• Hours later, Jorkun collapsed inside of his hut, the only safe-haven in this forsaken world. For some reason, none of the creatures ever ventured within twenty feet of this place that had, for the last three days, been his “home”.

    Looking down, he realized for the first time the state his legs were in. Long gouges and scratches ran along the exposed skin from the knees down, and, not for the first time, regretted having worn shorts when he got into the machine that had sent him here. Limping over to the medicine cabinet near his bed, he thought over his first trip into the Dreamworld…

    Lying on a small cot, barely large enough to hold him, He had watched as his older brother began working on the hundreds of dials, levers and buttons that ran the REM Machine.

    This was just going to be a simple run, no more than ten minutes at most. Just before Torin pulled the switch to activate the machine, Jorkun stopped him, “What exactly is this machine going to do to me?”

    Smiling benignly, Torin replied, “Well actually, the machine doesn’t ‘do’ anything to you, at least, not physically. What it does is it amplifies your brainwaves during your sleep cycle that is characterized by rapid eye movement, which is what REM stands for.

    “The REM Machine will allow you to move about freely within your dreams, doing whatever you can imagine possible. There will occasionally be some dark images or even monsters that your subconscious has created to represent fears or doubts, but there is nothing to worry about. You can always return whenever you want, all you have to do is find an exit.”

    “An exit?” piped up Jorkun, “What will an exit look like?”

    “I don’t know really. For you it could be a door or a window, or maybe just some sort of item that you need to touch. And if all else fails, I can bring you out at any moment from here.”

    Nodding, Jorkun tried to calm his nerves. Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes and focused on the Chinese symbol for peace and tranquility, for some reason it always helped him when he was feeling nervous. Swallowing hard, He opened his eyes and said, “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do this Torin, what do I need to do?”

    Walking over to a table nearby, Torin grabbed a bottle filled with an odd purplish-pink liquid and carefully measured out three spoonfuls into a cup. Handing the cup to his brother he said, “Here drink this, it will help you fall asleep faster. Then all you have to do is lay back and fall asleep.”

    Taking the odd concoction, Jorkun swallowed it, the sour taste causing him to grimace in disgust. Laying back, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

    As he finished bandaging up his legs, Jorkun sighed. That had been a full two weeks ago and this was his third time in the REM Machine, but he had been here for more than an hour, which was the amount of time he and his brother had assigned for this trip.

    Laying down on his bed, he closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless slumber.