Finding Reality: Prologue

Prologue


"Tell me, child. What do you see?" A voice, a very old voice asked me.

"I don't see anything," I answered, looking around at nothing. I then heard a low chuckle coming from my right.

"Look closer," it whispered into my ear. "What do you see?"

I looked again, curious of what the voice was trying to show me. My eyes then squinted closed to see if there was some sort of clue to this puzzle, but to my dismay, there was nothing there to be a clue.

"Do not try so hard," said the voice, having a slight humour in between the words it spoke. "The answer to your puzzle, child, is right in front of you."

I then peered over to my right believing that's where the voice was coming from. "Who are you?" I asked.

For some reason I could feel the voice was smiling down at me. "All things shall be revealed within time, child. But first, you must not be fooled by what you see, for not all things appear as they seem to be," the voice answered.

I gazed down upon my feet as I pondered over the voice's words. Appearances are not all what they seem, hmm…. I wonder…. I looked back up to find everything was still the same. I then took a deep breath as I closed my eyes and held very still.

That's when I felt it.

A pull, a force, a magnificent power flowing all around me, this place is a mystery to me. I know nothing about it, and yet, I do not know how to explain it or how I came to be here, but I feel something telling me that I belong here somehow, telling me that I've been here many times before, and soon many times to come. I feel as though I am home.

"Yes, you are correct, child," the voice whispered. "Now, open your eyes."

I did, but what I saw was something I've never expected. A plain, simple white feather stood, no, hovered a few feet before me. I couldn't look away, not even the pure white upon it that blinded my eyes could make me turn from its beauty. I felt drawn to it, like the same force I felt before was calling for me, whispering into my ear by an unfelt wind.

Taking a step forward, I gradually lifted my hand and touched the soft texture of the vane. I only for a second felt it tickling upon the tips of my fingers when a soft gust of wind flowed against me, pushing against me strong enough to step away. When I held my ground, I watched as the scene unfolded before me.

A black liquid began to flow out of nowhere down the shaft of the feather. It gradually moved its way down to the calamus until it was at the very tip before it started to build up into a liquid ball. Then, that's when the power of gravity took control and pulled the liquid ball away from the feather.

In that one second, time seemed to grow still.

Before my eyes, I watched as the ball of black liquid fell as though there were no end. It grew smaller and smaller until I could no longer see it in my sight. I waited in silence for something, anything to happen, but nothing came.

I was wrong…

I heard it. It was soft and still, but I heard it. It echoed softly within my ears, but it then grew louder and louder until… nothing.

I swore I heard it. That sound that softly echoed in my ears, a sound of a drop connecting to solid ground. But I hear nothing, nothing but the rushing rhythm of my heart beat.

Suddenly, my ears were filled with a loud drumbeat, that seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was too strong for me to hear anything else, even when I tried to block it out. It was as though the sound before was being rewound only it wasn't soft, but loud and painful to listen. Before I realized what was happening, a gust of wind started to rush out from beneath me. It wasn't like a soft breeze, but the kind where you'll get blown away from inside of a hurricane. With my ears clutched, I held myself against the wind by moving my body into a tight ball. That's when I peered down at the site where the liquid ball disappeared to. My eyes widen at what I saw headed straight towards me.

A hundred, no, probably thousands of white feathers were coming at a great speed. They appeared like a thousand of arrows were launched for an attack of great battle, only this isn't a battle. Fear over took me as I guarded my face with my arms and waited for the pain to come.

I waited, but nothing happened.

Once more I heard that voice chuckling at me. "Why are you afraid, child? What is it that you fear? There's nothing for you to fear here. Look and see. There's nothing there to be afraid of. Go on now, look."

Hearing that voice again calmed me. Taking in a shaky breath, I looked.

I froze.

I gasped at what I saw.

All the feathers, thousands of feathers, surrounded me while hovering high above in a perfect circle. Rows and rows of feathers circled around me, spread as far as my eyes could see. Seeing one feather was beautiful enough, but this…. I have no words to say.

"You have seen nothing yet," the voice chuckled out. "Watch child and see the power of imagination take place."

True to the voice's words, one by one all the feathers began to bleed into all the colors of the rainbow. I watched as one feather bled into the color of red, and then the domino effect took place as the feather next to it bled into a lighter color of red. The process continued until the wave of colors came back around to the beginning, creating a complete full circle of the rainbow that shines before me.

It was breathtaking.

"There's more," the voice whispered in my ear.

More?! How can there be more then this?! I wondered.

Soon, before I could even blink, the one single feather that still shone pure white descended until the tip of the calamus touched the invisible floor that I'm standing upon. Suddenly, the feather started to move all over the place, creating black lines as it went. I couldn't even keep my eyes on it, one second it was drawing lines at one point, then the next it was in a completely different spot. As the white feather created its lines, many of the colorful feathers come into play as they started to color in between the lines and the odd shapes the white feather left behind.

I watched, amazed upon seeing thousands of feathers working together, moving as fast as they create a whole new world in a blink of an eye. Everywhere I look, something new has come to life! I didn't even notice until I began to smell the scent of grass, flowers and… did I smell chocolate? True to my sense of smell, a tall, magnificent tree stood before me and upon the trunk of the tree was dark, rich chocolate melting its way down to the… orange grass?

I blinked, and then gasp as I saw the grass turned yellow, then green! Blue! Purple! What is this place?!

I turned my eyes away from the grass to find a world unlike any other.

"Magnificent, isn't it," said the voice, only this time it sounded a lot more clearer then hearing it as though it were speaking from the other end of a long hallway.

This time when I turned towards the voice, a tall, very old man stood right next to me. "What is this place?" I asked him in utter shock.

He turned to face me with the most beautiful colorful eyes I have ever seen. At first I thought they were merely contacts for no one could have any eye color as bizarre as his, but the glasses on the tip of his nose snapped that thought away. He smiled at me. "This place is a magical place. What you see here is the work of billions of imaginations from all over the world put into one. This is the work of all the minds creating a world unlike any other, a world where all your dreams shall come true. I welcome you, child, to Everland!"

As if on cue, fireworks began to burst from all over as blue, yellow and orange glowing balls began to fly around freely. Even the grass started to shine in many colors as well as the sky above. Everything seemed to come alive once he said those words.

"I… I don't understand. What is this place? How was it created?"

The old man smiled at me. "Let me ask you this, child. When a person lays upon their bed for a good night's rest, where would their minds go when they sleep? What would they see? What would they hear?"

"They… dream? They see and hear their dreams?" I answered.

"Precisely," he smiled. "This, child, is Everland, a magical place where you dream!"

I blink, and then I turned away from him to stare out over the land upon the hill where I stand. "But," I swallowed, fearing that this is too good to be true. "But it feels so real. How can it…?"

"But it is," he whispered.

"Wait… if this place is for dreams then… what about the nightmares?" After those words made their way out of my mouth, everything froze. I cringed away, knowing that everything was staring at me. Did I say something wrong?

"No, child, you have every right to ask questions, but this one I shall tell you later. There is so much I wish to show you, but there is so little time we have," sighed the old man.

"But I still don't understand how all this came to be! I mean I know dreams are real and all, but this… How?!"

The old man smiled at me once more before kneeling down to level his face with mine. "Tell me, child, what is this I hold in my hand?" A beautiful golden coin with designs I have never seen before upon it glistened in my eyes.

"A coin?" I answered.

"Good," he said before closing his hand over the coin and then right away reopening it again. "What is it now?"

I looked, and then blinked to find the coin was completely blank. "A… a piece of metal?"

"Very good," he smiled as he then once more closed his hand over the object and reopening it again. "Can you guess what it is this time?"

This time he held the object between his pointer and middle fingers, but when I looked at it, something was very odd the way it looked then the past two times he showed it to me. One side was blank, but other had the same designs engraved in it just like I saw before.

"A piece of metal?" I answered again, and then blink at the old man's laughter.

"Very good, lad, not many people would answer it correctly. Most say, because of the side with the designs, it's a coin. But you are very smart to know that it can't be a coin without the other side," he laughed, and then stared at me with the most serious look I have ever seen on his face. "Just like this coin, child. Dreams can never be dreams without reality. Only the minds with great imaginations can exist in reality and only in reality. Without it, dreams won't exist."

"So," I began, thinking over the words he spoke, "because of peoples' imaginations in reality, dreams are created and so was this world, right?"

The old man laughed at me as he stood and stared down at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face. "I knew it! I knew it! You are the one! Come with me, child. Allow me to show you Everland!" He was about to turn away when something accord to me.

"Wait," I said, halting the old man to turn to face me again. "You never answered my question from earlier. Who are you?"

Once again the old man smiled. "Forgive me; my memory is not as young as it once was, and to answer your question, child. I am," he paused while taking off his top hat and then tilting his cane to the side as he bowed to me like a gentleman would and said, "The Dream Maker."

…

Ah yes, The Dream Maker. I would never forget that old coot. It wasn't long after I first met him on that day when I started calling him my grandfather. He was a funny old man, always happy, and putting a smile on my face whenever I come and visit him.

Yes, it was fun while it lasted. The memories I made with him during that year I shall always remember. They are my most precious gifts, and they are all I have left.

And I share these memories to you, my dear friend, for I fear that this maybe the last moment we shall see each other. I ask of you to keep these memories safe. I dare not wish for any of them to be harmed.

My friend, please, do not look at me that way. I know we've spend so much time together over the years, but you and I both have known that this time would come.

Please, my friend, grant me my last wish, keep them safe forever.

So I would forever rest in peace.

From your Dearest Friend,

Mr. CandyFar.

The tall, old man sighed as he stared down over his journal before placing his feathered pen back into the ink jar, and then very slowly closed his old journal for the last time. Taking the journal within his hands as though it could break at any moment, he pulled himself up to his feet and step by step walked over to the tall bookshelf filled with books in many different shapes and sizes. Stopping it front of it, Mr. CandyFar looked over the cover of his journal for the last time before placing it in the only place available on the bookshelf right next to hundred other journals he made over the years.

He then turned away without giving another glance while his sad gaze fell over his old home. Taking everything in, he could all most picture all of his memories replaying the moment and the time it took place here in his home. Sighing once more, the old man gently took off his top hat.

"My friend," he whispered to the hat, "I can no longer wear you. My time has come and the time for your new owner. You must go now, my friend, and leave me for I fear the darkness may take you away. Hide away somewhere safe until the time has come for the new to arise. Go my friend." With those words said the top hat poofed into nothing but sparkles falling gently to the ground.

Mr. CandyFar stared sadly at what was left of his top hat before turning towards one of millions of paintings hovering around his home. The painting he was staring at appeared unlike any of the others. Inside the frame was a painting of a tall wooden pole with four signs pointing four different ways in the middle of nothing. Taking a step forward, the old man gently touch the painting with his hand and the next thing he knew, his surroundings began to change until something that once was his home was now the empty place where the wooden pole stands.

The sound of his shoes echoed softly around in his ears as he peered around for just a moment when his eyes settled on the tall wooden pole. Taking a deep breath, the old man closed his eyes and stood very still.

A familiar presence rushed over him, he smiled when feeling the power embracing him like a gentle hug. He welcomed it like an old friend.

"I believe it's about time for me to go," he spoke as his voice echoed around him. "I am ready. There is nothing else for me here."

Suddenly, he frowned. "I don't understand. My time has come, how can I be still wanted here? If I don't leave soon, he may come and… I… I understand. I should not doubt your words, but I am unsure if this is wise… Yes, I know. All of you are wiser then I, but I still have my own thoughts about this... Yes… I will stay."

The old man stood there sadly as the warming presence he felt gradually began to fade away. It grew further and further away until nothing was left. Then, that's when he felt a cold chill rushing down his spin. A foul smell reached his nostrils as he felt a dark presence gradually moving closer and closer until it was right behind him. Mr. CandyFar then reopened his eyes to find a shadow tripled the size as his looming over him.

"What a surprise," spoke a cold sneering voice. "And to think, after allll of what you've have done, they treat you as nothing! They leave you here allll alone. And you looked sooooo a forward into being with them, but they turned their backs on you! Sooooo sad. But do not worry; I shall take good care of you, Mr. CandyFar."

"Your lies are nothing but fire against water, demon. Do what you want with me, but you shall never get what you desire," said the old man without fear.

"Ahhhhh… but there's where you're wrong, my friend," said the demon.

Mr. CandyFar paid no mind to the dark presence as he kept his gaze in front of him. It wasn't long before he began to hear the creaking and the crackling sounds of the demon's skeleton feet. Taking slow steps, the dark creature then made its way in front of the old man, leaving a trail of blood behind. The demon then forced the old man by its blood dripping skeleton hand to look into its bleeding black and red eyes.

"You surrendering to me is only the beginning of the end, Dream Maker," the creature smiled.

"Lying won't get you anywhere, Parasite," sneered the Dream Maker.

The Parasite chuckled. "We shall see."

…

"We've interrupted this program for breaking news. Just this morning at around 8:35 am, Mr. CandyFar, the owner of the famous Mr. CandyFar's Candy Factory, was found dead in his home. Authorities say that he has passed away mysteriously in his sleep. They are still investigating on this case, so far there have been no reports saying what had caused his death. Stay tuned for more at eleven.

On other breaking news, a young boy risked his life today by playing hero after saving a blind old man from being run over by a black track. Witnesses say that the blind man was crossing the street while the light at the intersection was still green for the oncoming traffic. The young boy saw the danger the blind man was in and risked his life by knocking the blind man away just in time.

Witnesses also say that they spotted something flying out of the black truck as it swerved away from the pedestrians. From the looks of it on this NYPD intersection video camera, it appears to be a green canister of some kind that landed into the storm drain, right into the sewers. Authorities are currently investigating in the sewers as I speak, so far nothing has been reported yet. This is your local channel'6 news; stay tuned for more at eleven."

The beginning of the end… has begun…