Chapter 78: The Dream

Jimmy got knocked out, for reasons he could not understand. His world just went dark, and at first he feared that he died, but that was not the case. He was dreaming.

His dreams were bizarre, and provided no measurable explanation. Usually, dreams made sense as the unconscious mind tried to put things together, but the dreams he experienced now were abstract, nightmare fuel.

The dreams seemed like nightmares, and yet, he wasn’t scared. In one dream he was a snail humping a frog, and in another dream he was the one who’d get humped by the frog. This was quite weird, because he hadn’t seen frogs or snails across the Jurassic Era, but he didn’t know what to do about it. His subconscious mind was suffering greatly, despite the unusually calm atmosphere of these weird dreams.

Each dream was short, so it was difficult to find any meaning within them. They were absolutely horrendous.

In one of them he was a T-Rex, with fins, instead of legs. The fins launched like huge semen balls, destroying cities! Then he exploded, and moved on to the next dream, confused, and concerned.

Every emotion that one could possibly feel, he felt them all together every minute or so. The abstract dreams were in rapid fire mode, and they did quite a number on his emotions.

At some point, he finally dreamt of being human. This was where the dreams started to slow down dramatically.

Jimmy was relieved when this happened, because other than the fact that he wasn’t flashing through random dreams anymore, he also felt a great sense of calmness. Slowly but surely, he felt that he was taking control of his dream-state.

Even though he knew that he was in a different human body in this dream, a body that wasn’t his own, he was still calm. He didn’t mind it.

The dream featured a comforting, old farm house. He stepped out of the farmhouse, and felt the warm sunlight cover his face. He wasn’t in the Jurassic Era anymore, but rather, a place that seemed like medieval Europe.

Outside, he saw a woman, who he instinctively recognized as his mother. Looking at his mother, his calmness started getting mixed up with the feeling of worry, as he was suddenly reminded of how hungry he was. His mother looked like she was on the brink of fatal starvation, yet she didn’t give up, she worked the thirty-meter wide field that was cultivated in front of the farmhouse.

He was riddled with guilt knowing he couldn’t do anything about the fact that she was starving. It was beating the manhood out of him.

“Mother, please, sit down and catch your breath.” He said as he approached her. “Let me do it, I’ve been lazy this past month.”

“Oh, my sweet child, you haven’t been lazy.” She said, as she caressed his cheek. “Look at your hands, you’re getting sicker by the day.”

Jimmy looked at his hands out of curiosity, and saw them quickly transform from pink, healthy flesh, to dark, necrotic limbs. He felt his arms getting heavy immediately, and then he experienced chronic pain just a split-second later!

The pain could knock any man unconscious, but he was in the dream state, so he couldn’t get knocked out, but rather, he ended up feeling the chronic pain for a full minute, every bit of it, as he watched his mother cry for him, and with him, up until his arms fell off.

Other than those sour emotions, he was yet again losing control of how this dream developed.

When his arms fell off, the excruciating pain he felt up until now, faded away. He then looked forward, and saw that the crops on the cultivated field were now fully grown. This indicates that months have passed.

“Do not worry, my sweet child.” His mother said, as she caressed his cheek out of habit. “You may have lost your arms to the sickness, but the punishment of the gods stopped there. You’re getting better.”

“Mother, you are too kind to me, but please don’t shield me from the truth.” He said. “I’m useless now! How will I survive without my arms? How can the gods punish me, punish us so severely? Our life is hard enough as it is. This makes no sense to me!”

“Hush,” She said, “I’m here for you, I will take care of you, feed you, clothe you, as I always have. I thank the gods everyday that they haven’t taken you from me, like they took your father. We’ve paid off our debts to the gods, and life from now on shall be sweet.”

Afterwards, she gently moved her spoon closer to his mouth, and said, “Eat, please. Enjoy the pumpkin porridge.”

Jimmy didn’t want to upset his mother, so he ate. He chewed through a mouthful of porridge, but when he looked at her again, he suddenly saw her poor, lifeless skeleton lounged on the chair! He yelled out in response, and cried his lungs out. This dream took quite a toll on him, for reasons he could not understand.

“Mother…” He cried. “How unfair our life was!”

While his tears dripped on the table, he craved to caress her cheek one more time, but yet he couldn’t. He then started crying even more over the fact that he had no arms. He couldn’t even hug what remained of his mother, he couldn’t move her, not in a respectful manner at least.

Every sour emotion he felt, throughout every hour he mourned, stirred emotions of deep hate, disgust, and anger towards the gods. He was done asking for their forgiveness, and demanded an apology from them instead.

He rushed outside, in the dark coat of the night, and in the pouring rain, just to yell at the sky, and curse them, cussing at them, demanding an apology. He was no longer afraid of the gods, and challenged their powers directly.

“Talk to me you bastards!” He shouted. “What’s the point of all this pain!?”

The gods did not answer, but his hatred was so magnetic, that at some point, it did attract greater powers, greater beings. A sparrow flew towards him, and landed on his stumped shoulder.

When it landed, Jimmy’s arms grew back, just like that, in a snap! He was beyond surprised, and for a second, he thought that the gods had finally listened, and apologized to him in their own way, but that was not the case.

The sparrow then burrowed in his ear. It forced its way in, causing excruciating pain for a second, but then the pain was gone. He then looked at the sky once more, noticed how the rain immediately stopped, and in the clear moonlight sky, he saw a giant, radiant, human head looking at him.

“The gods have failed you.” Its voice thundered. “But I, Brozunalas, heard your call, mage! You shall now carry my decree with the utmost grace, and shall your hatred towards the gods prevent their influence from ever slithering into mankind!”

The giant head then disappeared, leaving him with many unanswered questions.

Within the dreamstate, Jimmy’s world then changed, but he did not slip into another dream, no. He was still aware, in a sense, he had just teleported back in time, by the will of the great entity that promised him greatness. He saw dinosaurs, which was the greatest hint of where he had teleported to.

“What?” He asked himself. “What are these long-necked bastards supposed to be? Where are the gods? I want to fight the gods!”

Shortly after, while he boiled in rage, he could sense the dream world fading away slowly. Once it faded, he snapped out of it, and finally woke up! He was back in the real world, angry, and confused.

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