Portal or Dream

Rob fought the sound of the alarm by wrapping his pillow around his head. The loud buzzing was unrelenting, so he leaned over and hit the alarm to shut it off. Rubbing his eyes he took in a deep breath and stood, trying to squeeze away the pain in his lower back. The corner of his eye caught an image move across his bedroom door. His half-open green eyes quickly came to attention, scanning the door that lead to the living room for any movement. The sun was bright in the living room, just beyond his darkened doorway. He called out “Hello?” with no reply.

Reasoning away his fears Rob worked to settle his racing heart. He walked into the master bathroom, and flipped on the light. The reflection of the fear on his face gave him a chuckle – he was overreacting. He checked his receding hairline and his dark hair was another few more inches toward the back of his head, at least his mind told him that. He turned the sink on and lifted the water to his face with his cupped hands. The water seemed to be unusually lukewarm, as if it did not have a temperature. Wiping his face with his towel and trying to understand the water, something caught his eye in the reflection. He was sure something was out there. It was small not the size of a man, more like a boy, but he didn’t understand why his eyes could not see the figure, just a blur.

Calling out hello again, not expecting an answer, he moved back to the bedroom to locate a decent weapon. He scanned the room, bed – nothing, dresser – nothing, floor – nothing, closet – nothing, the only thing he could find was the book on his nightstand. Rob started walking slowly toward the living room, holding the book up high. The book was shaking slightly from the trembling in his hands. This boy was going to pay for trying to play around in his house. He couldn’t understand how the boy got in, since he knew the doors were locked, but this kid was going to pay for messing with him. The book would make a good paddle, he thought.

He knew where the boy went but he was surprised to see nothing in his living room. Rob relaxed a little now that nothing was in the room. Lowering the book, with a puzzled look on his face, he turned looking around. He felt something behind him. He sensed it and spun back quickly and the blur was now standing in front of him. It was just that a blur. He could nearly see through it, but it blurred the colors that were refracting of its surface. What was this strange being?

Rob stuck the book out to touch it and it opened slightly, revealing a green strip that was still blurry behind the image. He moved the book a little closer. It opened more. Rob tried to process what he was seeing but it didn’t make sense. It looked like a patch of grass and his face felt warm as he leaned in closer to look. The grass was greener then any grass he’d ever seen, there was a blue sky with the sun shining bright and a light breeze keeping it from being too hot. He could see snowcapped mountains off in the distance. He took his first step into the grass, testing it like he was checking the temperature of a pool. It was solid and it felt like grass so he continued into the strange world. The grass extended out as a large field with specks of flowers and was framed by large pine trees, which looked perfect and manufactured instead of natural. He took a few steps into the strange world and turned back to find the hole he came through. It was gone! A sense of panic hit him, as he felt trapped, there was no way back. How was he going to get out? This place was great but he had no idea where he was. He wanted out.

A large siren sounded out, seeming to come from nowhere. He covered his ears and started to run toward the woods. His mind remembered an air raid siren so he expected the next moments would be filled with explosions. The instant he thought that the tree line lit up with flames and the trees splintered sending him sprawling to the ground. The loud rumble of the planes that flew past him, drowned out the sounds of the siren. The planes were old, from World War II, what were they doing here? The siren stopped and his eyes were looking into the beautiful blue sky with puffy clouds moving slowly past. A voice disturbed his silence, “Sir, are you OK?”

The face that was blocking his view of the sky was young, noticeable by the small spots of acne, with deep brown eyes. A green helmet with a white star was covering his dark hair. “Huh?” was all that Rob could murmur. The kid was saying something else but Rob wasn’t paying attention because he wasn’t in his pajamas anymore. He was wearing war gear. What was he doing in war gear?

“Sir!” the kid yelled holding Rob’s face. He gazed back at him with wonder. “Where…”

“Let’s get you out of here.” And the kid’s arm lifted him to his feet. He felt something move down his face and lifted his hand to feel it, warm and runny. He looked at the deep maroon color of red that was on his fingers and tried to register in his head that it was his blood. Pain was starting to come from a wound on his head. His memories started to slip back to him.

He was in a war and ran for cover in the trees just before a loud noise, then darkness. He woke in that strange house, or did the strange house come first?