butterfly spun around me a few times and then away to a small house across from me. Some of the brick buildings that appeared to be from years upon years ago had deteriorated to futility and were overrun by nature, the interior of a lot of them being easily visible. Being able to see inside some of these forgotten houses and shops was strange, and it was like the foliage growing all over it was trying to stop you from stealing a look. Colorful green mosses, ferns and vines of various kinds decorated the town. Despite the fact that it was a cold winter month, the trees bore thousands of leaves over here. Yellow and orange daffodils or lilies veiled the road, sidewalk and forest. Instead of tired, grey clouds filling a monotonous sky and casting shadows all across the scenery, the sun illuminated the skies as far as I could see, painting the small rivers and greenery in vibrant, golden cascades of sunlight. The clouds were teeming to the brim from the radiance, like cotton blazing from an airy fire. Even the greyest forms of rocks and stones looked delighted to be in the sun.

  What stuck out to me the most, though, was the abundance of lively, crystal-clear streams, spilling throughout the entire area. Water pooled into some small ponds, flowed down each of the roads and throughout houses, or continued into the deep woods. It was like that was what was holding the plants and man made civilization close together. It wasn’t possible to see where some of them started and ended, as they continued as far as they wanted to go. The streams were so transparent and pure, completely unaffected by any dirt or muck that should’ve built up over time.

  But after I had stood there long enough that the vines snaking all around the area might as well have grown around my legs, the brilliant shock of the scene trailed off into the back of my mind, degrading back to receding colors of grey and brown. While I decided what should be my next move, I stared down at the immaculate water for answers. I kind of wanted to see what would happen if I chugged it.

  I kneeled down to observe the peculiar quality of it, waiting to see if my brain wasn’t fucking with me. As I cupped the cool water in my hands to taste it, I almost reeled away as I saw the tears and injuries on my hands- but that didn’t stop me for long, and I tipped it into my mouth. A light chill spread through me, like a rushing waterfall, leaving a crisp, refreshing feeling throughout my fucked-up system. It tasted just as crystalline as it seemed, really, but I was a bit bummed that it didn’t have some sort of epic magical healing properties. Or result in something interesting, at least. Perhaps I’d just ingested an unhealthy amount of lead. I guess there’s no way to figure it out without waiting.

  I figured I’d been drinking mysterious substances long enough when the kneeling position I’d forced myself into started to leave a really nice pull in my knees. I rose back up on shaky legs, not without almost stumbling backwards. Deciding to undo whatever the water just did by finishing the garbage I was eating earlier, I scanned the lush area for somewhere to relax. There were a lot of places that seemed fine, but I saw a giant oak tree that loomed over the inside of a certain house, protecting it from the outside world. I walked my way over to it against the path of one of the currents, trying to ignore the fact that my socks and shoes were becoming soggy, and peeked inside the house on the cracked steps. There was a small hill holding the tree in the corner, the leaves of the tree breaking and scattering light into fragments that brightened the flowers and long, waving grass. There was water pooling inside of here, but it didn’t even reach my knees as I waded through it.

  I plopped down right under the tree, and leaned my head back against it. The wrapper of my sandwich crinkled as I pulled it out of my pocket and took a big bite from my burger. It tasted just like chewy plastic. Or at least what I imagined that to taste like.

  It was pretty awkward to sit in such a dramatic scene while I littered crumbs all over myself with my poor eating etiquette. I hoped some innocent animal didn't decide to take a bite of the crumbs once I left, because that poor guy is long gone.

  I licked the remaining flavor off of my fingers and gave a humble sigh, while brushing oily strands of hair away from my lips. I shoved the empty wrappers back into the bag, and traded it for my cigarette and lighter. A swift drag of my cigarette gave me enough relief that I wasn’t going to break out into a sweat once I got up to walk again… later. I slumped back further down the rough bark of the tree, holding the cigarette between my lips. I couldn’t think of anything that interesting, so I just stared at the assortment of leaves and branches above me with pretty much zero thoughts.

  A sudden boom from way above jabbed my ears, making my grip slip and letting the lighter flop straight to the ground. It was thunder, apparently. It came so suddenly, there was no way I could’ve expected it. Nor would I have expected it to be so damn loud either.

  But instead of dark clouds grouping together over the space I sat, the shining sky stayed as open and inviting as before. Raindrops started to pour from above, casting hundreds upon hundreds of falling bits of light. Only a few drops fell on me, since the tree saved me from getting drenched by the sudden downpour. I was thankful to have gotten lucky enough to sit my ass down here instead of walking away earlier. The smoke of my cigarette was entirely extinguished somehow, even though it hadn’t even been touched. Guess whoever was up there really didn’t like me smoking.

  Since I couldn’t just walk away now, I relaxed below the glistening leaves and closed my eyes to let all the parts of the environment soothe my senses. The scent of wet moss was thick in the air, and the clinking of the rain against the buildings was starting to sound… melodic, as if each drop were a different key on a piano. I wasn’t sure if I was just that exhausted or if there really was something up with the rain here. The sounds I was hearing made me think of a spring song- of the rainbows of sunshowers, the blossoming plants and flowers, the roaming, innocent animals coming out to play, of creeks and ponds melting to reveal shimmering ripples and reflections. I lifted my eyes to a pink blossom that sat beside me, its transparent petals giving off a pink luster in the light. The moist petals held a few drops on it, each undisturbed until another took its place by absorbing it. I touched one of the drops, letting it soak into my finger, and tore off one of the small, fragile petals to hold it up to the sun. Each vein and detailed color was pronounced, every little intricacy visible.

  I held it to my chest and closed my eyes again, letting the rain play its tune for as long as I could lay. I didn’t have anywhere important to go, why interrupt it? I hadn’t really realized how tired I was, until now, when my eyes became much harder to pry open to gaze at the weirdly comforting spectacle going on around me. I let out a small yawn as I started to drift off for a quick nap. I’m not sure how long I fell asleep for, but it was the most peaceful I’d felt in a while.

  The pianist soon ceased his song and the soothing ringing slowed to a stop, letting the rain hollow out to leave a few dim clouds. It took me a couple moments to adjust to the weather change. The shift was so sudden, like a slap to the face. While I tried to incur motivation to get up, I brushed my hand along some of the dripping grass and plucked a few blades off to mess with. I still didn’t want to get up, but it’s not like I could lay here forever. At least my stomach ache was gone. I wasn’t sure if the rain did something or I just wiped out for that long.

  Letting out a small groan and dropping the grass from my hands, I finally sat up, tossing my hair back behind my shoulders. The heavenly gleam that once permeated through the air had dissipated. Everything was now replaced with a dejected grey skin. I blew out a disappointed breath of air and yanked myself up, a few leaves slipping off of me. The back of my hoodie was now drenched, which was awesome. I’d probably spent more than enough time getting high off the smell of wet grass.

  I wandered out of the once comforting house and got ready to get out of here, but another strange building caught my tired attention. I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t even noticed it before, but I guess I was too worried about drinking mysterious substances to care. It was definitely visible from the house, but it was obvious my brain had some awfully dumb priorities right now. The edifice was a bit threatening up close, looming over the whole region and ascending high into the clouds.

  It was like some sort of belltower combined with an office building that built the first 80% of it the way up, and was all the color of midnight. More vines and swaths of yellow or orange flowers spun around it, trying to saturate this black void of a structure. The glass windows merely trapped more darkness and refused to let in or reflect much light. At the top was a large bell, of course, but it was so high up that was all I could make out at the top. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it’s not like I had much to do if I went home, so the small flicker of curiosity got the better of me.

  A bright green frog bounced across the stream alongside me as I walked, stopping on a leaf, or a mushroom, occasionally, but always returning to accompany me throughout. Sometimes a deer would turn its head for a curious look at what I was up to, but most of the animals that I could see just ignored me. At least it didn’t seem that I was bothering any wildlife. As soon as I made it to the long steps, the frog spun away from me and vanished, all in a couple leaps. I had to wonder why he ditched me here. Hopefully this place wasn’t… well, dangerous. To me, or frogs, in particular.

  I yanked the rusty handle of the stiff doors to get them to budge, and with a few tugs, they finally jerked open, tearing some vines and stems from their resting place. I was a bit skeeved out considering that I might’ve been messing with the natural order of this place a little too much by tearing up some of the plants. I wouldn’t be surprised if I woke up tomorrow with some sort of curse. I’m not that superstitious or anything, but anything could happen, really. I was too lazy to turn around, though, so I dismissed any strange feelings I had.

  I creeped my way inside to the beginning level, which looked like an average office lobby that nature had overtaken the inside of. Some tables were turned over and some desks were stuck in awkward positions, but most of the office stuff didn’t seem to have been wrecked, just overtaken by plants.

  A humid air weighed over me as I prodded around the room to find the steps, making the fact that I was wearing a black hoodie around an unfortunate decision. As I continued adjourning through, each level became incrementally more damaged and crowded with forest greenery. There were no noises of anything at all, only an eerie silence filling the musty, foggy rooms. Listening to my own breath and steps wasn’t enough to comfort me. Not that I wanted to hear anything else after going around here for a while, I might’ve just had a heart attack. A good gust of wind could already kill me, I didn’t need this in my life. I yearned for the light of the outside to give these rooms any sort of good illumination, but it insisted on only lingering in random, small areas.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The final level had lots of large windows of which the panes had shattered into millions of tiny pieces and scattered across the floor. One wrong move would result in a long fall to my death. Even more worrying, though, was the nature being so dense here that it swaddled chunks of the room in its grasp, leaving too many sections of the room in crawling, creeping darkness for comfort. Each leaf or fern that brushed against me made me worry more each second. For what, I didn’t know, but I sure didn’t want to get stuck or lost here. I was waiting to turn around the wrong way and see some guy’s corpse. I had to watch my every step to avoid getting entangled in any vines and getting stuck here for life. It took a good few minutes to locate the stairs to the final floor. Not sure how I could ever like the color green after this. Maybe that frog should’ve hung out with me, that would’ve made this all a little less disconcerting.

  As soon as I got to the top, I was met with the large bell, but there were also hundreds of wind chimes that were attached by vines. The small ceiling was held up by four rusty metal bars at each corner, the twilight color of them having become disfigured due to the passage of time. There were also small railings to prevent you from falling off of the open sides. The thick wooden supports holding up the bell were intertwined and holding each other close, all carved with intricate swirls and curves. I guess the bell was just for a fancy display, because there was no way it could possibly swing using the design it had. The bell showed its age as well from the discoloration of once golden metal. However, the patterns and motifs of animals like deer and rams, or more flowers and leaves were deeply carved all around it to ensure they would never disappear. Moss, ferns and fungi lingered all around the small balcony, not unlike everywhere else I had been, of course.

  A random lever sat firm on the side of one of the poles across from me, possessing the same swirling patterns as the wooden supports. Without a second thought, my hands found themselves rushing to yank it as soon as possible. None of what was up here was particularly exciting, so I hoped this would actually do something.

  A sudden gust of sharp wind smacked me straight in the face, making me wince as my hair was driven back into a frenzy. Some of the plants were whisked away from where they once sat, soaring in a small but frantic ring around the bell. A shrill creak tore across the atmosphere as the bell attempted to function, each of the wind chimes flailing as they tried to follow the new swinging motion. Each of the supports burst into thrusting and curving glowing rays, following after the plants and wind. The whole system was communing with each other to try and play a song. Despite the sound being unnatural and out of tune at first, each second sparked a more refined note, inspiring an elegant melody to rise. My head turned around right as buckets of rain started to descend in a roar. I darted my way over to the railing and looked down in disbelief, the wounds on my hands tearing as I gripped on the metal. I had traversed way, way upwards- the houses were so miniature from up here. I didn’t even realize how far I had come inside the town. But most importantly, the water was…. rising. The flood was vicious, submerging anything under it as fast as it could, as the torrent of rain encouraged it to go on. The building I had laid in and the ground that I had stood on before were consumed by the relentless floodwaters that yanked and tossed around any plant that wasn’t drilled to the ground. The tower I stood upon was vanishing into the flood, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

  A grenade of anxiety burst my insides, and I stepped back, looking around to see if there was anything I could clasp onto, but there was pretty much jack-shit. Even the railing decided it didn’t want to be a part of this anymore, because it descended into the ground, leaving me nothing to even hold onto. My shoes were drenched from the water rushing down the belltower, and I couldn’t wait to ditch them as soon as possible. I thought about chucking them into the ocean out of anger, but decided against it since all I needed right now was to be barefoot. This wouldn’t be a fun way to end, although at least it would be quick. All I could do was pray the waves stopped before it came up here, but there was no reason to believe it would. My eyes were helplessly glued to the surging waters that would absolutely kill me, and it only seemed to come up faster and faster.

  Welp, I had a good run, I guess.

  Actually, that’s a bit generous. Let’s just call it a mediocre walk.

  As soon as I was ready to hold my breath, a large click echoed across the newly formed ocean, and the waves slowed to a stop right at my sneakers, or rather, the very tip of the balcony. A relieved sigh tumbled from my churning chest, and I shoved my hands back in my pockets.

  The loud ringing faded out into the far skies, leaving me alone and helpless by the sea of crystal water. The town was still visible underneath the flood, which would’ve been cool if I wasn’t stranded. I wondered if this is where I was going to be stuck for the rest of my life. Guess I’d have to start getting used to it. I’d have to pitch up the metaphorical tent and learn to enjoy eating grass. Or I’d better get swimming. Maybe if I swam for a while, the sea would just end and I’d fall off the side.

  This is too much for one day. If everything below my calves wasn’t waterlogged, maybe I’d be more okay with this.

  As I was about to grab the lever and pull it back to see if I could get something else to happen, a bright yellow sunflower blossomed to life on top of a glittering grass patch that had formed at some point. Then, another flower, a lily, popped up in a flash, thin petals growing from the stem. From the rippling sea, many new flowing paths were born, unfurling up into the clouds and heavens like a soaring ribbon. The flooded town was still able to be seen between each of the paths.

  They all absorbed together to create a beautiful, vibrant grassland, with flowery meadows that had a rainbow striking the hills in pouring colors. As my eyes caught sight of it all, the colors of the beaming light snuck their way inside of me, giving me a bizarre, jerking feeling- it was a sudden… burst of energy? I inhaled the fresh air, letting it purge the discomfort I’d garnered inside of me. It slowly spread throughout my system, and just a few more breaths gifted me a rush of excitement. I’d never felt this cathartic before- I couldn’t help but stand and take in the purifying feeling as the cool wind brushed past me. I glanced at my hands, the scars and blisters dissolving into swirls and twirls of pink rays. Another jolt of energy struck me, sending me running up one of the paths and towards the fields. The sky embraced me with its pull to action, inviting me to come to it. Light rain sprinkled across the paths, each drop falling on my head and dripping through my hair giving me a spritz of energy. The showers of light that struck every length of space made me feel that… this had to be heaven, right?

  After I ran for a few seconds, taking in the beauty of the angelic, celestial meadows, I soon saw a small pond seeping out from between the embrace of two hills. My mind directed itself towards it immediately, a newfound curiosity making me leap towards it. Although the adrenaline coursing through me didn’t want me to stop and wanted me to keep flying through the glittering space, with the sun warming my skin…

  …My desire to stop snatched those thoughts away as I saw a grand piano, laced with golden blossoms and vines, that rested on glowing, shallow waters. But an unfortunate blight stuck out- The blemish on the scene was caused by the wilting flowers that drooped to the floor, drained of every last smidge of color. Dying leaves slipped from their stems, unable to hold on. They were very out of place in what would’ve been a delightful, glowing scene. As I tried to make my way over, I keeled forward, almost falling in the dark mud that hadn’t revealed itself until now. But I managed to regain my composure without falling and dirtying anything other than my shoes. I guess the mud was cautioning me to tread slowly to make sure I didn’t do something rash.

  A song rested on the music sheet holder, and I took a long look at it for any sort of interesting information. It definitely wasn’t one I’d ever seen before, not that I knew much about music. There was no title or information on it to explain, nor even a composer credited. The notes of the staff were so cluttered that I couldn’t tell what was even supposed to be happening. I sat on the black leather stool and brushed my dress off. Was it waiting for someone to play the song? It probably wasn’t for me, because I never had the chance to learn how to play music.

  I still pressed down on the keys without a single thought, just so I could do… something, or hear anything. As I made a couple of random plinks to the keys, my mind started to trail off into a blank, empty state. The adrenaline no longer surged through me, abandoning me entirely to a thoughtless boredom. But my mind awoke from its slump as my ears were met with… an actually rhythmic sound. My hands started to move all by themselves, note after note being played as if it were entirely natural to me. I was brought back to what I had dreamt under the influence of the rain in this small town. The tune sounded identical, just like the thoughts I had, the memories of spring. The images were still thick in my mind, as vivid as day. Despite the fact they had imprinted on me as positive thoughts before, my resentful side started to take me over, leaving me wondering why I could never have been there. Even though I tried to go back to indulging in the positive thoughts, it was useless. Was it not just taunting me at this point? Recollections of springs that I never had? That never existed for me?

  I wish I could be there.

  I really wish I were there.

  It’s so peaceful, isn’t it?

  Why didn’t I have that?

  Why can’t I have that?

  My hands started to slow down on the keys, although nothing had changed at all. No, I… Why would I stop?

  An awful, rancid taste coated the inside my mouth and snaked its way to the back of my throat, jabbing and forcing a painful gag. The taste was practically vomit-inducing. I retched from a stab to my curdling stomach that twisted and grinded inside of me, begging for relief. My eyes caught a glance at the daffodils around me, more dead than ever before, distilling a heavy thickness to the air. The blades and petals crumbled to brown ashes, lacing the small sea in ugly, rotting colors, completely tarnishing the once pristine pond. The taste crawled and burrowed all the way into my throbbing chest, lacing my lungs with poison. Shallow breaths started to become caught inside my tightening throat, any of my attempts to force air out returning as shallow as they started. I didn’t know where to hold to get rid of the pain, or how to fix it, and the hands grasping anywhere to find a way to relieve it proved entirely useless.

  This hurts, it hurts.

  A last painful breath left me as my arms went numb, dropping to my sides. I tried to focus on just staying awake, but not a single part of me was under my hold any longer, and the corners of my vision started to blur into mocking shapes. My heart started to sink, tearing from the hold of thin, poking threads, slowly drizzling thick blood down the inside of my chest. It tried to find sustenance, trying every beat it could muster, but there was absolutely nothing it could do to keep me up. The blood that was once pumping through my limbs froze, turning completely as raw and dead as a pale corpse.

  The sight of the keys, the piano, and the wilting flowers all disappeared to millions of clouds flying away from me, tears slipping from my numb face and collecting in the ether. Wind blasted against my back and neck as I cascaded through the atmosphere.

  What did I… do… wrong…?

  I watched the heavens pull farther and farther away from me between tired eyelids, relinquishing me no comfort or mercy as I plummet away. I imagined being able to hold up a hand to signal for any sort of help from the clouds or sky, or to even make a small noise, but even I knew that there would be nothing up there caring enough to pull me back up or even listen to me.

  A gasp broke from my lips and I flung myself upwards, to find that I was back to… reality. I pulled the strings of my hoodie, twisting and tugging at them to ground myself. A gentle wind cools my sweat-ridden forehead and makes the long grass brush against me, as if trying to comfort me. I release the tension from my grinding jaw, a few teeth shooting throbbing pains throughout my mouth.

  Oh, fuck. It was just a dream. A little too vivid for comfort.

  I rubbed my eyes and looked around to see I had passed out under the same oak tree, the flowing of the creeks down the roads and chirping of animals returning to me. The house I sat in was veiled in drapes of sun, instead of the irregular downcast I had woken up to before all that dream bullshit happened. I scanned the sky for the bell, which had entirely vanished, leaving nothing but a few mindlessly floating clouds where it should’ve been. Apparently it didn’t want to take responsibility for its actions.

  What the fuck was that, even…?

  I stared at my stained fingertips for multiple seconds as if it could tell me the answer to my questions, but of course it couldn’t. I couldn’t even know if it was a dream or not. The flooding houses still existed, but the bell was nowhere to be found. Did I seriously hallucinate an entire ass building? I really doubt that. Was it some sort of test? I’m not sure what the test would’ve even been for. To test how well you can survive suffocation, perhaps. I genuinely had no idea what any of that could’ve meant. Maybe there wasn’t a point. I guess that’s just the nature of dreams.

  I stared at the mossy brick wall for a while, the biting annoyance trickling out of me until I had nothing left inside of me to care for an explanation. I didn’t really know what I was even that upset about before, but I guess I didn’t know what else I was supposed to feel about all that.

  I stood up and shoved my hands back into my pockets, cringing at the sound of crunching moss and vines while I walked out of the house and the town. I tried not to look at anything but the ground, since it was like everything was pointing a laser at me and trying to sear my eyes off. I wasn’t even sure why. Overexposure, I guess. Not that I would’ve stayed anyway, even if I didn't mind the sun. I really didn’t want more freaky dreams. I can have those at home.

  Once I stepped out, it was like I was moving from one world to the next, leaving behind the bitter sunshine for the normal cloudy, grey skies. The dense, thick forest for a normal urban area. The latter was infinitely more comforting, more inviting. The deadly rays of sunshine, entangling nature and burning skies were just a trap, huh? Even if the dream didn’t really happen, it was still like… like it would hold me close in an illusion that was too good to be true, and then toss me out whenever it wanted. I think I was being made fun of, really. Maybe I was right about the curse thing. One win for me, I suppose.

  The light was acid to my eyes at this point, so scalding that it might as well have entirely hidden any possible merit the world had left. It was obvious I wasn’t needed here anymore. I didn’t think I wanted to go back anyway, but I’m sure if it really wanted me here again, I’d find my way back someday.

  —