My mother’s backyard glowed in the light of the setting sun. The flowers in her garden bloomed vivid pinks and yellows, and the low hum of summer sounds droned around me: insects, a light breeze, and music from the open window of a passing car.
I knew it was a dream. It’d been twenty years since I’d been back to this place in the waking world, but my unconscious mind regularly pulled me here. I didn’t mind. The patio was peaceful, and my limbs felt heavy against the hard metal chair of my mother’s old bistro set.
“How can I be sleepy when I’m already asleep?” I wondered aloud.
Nobody answered. The backyard was a solitary place. Occasionally, on nights past, my mother would appear on the fringes of my vision, just out of sight. I’d always wake up before she came into full view. I was content to sit here, alone, relaxing in the evening air. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back.
A sudden chill chased goose-pimples up my arms. I opened my eyes in near darkness; a single candle guttered and spat from the center of the table, and the rest of the backyard was obscured by a black mist.
Two red dots glowed from the shadows. The ghost from the cabin materialized across from me, his pupils burning like embers in a campfire. He leaned forward, bringing his face into the light, and I shrank back into my chair, squeezing my eyes closed.
“Wake up,” I told myself. “Wake up!”
When I opened my eyes, I was still in my mother’s backyard. The shadows had disappeared and the sun once again warmed my skin. The red-eyed spirit had left, chased away by the return of the light and replaced by a somber-faced Yuri.
“It’s over, Mackenzie,” he said. His voice echoed oddly, as though we were in a large arena filled with loudspeakers. “ScreamTV has canceled Soul Searchers.”
“No!” I covered my mouth with one hand. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”
Yuri shook his head slowly. “My dream is dead. You killed it.”
The patio spun, and I faced the back of my mother’s house. Over Yuri’s shoulder, the ghost from the cabin stood at the kitchen sink, grinning at us through the open window. He cocked his head back and began to laugh, the brim of his top hat ringing his face like a dark halo.
As he laughed, the chair dropped out from beneath me and the ground shook. I looked around in panic, hoping to grab hold of Yuri to steady myself, but couldn’t find him. The patio groaned, cracking and splitting in two. I dove to one side, clinging to the trunk of an ash tree.
My mother’s house crumbled. Oddly, I was relieved. The ghost had been inside. Surely, he’d been trapped by the rubble. He wouldn’t be able to frighten me anymore.
In the distance behind the ruined house, two shadows appeared. One shimmered in gray light, reaching out a hand.
“Mackenzie!” my mother’s voice called. “Wait for me!”
But it wasn’t up to me. My feet didn’t move. The surrounding scenery rushed past as though blown by a strong wind. The second shadow in front of me grew bigger, filling my entire field of vision. As his face came into focus, his red eyes glowing harshly in the gloom, the red-eyed spirit opened his mouth.
Larger and larger he loomed, finally swallowing me whole.