In Restless Dreams I Walked Alone

"In restless dreams I walked alone/Narrow streets of cobblestone" – Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel

It was cold and dark, and I was inexplicably tired.

I moved forward as if on a conveyor belt, only because I felt my legs moving, not because there was anywhere I wanted to go.

My footsteps echoed on walls that weren't there, and the wind whispered words into my ears, but they were in foreign languages, and my frustrated attempts to decipher their meanings were worthless.

I heard water in the distance, but I walked through a barren-looking city; with nature nowhere to be seen, and it didn't make any sense.

But I didn't notice the strangeness then. I just kept walking.

A banker pulled up in a long black automobile and his door flew off, hitting the ground with a thud and spinning along the cobblestone, coming to a stop at the sidewalk opposite the vehicle. The banker stepped out and pressed a button on his keys, and the door jumped up and flew back to the car, reattaching itself.

I cleared my throat, and the banker sent me a weary glance but said nothing, then setting off on foot toward the bank a few buildings down.

I brushed my hair behind my ear and looked at the ground, and when I looked up again, I was in a small town bursting with color, hooves clattering on the cobblestones and children shouting gleefully as they ran through the streets. People wheeled carts full of souvenirs and pastries along the roads, chatting loudly with each other or yelling out in announcer-esque voices what they were selling.

I was still walking, and I turned my head as I walked so as to see everything.

It was really quite a spectacle.

But I still felt exhausted, and the whole town only made me feel more so.

I looked down again, and when I looked up, I was lying in a bed.

It was warm and the covers dark brown, wrapped around me delicately. The pillow was soft and the matress comfortable.

But as I stared at the ceiling above me, sleep evaded my tired eyes.

I heard footsteps on cobblestone outside a window I hadn't known I had, and I turned to look.

I was so tired.

But I couldn't fall asleep.

© 2011