//------------------------------// // Just a Dream // Story: A Change In Scenery // by TaylorTheFailure //------------------------------// My name is Taylor and this is my story on how I began living my dream. It’s May 29th, three days after my birthday. Today, me and my parents officially move into our new house. I’m an only child at seventeen years old and will be returning as a Junior in high school in August. I’m so happy because we are moving to a house much closer to school so that I can sleep in more and I will not have to worry about a one-and-a-half-hour drive like in the last house. What’s even better though, is the separate building on the lot that I will have all to myself. Sadly though, I start summer school in about a week which suuuuuucks. It gives me no time for my summer at all because I will also have baseball tournaments . I miss the earlier days when I was 13 and 14: no responsibilities and no worries, just relaxing….. and the occasional MLP episode. Yes, I know MLP, who would’ve guessed (you all). I’d been a fan of the show since 2012 when it began really picking up and I genuinely enjoyed the characters and personalities that were in the show. I still do. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all great, but my favorites for sure are Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, mostly because of how similar they are to me. Rainbow Dash shares a lot of my traits and hobbies like sports and loving to compete, while Fluttershy shares a lot of similarities with my personality, like my shyness and love of animals. Even though I may be a little introverted, I don’t have an issue making friends, thanks to my involvement in sports. Anyway, today is our first day living in the new house. We don’t have any of our furniture set up so we’ll have to sleep on the floor when we go to bed. But for now I’m going to catch up on the newest episode of MLP that I missed from yesterday. Man, I really do love this show. They somehow are able to continue building on their characters like with Rainbow Dash in this episode (no spoilers for people who didn’t see it). Alright, I’m gonna play some Xbox and listen to the newest Rooster Teeth podcast, then probably go to bed. As usual, I won every single game of Rocket League and loved the newest podcast with Gavin, Gus, Burnie and Barbara. Whelp, time to head to bed. I exclaimed “Good night Mom and Dad” on my way to my room. I entered into my new bedroom that’s still empty of any furniture since we had just moved in. I then went into my new bathroom where I left my toothbrush and paste and proceeded to brush my teeth. I looked at the teenager in the mirror, about 6’ 2” and 185 pounds. He had dirty blonde hair, combed to his right with very definitive features in his face. Not bad. I laid down on the soft carpet and watched the ceiling fan spin while I thought about the MLP episode I watched. “What a show”. I mean really though, definitely one, if not my favorite show. My thoughts were soon interrupted by the ringtone of my phone. I saw my dad’s message that read, “Don’t forget to wash your baseball uniform for tomorrow’s tournament”. Oh crap, I totally forgot. I have a tournament at 6:00 in the morning. Ugh, that suuuuucks, I really don’t wanna go either because I was really looking forwards to sleeping in tomorrow. Once I washed my clothes, I headed back up to my room in frustration of having a tournament so early in the morning. Where I live, the sun usually doesn’t come up until at least 7:00 so I laid on the floor of my new bedroom for a while, thinking about the tournament, my life and MLP. I then began to watch as the bedroom became darker, and darker, and darker, until it was pitch black. I slowly woke up the next morning (I’ve never been a morning person), my eyes slowly adjusting to the early morning. Since it was so early in the morning, the sun still wasn’t fully up, making the sky dark and the area around me hard to see. “Why do I feel so warm. The AC or something must be broken”. Also what the hell is up with my voice, I sound really tired or something because my voice is much more shy and high pitched. I tried to push myself up with my hands but they felt kind of weird as if they were in the shape of fists. The ground felt kind of weird too when I pressed down on it. “Wow. The carpet feels a lot softer than I remember”. Seriously though, what is up with my voice. It is so damn subtle. Maybe when I wake up I’ll sound better. My thoughts were then interrupted when I remembered the baseball tournament that I had woken up for. I decided that I probably need to get ready for it, so I tried to push myself up. ‘Tried’ being the keyword, because I immediately fell face first back onto the super soft carpet. “Nooo, I’m so tired, and this carpet is sooo soft” I mean really though, what is with my voice, I have to be sick or something. Anyways, I really don’t want to get up and I don’t think I can manage to do it, even if I wanted to. I really should though. “Nah”. And I just laid there for a bit. But I eventually got scared at the idea of my dad walking in and seeing me asleep when I had a tournament soon. Yea, I should probably get up soon. But I’d like to know where I am in my bedroom. I felt around me and couldn’t feel any walls close to me so I must’ve fallen asleep in the middle of the room or something. I decided to crawl around the room and find a wall so that I could find where I am in my new bedroom. It took only 3 seconds before I found something. It was shaped like a thick pole. “Why is this in my room. I don’t remember seeing it when I first came in here yesterday. Maybe my parents brought it in or something?” I reached for the pole and it felt like bark from a living tree?! “Ooh, my parents put a plant in my room! Wait, who puts plants in a bedroom? And where’s the pot for it?” I must really be sick because my voice still sounds weird, but I’ll worry about that later. Still crawling around, I reached for the base of the tree. “The damn tree is rooted in my carpet!? Huh.” I’m not sure whether to be happy or upset or confused or even a combination right now. I laid there for a few seconds, thinking about all the possibilities of how there was a tree in my bedroom. “Maybe my parents decided to grow a tree in my room? Maybe the world is being infested by trees? Maybe my parents played a trick on me and put me outside when I was sleeping? Or, am I still dreaming?” Either way, I’ll need to do more than just lay on the ground next to a damn tree, wherever I am. I decided to get up, which was still really hard because it was dark, but especially because I’m tired. Rather than just jumping up, I used the strategy of using my elbows and knees to gradually push myself up which helped. I eventually got to a kind of push-up pose. But for some reason I couldn’t stand up, I was stuck on my hands and feet. “I must be really freakin tired then”. I “stood” up for a couple seconds in the pitch black room (with a tree), until the room was suddenly brightened by a bright red light behind me. I looked around the room to find that I was most definitely not in a room, but outside, in a forest! That’d explain why my carpet felt so soft and comfortable. So I was right, my parents put me outside, but why. Oh wait, I could be dreaming too though. I continued to look around the forest with red glares from the light behind me, stunned at where I was. These trees also seem kind of big and strange looking. Maybe because I’m on my hands and feet. Hopefully the light can sho….. “W-Wha-What the hell is wrong with me?!” I looked down to find that my hands aren’t even hands, they’re damn furry hooves. I just hysterically looked at myself. I looked down at the two hooves below me, then looking between them, I spot two more in the back, and a damn tail between them!” Well, at least I know that I am dreaming. But is it a nightmare or an awesome dream? Once, I was done quickly looking at what I was in this dream, I turned around to see what was making the light. “A-Are those eyes?” Yep, they sure are. Massive eyes, the size of microwaves. The sure sign of a nightmare. I took an awkward step backwards (the new body is still kind of strange), and the eyes followed with one small step towards me. I took one more backwards, and the eyes took one forwards. This thing isn’t going to leave me alone, so I made one quick decision. RUN! I turned around as fast as I could and “bolted” in the other direction, struggling to run on all fours. The red light followed right behind me with the sound of panting from the enormous beast. I ran into the complete darkness of the forest, dodging trees as the light from the beast’s eyes shown on the trees. Branches kept brushing beside me, cutting me as I ran, but the fear of the beast pushed me onwards. I eventually spotted a white light coming from a break in the forest, it appeared to be a small hole big enough for me to fit through. I ran towards it with the remaining strength I had and leaped through, passing out in the process. “Hello. A-Are you okay?” I can hear a sweet familiar voice as I slowly regain consciousness. “Oh dear, you don’t look too good”. I’m too weak to respond so I just nod. As I try opening my eyes, the bright light from the sun, no longer blocked by the trees, blinds me. When I’m able to actually open my eyes, I internally squeal. IT’S Fluttershy, this is the best damn dream ever! My eyes must have grown twice their size at least. “You look really hurt, c-can I help?” It must have looked like my eyes were about to explode, because Fluttershy immediately sweetly chuckled and said “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’”.