A Malleable Truth

She descends towards a steep spiral staircase in a pitch-dark room. The vacuum absorbs the clatter of her red heels–the sound reverberating into the void. Each tread is transparent and hollow, and the staircase disappears when she arrives at the bottom. A voice commands her to open the door, and she knew instinctively she must retrieve a vital object amongst the stream of consciousness where past, present, and future are nonlinear. Vivid orange hues flow through this door, and compelling energy tries to snivel its way past her, so she shuts the door forcibly.

Sweats start to form on her nostril, traveling downward until her whole body is soaked. The air usually caresses and rejuvenates her, but today, the air is infused with nitrogenous bubbles, suffocating her lungs. With nowhere to go, she opens the door again, walking into the ether, falling headfirst into molten lava. It peels off entire layers of skin, and scorch her back, leaving crumbs of her layers scattered. But the midnight air embraces her, and a new version of her is reborn. An aura of blue, ocean water wraps itself around her, and she realizes she is secreting real water, changing molten lava into normal water. A white bright light looms over the horizon, and she swim towards her future.

She follows the light until she enters an area of the ocean where everything is milky white as if there has been a chemical spill. Wading through the unnatural water, her legs hit a soft surface made imperfect by little bumps. A rainbow arches on the horizon, acting as the backdrop to the people on the shore that seem to be waiting for her arrival. A feeling of familiarity sweeps through her, like she was finally at the place she was supposed to be all along.

She finally opens her eyes to arrive at The Real World. But she wonders, if her brain can trick herself into thinking dream logic is coherent, how can she know that this is in fact the real world?