I reach out to touch the butterfly. Not even sure what exactly is telling me to do so, but I lend my hand out for it. As if it expected me to do so, it almost immediately lifted off the leaf it was perched on and gently landed on my fingers. I felt something strangely warm come over me. I guess I hadn't noticed how cold it felt until this warmness washed over me.
TOCK
It was loud and mind-piercing. Was that the clock tower again? Why are its hands so deafeningly loud? Suddenly the world around me started to animate again, but in slow-motion. I didn't get a chance to look up at the clock tower, I felt some anticipation building up. Like machine parts clicking and whirring up for something big.
BONG!
If I thought the ticking sounds were deafening, the actual bell of the clocktower completely overtook my mind. I lost track of what the butterfly was doing, or if it was even still around. Does IT hear th
BONG!
I can't STAND the sound. Plugging my ears doesn't do anything, it feels like it's coming from inside MY head. I d
BONG!
In-between the bell sounds, I hear something breaking. Like glass or the surface of a frozen lake shattering. I managed to open my eyes for a second to see the tower completely covered in cracks, spreading towards the ground beneath me. Each tone of the bell shattering the world around me, more and more.
BONG!
Each gong from the bell sounds more distorted than the last. Could I managed to get another thought out before it
BONG!
Like that, everything broke. I only managed to snap out of it as I realized I was falling. I saw the hole where the world once was get smaller and smaller as I plunged into the seemingly infinite abyss below. I knew this was a dream, but I still HATED this sensation. It felt way too real. Before too long, there was pure nothing. The tiny window that allowed me to still see the sky long gone. I might as well be floating, but I somehow still felt the terrifying sensation of falling. At least, until...
