Millions of years later.
It was 1920s New York, the city loud and vibrant with color and noise. Every window and door held bright lights that obscured whatever was inside, yet nobody was seeming to react or even notice them like they weren’t there at all. Everyone was dressed in expensive and lavish clothing, one man quickly walking down the sidewalk with a massive smile on his face while carrying a large briefcase and wearing a bright yellow suit and pants with suspenders under the jacket and a large hat covering the top of his head.
He quickly made his way into a small establishment, sitting down at a table with his continued wide smile.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5Z7AFv6my
He looked around curiously at all of the people, the walls covered in pictures of places he had never been to before.
As he sat, he looked over at one of the tables in particular.
A man was wearing…a dress.
The body shape was quite similar to the man’s, large and muscular yet not bulky, yet the figure was obscured by a large gray and light purple dress that covered everything but the large arms and legs. The man got up and walked over.
“Hey, what do you think you’re wearing that dress for?” The man had a very thick New York accent as the man looked up.
Their eyes were a strange color, but they quickly changed to match his own.
“I’m sorry sir?” The voice had a similar accent but was deeper.
“Are you one of those gay fellows?” The man asked as he clenched his fist, putting it inside his other open hand.
The man didn’t react at first, looking around the establishment as everyone else was staring. They noticed the clothing of everyone, then looked down at themselves.
“Oh I apologize, I’m new to this place.” They said.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sennyQfCS
The first man went to speak, but stopped as the dress very quickly and suddenly reformed into a suit matching his own, but instead of yellow it kept the gray and purple color scheme of the dress.
“What the hell? How did you do that?” He shouted loudly.
“I’m just here to enjoy myself. I don’t want any…”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQHqyU4k4T
They slowly turned as if they could sense something.
“I have to go, it was nice talking to you.” The man quickly stood up and went towards the door, but was grabbed forcefully. They were pulled back, but as they fell their form suddenly changed into that of the mysterious cloud, phasing through the man as he was left holding the clothing.
The cloud quickly rushed out through the front door, looking around as the busy street was beginning to crumble down. The sky was turning dark black and disappearing completely as the cloud kept racing around.
The cloud looked around at the buildings filled with multiple bright lights before quickly racing through the front door of a French cafe.
As they raced through, their form suddenly changed to a human being as they fell into the streets of Paris, France. The people were ignoring the naked human body laying on the street as it quickly looked around. Every window and door held bright lights that everyone else seemed to be ignoring, as if they couldn’t see them at all.
“Okay…I have to…” They began to speak in French, looking around quickly at the people around them to get a sense of the fashion.
An elaborate dress began to form around him, but then he quickly shook his head and the dress formed into a plain brown and gray suit to cover his body.
The man quickly began to walk along with the others as if joining in with the crowd towards something.
They made it to a large stage in the middle of the city, a large red curtain obscuring whatever sat behind it.
Piano music suddenly began to loudly play, as if from Heaven above as it filled the entire world with soft tones and beautiful sounds.
The curtain pulled open to reveal a single man sitting in front of a piano and slowly beginning to play.
“What is this?” He asked as he leaned over to the person next to him.
“Why that is Mr. Erik Satie, performing his incredible Gymnopédie Number Three.” The person responded quickly as the music continued on, filling the world with beautiful yet sad and emotional tones.
The piano player was pale with circle glasses covering his eyes and a long beard running down and off his chin, a mustache moving out and off above his upper lip.
The entire crowd of people watched him play piano, enamored by the music as he continued to play without issue or thought, like it came naturally.
The being continued to watch and listen to the music.
“This is beautiful.” He said quietly.
The music continued on, but then the being could feel the sensation again.
They turned to see the clouds turning black and dark in the distance. The music finished and the crowd erupted in loud applause.
Satie stood from his piano and bowed before sitting back down to play more.
He began to play 3 Sarabandes No. 1 as the clouds of darkness were drawing closer and closer. They noticed and very quickly tried to push through the dense crowd, but none of them were moving. He had to keep pushing as he could feel the ground beneath him giving way, yet nobody else reacted. The music seemed to grow louder as the darkness raced forward, consuming more and more of the buildings as the lights faded. The being grunted and suddenly turned into their cloud form, racing towards one of the windows and disappearing just as the final note was played of the piece, everything quickly being swallowed by darkness as the final notes resonated.
The cloud had once again been turned into a naked human as they landed on a sandy beach, sand flying up as they lifted their head to spit it out.
“That one was close.” They said as they slowly got to their feet.
They looked around the beach with the blue water calmly and slowly washing up before going back. They walked around as a grass skirt formed around their waist. As they walked, they spotted a small family playing in the sand and water. The being quickly hid behind a tree and watched. An older man was laying on a chair smiling while an incredibly beautiful woman was wearing a very revealing bikini next to him. Three young children were playing in the water and sand while two other young women in bikinis were keeping them safe.
“I’m getting hungry, baby.” The first woman said as she rubbed the older man’s chest.
The man stood up and quickly ran into the ocean, diving in. Within seconds he came back up carrying a pile of fish in his arms. Everyone cheered him as the being continued to watch from the tree.
“Go prepare the fire.” The man said to the woman, who quickly ran to a pile of wood already set up. The man sat back down as the being emerged from the tree, looking at the man wearing a speedo before changing to match him.
“Excuse me sir.” He said.
The man jumped from surprise.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” He asked.
“Well I…um…well it’s quite difficult to explain.” They replied.
The man looked angry and ready to fight.
“Nobody stands in front of Mr. Murphy without an explanation.” The man said.
“Alright. Well…this is a dream.” The being said.
Murphy laughed loudly.
“A dream? Preposterous. This is my life. My lovely wife, my children, my assistants. I am a rich business owner!” He said loud and proud.
“Right…sure.” The being replied.
“And who are you supposed to be?” Murph asked him.
“Well, I don’t really have a name. Since the beginning of time I have been running from dream to dream. It’s the only…” They stopped as they cleared their throat.
“What? The only what?” Murphy asked.
“Dreams are the only place I can exist. It took me thousands of years to learn how to hear or feel. I just…I don’t know. I just exist in this state of…” They once again stopped and rubbed their eyes.
“Well I don’t appreciate you being here. Go back to dreams and not real life.” Murphy replied.
“No you don’t get it. If this was real life, I wouldn’t be here. I can’t go into the real world.” They replied.
“Uh huh, sure.” Murphy replied.
“Babe, I can’t get the fire to work.” The woman whined as she struggled.
Murphy turned and stared at the wood with an intense look, the wood suddenly bursting into flames.
“Yeah sure, cause that’s possible in the real world.” The being said.
“How about you tell me what’s really going on here huh?” Murphy asked with an annoyed tone.
“I wish I could, and yet I can’t.” They replied.
“Oh yeah, and why’s that?” Murphy asked.
“The last person who I explained things to had an existential crisis and went insane to the point they were locked up in an asylum…then a few weeks later they killed themselves.” The being replied quickly, but was having a hard time with the words.
“Oh really? If you’re just a dream person, then how do you know that?” Murphy asked, thinking he had outsmarted him.
“Dreams are powerful things. It’s where people reveal the most about themselves and who they truly are. It’s people showing the things they want and desire without a filter.” They replied.
Murphy swallowed as he turned to look at his family, his wife beginning to cook the fish he caught with ease.
Murphy slowly turned back, tears in his eyes.
“Who are they, really?” The being asked him.
Murphy looked down as his hands were shaking.
“The woman…was…the love of my life. She…she never really cared for me in that way. We were friends, but nothing more. I always wanted three kids and money, and so…” He waved his hands over at the children and the two assistants.
“You just want a family. But a family without her is one you won’t be happy with?” The being asked him.
Murphy’s tears began to roll down his face as he quickly wiped them away.
“I guess you could say that.” He replied as he forced a smile to his face.
“Love is something that changes with time. If you go on and live your life, you will find someone who you will love just as much, if not more. You can’t hold onto something out of reach and expect to be happy or benefit from it.” The being said.
Murphy softly laughed as he cried. The woman, children, and assistants all began to slowly fade away.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2HnGgXC4m
“You’re right…but it still hurts…” He said.
“Love hurts…or so I've heard.” The being said.
“You don’t feel love huh?” Murphy asked curiously.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJ70szrBtM
“Feeling touch took me a long time to learn. Emotions are…complicated.” The being said.
Murphy softly laughed again.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg25uocaV9p
“You’re lucky then.”
“How so?”
“Emotions hurt more than anything. A punch goes away quickly. Something like a knife can hurt badly, but if you survive you don’t feel it after a while. Emotional pain, those scars…well those don’t heal, and the reason why is often because you don’t want them to.” He said.
The being nodded along and looked down at the ground. The sand was beginning to grow darker and fading away. The water was a light gray color that was getting darker and darker.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLym4JFtWM
“When you wake up…live a good life. One that makes you happy.” They said.
Murphy smiled.
“Will do…Dreamrunner.” Murphy said.
The being looked at him curiously.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XinrPXOKJ
“You talked about not having a name. You run from dream to dream…I thought it worked.” Murphy shrugged.
They both had a light laugh.
“I like it…thank you Mr. Murphy.”
Dreamrunner suddenly turned into an amorphous cloud and quickly raced into the water, looking around before spotting bubble floating, each one full of light. They quickly raced into one of the bubbles.
Back on the sand, Mr. Murphy sat on his chair with a smile, tears still running down his face. He looked out onto the horizon of the water as everything around him was quickly being overtaken with shadow and darkness. All that was left was him in the chair, which quickly was taken over. He closed his eyes with a smile.
Mr. Murphy slowly opened his eyes in bed, tears running down them.
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