Chapter One: The Endless Field

Chapter one: The Endless Field



I awoke with a fright, I felt cold and as though a bucket of water had been poured on top of me. I could hear my heart beating fast and I placed a hand over my chest. As I regained my composure I realized that I was not where I was supposed to be. What seemed like minutes before, but was actually hours, I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep. It was hard for me, though, to remember if I had ever actually fallen asleep. My face felt cold as the wind swept across it. For there I was, lying in a field of tall grass. I rubbed my eyes, half expecting to wake up in my bedroom, it was then I noticed that I was wearing my glasses. But I didn’t sleep with my glasses on, but there they were. I noticed, too, that I wasn’t wearing my pajamas, but my normal day clothes. Indeed my sweatpants had been replaced with a pair of blue-jeans, and my white T-shirt was gone and instead I was wearing my long-sleeved brown hooded sweater. Were my bear feet were minutes ago, or minutes I thought, were my shoes.

I stood up, hoping to figure out what had happened. My knees cracked as I rose and I stretched my arms out. Around me there was nothing but grass. About knee-high, it looked like a sea of green as it rolled over the gently rolling hills which I now found myself surrounded by. I shook my head, once again hoping to wake up and once again finding myself disappointed. What has happened? Where am I? These questions ran through my mind as I stared out at the endless ocean of grass that lay before me.

It was then that I felt very alone, not a single living thing, apart from myself could be seen anywhere, only grass. Normally, in life, you are surrounded by other people, but here, it seemed, it was only me. I began walking, hoping to find someone, anyone, ore anything, for that matter, that broke the monotony of the grassy plain. I walked for sometime, keeping my eyes open for any signs of life, but there seemed to be no end to this grass filled nightmare which I now found myself in. I looked up at the sky; the sun was becoming larger as it moved towards the horizon. The sky was blue and cloudless. And I kept walking. The sun began to set and the sky turned into a palette of dark blues and purples. Above me I could see a lone star, surrounded by nothing. I felt like that star, completely alone. A small speck compared to vastness of space, or in this case, a field. In front of me the grass stretched endlessly, though now it looked like an ocean, for the night sky had replaced the green with hues of blue. I looked up, the full moon was shining down on the field, a few clouds had appeared and were now moving in front of the moon so that on the hills there were patches of ground bathed in moonlight, and other shadowed in darkness. Though night had completed fallen, there was still only one star in the sky, the one I had seen before. I was still alone, it was still alone. I felt my eyes grow heavy and tears began to roll down the side of my face. I fell to the ground and closed my eyes wanting to wake up in my room, wanting to wake up anywhere but here. I kept my eyes closed and began to think, the first thing that popped into my head was Jennifer. My faced screwed up and I quickly discarded her from my head, not wanting to think about that. The next thing to appear was Jordan, I smiled. I basked in the memory of her, her and Jennif… My face screwed up again and I opened my eyes. And there, right above me, was my star, the first one I saw on this horrible nightmare. But right next to it were two other stars, though not as bright as that first one, they shone with a light that seemed to warm me. I stared at them for the longest time and once again my mind drifted towards Jordan, then something happened. One of the two new stars grew brighter. I stopped and stared at it again, yes, it had gotten brighter. I thought of Jordan again and there was another burst of light from the star.

“I wonder,” I said aloud without realizing it. Then with much difficulty I though of Jennifer; the second of the two stars grew brighter, much like the first one. The three stars shone with such brilliance they illuminated the entire field in a faint glow.

“Wow,” I said still gazing at the stars, “if only my friends could be here.”

My friends, quickly I began to think of Kyle, and there right next to the first three stars was a new one. I smiled and began to think of more people, Matt, Collin, and Dustin, my parents, brothers, and sister. And every time I thought of someone new, a star would appear to take the place of the blackness of night. Soon the entire sky was filled with stars, each one representing someone important to me. But still, those first three shone brighter than all the others, no matter how much I thought of someone else, no other star could surpass those three. And as I lied there underneath the glittering stars of the night sky I smiled and though to myself…

“…I guess I’m not so alone after all.”

Then I closed my eyes and slept.



I don’t know how long I was asleep, or whether I slept at all. But when I opened my eyes I saw myself looking at the starry sky I had created for myself, from myself. I sat up and once again saw myself looking at the endless field which I found myself to be trapped in. I sighed and got up. I wasn’t feeling tired at all so I began to walk again. I walked on for a while and realized that I was hungry. My stomach growled and I placed my hand over it as though that would stop. On the horizon the sky grew lighter as the sun began to rise. The black became purple as the sky change from night to twilight. I looked up, some of the dimmer stars had disappeared with the rising sun, other were growing faint. But some, including those first three, shone as brightly as if it was still night. The sky turned yellow, and the blue as the sun climbed higher into the sky, the grass had once again turned green and all the stars had disappeared, except those first three. My hunger grew and, with the sun up, my thirst.

As I walk I tried to think of something to get my mind off of food. Naturally, the first thing that popped into my head was Jennifer. I grew angry, and, unknowing to me, one of the three stars grew brighter. Why I so mad at her, well…it all started a couple days ago…

It was another perfectly normal day at school, very boring. Science had finished and I was heading towards the cafeteria to eat. Unfortunately I had lunch with Jennifer or J.J. as we call her, that day. I went to the table I normally sat at and began to eat. J.J. sat down across from me and told me, not asked told, to sit next to her. And then, I don’t know why I did this, I said “no.” For some reason this flipped a switch in her head, she got all mad at me because I wouldn’t listen to her. Now, I wasn’t mad because she wanted me to sit next to her, no, I was mad because she acted as though she owned me. This I couldn’t take and I went and sat at a different table; next to Jordan to be exact. Then J.J. says she’s breaking up with me. I think, of course, that she’s joking; I mean what kind of person would break up with someone over a little argument, especially one that stupid. Fed up with her acting that was I just continue to eat and ignore her. She didn’t like that. She walks over to me and reminds me that she dumped me. I turned to look at her and calmly say, “No you didn’t.” She continues to say that she and I were through that she hated me and all that stuff; I thought she was just trying to get some attention. I tell her that the only way I’d believe she was really breaking up with me is if she asked someone else out. I thought I had her, but I was wrong; she walks over to Curtis, who is sitting a few chairs down, and asks him out. The bell rang and I headed towards gym, still thinking that J.J. and I were going out. It wasn’t that I was in denial, as everyone said, it was just that I knew J.J. and knew that she wouldn’t really break up with me. Throughout gym everyone assured me that J.J. had indeed broken up with me and was now going out with Curtis. I wasn’t until choir that I had a revelation. Sitting next to Jordan in that class, I usually do a lot more talking than singing, seeing as her and I are best friends. I asked her about J.J. hoping to get some answers, but she once again told me that J.J. and I were through.

It was then that it hit me, what if J.J. wasn’t lying, what if someone really would break up with their boyfriend over an argument. J.J. had broken up with me; it was then that I broke down, feeling a mixture of emotions, most consisting of the angry and sad sort. Jordan saw this and comforted me, saying that J.J. didn’t really break up with me, but was just trying to get my attention and teach me a lesson. A lesson? It wasn’t I that needed to be taught, it was her that needed the education. She was the one who thought she was in control over me, I was always the one who did things, and never once did I get anything in return. Now I was feeling angry, how could she scare me like that, you don’t just break up with someone to see what they say, that’s just mean. I then felt an extreme loathing for her, not caring if I never saw her again, but instead smiled at the thought of her disappearing all together.

And since then I’ve been mad at her, not looking at her, talking to her, and trying, though unsuccessfully, to not even think about her. I continued walking through the field, still no sign of anything. The sun was now directly above me. I looked up and saw that two of the stars had disappeared; only the first one remained. My stomach ached with hunger, and I was longing for something to drink. The wind, my last escape from the heat, had died down completely and the grass stood motionless for miles around me. Ahead of me, about a hundred yards or so, something shined in the sunlight. I squinted, trying to determine whether it was a mirage or if it was real. I quickened my pace, forgetting that I was hungry and dying if thirst. As I came closer to the strange object I noticed that it was metallic. Upon closure inspection I saw that it was in fact a rail, train tracks to be exact. I followed the tracks with my eyes and saw them disappear into the distance. Excited to see something new I stepped on them and began walking along the rail, hopefully, I thought, it will lead to someone.