Hallway

It was more than just a dream. The events took place over several months. The world had a history and complex design. The relationships between the people were complicated, layered. Everything looked and felt so real.

But then I woke up.

It started with a picture that I couldn't hang. My wife and I had just moved into our new house and I wanted to surprise her by framing a photograph she had taken. I tried to hang it in the hallway, but the wall wouldn't allow it. It bent one nail after another, any that I tried to put through it. I ran my hand across its cool, painted surface.

"Forget it," I said. On to other things.

Then the laudanum arrived by mail, meant for the previous owner. My wife wanted to be bold, for us to try it only once. But then we tried it more, almost everyday after that first one. It took up so much time. Days went by, or they seemed to in the world of the dream. I had ideas that I thought would last forever, not that any of them did.

One night, I passed through the hallway and took a closer look at the wall where no pictures hung. My wife was asleep, had been sleeping for days, so I looked at the wall until morning. It was easy to look closely at things with my opium brain. By noon the next day I saw them, the etched symbols lurking beneath the paint on the wall. I went to the garage for some paint thinner and returned. I began my work, stripping the paint away to expose the wall's message.

It took several months, but so much happened in that time, more than I'll ever remember. I stopped messing with the laudanum. I traveled to other parts of the world and met the people there. I divorced and started dating again. Seasons changed in the world of the dream. However, I always returned to my work and, eventually, I removed every inch of paint from the hallway wall.

I stepped back and, now seeing the entire message all at once, I understood what the symbols were saying. I read the secret message and then almost immediately woke up. Awake and somewhere new, I repeated as much as I could to myself, desperate to not forget it. The message had told me so many things, much of it just for me to know.

But most importantly it said, "This is more than just a dream."