Part of me knows this is only a dream. So why does it hurt so much?

"Are you insane?" Roy yells over the wind. He squirms under my grip, but I have him pinned solidly against the bulkhead. I don't let go. By the crazed look in his eyes, he'd jump off the roof if I give him the chance.

"Roy...I know it hurts to remember, but you were in an accident, and—"

"I don't want to remember." He shakes his head vehemently. The sprawling metropolis below us fractures. For a moment, I catch a glimpse of the real, broken world and hope flickers in me--but it shifts back into the guise of his futuristic dreamland. "You're mistaken, Selena. You won't understand."

"I won't understand if you don't tell me! All you're doing is looking at me with that face. Roy, just wake up already. I'm trying to save you!"

That last lie tastes salty on my lips.

I did want to save Roy. Months had passed after the crash, and he was still unconscious. Not in a coma - just in a deep state of sleep. The doctors blamed it on his injuries, but I knew better. I knew how dreams worked. I knew how dangerous nightmares could be, and how they could make you relive the worst moments of your life forever. Roy was trapped in his nightmares, and that's why he wouldn't wake up. With that belief, I used my powers to enter his mind.

But now I know that Roy isn't trapped in anything. He wants to stay here - this dream, this perfect world he's created in his head. And losing him like this, as my real life is crumbling around me while he lies in his hospital bed terrifies me more than anything else.

"You never quit, do you?" Roy says. "Always trying to make things better. You don't know when to let go."

His eyes get a faraway look in them. I trace the features of his face, the face I've cried over for hours whenever I visit him. There's no sign of any injuries, as if the crash never happened. Then his face darkens. I follow his gaze to the horizon, where the sun is quickly sinking below the horizon. In seconds the city is shrouded in the darkness of night. No moon, no stars. Not even the city lights are on anymore. It's as dark as that night.

"Roy. Wake up. Now!"

"Too late, Selena." There's a grim smile on his face that doesn't match his voice. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes. "It's too late for both of us."

"Wake up. Just wake up already!" I scream. But suddenly I'm jerked away from him. Instead of Roy my hands are gripping the steering wheel as I floor the gas. We're late, and Roy is yelling at me to slow down but we can't be late, doesn't he understand that? I swerve as a car blasts its horn, telling me someone has died but that can't be true, I swerve and tires screech but it's too late, and the dream shatters into glass and fire.

My first entry for the The_Weekend_Write-In! Technically it's only supposed to be 500 words, but I went to 525. I hope that's okay. :D

Also, here's a tip for writing based on a prompt: If you're still not getting any ideas, combine the idea with another idea. I combined the "mistake" prompt (from the Weekend Write-In) with a Korean pop song, "Inception," by the boy band ATEEZ. Listening to the song guided me enormously in writing the mood/voice of this story.