“It’s time to sleep Isaac,” a voice boomed in the void. With a start the young man Isaac opened his eyes. He found himself lying on the ground in a strange place. He lifted his head to look around and saw a swirling gray around him. It was not like clouds in a storm, or the great winds that come with them. No, it was a very different scene. The grayness appeared alive; its own entity. Isaac stared at all of it in awe, fearful and comforted all at once. The ground he sat upon was white, almost like a light in solid form. It was dim, not offering much to see by. “Rise,” the voice boomed again. Isaac slowly stood to his feet instinctually. He wasn’t sure if he had even heard the command. It was a powerful sound, consuming him, and yet somehow completely foreign and surreal. He still obeyed, though, for reasons he wasn’t even sure of. He simply felt compelled to.

            “What is this place?” Isaac called out. His voice seemed lost amidst the swirling gray. “Forward,” the voice replied. He began to slowly walk forward, the gray around him seeming to ever so slightly part to let him through, as more rushed in behind him to fill the void. As he walked, each step made the ground let out small ripples like walking on water, but instead in brilliant light that would shimmer and then die. Whatever this place was, Isaac knew it was not of the world he came from. As he walked, he noticed in the very near distance, something that appeared to be floating. He hurried towards it exclaiming, “Are you the one who’s talking to me?” As he came closer, he noticed that the something was a floating ball of light, and as he drew within touching distance of it, it suddenly expanded all around Isaac. It blocked out the grayness around him, completely engulfing him and forming an image.

            Isaac looked around and saw that he was now in a room. Two people came walking through a doorway; a man and a woman. “Dad? Mom?” Isaac said shocked. The man and woman gave no notice to him. Their intention was, instead, down at a baby they were holding. “Oh Isaac, you have such a long road ahead of you,” The man smiled at the baby. “Our beautiful baby boy,” The woman smiled as well. “That’s… me?” Isaac looked at them both confused. “None of this can be real… I’m right here.” He looked around the room and saw the walls slightly flicker with light. “This is my childhood isn’t it?” Suddenly the image of the room washed away and the orb of light collapsed back to the ball he had approached earlier, floating in front of him.

            Isaac stared at the ball for a long while and then slowly reached his hand out to touch it. The moment his fingers met with the orb, it expanded again, engulfing him. He was surrounded by 4 shimmering walls and a ceiling. They appeared completely blank and he looked around himself, circling. Suddenly, an image appeared on one of the walls like a projector. Isaac heard children giggling and saw them running around within the image. He heard the woman’s voice again, “Isaac! Come over here so you can blow out your candles and open presents!” Another image appeared on the wall behind him. Isaac turned to see a boy sitting in a classroom. He still heard the children giggling behind him when he heard a new voice, “Wake up Isaac! If you fall asleep again I’ll have to talk to your parents.” Another image appeared on the wall beside him. He saw a teenager standing next to a car, having his picture taken by the man and woman. A fourth image appeared on the last wall. The teenager was holding a different baby, and laughing. “Gentle now Isaac. Don’t hurt your baby brother.”

            The images began to flicker, and then change. He saw a girl that made his heart ache, a puppy that made him smile, the baby saying his name, and the man and woman hugging their children. The images began to change swiftly to where he could not keep up. He heard various bits of sounds and saw glimpses of images, but they were far too quick. “They grow up so fast.” The woman said. The images continued to flash constantly. Isaac’s gaze spun around trying to catch glimpses of what was going on. The man spoke, “We are so proud of you, son.” Each image appeared and washed away with flickers of light.

            Finally, every wall came to rest on the same image. He saw a young man sitting outside a house at night. Out of nowhere, the images shifted instantly to the young man sitting outside the house at the same spot, but now there were others. Men in uniforms ran by, sirens were blazing, and a brilliant orange light filled the night image. The house was completely covered in flames and the young man sat outside weeping uncontrollably. He heard an unfamiliar voice comment, “No one made it out.” The images shifted to a field, with people dressed in black. He watched three boxes placed in the ground, all next to each other. The images shifted again to the young man sitting in a new room, alone. He had a gun up to his head, completely silent. He sat this way for a long time, until finally the silence was broken with a bang.

            The images faded away and the orb collapsed again, floating in front of Isaac. Next to the orb stood a man holding a crescent staff and dressed in ornate robes and a headdress. “Who are you?” Isaac exclaimed, his voice emotionally heightened from the ordeal with the orb. “I am Almun, the God of this gray realm, between the light and darkness. I have come to guide you to your dreams,” the man’s voice boomed like the voice had before. “What am I doing here? Shouldn’t I be dead?” Isaac replied. “This is the realm of the dead Isaac, but you can’t stay here. Only I can,” the voice boomed back. Isaac looked at him perplexed, “What do you mean?” “You must return to the Great Sleep. That is the way of things.” Isaac’s gazed went all over the place, concerned for a life he no longer had. “What’s wrong with staying here?” “There is nothing for you here. No happiness. No sorrow. No feeling,” The voice boomed again, echoing in the grayness. “What about those images, though?” Isaac countered. “Those will be your dreams,” he boomed yet again. Isaac took a long pause before replying, “My memories?” “Precisely. Your waking memories will provide your sleep with dreams. The happiness and the sorrow. All of this, it will provide you. This is the way of things. Life is done with you, and this realm cannot contain you. Now, you must return to the Great Sleep, as all do.” Almun held up his hand aimed at Isaac. He held out two of his fingers and slid them down, as if closing someone’s eyes. Isaac’s eyes fell shut and he fell backwards, fading away followed by the orb of light.