Dream Girl

                                                                     “To run and laugh beside her in her terrible games,
                                                                     And see her grow each day to a more fearful size,
                                                                     And see the flowering of her soul, and the first flames
                                                                   Of passionate longing in the misty depths of her eyes.”

                                                                                                   -Charles Baudelaire, “The Giantess”

         When I woke up, I was very thirsty.
         I got out of bed and walked through my bedroom door, but instead of the upstairs hallway, I found myself in a small, unfamiliar room with red walls. Aside from a tall mirror leaning against the far wall, the room was bare. I tried to go back to my room, but the door I had entered through was no longer there.
         I looked behind the mirror, the only possible place for an exit. Finding no door, I pressed my hand against the mirror, but there was no glass. My hand passed through the reflection, disappearing from sight. Seeing no other option, I stepped through the mirror.
         On the other side was a room with a giant doorway and a normal-sized table. I couldn’t reach the doorknob even if I jumped.
         There was a bottle of liquid and a bowl of candy on the table. The bottle was labeled “Drink Me” and the bowl “Eat Me.” Still thirsty, I took a big gulp from the bottle. The liquid was strangely cold and tasted very sweet.
         The coldness radiated through my body and I watched as the door in front of me became bigger. Then, I realized that the table was getting bigger too. Everything around me slowly stretched upwards as a feeling of utter helplessness washed over me.
         I stopped shrinking when I was one inch tall.  I began to despair until I realized that I could slip under the immense door at my new height.
         Just then the door opened. I looked up, but because of how close I was, I couldn’t see the face of the girl who entered the room. Whoever she was, she had long, blonde hair and she wore black shoes, thigh-high white socks and a blue dress. She was about the same size as I used to be.
         She stepped forward from the doorway, nearly crushing me underfoot. She walked up to the table. I still couldn’t see her face, as her back was to me, but I heard her taking candy from the bowl on the table and unwrapping it. If the drink makes you shrink, then the candy…
         She popped the candy into her mouth and, within seconds, she grew even bigger.  Thirteen feet, fourteen feet, fifteen feet. I gazed up in horror. The girl was hundreds of times my size. I was now nothing more than a speck of dust compared to her.
         “Wow!” she said, looking herself over. “I can’t believe this. I feel so powerful…This is amazing.” The voice was familiar.
         The girl turned back towards the door. She raised her foot high over my head, casting a shadow the size of a city block on me. I watched as it hung over me, unable to move or do anything. Then, the foot came crashing down.

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         I woke up with a start. I was in my room and the clock said it was only 3:15 A.M. I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and lay down again. I closed my eyes, but sleep didn’t come easily. I just couldn’t get that dream out of my head. It was much more real than any dream I ever remembered having.
         I got up the next morning tired. I went downstairs and ate some cereal before walking to school. I couldn’t focus on anything the whole day. It didn’t really matter because it was my senior year and most of my classes were art. All I could think about was the dream and how alive it had made me feel.
         It was the worst in fifth hour. That was the class I had with Summer. Summer Coldwell was a transfer student who came to the school three months before. She was the one in my dream.
         I had never seen a more beautiful girl. Everything about her was perfect. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and a gorgeous smile. She had a perfect, athletic body with C-cup breasts and a sexy butt, but her best feature had to be her striking deep-blue eyes. She was very soft-spoken and she always seemed to have a warm, cheerful demeanor.
         I spent every fifth hour admiring her. I’m a macrophile, so I often fantasized about what it would be like to be in her shoe or if she swallowed me. The night before was the first time I had a dream like that, though…
         I had asked out girls before, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask Summer. I couldn’t handle having her turn me down.
         When school was over, I met my best friend, Elle, outside. We walked home together every day.
         “Hey, Luke,” Elle said. “Are you feeling all right?”
         “Yeah,” I said groggily. “I just didn’t sleep much last night.”
         “Too much on your mind?” she asked.
         “No,” I said. “Just a weird dream.”
         “Really?” she said excitedly. Elle had always been interested in dreams. She even spent one summer trying to teach herself to lucid dream. “What was it about?”
         She knew I had a crush on Summer, but, for some reason, I didn’t want to tell Elle that the dream was about her. “I can’t remember, but I couldn’t sleep after it…” That was when I realized that I had never lied to Elle before.
         We parted ways when I reached my house. I went into the living room and lay down on the couch to take a nap.
         “Wake up, loser!” I opened my eyes and saw that Jesse, my step-sister, was standing over me. She dressed in what she called “industrialist” style. She was wearing a black T-shirt advertising a local metal band and a black miniskirt. Her hair, which was naturally black, was cut short and tinted dark red. She had six tattoos, including one of a skull on her chest, which she liked to show off. “Get off the couch. I want to watch TV.”
         “Shouldn’t you be at work?” I grumbled.
         “Not that it’s any of your business, but I got fired yesterday,” said Jesse. “Now, move!”
         I get up from the couch. Jesse sat down and added, “Mom says she wants the dishes done before she gets home. Make yourself useful and get to work.” Jesse always acted like a bitch, but she especially liked making me miserable.
         After finishing the dishes, I went up to my room and slept for an hour until my parents got home from work. I went downstairs and joined them for dinner. Then I spent most of the night on the Internet before I went to sleep.

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          “Where did that little bug go?” Jesse muttered to herself.
          My heart was beating furiously as I tried to stop panting for air. I boldly stuck my head out from behind cover. Two huge feet, covered in black nylon stockings, awaited me beyond the shadows. I had managed to take cover under the sofa, but it was only a matter of time before she looked here. I forced myself to stand up, but I stayed hidden behind the wooden leg of the sofa.
         I could hear her footsteps as she started moving away from the couch. I figured it would be safest to climb up onto the couch, as she wouldn’t look there again. I left the darkness and started scaling the right side of the couch.                                                  
         I made my way over the armrest of the couch and dropped down onto the cushion. I tried to calm down and rest. Just then, I saw Jesse coming back toward me. She had finished searching around the TV and was returning to the couch. I was paralyzed with fear as she drew closer. She was sure to see me.
          She got down on her hands and knees and searched underneath the sofa where I had just been.
         I couldn’t believe my luck. I looked around and saw there was nowhere to hide except in between the cushions of the couch. I made my way toward the gap when Jesse finished looking under the couch and lifted her head.  Her eyes locked onto me.
         She smiled ominously as she stood up and turned away from the couch. “Well, I guess the little insect got away,” she said in a melodramatic tone. She had always been a terrible actress. “I’m exhausted after all this searching. I need to SIT DOWN and rest.”
         I turned and tried to run back to the armrest, but she moved too quickly. She sat down on top of me. I was knocked over and smushed face-first into the sofa cushion by Jesse’s ass. “Gotcha,” giggled Jesse as she wiggled in her seat, painfully grinding me underneath her.

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         I woke up again. A glance at the clock confirmed that it was 3:15. I tried going back to sleep, but it was no use.
         “You look even worse today,” said Elle as we walked home that day. She had a habit of being brutally honest.
         “Thanks,” I muttered.
         “More bad dreams?” she asked.
         “Yeah,” I said. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll go away on its own.”
         “Sometimes, dreams are just summaries of what happened in a day, but other times, they’re the subconscious’ way of telling you something,” said Elle. “Do you think that might be it?”
         “I don’t know. Maybe,” I say unconvincingly. I knew I needed something to take my mind off of the dreams and I definitely did not want to go home and risk running into Jesse. “Hey, how about we go to the mall and see a movie?”
         Elle smiled. “That sounds great,” she said.
         We walked to the mall. As we passed through the food court on the way to the movie theater, I spied Summer sitting at one of the tables, eating an ice cream sundae from Dairy Queen. I tried my best to act like I didn’t notice her as me and Elle made our way to the theater.
         Elle woke me up as the end credits were rolling. She said that I fell asleep almost immediately after the lights dimmed.
         We walked back to our houses. Fortunately, Jesse was out at a party, so I didn’t have to deal with her. At 9 o’clock, I turned off the lights and lay down in my bed. Once again, I was at the mercy of Morpheus.

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          I woke up shivering and disoriented.  I was lying on something that was soft, sticky, and very cold. I sat up and looked around. The surroundings were not immediately familiar, though it did look like a kitchen.
         Then she appeared. Summer walked into the kitchen. She was wearing a pair of pajama pants and a green T-shirt. She was as tall as  a skyscraper. As she approached, I had to crane my neck to see her face. It was then that I discovered that I was resting on top of a bowlful of vanilla ice cream on her kitchen counter.
         I tried to get her attention, but Summer was clearly lost in thought as she picked up the bottle of chocolate syrup and poured it liberally over her frozen treat. In the process, I was covered in the dark, sticky syrup, making it even more difficult for her to see me.          
         Summer picked up the bowl and carried it into the living room. She sat down on the couch and began slowly eating the ice cream as she pondered. Each spoonful that was scooped out of the bowl caused me to panic more and more. It’s only a matter of time before…
         “I wonder if he even knows I exist…” Summer muttered to herself before absent-mindedly taking another bite of ice cream. “Why can’t I just ask him?”
         The spoon descended again and plunged into the mound underneath me. I was raised into the air and toward Summer’s lips. Rather than being scared at the sight, I find myself entranced, hypnotized even.
         Her lips parted, revealing huge white teeth and a titanic tongue. Everything went dark as she closed her mouth and the spoon was pulled out from under me. I landed on Summer’s tongue, which began to caress and prod my body as she enjoyed my taste. Suddenly, I was pulled to the back of her mouth and towards her cavernous throat. Then, I tumbled headlong into the darkness.

                                                                             *                              *                              *
         
         My eyes opened. I sat up and looked around. It looked like I was in my sixth hour classroom, but it was much bigger.  I was lying on top of my desk, a mere four inches tall, and the clock on the wall said that school had just let out.
         The door opened and Summer walked in. Summer was wearing a pink tank top, denim shorts, and sandals. She walked over to her desk and picked a book off the floor. “I can’t believe I almost forgot this…” she mumbled to herself.
         Not wanting to be left behind here for the night, I waved my arms and shouted, “Summer! Over here! Help!”
         As she turned to leave, she caught a glimpse of me. She slowly approached my desk, unsure of what was happening. As she came closer, her expression turned from one of confusion to incredulous excitement. “…Luke? Is that you?”
         She knew my name?
         “Summer, thank God you came,” I shouted. “I don’t know what happened, but I woke up like this.”
         Summer knelt down to get a better look at me. Her eyes were wide with amazement. She set her hand on the desk, palm up. I stepped onto it and braced myself as she stood up. “Well, I can’t just leave you here. My house is only a couple blocks away. I’ll take you there.”
         She opened her purse and gingerly set me down inside, leaving it unzipped. After ten minutes, I felt the purse being put down and Summer fished me out.
         We were in her bedroom. She put me down on her bed and sat down beside me. We talked for a long time, getting to know each other. Then, after an awkward pause, Summer made a confession. “You know, I’ve kinda had a crush on you since I moved here,” Summer admitted. “I just never had the courage to talk to you.”
         “I can’t believe it,” I replied. “I feel the same way about you. I’ve wanted to ask you out for weeks.”
         We both laughed about it. “To think, if you hadn’t shrunk, we might never have told each other,” Summer said. “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.”
         “Yeah,” I said. “I think you’re right.”
         Summer got up and walked toward the bathroom adjacent to her room. “I’m going to go take a shower.” She paused and turned back toward me. “Do you…want to join me?” She began blushing as soon as the words left her mouth.
         “More than anything,” I said. I felt like the luckiest man in the world.
         Summer returned to the bed, picked me up, and went into the bathroom. She set me down on the sink and she took off her top. I was so busy staring at her perky breasts that I completely missed her taking off her shorts. Finally, she slipped off her lacey, pink panties. There she was, the girl of my dreams, standing naked in all of her glorious beauty. She was nothing less than a goddess.
         She turned on the water. She took me in her hand as she stepped into the shower.
         Summer squirted some body wash into her hand and covered me in it. She tenderly rubbed me all over her slippery breasts and her sleek stomach. I could tell she was enjoying the feeling of me sliding over her smooth skin as much as I was.
         She ran me up and down her long, slender legs slowly. Next, she massaged her hips and ass with my soapy body. She saved the best for last as she then rubbed me against her pussy. A soft, drawn-out moan escaped her lips as she began to scrub more vigorously. I am completely overwhelmed with sensation as she gently stuck me into her womanhood, feet first. Her moans of passion grew louder and I felt myself sinking deeper until…

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         Once again, I woke up.
         Every night for a week, I dreamt of giantesses and every night I woke up at 3:15, unable to return to sleep. Most of the dreams were about Summer, but sometimes there were other girls I knew or had seen during the day. Sometimes they were kind and gentle, sometimes playful and seductive, other times sadistic and dominating. I began to enjoy the dreams more and more, but I wasn’t getting nearly enough sleep.
         Over time, the sleep deprivation started to get to me. The real world began to become hazier as I made my way through the day, waiting for the next chance to dream. The dreams, on the other hand, were vivid and, no matter how surreal they became, they felt incredibly real.
           It was Friday. I met Elle outside school like always. I could tell she was really worried about me.          “How have you been?” she asked. It was obvious from her tone that she already knew the answer.
         “Still can’t sleep,” I said.
         “Have you thought about going to the doctor?” Elle suggested. “It could help.”
         “No,” I said. “It will handle itself, I’m sure.”
         “Doing nothing hasn’t worked yet and you need to get some sleep,” Elle said firmly. “I’ve been thinking…I could teach you what I know about lucid dreaming. I don’t know if it will help, but maybe if you can control the dreams, you can finally get some sleep.”
         “Maybe…” I replied.
         I went over to Elle’s house every day for the next week and she tried to teach me lucid dreaming. I started asking myself whether I was dreaming all the time and I kept a dream journal. The techniques didn’t really seem to help me in my dreams, but all the time I spent with Elle helped bring me back to reality. I found my waking thoughts were no longer focused on Summer, but on Elle.
         
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         The people on the street stared up in wonder as the colossal girl passed by. Elle strode down the streets of the city with me perched on her left shoulder. The view of the city’s skyline was spectacular and I couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy before.
           “HEY!” shouted a thunderous voice from behind us.
         Elle turned to face the speaker. Summer stood in the street, seventy feet tall and clad in nothing but a bra and panties. “Give him back to me,” Summer demands. “He’s mine.”
         Elle took me off of her shoulder and set me on a nearby rooftop. Keeping her eyes trained on her opponent, she said, “Go. Run and hide.”
         Elle and Summer both charged at each other. They collided and began to grapple as I looked for a hiding place. Sticking to the rooftops was too dangerous and it would leave me visible to Summer. I decide to get down to ground level. I started down a fire escape which led to an alleyway on the left side of the building Elle put me on.
         A well-aimed right hook from Summer knocked Elle to the ground. The violent tremor that resulted from the impact almost caused me to lose my grip on the ladder, but I made it down safely.
         I peeked around the corner of the alley to see how the fight was going. I was standing dangerously close to Summer, but her back was to me. Elle had stood up, but she was still dazed. Summer grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her into the side of a building. The entire front half of the building was demolished and, when the dust settled, I could see Elle was lying unconscious in the wreckage.
         “Elle!” I yelled instinctively.
         Summer turned and smiled at the sight of me. I quickly ran back into the alley as Summer gave chase. Fortunately, the alley was narrow and Summer couldn’t get in. Unfortunately for me, the alley was a dead end.
         Summer knelt down and reached her arm into the long, narrow gap between the buildings. Her immense fingers slowly got closer and closer to me as she struggled to reach further.
         Eventually, her fingers wrapped around my body and pulled me out. Clutching me in her fist, she raised me up to her face. Her beautiful blue eyes were full of rage. “You shouldn’t have run away, my little slave. Now, I’ll have to punish you.”
           Suddenly, everything was chaos. My vision became a disorienting blur of motion and color. My ears were filled with the sound of whistling air and then a massive crash.
         When it was over, I found myself lying in Summer’s open palm. Summer was sprawled out in the street with Elle sitting on top of her. Elle must have tackled her when she was distracted…
         Elle picked me up. Her eyes were tearful, but she smiled joyfully at me. She pressed me to her chest in a passionate embrace.

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         “So, have the lucid dreaming techniques been working?” Elle asked as we walked home.
         “Yeah,” I said. “I think they have. Thanks for teaching me…Listen, there’s something I have to tell you about the dreams.”
         “What about them?”
         “…They’re about Summer.”
         “Oh,” Elle said. I wanted to tell her about the latest dream, but the words became stuck in my throat.
         After an awkward moment of silence, she continued. “Then, I think you should talk to her. It’s your best chance to stop the dreams.”
         “You think so?”
         “Yes,” she said with a nod and a sad smile.
         We went our separate ways again. I went into the house, sat on the couch, and watched some TV. A few minutes later, Jesse came home.
         “My show’s on,” Jesse said as she reached for the remote. “Get lost.”
         I snatched the remote away from her and said, “No.”
         “What?” inquired Jesse incredulously.
         I glared at her. “I’m not taking any more of your shit,” I said. “So just shut up and leave me alone.”
         Jesse looked genuinely shocked for a second. Then, she just scoffed and stalked off to her room.
         Well, that’s one problem solved, I thought to myself.

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         I scaled the stone monolith. The ascent was difficult; there were few footholds and the rock was slick from the rain. After a hard climb, I reached the top and pulled myself onto the plateau. For the first time, I knew that this was a dream. Elle’s lucid dreaming techniques had finally worked.
         Standing in front of me was Summer. She wore a gigantic steel breastplate and metal leggings, while her arms were left exposed. The top of the tower upon which I stood was level with her chest. This time, I knew that it was not Summer.
         I placed my hand on the hilt of the sword on my belt.
         “What are you?” I asked.
         “I’m the girl of your dreams,” she replied sweetly. “I’m your lover and your guardian. I’m your mistress and your queen. Whatever you want me to be.”
         “It’s over,” I told her. “No more dreams.”
         Summer laughed and put her hands on her hips. “How cute. You make it sound like you have a choice in the matter,” she said smugly. “You really don’t know what you want, do you? That’s why I’m here. To tell you what you want and to give it to you.”
         “I’m going to ask Summer out tomorrow,” I said. “I don’t need you anymore. It’s only now that I see that I never did.”
           I was surprised as the dream Summer looked hurt by this comment. “She’ll only disappoint you,” Summer said, suddenly defensive. “Don’t you see? I can be perfect. I’ll never fight with you. I’ll always do what you want without you even asking. I can be anyone and I can fulfill all of your fantasies for you. How can you choose her over me?!”
         The dream Summer raised her hand. I dodged out of the way just as she slammed her palm down on top of the tower. I jumped onto her hand and dashed up her arm.
         I made it up to her shoulder before Summer pulled her arm back and tried to brush me off with the other hand. I grabbed onto a strand of her hair and held on for dear life.
         Summer, unsure of where I was, tried to shake me off. When the hair I was hanging on swung in front of her, I jumped. I landed on her breastplate with a dull metallic thud.
         I unsheathed my sword. With superhuman strength, I plunged it through the metal armor and into her heart. Summer cried out in rage as she collapsed to her knees. I jumped off as the dream Summer fell face down on the ground.
                             
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         I woke up at 7:30 after the first full night of sleep I’ve had in a month.
         I went to school early and I immediately looked for Summer. I found her talking with some of her friends. She turned to face me.
         “Hi, Luke,” she said. She did know my name.
         “Would you like to go out tonight?” I asked.
         She smiled. “Sure.”
         The dreams stopped after that. Summer and I went out for a couple of weeks. She was beautiful, kind, and funny, but it just didn’t work out between us. A little while after we broke up, I realized that this whole thing had taught me that I shouldn’t be afraid of taking a chance and telling someone how I feel.
         One day on the way home from school, I turned to Elle and said, “I’m in love with you.”
         We both stopped in our tracks. Elle blushed as we slowly got closer to each other. She wrapped her arms around me as I pressed my lips to hers. We kissed for a long time and, when we separated, Elle whispered, “I love you too.”
         We dated for three years before I finally proposed to her. Elle and I were married and we’ve lived happily ever since. I finally got my dream girl.