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Fade in.

A bright day. The smell of summer.

He was sitting on a bench, looking out over a field. The field was relatively flat, with only a few gentle slopes, and a lone tree standing solemnly off in the distance. A small stone wall stretched out into the horizon.

Sheep lazily grazed at the short, green grass.

The scene was simple, without a lot of detail, but it was very serene.

This is nice, he thought quietly to himself.

A soft song rose up to his ears. He turned and looked at the young woman sitting next to him on the bench.

She hummed a quiet little tune as she gently stroked the cat lying in her lap. The woman was also admiring the pleasant view, her eyes slowly roaming every inch of the simple countryside she had created in her mind.

The man was invisible to her, as was always the case.

They sat there for a few moments, observing and admiring their peaceful surroundings. After a while, the womand stood up. She placed the cat on the bench and turned her attention toward the distant tree. Then she started to walk towards it.

The cat on the bench vanished into nothingness.

The man quickly rose to his feet as the bench vanished.

He proceeded to follow the woman through the field.

After what seemed like hours, she arrived at the tall tree with her clandestine companion in tow. The large trunk was gigantic in appearance and seemed to tower over her.

He looked closer and saw that she was now a small child.

She had jumped back in her mind and was now remembering herself as a little girl. He reflected on how regularly he had seen this happen in people’s dreams. For a brief moment he almost wished he could remember his own childhood but resigned himself to the notion that this was better. He enjoyed the happy dreams of others much more than unhappy memories of his own.

It took mere seconds for her to climb the tree. She scurried out to the end of the widest branch at the top, sat down and dangled her legs over the side, softly giggling to herself.

She seemed happy.

The dream continued for a long time. He followed her over rocks and under bridges and through streams as she played and laughed and sang, and he laughed and sang along with her, but only in his own mind so as not to disturb her in the privacy of her subconcious euphoria.

She was so very happy.

And so was he. For the first time in years.

If only his reality was like this.

When she came to rest at the newly restored bench, the cat was waiting for her once again.

They sat down and relaxed, though they were not tired.

She was no longer a child.

Somewhere in the last few moments, she left her past and began to see herself as a woman again. The cat didn’t seem to notice this as she stroked his thick fur and scratched behind his ears.

He sat with the woman for a long while.

Then she stood and drew her attention to the stone wall. He also rose to his feet…

Then something else happened.

She let out a stifled gasp, and everything suddenly came to an abrupt stop. The birds stopped flying, the sheep stopped grazing, the cat stopped purring.

Everything froze.

Then it was gone.

The field had bucked and shifted and dispossessed itself of its own existence in a swirling frenzy, as if someone had pulled the stopper out of a massive drain. There was only darkness now.

He waited for conciousness.

And waited.