Chapter 1
-Is Heaven a Dream?-
This is the story of someone who had a very unusual experience, which
she did not often share because it sounded too much like something
you might see in a tabloid magazine from a checkout line. After the
experience Kim would have long conversations with herself over
whether or not the experience had been a dream. There seemed to be
good reasons for looking at it either way. Kim had never heard of
anything like her experience happening to anyone else. It was always
a bright spot in her memory and time would not diminish how vividly
she would remember what had happened from the moment the whole
adventure started.
As quickly as a twig snaps in a quiet forest, Kim awoke and began to
think as clearly as if she had been in a math class working out
algebra problems on a white board. She would later remember that it
was a bird call along with an unidentified sound or sounds that were
the cause though at first she did not give any thought to what they
were. She began asking questions about what was going on and quietly
commenting on her situation to no one in particular. “What is that
aroma?” She realized that even though she had just woken up, her
mind was unusually awake and aware.
“When has this ever happened,” she questioned with a lackluster
yawn and a shake of her head.
There was an odd absence of the groggy, befuddled thoughts that
usually occurred when she would first wake up. Like most people, the
longer Kim was awake after a night’s rest, the more clearly, she
thought. But now there was only clarity and a kind of mental focus
which she had never experienced.
“Why do I feel so refreshed? And why so soon after waking?”
Almost immediately after waking up, she noticed that something was
very different, and even though she would relive the experience many
times, it would never get old or seem boring.
“What's this? The bed…feels like...”
She realized that she was in a sleeping position on her side with her
knees bent at an angle and her head resting on one folded arm. With
her eyes closed, the fingers of her hand that was not under her head
felt their way downward from where they rested on her upper leg to
what should have been her bed. It was not flat like her bed, or
indeed as all beds should be, but it was very comfortable, with the
feel of a soft, shag rug spread over what might have been memory foam
cushions. If it was not her bed then why didn’t she feel alarmed?
“Well, sometimes dreams are like that,” she rationalized to
herself.
“But...when was the last time I was rational in a dream? Where are
the socks I remember putting on last night? Should I open my eyes
now? If I keep them closed then maybe I can fall back asleep again.
When I am so awake? Come on! What is this...I must be wearing a thin
bathrobe. But why?”
The night before when she had gone to bed, she had changed into some
new pajamas with different brands of breakfast cereal printed all
over them. In addition to having a sister and two brothers, she had
an older cousin named Jack and he had given them to her as a sort of
joke. They were not what she would have chosen for herself, but they
were comfortable.
“Why aren’t I feeling my cereal pajamas?”
She was still on her side with her knees at a comfortable angle. Kim
kept her eyes closed but she felt quite alert. She straightened her
legs, rolled on her back and sat up. As she pulled her knees close
she smelled a fruit smell, but this realization was cut short by
another realization.. Just after she had sat up, it dawned on her
that the light had become exceptionally bright. She supposed that
someone with very light feet and a bad sense of humor had somehow
turned on the light without making any noise and had put it right in
front of her face.
“Okay. Whoever you are, you have a dangerous amount of nerve coming
into my room and blinding me first thing in the morning...well?
Hello! Is anyone there?”
Kim did not want to open her eyes, so with her knees pulled even
closer with her left arm, she put her right hand on her left hand and
slowly yet anxiously felt up her arm towards her elbow. Whatever she
was wearing did not feel like her cereal pajamas. But it must be her
cereal pajamas! Whatever explanation was there? Except for her own
breathing and some vague sounds that should not come from inside a
room, she heard nothing.
“So…why aren’t I hearing anyone in here…if it is my room. Why
shouldn't it be? Didn't I go to sleep in my room last night?”
Nobody answered her questions and she felt a little silly even if
someone had blinded her first thing in the morning. All this takes
time to naarate, but her right hand was slowly inching up her left
forearm. Despite what she felt she was wearing, her brain told her to
expect to feel her cereal pajamas, but at the elbow she felt
something a lot smoother and lighter on her arm. Her simple
expectation of normality was shattered and she jolted a little in
surprise. Various scenarios suggested themselves to her over-active
imagination.
“Have aliens abducted me,” she said in a non-serious tone.
“Maybe…this is a bizarre Aprils 1st joke? But…this
sort of prank is too complicated for anyone who is not a professional
to pull off. Oh, maybe I have amnesia and I am in some sort of mental
hospital! How awful! But, how would that have happened? I’m don’t
hurt anywhere. And if something had happened to me…an accident
perhaps, and if I have amnesia, I could not have remembered it in the
first place. But still...nothing hurts, well except perhaps my eyes.
Who turned on that light anyways and why aren't they making any
noises? I should at least be hearing some kind of muffled snicker.”
Kim had been too distracted to notice a variety of sounds she had not
thought to pay any attention to until that moment. Sounds that should
not come from inside a room. And as soon as she began thinking about
these sounds, she again noticed some very unusual but pleasant
and...fruit like aromas. Where was that faint music coming from and
why was it so…perfect?
Somewhere nearby she heard the buzzing of bees. And now...was that
the same bird call that awoke her? And there! Was that the sound of
running, splashing water? Something the size of a large dog brushed
by her side and she was sure she could hear loud purring. Was there a
cat or a dog next to her? Somewhere nearby she could also hear the
melodic warbling of another songbird of some kind. Kim was still in a
sitting position with her knees drawn comfortably up. She could feel
a breeze playfully sifting through her hair.
“What in the world is going on? I guess I’ll have to open my eyes
sooner or later. Where am I anyway? Why should I be feeling
so...calm?”
The clothes she was wearing were not her cereal pajamas and she knew
she needed to open her eyes. Slowly she shifted to where she was not
on what must be a memory foam cushion and assumed a cross-legged
position on what felt like a sort of comfortable moss and yet grass
at the same time. She felt behind her and there was what felt like a
memory foam cousin covered with a shag rug. The light was very bright
even with her eyes closed, and even though she opened them quickly,
she could not close them quickly enough.
“Oh! Too bright, too bright!”
Kim closed her eyes instantly and for a second or two tried to bear
with the pain of allowing too much light into her eyes all at once.
Then she was tempted to doubt what she had seen from the split-second
image imprinted on the insides of her eyelids when she had had her
eyes open.
“This is getting weirder and weirder! How can I have seen two
suns? Why ever are there two!”
The light had been too bright and nothing had prepared Kim for the
sight of two suns. Had she seen double vision for the split second
her eyes had been open? This was all too weird. Kim was used to only
seeing one sun in the sky, not two. She put her right hand over her
eyes and opened them again. Her hand was able to shut out most of the
glaringly bright light. Shielding part of her right hand with her
left, she peeped through the lattice her fingers made before closing
her eyes once again with that sort of almost overpowering tearful
reaction people often have to a very bright light. After she closed
her eyes again, she could see big blue dots swapping places inside of
her eyelids. Why were there two suns and why were they so much
brighter than the sun she remembered?
“Have I slipped into some strange alternate reality? Why don't I
remember coming here?”
Kim kept her eyes shut, and yet the intensity of the light was so
great that it penetrated her eyelids. She gently pressed her hands on
her eyes and could see darkness aside from the blue dots that were
still there and shifting around. She took her hands away from her
eyes and the light increased, so she kept them shut.
“What is going on? Weirdness! Wait…what is on my nose? Did the
light dim again?”
Kim felt something alight on her nose, and the light dimmed slightly.
What was on her nose and why wasn’t the light as bright as it had
been moments before?
“If some creature is on my nose, why aren’t I going berserk? Why
do I feel so...relaxed?”
Kim stood up but kept her eyes closed. As if she was measuring the
distance from her face with a balloon, she put her hand above her
face to shield her eyes from more surprises of super bright light. To
her left was one bright light and she moved her hand until it was
blocked out. The creature that had been on her nose alighted off of
it and immediately the light from the left was brighter again.
Whatever had been on her nose had shielded her eyes from the light.
Kim pivoted to the right a step to where one light was behind her and
her hand had moved to keep the other light blocked. Upon opening her
eyes, the light was still almost painfully bright. But she could bear
it this time with one sun to her back and her hand blocking the light
of the other sun. Fluttering into view was the largest butterfly Kim
had ever seen and it landed on her hand that was not blocking the
light.
“Now I know what was on my nose.”
Sure enough, Kim was not in her bedroom and the first thing she was
curious about was her clothes. There was also something
else...something which at that moment was rather ambiguous, but was a
morning routine which, out of habit, she felt needed tending to. But
in the corner of her eye, she saw on her shoulder the strange
garment, and the ambiguous thought was forgotten. Kim slowly and
warily glanced down from her shoulder. She saw that she was wearing
some sort of elegant white gown that was comfortable around the
middle and reached to her mid calves.
In some ways it reminded her a little of the white coat she had seen
her family doctor wear more times than she could count. It came to
the elbow and about an inch below the neckline. It was a lot more
comfortable than anything she had ever worn and fitted better than
any clothes she had. It was not too clingy, nor was it loose. It was
very tasteful and did not look either feminine or masculine. She
reached towards her hair and felt what she perceived to be a sensible
and well-groomed haircut. She continued glancing down at the garment
she wore while talking to herself and caressing the super light,
silky rich fabric over and over with her fingers. She felt that she
could never caress that soft smooth glowing fabric enough.
“Okay, where am I and how did I get here? I must be dreaming! Ah,
but when was the last time I thought about my hair in a dream? When
was the last time I thought about how anything smelled in a dream?”
But…what other explanation is there? Maybe…”
At that moment she heard something that sounded like a cat meowing
and she followed the sound to where she spotted a furry, snow-white
cat with ocean blue eyes in a tree not far from her. For a moment she
felt like her depth perception was off.
“That can’t be a small tree, but...why is that cat so…large?”
She kept looking at the cat, and realized it was a house cat the size
of a St. Bernard dog. But oddly, she did not have a feeling of fear
as she looked at it. The cat was in a large tree and it's enormous
size had made the large tree look smaller than it actually was. She
could see that the cat was eating some of the fruit that hung down.
It looked like a cherry tree; only the cherries were the size of
tennis balls.
Kim looked behind her and saw a sort of cushion like oblong lump
where she had been sleeping a minute ago. Then she looked more
closely at the soft green grass under her feet. It was not cut short,
but seemed to stop growing after about three inches. Kim moved her
feet very slightly and the feel of cool grass between her toes as she
wriggled them gave her a feeling of carefree joy. Kim glanced up at
the branches of the tree some distance away and saw where the cat was
curled up. The branches reached far out and Kim could see some of the
large, luscious, cherry like fruit that grew on it. Most of the fruit
was far out of reach, but there was a branch hanging only a foot or
so over her head with two pieces of fruit on it. She was hungry and
began to wonder why she did not feel the need to look for a restroom.
“As if I could find a restroom in a place like this,” she
commented to herself.
Just then something happened that scared Kim at first. She began to
hear a high-pitched musical hum coming in her direction. Into her
field of vision came a mosquito that was at least the size of a
tangerine. Hardly before Kim could react, it looked like the monster
mosquito was going land on her forearm.
“Oh no!”
The mosquito quickly flew right by Kim’s arm and up to the fruit
where it landed. She watched it and realized after a few seconds that
it was sucking juice from the dark, cherry like fruit.
“It doesn't want my blood!”
The cat looked over to her as it heard her exclamation. The corners
of the cat's mouth were slightly stained by the juice of the dark red
fruit, and Kim could still hear it purring. It stirred and then stood
up. It moved like a pet rather than a predator, and its mouth and
teeth did not look like any cat she had seen. All the cats she had
seen had the mouth and teeth of a carnivore, and while this cat
looked like cats should, it’s teeth and mouth were not shaped like
a normal cat’s and while Kim could not describe the mouth and teeth
of this cat, she liked it more.
“What kind of place is this? Carnivores eating fruit and giant
mosquitoes that don’t like blood?”
The cat leapt off of the large branch that was higher than Kim’s
head and approached her, purring as it brushed up against her about
ten seconds later. The cat had absorbed Kim's attention and it was
bigger than she thought. It came up past her waist, but there was no
danger because the cat just wanted a friend. As Kim reached out to
pet it's large head, its fur, like her garment was super soft to her
touch.
Into her field of vision came another butterfly with a riot of
harmonizing colors on its large wings. From wingtip to wingtip, it
was wider than a basketball. She did not take her eyes off of the
butterfly until it began to flutter around and away as she
absentmindedly continued to stroke the white cat's head while it
watched her. The scenery the butterfly was passing began to take
Kim’s interest and she began to soak in everything that was around
her. The large house cat meowed and continued to purr and brush up
against her until it had almost nudged her over, but she could hardly
notice it now though she unconsciously stroked its beautiful soft fur
as she looked in one direction after another. Words like beautiful,
lovely, gorgeous and awesome fell so short of describing this place.
Tears slowly filled her eyes like a mist as she stared at the beauty
and wonder of the place. How could words ever convey meaning in a
place like this? Could heaven possibly be any better? There were so
many things to see in every direction. Orderly yet gorgeous flower
beds next to gold paths with flowers of every color, elegant bridges,
a sparkling sea in the distance, luscious green grass everywhere,
stately streams, trees in the distance that were taller than any she
had ever seen.
As she looked in one direction after another, she saw that she was
almost in the center of what looked like a large sort of garden like
park, with multiple-colored roses over jade archways over
gold-colored paths, and a rich carpet of green everywhere. Flowers
surrounded the gold paths on every side. A number of the trees had
blooms similar to cherry blossoms. All the sounds she heard earlier
were still ehcoing. The fruit and the flowers were perfuming the air;
the perfect, majestic and harmonious singing was still coming from
somewhere. The breeze on her face, the beautiful cat next to her, the
water splashing in a nearby fountain. She looked up and saw a number
of brightly colored birds sail by. Some of them were macaws and
looked abnormally large. She looked in several directions and could
see that that the center area she was in was elevated.
The center itself must have been the size or area of perhaps four
large soccer fields. It was oval in shape and had some very tall
trees surrounding a round fountain the size of a large Olympic
swimming pool. In the center of the fountain was a multi-jeweled
pedestal rising out of the water with the statue of a man in a style
of clothing Kim was unfamiliar with. There were holes in the wrists
of the large statue, and the water was coming out of the holes in the
wrists of whoever the statue represented. Behind her was the tree
where she had first spotted the white cat that was now next to her.
The tree was very large, but much smaller than the other trees which
could have been the height of redwoods, but of different shapes. She
could see a shaded area of cushion like moss near the tree where the
morning had started not too long ago. She realized that she had been
walking here and there without realizing it. That was if this was not
a dream.
She was closer to the tree she had woken up under than any other
tree. She could hardly see through it and not because of the dense
branches and leaves but because there was a very bright light behind
it that filtered through it's foliage. It seemed brighter than the
two suns. It was hard to see, but she thought that the large and tall
tree was concealing perhaps…a city of some sort behind it. What
kind of light from a city could be so bright? The bright light
continued to sift through the thick tree, and Kim’s eyes began to
water again because of how bright the light was. Before she blinded
herself, she looked in the other direction and she still had to shade
her eyes since either of the two bright suns could blind her if she
was not careful.
To her right was the large, emerald green fountain. To her left was a
cross between a grand staircase and a forest path that led down into
the garden like park. This place reminded her of some majestic,
stately rose garden's she had seen on the internet from Europe, but
none of the wonderful rose gardens she had seen, some of which were
probably a king's ransom to keep up, were worthy to be compared to
this place. Only a super-human sense of beauty and elegance could be
behind such splendor and good taste.
Each view and each glance could have soaked up an hour of her time,
but there were such vistas everywhere. In front of her was a path
that led past the fountain on her right and the staircase on her
left. The path curved off to the right and Kim suspected that it
encircled the fountain. Lining the path on either side and spaced
evenly, fruit trees and flowers were arranged according to what
seemed like a pattern of colors and shapes, blended in a skillfully
aesthetic manner next to the gold paths. They did not obscure scenery
below, but seemed to compliment it. She looked at the path, and had
to look again. Kim knelt down to look closely at the path. She gasped
a few seconds later after she had knelt and touched the path.
“It’s gold! The path is made of gold! Whose country is this
anyways?”
The gold was so pure that it almost reflected the sky, and she
avoided looking where either of the suns made a reflection. She
looked to her right and approached the fountain. The fountain spray
created what must have been a perpetual mist and it alighted on Kim
face with a freshness and coolness she would not have felt in a
dream. The mantle of the emerald green fountain must have been pure
gold too. She reached the fountain and looked into the water that was
as clear as crystal.
Just then another gorgeous butterfly landed on her hand, and the
large white cat curled up on the grass next to the path and near the
fountain. As Kim looked into the fountain, she could see on the floor
of it that there was a mosaic of jewels and diamonds in the shape of
a squarish city with what looked like twelve gates, three on each of
it's four sides. The large gorgeous butterfly was still on her right
hand, so she reached her left hand down as far as she could into the
fountain and cupping her hand, she brought the water to her lips. The
butterfly on her other hand was not alarmed and remained where it
was. Kim was not prepared for how good the water was.
“It’s so delicious! Where does it come from?”
Kim swallowed a few more handfuls of the wonderful water, and she
looked up just as another brightly colored butterfly fluttered by and
the butterfly on her hand followed it. She watched them, spellbound
as they crisscrossed each other’s trajectory. She expected them to
outpace her quickly, but she was surprised that she was able to keep
up with them walking rather than running. Their flight was not
exactly a waltz, but there was a definite pattern in the way they
flew.
As she followed them, she noticed one bench against the fountain. She
looked and saw another bench along the side of the path, with flowers
surrounding them on every side. If she got sleepy, she could always
take a nap on one of them, although the cushioned moss would be more
comfortable. She looked away from the bench and the butterflies were
outpacing her, so she quickened her pace and was soon not far behind
them as they continued their waltz like flight.
After about a minute of following the butterflies, Kim suddenly
realized that she was approaching the shade of another gigantic tree
near the fountain and she stopped abruptly. Underneath it, leaning
against the tree was a person. Kim could easily tell that the person
was much taller than she was. He looked like he might be taking a
nap. His arms were folded on his broad chest and his legs and clean
bare feet were stretched out before him with one on the other. Kim
was intrigued and quietly tiptoed closer. From a distance she could
see that he was dressed like she was. He had brown hair, a garment
similar to hers, and a bright crown on his head with many stars on
and in it. Kim supposed that with a crown like that, he must be a
king of some sort. Certainly not a president.
His eyes were closed and his face had the most carefree and relaxed
expression Kim had ever seen. She did not want to alarm him if he
opened his eyes only to see someone gawking at him. So, amid a
one-sided dialogue, she quietly began to edge away even though she
was very curious about him.
“He could probably tell me where I am. He could tell me what this
place is unless…he is also a figment of my dream, if this is a
dream at all. Oh! Does he speak English? Who is this person and why
is he so…perfect? No wrinkles. No lines. No gray hair…nothing. He
looks old, but young too. How can this be? Who is he? Is he the king
of this place? He does not look like the statue of the person in the
center of the fountain.”
Suddenly he smiled, opened his eyes slowly and turned towards Kim.
She caught her breath and she could suddenly feel herself blushing
furiously. His bright green eyes expressed kindness and wisdom. He
truly looked like a king. Kim had seen plenty of models and super
models on magazine covers in bookstores and libraries, but as hard as
she tried, she could not bring a single mental image of one to mind.
This man, this giant with a perfect face and form had an expression
of joy and a demeanor of gentle manners. She was at a loss for words
and did not know what to say.
“Well, hello there friend.”
