A fire. Trees. A forest.
I was sitting on a log bench, staring into a burning makeshift fireplace made from dry wood piled together. There was a light breeze, and the wood crackled periodically from the flames, almost like a cricket tune. I couldn't tell whether it was night or day. In fact, I wasn’t aware of anything else around me besides the fire and the trees. The fire was mesmerizing. I didn’t know why, but I continued to stare at the fire, seconds turning into minutes, turning into hours. The fire calmed me. It had a hypnotizing quality to it that caused my mind to empty, becoming devoid of thoughts. The fire was relaxing. My eyes, though they should be blind from the extended exposure to bright light, rested their gaze rested comfortably on the dancing tendrils of red, white and yellow. Only the fire and I existed.
I tried to remember why I was looking at the fire. I thought hard, but my mind was blank. Perhaps I was seeking respite from something traumatic. Perhaps I had needed to relax after doing something physically taxing. Either way, I had somehow made it to the fire, and I was content. The experience was blissful. With each passing moment, I became more calm and serene. However, my bliss was not meant to last.

I don’t know how long I stared at the fire. Probably no one will ever know. But I do know that seemingly out of nowhere, a loud and incomprehensible noise interrupted my ocular meditation. The noise was truly incomprehensible. I doubt the human mind could make sense of it. The noise was shrill, yet it was also loud and booming. It resembled human speech, but there were no pauses or coherent phrases. It was just noise. A raucous, infuriating noise that disrupted my peace.
My setting suddenly changed. Instead of being in a forest, I was now somewhere in a rainbow-colored dimension. Reality seemed to blend with imagination. However, my attention was not focused on the setting. In addition to the agitating noise, as if in response to the noise, two dragons were fighting in front of my eyes. These dragons did not have a specific shape or size. I simply knew that they were dragons. However, one thing was for sure: they were violent. They bit and clawed at each other, yet neither of them seemed to be taking any damage. All the while, the noise continued to bombard my eardrums.
Maybe a minute passed. At that point, I could no longer even think about the dragons. My mind was in turmoil. I wanted to stop the noise, terminate it, destroy it at its source. I tried to shout out, but my mouth wouldn’t move. In fact, my entire body was powerless. I could only think, and it was precisely my functioning mental state that perpetuated my agony. My ears were pounding. I needed to do something. I was starting to lose my ability to think. In a last-effort to end my suffering, I lashed out with my arm at the source of the noise. I didn’t know the direction to aim for, but my arm instinctively knew where to fling itself. Miraculously, my arm moved. For some unknown reason, I couldn’t see the path of my arm; I only knew that it struck something hard. Then, I opened my eyes.
A bed. Light. A time display.
The noise was gone.
It was 7:15 AM.

It took me a few seconds to register the situation. When I finally realized my predicament, I immediately jumped out of bed, tossed some clothes on, and ran out of my room. I hoped that I wasn’t too late.