Adventure

He awoke one the floor, which was a little odd but it didn't matter. He was flushed of color. He sat up hoping that the tingling in his feet would go away.  He stood up. Put on his clothes and walked out.  The day was like any other for the time of year. It was the rainy season. And that's exactly how it was.  He walked out in the rain without an umbrella and walked the four blocks to his job, in the mail room.

He couldn't say he particularly liked his job, but at the same time he was always daydreaming and had never actually done his job. Surprising I know, but I digress, he would start his day thinking of all the things that he had never done. He had always dreamed of going to Africa and chasing a lion through the jungle. He would be lost in the fantasies of his imagination. Because he didn't take into account how long his time at work was taken up just from thinking, he just seemed to miss it.

He went home living his life in a dream. Being carried on the wings of a dragon, to the Chinese take-out and from there climbing the frigid Mount Everest to his apartment. Which was all the way on the sixth floor.  He arrived at the top step placing his very lucid dream flag in the top step.

For some reason he couldn't imagine anything in the hallway between the stairs and his apartment door but as soon as his door opened, the wind of the Sahara blew down the hall. He step in, grab hold of his gear jumped on his camel and he was off. They followed the Nile until the reached the pyramids and then until they reached the Mediterranean Sea , and from there they traveled west by boat to the Moroccan bay. But somehow finding a Chinese stand in the market.

His day was never dull. It was lived to the fullest until his eyes could not stay open anymore. Usually passing out on the floor with his imaginary treasure map still in hand. Now the real dreaming would begin.

His imagination was magnified in sleep.  The action was more intense, the women even more beautiful but yet at the same time the waves were bigger, the monsters were bigger and scarier. It wasn't uncommon for a nightmare to occur. He would wake up sweating, shivering and cold with nothing to do but pull the covers over his head.  Falling back into his dream.

Again he woke up but time he felt worse. He had a migraine and he could hardly open his eyes. It seemed so bright in his room. He figured he would just stay home today and call in sick. He got some food together, took an aspirin and laid down on his bed. The food was helping, although he still felt like his head was on fire.

As he was beginning to fall back asleep, the doorbell rang. It hurt. He got up and walked to the door, looked through the peep hole and to his astonishment it was a woman. He opened the door. She looked at him as he stood there looking groggy. As moments passed they continued to stare at each other. Finally they both decide to speak at the same time, simultaneously interrupting each other. The tensions were high. He trying to nip the more awkward moments in the bud asked her what she was here for.

She responded, it was a monologue she had given several times before. Advertising the benefits of this or that from a latest and greatest in technology. She was surprised to find that he was watching her very intently. She continued, asked him if he would like to try the items.

He told her that he couldn't focus, but that he was certainly interested. He invited her in to talk about it more.

She talked, he listened. He would make a silly joke, and talk about his wonderful adventures. Eventually he asked her out. She accepted.  They dated and fell in love. She loved him when he would talk about all the amazing things that he did. They were married. They spent their honeymoon in Africa chasing a lion through the jungle. They then decided they wanted to go to the great barrier reef. They never went back home instead they continued to have adventures together. Growing closer and closer with each moment. And now the most important part of this story happens now.

She dies.

Alone. He breaks. Staring at himself in the mirror, he sees his eyes have died. He doesn't know what to do anymore. His life was spent with the woman that realized his imagination as beauty and never let it die. Now as she rests, his imagination has died also. He has lost the one person who loved him for his mind. Now his mind is gone. He is left without the companionship of his mind, unable to comprehend even the simplest thing. Driven to madness. Alone.


*****


Years pass, haunted and tortured. Lost in the recesses of a mental ward. Is when he sees her. She talks with him. She tells him to remember when he was capable of imagining anything at all. He does. The transformation is that of black and white turning into color. Life growing where it couldn't before. He looked out his window. Saw the sun and became engulfed with the adventures he had once undergone. Together they become free. She leaves him a piece of herself inside his heart so he'll never forget.

He continues to this day seeing wonder after wonder from the inside of his head, strolling along with the one who loved him for his spirit.