"It's all going to change, you'll see," the mysterious voice says. It's a female voice. Its a strange tone. Its soothing and beautiful yet almost sounds forceful and demanding. It gets louder and louder and repeats and repeats. It never stops.

"I hate it here!" I shout. "It's filled with nothing but disappointment, hate, rage, anger, and it's hopeless!"

No reply.

I gasp for air. I was drowning. Drowning in nothingness. It was just a dream. The same dream I have been having for the past three months. My name is Jacksley Sky. I live in a horrible place I like to call Forgetson, Oregon. Population 356. I'm seventeen years old and completely disappointed and unhappy with this thing we call life. It's pointless. It's filled with regret, mistake, sadness, and complete failure. Nothing ever works out. Here I am at 2:15 in the afternoon during the summer sleeping. I find myself sleeping a lot lately. It's the only way out of this miserable place. At least in my...

"It's all going to change, you'll see." The voice says.

"I don't understand! tell me!" I shout.


I wake up.


Where am I? My room, it's dark. No light. It's so dull it's hard to breathe. Everything is upside down and distorted. It's strange, but all feels right. This can't be real.

"Oh, but it is." The voice says. "If you hate your reality so much you will love this. Everything around you is so beautiful yet you disapprove of all it has brought you. If you hate beauty and light then you must love the dark, correct?"

"Who are you! Please help me!" I scream to the voice.

"I'm here to save you. Save you from your terribly horrid reality. Why live somewhere you do not appreciate? I am here to help you." The voice tells me.

I start to run out of what I used to call my room. I get to the stairs, but they are not stairs. They were upside down. I slide down the bottom now top of the stairs. I run to the kitchen. I scream for my parents. No reply. No one is here. I feel nothing. I look around seeing nothing but molded food, strange distorted insects crawling, darkness, shadows floating around the dark walls, smoky air, and distorted objects.


"Stop running child." The voice says. "It's only you. No one is here. You can finally be with yourself. No people, no parents, no distractions, no hate, no love, no regret, no mistakes, no sadness, no failure."

"Please stop! Please just take me back!"

"You cannot go back. This is what you wanted. Isn't it?" The voice tells me. Her voice is now fierce. A change of tone that is no longer comforting. She sounds truthful and thats what's scary.

"This isn't what I want!" I shout. "I'll change I swear just bring be back!"

"You will change?" The voice says with a calmer tone. "How so?"

"I'll try harder in school!" I shout with a lump in my throat.

"Not good enough." Says the voice.

"I'll..uhh..um," oh gosh. Here comes the tears. Such a strange feeling. I haven't cried in so long. Strangely it's comforting. I can..feel.

"Ah, she feels." Says the voice in a rather sarcastically surprised voice.

"Yes, i feel. I can do a lot! I can think, I can laugh, I can smile, I can-" The voice cuts me off.

"Yes, Jacksley you can do a lot of things. Open your eyes. Open your heart. Feel Jacksely."

A strange rush of emotion comes over me. I feel strange. Like I have come to an understanding. I feel like something has hit me like a train off the tracks. A sense of complete and total happiness hits me like I have never been hit before.

"I understand! I understand!" I shout. "I'll try, I really will! I'll speak, I'll feel, I'll take in everything I have taken for granted! I'll hug my parents and tell them how thankful I am, I will send letters to passed friends and relatives, I'll laugh more and I'll cry more, I'll smell the flowers, and listen to the birds sing in the morning. I'll..I'll..I'll breathe!"

"One word: happiness." Whispers the voice.


I awaken in my bedroom. There are tears streaming down my face. My bed is soaking wet. I'm drenched.

"Jacksley! Jacksley! What's wrong!" Shouts my mom.

"Mom! I'm so happy to see you!" I shout while hugging her harder than ever.

"Must have just been a bad dream."

"But mom! It wasn't a dream! It was real. It was so real. That voice, it took me! It took you! Nothing was the same. It was dark and sad...so sad. I thought you would never come back for me!"

"Honey, what in the world are you talking about. You were just sleeping. I had to wake you up."

"But-"


Five months have passed since everything has happened. Since my life was completely turned around. Five months of being happy. Throughout the months that have passed I have managed to write a book and get it published. I wrote about my turning of events, my past life, and my life now. And this is how it goes...


My name is Jacksley Sky. I live in a wonderful place I like to call Forgetson, Oregon. Population 356. I'm seventeen years old and I am completely pleased and beyond happy with this thing we call life.