Number-one bestselling author
found myself in
my old basement
apartment again. There
were a few
differences, however. It
was bright and
filled with sunlight.
I looked at
the ceiling to
see if new
lights had been
installed, but there
were none. Then
I noticed that
the glow came
from me. The
phone in my
hand rang. I
answered it swiftly.
“Hello?”
The voice spoke
softly into my
ear, its words
filled with smoke.
“You don’t belong here.”
I looked at
the phone, wondering
at it and
the glow that
came from me.
“You left this place behind to find yourself. You can’t find yourself in the past, you can only look forward to what is coming.”
“Who is this?”
“Who are you? Who do you want to be?”
I looked out
a window that
hadn’t been there
before. I realized
at that point
that I was
dreaming. I
put the phone
to my ear
again, listening to
the man breathing
on the other end.
“I want to be free.”
I said softly.
There was a
soft click in
my ear. The
window whipped open
and I watched
as a storm
gathered in the
field beyond. Soon,
that storm transformed
itself into a
tornado of epic
proportions. The glass
in the windows
broke and shattered
like diamonds and
they floated in
the air around
still clutching the
phone to my
ear. I heard
the man’s voice:
“Sometimes, transformation can come from the unlikeliest of occurrences.”
The line went
quiet again and
I let the
phone fall from
my hand. I
watched the tornado
coming ever closer
and knew that
it would never
hurt me, that
this was a
dream. But what
would it do
to my thoughts,
my dreams, the
things I held
dear to me?
Would I be
the same? I
looked down at
my feet and
saw I was
wearing a pair
of ruby coloured
high top sneakers.
This was my
dream, I thought.
Right before the
storm and wind
took me, I
clicked my heels
together three times.
“There’s no place like home.”
I said.
“There’s no place like home.”
Then the wind
took me toward
the future and
beyond.