<div class="begin"><span class="darkBlue">[[Begin]]</span></div>It's 12:00am.
I wait for the bus after taking a late shift at the office.
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QL05tVW.gif" class="rain-totoro"/>
That's when I see a shadow in the corner of my eye. There seems to be some sort of creature on the other side of the road. I shift my gaze to look at it, and it stares back.
<img src="http://giphygifs.s3.amazonaws.com/media/iu7B5XKE6NsE8/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro">
A big raccoon? I don't know. This is what people meant when they said you start hallucinating from sleep deprivation.
I look back at my <span class="blue">[[phone]]</span> to distract yourself.
I <span class="blue">[[smile]]</span> at the creature. Maybe it'll go away if I'm nice.I can feel it getting closer.
Maybe this is an indication of my descent to madness.
I look back up again. It's still there and hasn't moved. Thank god. It pulls out an umbrella and continues to look at me, its eyes widening and blinking faster.
<img src="http://giphygifs.s3.amazonaws.com/media/ASy3PKVFnk7ZK/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro">
I stare back harder. No movement.
I'm not sure if I should run or scream. There aren't any cars driving by, and there's probably no one around at this hour to hear me anyway.
I think I just need a good night's sleep and then tomorrow morning I can call myself crazy.
The bus finally pulls up and I get on.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/YzOJLFDZRXoqY/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small">
What a strange <span class="blue">[[night]]</span>.It pulls out an umbrella from behind and smiles back at me with a big toothy grin.
<img src="http://giphygifs.s3.amazonaws.com/media/Hws7aKoFHS9gs/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small">
Cute or creepy? I can't tell.
The bus finally pulls up and I get on.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/YzOJLFDZRXoqY/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small">
What a strange <span class="blue">[[night]]</span>.I can't fall asleep. Maybe it's the insomnia again. I keep looking at my phone screen, counting down the number of hours of sleep I'll be getting. Tomorrow will be another long day.
It's 2:00am...
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/CaiVkp1.png" class="clock">
3:00am...
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/j3O5PGR.png" class="clock">
4:00am...
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QVO4whN.png" class="clock">
I take some extra melatonin pills and try to go to <span class="red"> [[sleep]] </span>.
The piles of paper on my table loom over me and I can almost hear all the unread emails calling my name. Maybe I can do some <span class="blue">[[work]]</span> instead.One sheep...
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ajpykBk.png" class="rain-totoro-small">
Two sheep...
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/P8ANgzR.png" class="rain-totoro">
Three sheep...
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/kHNkYlE.png" class="rain-totoro-big">
A night full of sheep.
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/zfkh11N.png" class="rain-totoro-big">
Okay, this clearly isn't helping.
I can hear the leaves rustling in the wind. Maybe I'll just go sit <span class = "blue">[[outside]]</span> for a bit.The blue light from the laptop screen shines as I open the spreadsheet I've been working on all day.
I wonder why I've stayed all these years. The work is long and monotonous but change seems to be scarier than the dryness of all of this.
The sun starts peaking out through my curtains as I browse through the hundreds of rows of data. I'm going to have to start getting ready soon. I step onto my [[porch->outside]] to watch the sun rise. The air is ripe with the dewy petrichor from last night's heavy rain.
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/1U2pne3.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>The autumn wind brushes against my skin, and I think back to when my father and I used to sit on this porch when we were younger. I've almost forgotten his face. He left so long ago, and ever since then I feel like life has been a blur. With school and then work, it seems like the stress never ends. I haven't had any time to myself. It's kind of sad. I'm not sure where this is all leading to. Everything seems so pointless.
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/vL78lcd.png" class="porch"/>
Sometimes I feel myself floating, as if I'm not in control of anything that I'm doing.
I'm just a ghost inhabiting this body and going through the motion of every day life without much thought.
And over time I become more out of touch with myself... floating away
farther
<span style="font-size: 75%">farther</span>
<span style="font-size: 50%">farther</span>
until I'm <span class="changeToBlue">[[gone]]</span>.From across the lawn, I see a figure standing by the trees.
It's the same creature I saw when I was at the bus stop. If I were in a movie I'd follow the creature and end up dead in the middle of the woods.
And so I do exactly that. It doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. As I get up, it turns around and heads into the cluster of trees.
I remember my sister and I used to come into this forest a lot when we were younger. Our father always told us to be careful, that the wolves would come for us, but we never listened. We'd bring our picnic blankets and just lie for for the entire day. There was something enticing about the forest, something that made us always want to come back.
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ZSC74Za.jpg" class="rain-totoro"/>
I haven't come back in ages. Not since they left. Its familiarity is all coming back but there's something different this time.
As I head deeper into the forest, the trees grow bigger. The last time I came this far in, I woke up back in my bed. To this day, I still don't know it was all a <span class="green">[[dream]]</span>.
I keep going farther and farther, following the creature in front of me. I can't tell how much time has passed, and for once I let myself be immersed in the present. Memories from my childhood come flooding back, almost as if I am reliving parts of my childhood: When we moved to this new place, the weekends Jay and I would spend lying in the grass, the drives to neighboring towns...
The forest seems to grow larger as I keep walking. I keep a steady pace behind the creature. The more I look at it, the more it seems like a large cat. It walks in a slow trudging manner and right by its side are two smaller creatures, bouncier versions of the cat-raccoon hybrid.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/8GP2piCugFOQE/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>
Next thing I know, I wake up with the sun shining over my face.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/WNCu6z0kVJwys/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro"/>
What <span class="green">[[time]]</span> is it?I should really head back now. My manager is not going to be happy about this.
Or is this a dream? This has got to be a dream.
The creature is asleep by my side; I get up slowly, making sure I don't make any noises.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/E549VaHiMjknS/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro">
The trees around me all look the same. There isn't a single identifying part that indicates the correct path back to the house. I knew one day my lack of directional senses would cause me to end up stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Maybe I can wake up the creature and it'll lead me back? It seems friendly, and if it were going to kill me I'd be dead right now anyway.
I pick up a stick and poke its belly. Who would have known that one day I'd be asking a half raccoon, half cat for directions back <span class="green">[[home]]</span><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/avtKRGfcj7Wk8/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>
It stretches its left leg and bounces back up, opening its mouth to prepare for a deafening roar to call upon a
<div class="turquoise">[[cat bus]]</span>
<div class="turquoise">[[wolf]]</span>
<div class="turquoise">[[dragon]]</span>
<div class="turquoise">[[mystical spirit]]</span>
<div id="font-1" class="container">
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/KEVODnr6kaJws/giphy.gif" class="image-1"/>
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/oHsKFiT28Id0I/giphy.gif" class="image-2"/>
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/fLbkAB44IuFaw/giphy.gif" class="image-3"/>
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/IZ7suPKgp7fXy/giphy.gif" class="image-4"/>
</div>
We get on and it races through deeper into the forest where the trees close in on us and the leaves block the sunlight from above. Its eyes act as headlights, illuminating the path in front.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/eI0S1dSMO5gw8/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro"/>
Gradually, the surrounding starts to change. The trees start disappearing around us, exposing the sunlight again to show a [[pasture]] ahead. The wolf stops in front of us and growls.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/B9ddjCW6hb75S/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro"/>
The creature guides me toward the wolf and nudges me to get onto its back, and I do so. Worst case scenario, I wake up from this dream in fear.
I wrap my arms around its neck and it dashes through the forest, with the cat raccoon following along on the side. I feel as though I am about to fall off any second despite how firmly I grasp.
Gradually, the surrounding starts to change. The trees start disappearing around us, exposing a <span class="turquoise">[[pasture]]</span>. The dragon stops in front of us and looks at us with a menacing glare.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/YowxXAyHvq8HS/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro"/>
The cat raccoon guides me toward the dragon and nudges me to get onto its back, and I do so. Worst case scenario, I wake up from this dream in fear.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/1jQkR50YfLo0E/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro"/>
I wrap my arms around its neck and it shoots up into the sky. I feel as though I am about to fall off any second despite how firmly I grasp.
We fly through the sky, and I peer over to see the forest below us shrinking. Or is it disappearing? What was a cluster of trees gradually morphs into a field of [[grass]].
The humanoid creature walks toward us, its semi-translucent body glowing. With every step, its body morphs and grows antlers into what becomes closer to a deer.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/E0v31uByzIYlG/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro"/>
The raccoon cat guides me toward the deer looking thing and nudges me to get onto its back, and I do so. Worst case scenario, I wake up from this dream in fear.
I wrap my arms around its neck and it dashes through the forest, with the cat raccoon following along on the side. I feel as though I am about to fall off any second despite how firmly I grasp.
<div class="changeToBlue">
Gradually, the surrounding starts to change. The trees start disappearing around us, exposing a <span class="white" class="changeToBlue">[[pasture]]</span>.
</div>
I see a cat sitting by the fire place where the talking fire was. I'm not a big fan of cats, but it looks really cute so I go over and pet it.
<div class="img-hover-zoom img-hover-zoom--xyz">
[[<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/9aWMR8A2eopYQ/giphy.gif" alt="cat">->dog]]
</div>
<div class="img-hover-zoom img-hover-zoom--xyz">
[[<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/rGxJWjwGsPkCk/giphy.gif" alt="cat">->dog]]
</div>
<div class="img-hover-zoom img-hover-zoom--xyz">
[[<img src="http://giphygifs.s3.amazonaws.com/media/d05tFmh5dgJi0/giphy.gif" alt="cat">->dog]]
</div>
I wonder if there's a dog here too. We had a dog back at the other house but had to give it away when we moved because there wasn't enough space in the new house.
Surely enough, I see a dog sitting in the far corner of the room. How could I have missed this when I walked in?
I pick up the cat and carry it over to where the dog is sitting.
[[<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/nFzGZCO2tlJEQ/giphy.gif" class="cat"/>->shake]]
[[<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/Pdlc2l5dTgYRG/giphy.gif" class="cat"/>->shake]]<div class="container-house">
<div class="font">
As we come to a stop, I get off and follow the cat raccoon toward a red house. There are some people walking out.
[[I wonder what's in there]]
</div>
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/z3jet2s1HeEy4/giphy.gif" class="house"/>
</div>
<div class="container-house">
<div class="font">
The cat raccoon shows up just as the dragon lands on the grass. I get off the dragon's back and follow the cat raccoon toward a red house. There are some people walking out.
[[I wonder what's in there]]
</div>
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/z3jet2s1HeEy4/giphy.gif" class="house"/>
</div>
As I walk in, I am greeted by a talking fire. This is definitely not what I was imagining when I wondered what would be in the house.
I give a slight smile and shuffle past to [[follow]] behind the cat raccoon.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/qKmWi9mfycx6E/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>We sit down at a small circular table. I'm surprised the creature even managed to fit in the chair. A stout woman with a large mole approaches us and asks in a raspy voice if we would like any food.
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/JMUNgVq.jpg" class="rain-totoro-small"/>
My stomach growls. [[Food->bacon and eggs]] sounds great.
She tells me to go sit at the table and comes back with a bowl of ramen. It kind of reminds me of the ramen that my dad used to make for us on special [[occasions->cat]].
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/TNeilKIVOAKmk/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>I walk over to where she's cooking the food and in the corner of my eye I see that talking fire again.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/hoUOsKDwt17dS/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>
The old lady cracks some eggs into the pan and the fire jumps under the pan, heating up the oil. I offer to help cook, so she hands me a spatula and tells me to feed the egg shells to the fire.
What?
"Just throw it into the fire's mouth," she says.
The fire opens its mouth and I toss the egg shell into it. This place gets weirder and weirder by the second.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/Jkk64Xj64mcfu/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>
When I finish cooking, the bacon and eggs are gone within a minute. I don't know what kind of special bacon and eggs these are, but they're the best tasting food I've ever had.
She asks me if I would like something else. I tell her I want <span class="food">[[ramen]]</span>, <span class="food">[[pizza]]</span>, <span class="food">[[seafood]]</span> She tells me to go sit at the table and comes back with a whole pizza pie. It kind of reminds me of the pizza my dad and I used to have when we'd go to restaurants on special <span class="red">[[occasions->cat]]</span>.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/suTY6FB1iBqgw/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/>
She tells me to go sit at the table and comes back with a plate of seafood. It kind of reminds me of the seafood my dad used to make for us on special <span class="red">[[occasions->cat]]</span>.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/iemGssdkxsWV8fYAPQ/giphy.gif" class="rain-totoro-small"/><div class="houseContainer">
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/nsi0IQvbQ9c64/giphy.gif" class="flyingHouse"/>
<div class="houseText">
As I'm walking over, I notice the plate that I had on the table slides down, and the ground starts to rumble. The old woman and the cat raccoon stand on the other side of the room, unphased. The hardwood floor starts to separate, and the dog and cat scurry to the walls that seem to be expanding outward.
The floor pushes up against me. Is the house flying up?
Okay, I think it's time to wake up. I pinch myself like people do in every single movie, except it doesn't work.
So I slap myself. [[That doesn't work either]]
</div>
</div>I better be back in my bed in 3...2...[[1->night]]