• I woke up in a cold sweat, my heart beating at a "mile a minute", a term I've only heard but never understood. I lay in my bed not making a sound while my sister snores louder than any thunderstorm. She's on the other side of the room, but it's still louder than thought. It's amazing I could sleep at all.

    I'm four years old, an age when anything can leave an impression on my mind. Though it is unlikely that this dream I have just had will be the only defining factor in my development, but it is easily what sets me down my path. I look around my room, the white and blue wallpaper black in the shadows. Much has changed since then, the walls now crumbling, wallpaper stripped, whole rooms changed to satisfy a changing desire. Much has changed, but the story remains the same. I myself know not whether I should be afraid of this situation.

    I find myself standing in my living room, the wrap around couch facing the T.V. All is shrouded in shadows, distinct features unable to be comprehended. From the hall door I can distinguish a light, seemingly emanating from the kitchen. I move toward it, more a gentle glide than an actual stride. Around the corner I peek, ever so wary of what might come. The light does come from the kitchen, but only from a source in the corner. Why is the basement light on, nobody's awake now? I open the door to turn off the switch, but the bulb in the ceiling is not on. Instead, the light seem to be coming from a source farther down the staircase. I dare not venture further, for I am not allowed beyond the threshold of the door, but something draws me nearer.

    Down I go, toward the mud and spiders and everything else disgusting and dark. As I venture farther down, I don't perceive that the light has gone from the soft yellow glow of a light bulb to a more sinister dark red reminiscent of horror movies. The light once again lies around the corner, but this time it stays when I move toward it. Around the corner I find an opening leading to some sort of room. In I go, taking in the sight of pipes billowing steam into the air along with large metal objects dug into the floor. A soft hum echoes through the room, almost like the bee that appears during the summer. From somewhere deep inside these metal objects emanates this dark light, but it is not this that catches my eye. It is what lies beyond, across the narrow walkway surrounding the room.

    I move toward another hole in the wall, this seemingly a gap in the pipes. From this a light shines forth, brightening and dimming as the light from my dad's lighters. Inside I find the room to be shorter than I, and roughly six feet long. As I thought, it is a small flame bearing lamp the illuminates the room. But buried in the floor is something I have never seen. It looks human, but saggier and dirt colored. Its eyes have disappeared into nothing, leaving dark holes to accompany its gaping mouth. I am more curious than afraid, for at this age I have no conscious idea of death. I sit there with this "thing", when my mind breaks from the physical representation of my body and becomes a more third person view. I see myself sitting there, entranced by this sight. My body moves to the other side of the room and resumes his sitting position. Slowly everything fades to black as the light burns out, the hole leading to the pipe room now gone. When everything goes dark, my eyes open, and I am laying in my bed, opposite the room of my snoring sister.