Richard lay peacefully in his bed as David read in the nearby common room of the small cabin. Richard drifted from regular sleep into a dream state. Richard found himself out of his own control, hurtling through space. He was being pulled toward the gravity of a large planet, despite his feeble efforts to divert course and avoid collision, Richard remained on course. As Richard neared the giant orb, he began to worry about entering its atmosphere and the fact that it may hurt even though it was a dream. Never the less, Richard continued his speedy, unwavering course. Richard braced for impact.
Then it happened.
It was like diving into a cold, shallow pool. Instead of painfully hitting bottom, however, Richard cruised on to fresh air. Richard gazed upon the seemingly endless landscape of beaches, trees, and oceans that lay out in front of him. Richard also saw a pile of sharp rocks that he seemed to be headed directly for. He understandably became nervous.
“Great, first in real life, and now in this dream.” Richard snarled to himself.
Mercifully, Richard felt his rapid descent begin to slow as the ground below him became more detailed. Richard came to rest on a dune of sand. Richard was up on his feet immediately, looking around. He was on a red, sandy beach facing what appeared to be a long smooth, slab of rock spanning the distance of the beach and extending to a height of about two feet. It seemed to act as a natural breakwater for the beach. Richard took a brief look around and saw that he was the only one occupying any space within his field of view.
Richard climbed over the embankment and rushed into the shallows of the inviting ocean. Unlike most oceans on earth, this one was warm and inviting. Suddenly a young, tan, woman with dark hair down past her shoulders approached from behind and embraced him.
“Have I told you how much I love you, Richard?” The beautiful woman asked.
“Yes you have, Olive! It never hurts to hear once more!” Richard enthused. He leaned in and kissed her, she caressed him softly.
“I love you Olive!” Proclaimed Richard. “I love you so much. I want to hold you forever!”
“I love you too Richard!” Announced Olive.
The couple began to dance.
This was his favourite part of the dream. His only regrets were that he could not really feel what was going on and the fact that he was nearing the end.
Until now.
Without warning clouds rolled in and it began to rain. Richard felt himself being shaken violently and his dream world. He was annoyed at this, there was so much more he had to tell Olive, so much more he had to learn about what lay beyond the beach. He knew he must succumb to reality. Someone was calling his name. Richard knew he’d be back soon, he returned every night, but would there ever be a time long enough where he could actually explore things?
***
“Richard! Are you OK?” Inquired David, shaking him gently.
Richard awoke startled to find that he was in the tub, in the bathroom of the little cabin. He was dazed. He noticed that the shower was running and his night clothes were soaked, his brother David was all too eager to be fill in the missing information.
“You must have been sleep walking, Richard. Who on earth is Olive? She must be exquisite.”
Richard realized what had happened. While he was dreaming of scaling the breakwater, he was actually getting into the tub. The rain was caused by Richard’s inadvertent twisting of knobs, while in the dream he had been dancing.
“She’s a friend I know.” Richard stated. He did not want to tell his brother that he had made her up in his imagination.
“Apparently you love her a lot.” David laughed.
“You heard all that?” Squealed Richard, rather irritated.
“Every word.” Said David. “Not to mention all of your actions!” David smiled.
Richard reddened, embarrassed by the whole situation. He returned to his room, making sure to lock the door. Nobody would see Richard until morning if he could help it. Richard stripped out of his wet night clothes. Exchanging them for dry ones via his suitcase, the tired, thirty-something resumed his slumber.