Rising Sun

by Jet Howitzer

Chapter 17: A Dream

You are arm in arm with Rachel as you walk towards the club where the dance is being held. She has on a shimmering cyan dress that draws the eye to all of her curves. You still can’t believe that she said yes, but you’re enjoying yourself too much to think about it right now. As you enter the club you hear the dance music already playing. You walk over to a table with a few other people you know, and you take a seat next to Rachel. She has a big smile on her face, and she catches your eye, and gives a quick wink.

You blush when she does, but you pass it off with a laugh. A short while later, and you are dancing up a storm. Rachel is smiling more than you’ve ever seen before, and it makes you happy to see her happy. The night wears on, and a few hours later you are sitting at your table, with Rachel next to you. You’re panting, having been dancing for the past hour and a half nonstop.

“I’m glad I said yes.” You look up when Rachel speaks, as she’s unusually quiet, especially given the situation.

“Is something wrong? You’re really quiet.” She gives you a weak smile, and then she grabs your hand. You follow her, and soon you’re on the upstairs balcony. The night sky is just as clear as the night you went stargazing. She walks over to a table, and motions for you to sit. She sits next to you, and angles herself to look at you.

“You know about my disease, right?” You nod, but she explains anyway. “Well, you know how my mom’s been having heart problems her whole life, and my dad did too, when he was younger. Well, they’re both genetic, and I got the worst of both.”

You had heard this before, but it has been almost two years since she spoke about it with you. She’s mentioned it, but never in any real detail.

“Anyway, the doctors say that my heart has an usually thin left ventricular wall. And so, they fear that if it isn’t treated, as in replaced, then I’ll run the risk of it rupturing. I’ve known since I was old enough to talk, but it was never a huge problem until recently. My heart, when I was younger, couldn’t pump hard enough to be a real risk, but now it’s a risk.”

You nod in understanding. “So, what are they going to do? Are you getting a replacement, or are they going to try to treat it?”

“Well, they don’t really have any way to treat it, and they’re having trouble finding a donor. In a couple of weeks I’m going into the hospital for some treatments. I was wondering if you’d be there for me, when I wake up after the surgery.”

Your jaw drops. “Of course I’ll be there for you! We’ve been friends for so long now, I-”

She puts her fingers on your lips, and you stop speaking. “I don’t want you there as a friend. I want you there as my boyfriend.”

She lowers her hand, and you are speechless. You open and close your mouth a few times, but no words seem to form. She giggles at your fish impression, and that jars your mind. You smile at her, and lean in for a kiss, and she lets you.

Your mind races at your first kiss. Her lips are soft, and kissable. It lasts mere moments, but to you it lasted an eternity. When you pull back she has tears in her eyes. “I’ll be there, Rachel. I’ll be there for you, and I won’t leave your side till you’re better.”

A few more tears fall, and then she lunges at you and kisses you with much more passion. You find yourself lost in her pink eyes. A genetic mutation, she says. Beautiful, you always responded.

The balcony melts away, and you find yourself in the hospital. Rachel is lying on a hospital bed, and her eyes are half closed. She is holding your hand, and occasionally squeezing. You return the squeezes, gently, but you do it.

“How long since they put me on the sedative?” She manages to groggily ask.

“It’s been an hour and twenty minutes,” you say after checking your watch. “The doctors said that it should’ve put you out in twenty. Are you always this stubborn?”

She laughs a bit at that. “Always. It’s getting harder, though. Promise me you’ll be there when I wake up?”

“I promise.” As you respond, though, her eyes close. A few minutes later, and a group of doctors enter. They usher you out, and a minute later they wheel her bed out of the room. You follow them to the operating room, and wait at the point where you can go no further.

You must have fallen asleep, because you suddenly wake with a start. Rachel’s parents are in the hall, across from you. They are both crying, clearly upset about the situation they’re in. As you stand up, a doctor comes out through the doors. All eyes turn to him, and he looks at all of you.

He pulls off his mask, and there is a frown there. He shakes his head slowly, and just stands there.

“No…” You can’t accept it. Your mind goes blank, and you turn to look at the doctor. “No, that can’t be! I promised her I’d be there!” He just shakes his head again.

“I’m sorry, son. We did all we could, but there was a small section of the ventricle that was weaker than expected. Once we were examining her heart it ruptured. She hemorrhaged faster than we could stop. I’m sorry, but she’s gone.”

You push your way past the doctor, and after running for a moment, you find an observation room. You barge in, and see Rachel lying on the operating table. You pound your fist on the window, tears streaming down your face. “I promised you! I said I’d be there, and you still left! We just started going out, after I had been asking for years, and now that you’ve said yes you DIE?” Your pounding grows weaker, and soon you are just lying on the floor, in the fetal position, crying. You feel someone lift you up, but you don’t care. The one girl that you fell in love with is gone. She’s gone and you never told her how you really felt.

She’s gone, and you’re alone again.

The world melts around you once more, and you’re sitting in a forest.

“Happy birthday to me,” you mumble under your breath. You pull out grandma’s letter, and look at it with a mild indifference. You pull out your knife, and cut the letter open.

You slowly pull out the letter, and read what it says.

Dear (YOUR NAME),

I know that you are probably wishing that I was still there with you, and that I hadn’t died. Well, you and me both. This letter is not just an ordinary letter. This letter will explain what is happening to you, and what will happen to you. I’m sorry to say, that just by reading this you have accepted what it says.

The first thing that will happen is a wipe of your memory. This is necessary to effect a smoother transition to the new world. The watchers will be unable to send you back if you have no connection to this world, so the memory wipe will be a cruel necessity. Once you’ve created a solid link to the new world your memories will start returning to you. There may be occasional recollection in dreams, but nothing will be remembered by your conscious mind, sadly.

The new world you’ll be traveling to is a much happier world than ours. There is still conflict, no world can exist without it, but it is much less. I hope that you will enjoy it, and make new friends. And maybe, just maybe, meet some old ones too.

The new world you’ll be traveling to is called Equestria. It is a land of ponies, and mythological beasts. I went there when I died, a story for when we meet again, and now I wish for you to come here before you need to die, and live a sad life on Earth. I realize that I’m forcing this on you, but believe me, it’s for the best. Now, the effects will start kicking in soon, so I want you to finish this as quickly as you can, and then fold it up, and keep it with you no matter what.

I’ll explain more when we meet on Equestria. If we don’t then just remember that I love you.

Now, all you have to do is run. Run, and don’t look back. The few mythical forces on Earth are unwilling to just let you leave. Run, and keep running. The moon will guide you, as it did for me.

Love you always,

Grandma

With a gasp you sit up in bed. It’s nearly morning, and you feel a cold sweat running down your back. You eyes also feel puffy, as if you were crying for a while. You lay back down, and just look at the ceiling. Swimming through your mind are a set of pink eyes. They’re filled with tears, but before you can focus on them they fade from focus, and you can’t seem to bring them back into focus. You roll out of bed, and start getting ready.

Your mind is racing, and you can’t shake the feeling that soon something big is going to happen.

(Yep. A dream chapter. There may be a few more of these, as I fill in the gaps. And that ending? Foreshadowing so much! Good stuff is going to be coming up soon.)

Comments

[Caelum]

:0 that foreshadowing was crazily mind boggling, all the references to equestria you slipped into that dream...i am reminiscing of the first time i watched inception

[Jet Howitzer]

365369 Fear my ability to throw together well made stories in my head! But yeah, this was slightly planned, but for the most part made on the spot. I think it should be fairly obvious what I actually planned.

[Caelum]

for rainbow and..well.. "us" i guess to be with rainbow? and that rainbow is perhaps actually rachel :0 which would explain why shes named rachel if thats your plan! Rachel, Rainbow? if i'm wrong then oh well :P all in all yet again i am waiting very impatiently for the next chapter

[Shao]

what?

also...

cyan dress and pink eyes... i c what u did there...

[jeramiahsental]

If I could upvote it more than once, I would give this story a million upvotes!!!

[Sparky Plunge]

Stupid Pandora decided to play "imagine" by john Lennon as soon as the sad scene came about.

[Lucky424]

Well that's interesting. I wonder who Grandma is.......................DON'T GO WITH AJ!!!! SHE'S YOUR...........SECOND COUSIN OR SOMETHING!!!

[Buckshot2825]

i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/008/491/dafuq.jpg

GRANDMA, HOW COULD YOU!!!!!!!

[Lucien Chance]

I like...

Moar.

[coldrunner]

this chapter was an emotional for i too lost my girlfriend just a few weeks to a deadly sickness

it...was possibly the worst moment in my life's history but if this chapter comes true then that mean my grandma would give little bit before she died! witch mean's...... i uhh have some tears shed so i'll be back