Plagued by Nightmares - from grapehuicetea

Word Count: 528 words Warnings: self-destructive thoughts/talks of depression, a terrifying nightmare, metaphors for death bot no actual death Created for the Tropetember Event: Plagued by Nightmares Jade. It's covering everything. A semi-translucent crystallized substance, jade green, it's... everywhere. In everything. In EveryOne. Even in me. I can't move, but I can feel the cold hard hands of it reaching inside my body, my very being. My heart. It's clearly not beating. Everything is frozen. I can't move my eyes either. They're open though. I have plenty of time to observe all the surreality of the surroundings.  There are... people here. Other than me, that is. They're also frozen in a casing of brilliantly glinting jade. Their eyes are open as well; unmoving but not lifeless. I know they can see too. They know I can as well. We all see the same thing. A jaded world that will never change, frozen in time.... As Gin fell awake and his eyelids peeled themselves open, he felt like he was still within that mesmerizingly bizarre, but so ordinary nightmare world. The ceiling was the same as well. It was very silent. He didn't really feel his limbs either. He stayed there lying awake doing nothing but staring unblinkingly for a long time. He fell back asleep, to be back to the world of stillness, and woke up intermittently to the Real world of stillness. Time lost its meaning. Then the phone rang. It surprised him so much he forgot to breathe for a second. Then he surprised himself since he didn't realize he'd been breathing all this time at all. He put his hand out to help himself stand, but only fell back down. He cursed. After a few repeats, he finally managed. He stumbled to the still ringing phone - who could be this stubborn? - and picked it up. Some static was disrupting for a minute. He tried shaking the phone to get it working, but then realized the static was coming from his ears. Of course. After getting some water, the ringing finally subsided enough for him to hear the other party. "Gin? What was happening? Are you alright?" His therapist. Right. "Yeah, I'm fine." "If you say so. I'm calling because you missed your appointment today." He was supposed to go... when did he go last again? Right, Friday. It must be Tuesday then. "How was your weekend?" his therapist asked. Silence met his question. "Not great, huh..." his therapist was more or less used to this. He knew of his depression, and the nightmares as well... "-in?" "Huh?" "I was saying you can come by anytime today if you want. I'm done with all my appointments for the day, and I'd really like to see you in person. Please?" "...Okay." This was the usual too. He guessed his therapist was the reason he could still keep a job with the nightmares and the way he comes back so slow from them all the time... He guessed it was his job to keep him alive... "Gin?" "Huh?" "You didn't put the phone down. Are you coming?" He closed his eyes and opened them. They were a bit sharper this time, with a sense of 'there-ness' to them. "Yeah, I'm coming." And so without another thought, he dressed and set off into the early night.