Height

I put the picture in my pocket and looked at the sea.

- Somehow I was sure that she was okay...

For a long time I stood by the sea and listened to the waves. The sky was covered with light gray clouds.

- I felt my journey in dreams would be long.

I turned toward the city and walked toward it.

"Those people are gone... Just like the shadows in that town."

As I approached the window of one of the buildings, I stopped.

"There is no doubt now. I am in a dream. What my mother said this morning was what happened now. I need to move on, and then I'll probably find all the answers."

I walked all over the city and looked at the rooms through the windows. All the rooms had white furniture, which reminded me of hospital rooms.

"I wonder how much the clocks have shifted?"

After running that thought through my head, I immediately woke up and was in my room. A white ceiling, yellow walls, and a window overlooking the sky.

- What? How the hell was that so easy!

23:61:07 20.06.2020

- Now 2 seconds... While I'm asleep, the clock is clearly working and something tells me it's sleep that's involved. Okay, time checked. Gotta move on, no whining and with my head held high.

I fell asleep and found myself back in the resort town.

"What was going on before I picked up that watch - absolutely everything was suspicious: the dentist's behavior, the strange inquiries, the suspicious messages, and that psycho... They're all involved in what comes next. Judging by the way some people have been prancing around, it's not going to be a pleasant trip. I hope I haven't dragged too many people into these nightmares."

I walked further into town, and stopped at a building that was close by.

- This house was no different from the others, but I had to start somewhere.

The door was unlocked. Opening it revealed a school office. A certain old teacher was scolding a student, who appeared to be a grown bearded man. The rest of the desks were occupied by teenagers who were laughing at him. My arrival in no way embarrassed those in the classroom or interrupted the teacher's moralizing, and when I turned around, there was already a school hallway behind me.

"Moved again... School this time. I guess it's someone else's dream, too, and this time it's crowded."

I looked around the study. On the tops of the walls were hung scholars in the fields of mathematics and physics. It was dark outside the windows, showing only the reflection of the schoolroom. There were fluorescent lights shining on the ceiling. There was a blackboard at the front of the classroom, and the teacher's desk was located near the window. There were a total of three rows of desks in the classroom, five on each row.

"Nobody notices me, and that man sits and listens to the teacher's lectures."

The teacher:

- How do you not know that? The cotangent of the epithet is at the root of the angle and divides by the square!

"What? What kind of nonsense is she talking! The cotangent is the ratio of the adjoining cathetus to the opposing one! I think I remembered the top rules I won't need in life... Well, at least they came in handy in my sleep."

All the students in the class were laughing at the bearded man, who didn't say anything and was staring at his notebook with his head in shame. I decided to go over there and see what was in it. It was scribbled with formulas that were changing on their own, after which I turned to the owner.

- Man, your formulas aren't written correctly at all and why are they...

- Are you making fun of me? I'm a dumbass, I don't understand anything, and I've never understood math! Leave me alone! I'm a loser! Leave me alone!

- But to me...

- Everybody's better than me and everybody's talking about it! I hate school-- I hate it!

- But what are you doing in it, you're...

- I'd love to...

"Why does he keep interrupting me? He won't even let me finish my sentence."

- You misunderstood me, I wanted to say...

- You mean that I should die and cease to exist? That I have no future because I don't pass math and other subjects! That I should work as a janitor...

The man continued his hysterics, but I, meanwhile, did not listen to him at all and immersed myself in my own thoughts:

"How hard it is to talk to a complex man. What was he even doing in that school? Teachers don't leave that many times a year. Surely the dream belongs to him and it's his fears. I think he really didn't like going to school, since he's dreaming about it at this age. And I'm beginning to understand some girls who don't like guys like that, although, there are some girls like that, too."

- I'm hopeless... I have no future!

"I wonder how many leaves there are on an average tree? I hope I don't get to the point of actually counting them. And he still goes on... How long do they kill like that in general? Do I look exactly the same as a couple? I'd hate to be like him... Yeah, I'd rather be collected."

A small silence was formed. It was just us in class.

"Oh, I think he's done, we need to talk before he goes on again. Something must obviously distract him, oh - right!"

- Feel your beard!

- Beard? But from where...

The man touched his beard and froze for a while.

- You're in a dream now. And I've come into your dream.

- My dream? Am I dreaming?

- Well, the teacher was talking nonsense, and the cotangent is the ratio of the adjoining cathetus to the opposing one, not what she said before.

- I don't get it, is that what this is? Am I dreaming all this?

- Well, where do you think the students went?

- That's right... So this is all a dream? Who are you?

- My name is Victor, I have very strange circumstances, but I'm also human.

- "Very strange circumstances"?

- In short, I picked up a watch and I'm in an immortal room where I'm also immortal.

- Wait, since this is a dream, you might not be real either! You're talking nonsense, too!

- No, I'm not...

- And since you're talking nonsense, you're definitely not human, and I can't listen to you! I'll just wake up and this nightmare will be over!

"Really? Did he get it wrong again? How many times..."

- Just listen to me...

Space changed to the outskirts of the city. The buildings were all three stories high. The roads near the houses were broken and sprinkled with sand. It was cloudy, but not the gray clouds of earlier.

"Oh, I smell something bad coming in here..."

- What happened?!

- We've just been transported and we may be in trouble.

- Trouble? What kind of trouble?

- I don't know yet. Why don't you tell me your name?

- Why should I tell you my name?!

- At least have the decency to tell me your name, but I don't know yours yet.

- You're not real, are you? You should know my name!

- You know, I wish I could confirm your guess, but I don't. I don't know your name and it's rude not to say it when another person said it. What makes you think I'm not real at all? And what do you mean by that?

- Well, part of a dream, my fiction.

- If I were part of the dream, I'd probably disappear with the others, don't you think?

- I don't want to say my name!

Nearby, a cat walks by and comes up to the man's leg and starts rubbing against it.

"Tolik," said the cat.

- What? A talking cat?

The cat started repeating the word "Tolik" all the time.

- No! Don't say it! Damn cat!

"So that's his name? Yes... He didn't want it himself, so his cats gave it away... It reminds me of how those dogs attacked me... Apparently, he has the same situation in his dream, his fears working against himself. And seeing it from the outside is instructive, only it's the number of cats that stresses me out..."

Cats were coming in and different variations of the name could be heard: "Tolya", "Anatoly", "Tolyan", "Tolik". The number of cats was increasing. I got suspicious.

- Anatoly, don't you think that there are too many cats here?

He raised his head and looked around, this news made him even more nervous. "Cats" had gathered about a hundred, and sensing fear, they began to chase him.

- No! Go away, go away!

All the cats started hissing at Anatoly, but they clearly didn't notice me.

"Now the cats are ignoring me too? Weird, why is this happening? Maybe if I pretend to be a statue, they won't touch me?"

These small animals began to prepare themselves for an attack.

"I've completely lost the urge to explain anything to him, but still - I need to help."

I approached Anatoly, who looked at me and began to run... On the spot.

"What? And that can happen here? Why is he running in place? Although no, he's moving forward a little, but by the looks of it, he should be running normally."

- Look, will you calm down? What are you so afraid of, anyway?

Meanwhile, a huge pack of cats was coming up behind me.

"Should I help him..."

- I can't run! They're gaining on me!

"And this is just like me running in the woods, I wonder why he's running in place? Ah, no time for that now, we have to help him."

- Hold on to my hand and run away from here! I'm here to help you!

I took his hand and started running, but he quickly fell to the ground and started dragging himself.

- I'm having a hard time walking, what's going on?!

- For crying out loud!

I had to take the man on my shoulder and run down the road. Down the slope - there were village cabins, and the forest ahead. The cats were yelling and chasing us.

- Where are we running to? Why am I not waking up?! Why is this dream never ending?

I kept running on, wasting no time in answering, until a certain gymnasium in the woods appeared ahead.

"This building should help shelter. As long as we're outside, they'll be after us the whole time."

We ran up to this building, but it appeared to be closed.

- Shit, it's closed...

- What are we going to do? Those cats are getting close!

The animals ran out of the bend and were already heading toward us.

"We have to think of something, we can't turn around and run another route, we have to get through the door... that's right - my umbrella!"

- All right man, stay on your own two feet for now. I'm going to open this door.

I took aim at the lock and hit it. The knock was very loud. You could hear the sound of the keyhole making a turn. Anatoly was frightened when he heard it, and when I opened the door, he shouted:

- Don't open it!

When the door opened, a very strong gust of air started coming in, so much so that it blew us both inside. I managed to react and held my arms and legs in the door frame, with an umbrella in one hand, which made the position extremely uncomfortable. All the cats just got sucked into the room like a vacuum cleaner, and Anatoly huddled against the bag.

"It's hard... Hands and feet are busy, and you can't lose the umbrella, you have to ask him for help."

- Man! Reach for the handle and close that door!

- No! I'm really scared! I can't do it!

"What kind of a wimp is she..."

- You can do it! I believe in you! Come on, reach for the handle and hold on to me!

- I can't do it! I'm scared!

"Yeah, well, there's no way - you'll have to reach for it yourself."

- Hold on to the left frame!

Anatoly obeyed and began to hold on to it. I let go of my left hand and reached for the handle. The gust of wind was very strong and it was hard to close the door.

"It's hard, but it gives way."

I kept pulling on the door. The closer it was, the harder it was to pull.

"How hard it is to close it!"

After a while, I succeeded, and we both fell to the ground.

- Are we saved? Are we no longer in danger? Who are you and why are you...

With a calm movement, I put my backpack on the ground, scooped up the sugar, and put it in his mouth.

- Shut up at last!

There was a little silence, and then he asked:

- So, maybe this isn't a dream?

- It's a dream. There's no such delirium in reality.

- But then why am I not waking up?

- I don't know. I don't understand much myself.

- You said you were here to help me. Are you a guardian angel?

- What guardian angel? I'm an atheist. I thought it would make you feel better to say that, just as it would make you close that doorknob. How can you be so cowardly?

- Aren't you afraid?

- I was, but that's no reason not to do something.

There was a pause between us, Anatoly pondered these words and asked:

- But, where are you going yourself? What do you want?

- Want? I have circumstances. You can just go in the opposite direction and try to figure out what causes them. I know it's not the goal, but I've never seen anything like this before, so I'm very puzzled.

Anatoly looked at the backpack with the sugar.

- Thanks for the save...

- Yeah.

"And what am I supposed to do with it? So I meet a man, and then what?"

- And I'm sorry I snapped at you the other day.

- Forget it. I stumbled into your dream and I don't know what happens next. But do your legs even walk right when you're alive? You were running in place, as if you were performing not a "moonwalk," but a "moonwalk."

- Yeah, I'm fine, I don't know what it is.

We got quiet again.

- So, why did you tell me not to open the door? Did you know it would suck all the cats in and us in, too?

- No, I just got really scared thinking there was something bad behind it.

"Really? So it's his fault for that! Or it's good intuition... And you can't figure it out. I don't know much about all this. But I've got to go somewhere. And be careful with the doors."

- Well, let's go somewhere else. We'll talk about the rest on the way.

I shouldered my backpack and started walking. Anatoly tried to get up, but immediately fell down.

- I can't walk properly!

"By the way, how did I carry it on my shoulder so far and not get out of breath? It wasn't heavy at all. I seem to do things pretty easily in this dream. Masha had a problem walking, too, and so did the goat a little... It would be good to know more about it."

- What does it look like?

- There's a lot of gravity, I'm pinned to the ground! Give me a hand.

"It's not very clear... What's causing it in the first place? Is he only like this in front of me?"

I walked over and lifted him to his feet.

- Can you stand?

- With great difficulty, but I can.

- I don't understand at all... Okay, I'll look for a cart or something.

- Will you leave me alone?

- Yeah, for a while. Until I find something, stay here.

- But...

- Stay here for a while. I won't be long.

"The man looks 30 years old, but he acts like I don't know who. And it would be easier to find a reason why he can't walk like that."

I walked past the village houses and took a closer look at the yards. Next, I walked around the street where I ran away from the cats. Many of the lots had vegetable gardens.

"This is the countryside, there's sure to be a wheelbarrow somewhere."

The first house I approached was made of logs and painted blue. There was a well in the yard.

"And it's more domestic than the one I was in, and there's a vegetable garden. Surely the owners must have worked hard. There must be a wheelbarrow somewhere in the barn."

I approached the barn, but it was closed.

"My umbrella should help again."

I banged the umbrella on the lock and the barn opened. There was work equipment hanging on the walls, a lot of rakes and just beside them was a wheelbarrow.

"Great, now we need to get it to Anatoly."

Being already with the wheelbarrow, I drove it outside. As I pulled up to the fence, people started running up the road toward the gym.

"Damn, looks like he's in trouble again... We gotta hurry!"

I threw the wheelbarrow over the fence and climbed over and ran beside them with the wheelbarrow, but either they mistook me for one of their own, or they didn't notice me at all.

"Again? Are they cheeky or what? I'm going to push them on purpose!"

I bumped the wheelbarrow into one of the runners, it was a certain high school boy, he turned around in confusion, but after a short pause he continued his run.

"He really can't see me...I was right in front of him...and the rest of us are going around me...How does that even work? That's right, we need to save the bearded man!"

I kept running in his direction until suddenly I was on the roof. The wheelbarrow was on its edge, I had to let it go, so as not to fall with it. There was a crashing sound on the ground.

"How did I end up here? Is it the teleporter again?"

I turned back and saw Anatole surrounded by the crowd.

"Shit, we have to get him out!"

I immediately rushed to the rescue, crashing into the crowd and pushing them aside, then, taking Anatoly lying on my shoulder like a sack.

- We're going to get out of here!

The crowd whispered of worthlessness, uselessness, failure, reproach, and more.

- Let me go! You have betrayed me! You deceive me! You think me a burden, that I...

Out of the crowd there is nowhere to run.

"Where should we go? We're on the roof, third floor..."

I started running around, at the same time looking around at what was downstairs. There was a rooftop at the entrance to the entryway, which would help less injury.

- There was no way out, we had to jump!

- Jump? Are you out of your mind? It's the third floor, we're going to crash!

After I said that, the man seemed to get heavier.

- If we don't jump, we'll be surrounded by those whisperers.

- No! I don't want to jump!

I didn't really want to jump either, but the whisperers pushed us off the roof.

We both screamed as we fell, and I woke up.

I jumped up out of bed along with the screaming and fell to the floor.

- What a mess I'd made...

I took my time getting up and kept talking to myself.

- He must have been so frightened that he made the crowd act, but how to escape now? I'm very close to sprawling on the ground. I need to avoid it somehow, but I don't know how at all. Is it even realistic to die in there? Right, what about time?

23:61:12 20.06.2020

- Wow, five whole seconds. I'd better stay here and think it over for a while.

I went to the table, but I had no desire to draw anything. I took a pencil, and began to move it in my hand. I went to the window and looked at the unchanging sky.

- Something seems to me that I will not get damage from the fall, I have definitely become some kind of superman, who will not get broken from such a thing for sure! I must continue the dream and save Anatole in the process! Although, he's something quite ... Yes, and called a traitor ... Maybe it's not worth it? But it would not be nice if I throw.

I lay down on the bed and fell asleep, and then felt the landing, but there was no great pain.

- Oh, it didn't hurt that much, are you okay in there?

Anatoly wasn't around, and neither was the "whispering" crowd. It was quiet everywhere.

"Looks like he's awake...that didn't go well...I need to get down."

I climbed down from the concrete roof of the entryway. It had 2 doors, one leading to the basement and the other to the apartments.

- They disappeared when this panicky guy woke up. Now the place is empty. I'm a little relieved he's gone. I don't want to be here too long. I think I'll go down to the basement.

It turned out to be open.

- Great, I like open doors, there are fewer surprises behind them.

I went into the basement, and it was dark.

- If I had something to illuminate... Yeah, we should go back and go somewhere else.

I turned around, and the exit was gone. I looked ahead again, there were some illuminated paintings in the distance.

- Huh? A gallery?

As I got closer and walked around them, I found them hovering above the ground.

- Wow, they're really hanging in the air! There's nothing behind them!

The picture was of a winter landscape. I looked at the rest and there were pictures of other landscapes, beautiful buildings, drawings of trees, sculptures, and different creatures like: elves, orcs, werewolves, and so on.

- What a lot of pictures...

At the front along the empty frames was a chair, and behind it a man, he was clearly an artist who was painting another picture. I stepped toward him and immediately heard:

- You have intruded on my dream...

He rose from his chair and turned in my direction. The artist waved his hand away, making a sort of gesture.

I was immediately in a completely different place... A hill of bones, a red sky, huge insects, and big red demons with long claws.

The artist's voice echoed throughout the space:

- You'd better go!