Dreaming [La Paz, 2017]

A girl approaches my bunk and ruffles my hair. "Hello, my Australian boy" she says softly. I look up to find she's disappeared. Perhaps she climbed onto another dorm bunk already, sometimes it's difficult to see in the dark. Soon after, two travellers sitting at the head of my bed begin to speak. "I hope you're feeling okay," one says, "if you need any valium, just ask, and Luke will get some for you." Once again I look back up from my pillow into vacant space. I'm sure that I dreamt that surreal exchange. Suddenly I wake up. I'm guided to the bathroom by a young nurse, her hand in mine. I stand inside the space for a moment before realising that the layout is completely wrong. The hostel's bathrooms are far more spacious than this claustrophobic cubicle. Now I'm convinced I've been dreaming, and waking up into more and more dreams, all of which I can't escape. I wake up. I see something out of the corner of my eye - which is where it remains every time I turn to look. I have to get out, to really wake up. So I tense and shake my whole body.

I wake up, this time for real, into a life I chose.