Bridge 1: Memoir

Like all my dreams, I have no clue how I ended up there. It was the weirdest one, that’s why I believe it stayed with me. Otherwise, I forget my dreams after some time or my mind goes blank as soon as I open my eyes. Like every other dream, this dream has 3 parts: a confusing start, interesting suspense, and an ending with an adrenaline rush

It was complete darkness and all I could hear was the aircraft engine noise. I try to move around, try to touch things, make use of my other senses. There were no seats, bulkheads, toilets, the whole fuselage was empty so I could figure out that I was inside a cargo plane. As I moved around, I could sense a fresh wood-like smell, the one which is in the atmosphere after heavy rainfall. To sum it up, I couldn’t figure out where the hell I was being taken and how did I end up there. I had these negative thoughts in me about what’s gonna happen next, my heart rate was increasing, I was breathing like a stallion, and I could feel that I’m inside a weird jumpsuit or a dungaree, I couldn’t tell what I was wearing but it was pretty lightweight.

I had different types of feelings hit me, I was scared, I was trapped, I was sweaty, I was clueless, I was confused, I was anxious. I froze for a moment, thinking about all the memories, all the good times I had before I ended up in this dark cage. Whatever Christopher Nolan wrote in Inception, that time moves faster as we enter every level of dream, is completely true. It felt like I was in the cargo plane for hours. And then something interesting happened, something which gave me a glimpse of hope, I heard a voice of a man. The man seemed to have a heavy voice with a strong British accent.

Anonymous: “Hello? Anyone there..”

Me: “Yeah. Who is this?”

Anonymous: “What’s happening? Where in God’s name am I? I’m not feeling okay. My head hurts, and why the hell it’s completely dark?”

Me: “I know, it has been dark since I opened my eyes. I don’t understand where I am, but it feels like I’m being Taken.” (Underlined sentence Taken from the movie Taken).

Anonymous: “What’s that loud noise? Are we on a plane?”

Me: “Yeah. It seems like a cargo plane.”

Anonymous: “Why does it smell like wood in here? I hate small spaces and darkness. Can you explain what’s going on? This feels like a nightmare. Where are you?”

Me: “I’m over here. I can’t see anything. Follow my voice, come over here. What’s your name?”

Anonymous: “I’m Adam. What’s yours?”

Me: “I’m Sid, stuck here for a while now”

Adam: “My head feels heavy and how the hell did I end up here?”

Me: “Been asking that same question myself.”

Adam: “I was just playing Call of Duty with the boys and then I went to sleep. What day is it? What time is it? Oh God no, it feels like I’m getting a panic attack.”

*heavy breathing*

Me: “Relax. Take deep breaths.”

Adam: “Why is this plane so empty? Why does it smell like wood if it’s empty? There should be something around here.”

Me: “Nothing is there.”

Adam (talking to himself): “This seems just unreal. I don’t have my phone around, I’m wearing this weird onesie. I feel like shit and the other guy is not being helpful at all. I need some Ibuprofen for this never-ending headache and I just wanna sit back and relax on my bed, not on this floor”.

Me: “Adam, follow my voice. We should group up.”

Adam: “Yeah I’m coming. Are you sure there’s nothing here? I don’t wanna bump into something and break a bone.”

 Me: “Yes, it’s clear. Just follow my voice.”

Hours go by in the darkness, with no light, no food, no water, and surprisingly no one’s thirsty or hungry. With just our sense of touch, we try to understand our surroundings. Nuts, bolts, metal, everything around us felt cold and dark, and the smell of fresh wood still there, we retire to sleeping around on the floor. I had a light sleep and woke up all sweaty, gasping for air, and Adam couldn’t even speak. We must have depleted all the oxygen because the next thing that happened, neither of us couldn’t imagine. The chute opened up a bit, the light and cold air came inside. For the first time, we were able to see light and we got very disorientated because both of us got used to the darkness. We ran to the front of the plane, where it was darker. The wood-like smell disappeared and the smell of ocean took its place.

We slowly walked towards the chute, till our eyes got normal and we were able to focus. After hours of darkness, for the first time, we were able to see our surroundings, ourselves, and each other’s faces. The empty fuselage of the plane was huge and it looked shining new. The plane had no doors other than the chute, the cockpit was missing, and there were sockets without the bulbs.

After analyzing our surroundings, Adam and I looked at each other and saw that we were wearing the same lightweight black suit which made us look like bats. We then started exchanging notes on life and both of us were talking as if we were already best buddies. Adam seemed my age, shorter in height, black hair, with a beard. He talked about his goals in life and how the movie Good Will Hunting had a major impact on him. On the other hand, I was still thinking about how to escape from this cage that had been holding me.

The next thing was, we started jumping cluelessly, just to get a peek of the outside world from the miniature chute opening. All we could see was a blue ocean with no land, no ships, no plane, with no clouds. We sat down after getting tired and hoped for this to pass. The only thing Adam and I had common was that we played the guitar, that’s it, even our taste in music was different. I liked progressive rock, metal, and jazz, whereas Adam liked hip-hop, rap, and pop. We noticed, as the hours passed by, the day never ended. We joked about getting abducted by the aliens and taken hostage to another planet.

Then suddenly, the chute lowered a bit more and we were able to see the ocean without jumping. We saw a huge cargo ship and we tried yelling, banging our feet against the metal to make noises, but nothing worked because of the distance and sound of the jet engine. We noticed that the door was lowering like a sandglass, only to reveal more light inside the plane. The immense boredom forced us to play atlas, the game of places. With time passing by, we eventually got bored of atlas and just sat quietly. I was taking in the smell of the ocean, the sound of air at high speed, and looking back at the recent events.

The turning point about this whole dream was that this time the chute lowered completely and we were able to see a small island, not bigger than the size of Singapore. The island was green, covered with vegetation, we wondered where on Earth we can find this type of island. Is it Polynesia? Is it the Indian Ocean? Is it the Caribbean? We couldn’t figure out where we were and just sat down peacefully again. As the island passed by, the color of the ocean changed, and we could barely see the reflection of the aircraft. A noted dropped, which just had “Take a Leap of Faith” written on it.

Adam and I argued for hours, what does that mean and what’s gonna happen next. We reached a conclusion that the suits we were wearing might be related to parachuting. I was initially conservative of jump out of the plane and then land appeared. Actual Land, with buildings, roads, people, and life.

From the architecture, we were able to deduce that we were somewhere in Europe. We talked about jumping, what might happen if we don’t jump, and then we were ready to exit our cage. I could figure out we were in Rome from the famous Roman Colosseum. Adam and I bid farewell to each other and stood silent for what’s gonna happen next.

Adam: “Farewell my friend. Let’s see what happens.”

Me: “All the best and hope we bump into each other again.”

On the count of three, both of us jumped, we took the leap of faith and went into separate directions. I glided over Rome, Bavarian Alps, Paris, Beaches of France, crossed over the English Channel, saw the beautiful cliffs of Dover, and then suddenly, it was completely bright. My eyes opened and the sunlight was falling on me. And then it was back to the daily routine of going to high school.

Reflection

I have never written a 6 page story about my dream or memory. This was an interesting exercise for me as I had to push my boundaries and do something which is my weakness. I also had fun imagining things and further fictionalising my dream.

It was fun to read the initial draft in front of the class and my classmates gave out some really good suggestions for my dream. It was also fun to see how others reacted to my dream and how they were able to use their own imagination to bring out some really good interpretations.