Preview of "The Secrets of the Dream Master"

The First Dream “Where am I?” I say aloud, my voice echoing in every direction. The place is unfamiliar, nothing but endless white stretches out as far as I can see. Wherever this is, I feel cold and lost. I slowly start to walk, having no sense of direction. Even though I walk for a few minutes, it feels as if I have barely taken a few steps. After realizing that it seems pointless to walk, I start to yell in the hopes that I’m not alone in this unorthodox place. “Hello! Is there anyone out there?” I repeat this at least a dozen times, hoping I’m not alone. Out of breath from yelling at the top of my lungs, the panic starts to set in. I run as fast as I can. I still have no idea where I’m going, just pushing forward through this endless void. Then I stop. My lungs are on fire, sweat clings to my skin. It’s at that moment I realize something strange. In this place, there is no sound except for the ones I make. My voice, my footsteps, my breathing; those are the only things breaking the silence. If I stay perfectly still or stop breathing, it feels like I’ve gone completely deaf. What is happening? Unsure of what to do next, I sit down on the ground. Time seems to blur around me. I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here, but if I had to guess, it feels like hours. I just stare straight ahead, my mind strangely blank. I don’t know why I can’t think or focus. I’d usually be thinking of an escape plan or, at the very least, wondering where I am. Neither of those things are happening. I can’t conjure any type of plan, period. What am I supposed to do? I don’t even know where I am. Am I outside? Am I inside somewhere? Am I in a room? There’s only one thing I know for certain about this place: I want to leave. The urge to leave hits me so hard that I start to have a massive panic attack. I’m having trouble catching my breath. I gather myself and get up and take off running. I run for what seems like an hour. I’m out of breath, freaking out more than ever now. I have to stop. I cannot continue to run. Then, while I stand there bent over, trying to catch my breath, I notice someone off in the distance. “What?” I say to myself. I don’t know what to think. Should I feel relieved that someone else is here, or afraid because I have no idea what they want? They are too far away for me to make out any details, but I can tell this person is walking toward me. I look down for just a moment to steady myself. When I look back up, the person is much closer, maybe only half the distance from before. My heart jumps. There’s no way they could have covered that much ground so quickly. They are still far enough that I could run if I needed to, but close enough to make me uneasy. Something feels off.