Realistic Entertainment Machine

by Nicky Gupta

Where are we headed?

Past the choppy glistening waters of the Arctic,

across ashen hills covered in soot,

There’s a child in a feathery nest

being fed bright orange gummy worms

by two-headed pterodactyls.

I am alone, but comforted by the static on my 60-inch flat screen tv.

A child tosses a ball

through an invisible hoop

which changes into a snowy owl.

I had a ball once. My neighbor stole it.

Here comes an adult in a cap and gown with scalpel in hand

ready to perform surgery on me!

As the adult nears, the scalpel turns to dust.

I keep my father’s ashes as fertilizer for my chrysanthemums.

His coffin is surrounded by ravens that

hawk loudly at the soggy ground it rests above.

As the coffin departs, a gravestone appears.

It whispers a secret to me:

Who will be left to help you, if you don’t help them?

I run from the darkness, the ravens, the child.

I run towards a beam of yellow light and

straight into a tunnel.

With each step, the gravel underneath me changes to spiky brown grass.

As I zig-zag across the hilly path, voices call out to me:

Don’t drown! Don’t burn! Don’t go!

A force lifts and pushes me into the roof of my house.

My wife asks me about my dreams after dinner.

I can’t remember, honey. But,

try to have sweet dreams tonight.

Where are we headed?

Past the choppy, glistening waters of the Arctic,

across ashen hills covered in soot,

there’s a man in a crumbling nest…

Nicky Gupta is a rising senior majoring in English and political science with a minor in philosophy. She enjoys writing about all sorts of things, but mostly nonfiction with a creative twist. Once she graduates, she’s starting her memoirs!