The wind pushing my face wakes me up. I realize instantly that I am not in my bed. I can’t fathom how I ended up on the roof of a tall building. It’s dark out, but I don’t feel tired. I look at my wrist to check the time, but my watch is not there. Something is wrong, I never take my watch off. Something feels familiar about this place, but I don’t know where I am. After spending a few minutes clearing my mind, I walk towards the edge of the building to see where I am. The wind pushes harder and harder. It becomes more difficult to walk to the edge because I am afraid of heights. Something doesn’t feel right.
As I walk closer to the end, a huge gust of wind kicks me off the building. I scream as loud as I can, but I don’t hear a sound coming out of my mouth. Gravity pulls my body as hard as it can towards the pavement. I can’t take the sight of the ground coming at me, so I close my eyes. My bed breaks my fall. It’s three in the morning. Even though I am frustrated that I have to wake up in two hours, I feel more relieved that I am alive. I can’t go back to sleep. The nightmare I just had made my heart race as fast as it can. I can’t imagine how I will ever sleep again, knowing that I can have a dream like that. I can barely stand looking out the window of my 5th floor apartment, let alone wander around a rooftop in a strange place without my lucky water proof watch.
I get up and walk to the other side of the room to get my sketch book. I should have about an hour and a half to draw something. Hopefully it will keep my mind off of my dream. I turn to stare at the neon green glow of the clock on my wall. Only two minutes have passed since I last looked at it. I grab a pencil, turn the light on and begin to draw. As I think about how I wish I could fly, I begin to draw wings. If I could fly, I wouldn’t be afraid of heights. I could fall from any height without getting hurt. Life would be much easier. My pair of wings soon becomes a self portrait, a visual representation of my strange desire. I look back at the clock, and it’s only 3:09 AM. I decide to get some sleep since time doesn’t seem to be in my favor today.
I fell asleep faster than I thought. Once again I find myself on this roof, without my watch. I was here a few minutes ago, without leaving my house. It’s a strange feeling, knowing I am in a dream. I figure I might as well take advantage of this knowledge and I run towards the edge and leap off. The sun begins to rise in the east and turn my body towards it. I felt myself slowing down. With confidence in the fact that I was dreaming, I was able to fulfill my wish and take flight. Slowly, wings grew from my back and with one swift push, I began to accelerate forward, moving towards the bright purple, orange and yellow light. The warmth of the sun hugged me tight, holding me up as my wings pushed me forward. Even though I’ve only had wings for a few minutes, I used them like they were with me since birth. The dark endless sky from my nightmares quickly became a beautiful pathway back to the real world, as the sun rose and I continued on.
