Free Lucid by L. E. Fred Page A

what was beyond the lit path. I strained my eyes and thought I saw two small pinpricks of blue light. I blinked my eyes, and they were gone .
    â€œWe’re almost there, ” Mitch informed me. “It gets a lot brighter.”
    He was right. Know how it feels to walk out of a dark movie theatre on a sunny day? Think of that times a hundred . I only took a few steps before I had to suddenly shield my eyes from the light. I squinted and saw that the souls weren’t doing the same. I guessed they were dreaming, really dreaming, so they weren’t aware of the sudden change. After my eyes adjusted, the landscape looked completely different .
    We were now walking along a neatly paved road surrounded by trimmed grass, fountains, and palm trees. I had never been to a resort, but I assumed an entrance would look like this place. I turned around to comment to Mitch, but he simply pointed ahead. I looked forward and saw the fortress Mitch had described .
    It did look like a cross between a football stadium and a hotel. Two sleek black skyscrapers were in front, and a stone stadium lay behind them, just visible between the two taller buildings . I couldn’t see the bottom, because of the concrete wall and barbed wire surrounding the area. The wall was huge, and I had to turn my head to scan the length of it. Sure enough, I also saw the watchtower Mitch had warned me about .
    â€œT here’s no way we can get inside, ” Mitch told me. “I saw Leona a little bit further on.”
    â€œMaybe we can sneak around?” I suggested .
    â€œWorth a shot, ” Mitch ducked out of the line and hid behind a bush. I followed suit, and we waited for the souls to pass. Soon enough, we were alone .
    â€œLet’s look around while getting closer to the wall , ” Mitch suggested. He started moving before I could agree. Well, so much for being the leader of this mission.
    We crept toward the concrete wall a little to the right of the entrance. I watched as the souls filed into the fortress. The large entrance was barricaded by a strange, glowing wall. I soon realized it was a force field, like the kind you’d see in a sci-fi movie .
    â€œBizarre, right?” Mitch muttered to me, also watching the force field that had suddenly appeared. “It’s like all the stuff you see in your dreams, only it’s real for us.”
    â€œYeah . ” I looked around at the beautiful fountains and palm trees. Surely if this was a dream world, someone could have created this scenery, right? The environment we saw after landing was so desolate, like an empty canvas. Did the dreams of millions crea te various worlds like these?
    â€œSomething’s moving . ” Mitch ’s voice jarred me out of my thoughts. His eyes were focused on the watchtower. “I think they’re searching for trespassers.”
    I looked at the tower and saw someone was manning a dim searchlight. That’s stupid, I thought, they don’t need a light in this bright area. Suddenly, the light focused on a spot opposite the entrance. It turned from a dim yellow to red, and a butterfly flew from the grass. The light stayed red for a bit before slowly moving its way across the area .
    â€œWe should move , ” I said , already rising from my crouched position behind the bush.
    â€œGood idea.” Mitch followed suit. We half-walked, half-ran away from the searchlight, keeping as much distance from the light as we could. Though we didn’t encounter anything on the way, I held my bat in a decent swinging position, and Mitch kept his oar aloft .
    â€œWait!” I pulled Mitch back and into another hedge. I looked back to make sure the light wasn’t around. It must have stopped searching after not finding anything .
    â€œWhat?” Mitch looked back, too. “Why did you sto—oh.” He saw what I had seen. We’d apparently reached the main entrance .
    I thought the entrance the souls took was