Red

I was running.

I was running as fast as I could; speeding through the dark corridors of what I think was a high school. The classroom doors were slamming shut behind me as I passed them. My heart was racing, I couldn't catch my breath, and I could feel the adrenaline of being chased taking over my body.

But I wasn't being chased. I was frantically searching.

As I turned the corner I crashed directly into someone. I almost screamed, but after taking in his form I realized I knew him. He was my boyfriend. He was OK. I was OK. I had found him.

Relief washed over me as we talked, though a sense of urgency and apprehension hung in the air.

A crash from behind us turned our attention to the back of the hall, but I saw nothing. When I turned again he was gone.

I wasn't far from the exit. I walked to the double doors and pushed them open, a blast of warm spring air taking my breath away, and the sun blinding me as I stepped outside.

There were people everywhere.

It was unnaturally silent outside.

No one moved. No one made a sound.

And everyone was wearing red.

As far as I could see, the sidewalks, the streets, the alleys surrounding the tall buildings, were red-clad, living statues.

Some I recognized, most I didn't. But some where my very best friends.

Side-stepping my way through the crowd, I came across my roommate. She was, like everyone else in the crowd, staring wide-eyed towards the sky, open-mouthed as if she were seeing a miracle in the clouds.

I was starting to cry. I moved on when she wouldn't respond to me, ducking through rows of people, all stock-still and staring up just like my roommate, their mouths open.

Then I saw him. It was just his profile from my angle and he was a few yards away, but I knew it was him.

Panic started to rise, my chest constricting, my breath catching and I started to say no. No, no, no, no, no - over and over as I ran as quickly as I could to him. Gripping his jacket I shook him, screaming his name, tears streaming down my face as I tried to get him to respond and there was nothing.

I fell at his feet, curling up, hugging my knees to my chest and rocking, sobbing. Because I knew I was the only one left. I have never been more alone, or more scared in my entire life....

"Hey..."

I gasped awake, sitting up quickly and backing up against the headboard and away from the voice that had awakened me. My boyfriend was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hand hovering the air over where my shoulder had been, staring at me cautiously.

"...Are you alright?" he asked.

Catching my breath, I nodded, "Yeah, yeah I'm alright..." I reached up to rub the sleep from my eyes and I found that I'd been crying.

It was just a dream.

It was just a dream.

~Jennanigans