I walked through the amusement park, an ice cream cone in one hand, a friend’s hand in the other. Different colored lights blinked all over, balloons and strings hung above, and an overly-cheery melody repeated itself over and over. We roamed around the park, hand in hand. I felt happy. In fact, too happy.

I halted, causing my friend to look at me. All of a sudden, I felt a stream of consciousness flow into my puzzled mind, and I realized, ‘This is a dream.’

I turned excitedly to my friend and exclaimed, “This is a dream.”

Suddenly, the colored lights faded away, the music slowed down and eventually stopped. The world around me slowly began to warp, and my friend, too, became disfigured. Her features were twisted and turned, yet her eyes, which turned into two black holes on her warped face, remained fixed on my own.

“This may be a dream for you, but this is my reality,” the figure screeched.

And I woke up.