To convince himself that he had truly woken up from the confusion he checked the time, and in shock, he realized that more than half an hour had passed since he viewed 8:32 on the screen.

Nitha wasn't waiting at the cabin, but Blake would be, so Finn grabbed his phone, slid it into the pocket of his shorts, and rushed to the cliff of Westlake.

Behind the branches and bushes, the roof of the cabin showed itself in the distance. Finn was walking uphill, and the closer he got, the more he remembered. He passed the last tree and spotted Blake who was sitting on the edge of the porch. He looked impatient.

"You're late," growled Blake, but Finn's mind was absent.

He was looking over the area, it all appeared much more vivid compared to his dream. Finn noticed that the scenery in his dream was fabricated poorly since there hadn't been the sound of birds singing. The scent of summer hadn't filled the air. No rich and regal aroma of pines and woodruff on the ground. The artsy portrayal of sunbeams piercing the crowns of the trees. 

Only now he grasped that the smell of turf and spruces, and that of moldy mushrooms on the bark of a tree, was unavoidable when strolling through a forest. He had almost reached the cabin when a nimble shadow crossed the meadow.

A falcon was gliding above the cliff until it dived behind its edge. Even the mountains far beyond the known, a landmark he looked at every morning, had not cared to appear in Finn's dreams. Finn looked at the spot where Nitha had stood, and in front of it, where a flower had grown. Now flattened northwind switchgrass was all there was.

"What are you looking at," was Blake's second attempt to catch Finn's attention.

"Uh," hesitated Finn, "I had an abnormal dream."

Blake chuckled and said, "So you were able to sleep after all? Did it help? You do look less pale."

"It was a thirty-minute nap, I doubt it transformed me into a healthier person. If anything, I woke up more troubled than before."

"Well, what was your dream about?"

"I don't remember—wait, there was a flower, it was the most aesthetic flower I've ever seen."

"Sounds girly."

Finn shoved Blake, who laughed and apologized.

"I'm just saying, if fairies danced around the flower, too, I'd be concerned."

"No fairies," assured Finn. "What was so urgent it couldn't wait?"

"Right," Blake began to walk, "it's behind the cabin, follow me."

They walked up to the edge of the cliff where a view was revealed, so captivating, it could have been exhibited in a museum. The lake was aqua, and it reflected the trees and mountains rising at its shores. So calm, so peaceful and quiet. 

From here, you could see the city, not far from the genesis of the forest. It was a cluster of skyscrapers filled with offices and luxury apartments. Around it swirled highways, on the ground as well as through the air. The rails for the train were suspended in the skies, connecting different parts of the city like the spirals of a spiderweb. 

A circular park filled out the city's core; it made up for the lack of nature, without harming the outside world. People there seemed happy, and no one ever left unless they had to. Everything that one would ever need could be found somewhere within the mass of architectural design and social exposure. 

Despite the lack of necessity, four opposing roads led straight away from the city, each highlighted by ongoing rows of streetlights. It hadn't been confirmed to Finn, but he had always imagined that those streets would lead to the remaining cities of the world. 

The one building that stood out from all the others was that of the Kepler Space Program. It was located outside the city, established on stone desert ground, and one road, so small you couldn't quite make it out from the cliffside, enabled its employees to travel comfortably to work. Next to it stood a construction; the plug for arriving and departing spaceships, and from the looks of it, a rocket was soon to be launched.

It was a cylindrical projectile. The image of it reminded Finn of something—but the memory was still a blur. He looked closely. The rays peering down from the sun reflected on the metal, its top was rather pointy, it had oval-shaped windows—now it was clearer, Finn remembered something from his dream. 

His flash of thought lasted one second and ended when he felt a blunt push against his back. Before Finn knew it, he was falling.

Adrenalin shot through his veins as he steered towards the water, then it hit. Finn held his breath, there was a loud splashing sound when he dove ten feet under. 

After reaching the surface and wringing for air, his first look went up the rocks and past the mud, all the way to the ledge of that mighty precipice. Blake's amusement was unattainable to miss.

"What are you laughing at?" hollered Finn. "You could have killed me! Are you insane?"

Finn's breaths were short and draining, the water was cool and even cooler around the skin of his legs. Finn pinched his eyes when looking up, the sun was bright, and the cabin's roof barely visible from this low angle. No sign of Blake.

"Where did you go?" whispered Finn suspiciously.

Blake's heels touched the cabin's wall; he had backed off to gather momentum, then he started his sprint and took off. His jump spattered even louder and greater waves spread from the center of his drop. Blake emerged from the dive and began to briskly swim away from Finn as quickly as he could, causing the lake to lose its hush.

"I'll drown you!" Finn declared as he chased Blake and tried to grab his foot every time his hands reached close enough but continued to slip.

"I'd like to see you try!" he laughed, then disappeared underwater.

Finn stopped and tried to spot Blake beneath the surface, but the water was too deep to see any more than his own legs disappearing in a dense sacramento green. The surface of the water was fitful, casting back the image of Finn's face. 

He turned in circles, wondering where Blake would catch his breath, but instead, Blake snatched Finn's ankle and pulled it down with force. 

All that was left to see was the rising of air bubbles, which shortly after popped. The two friends returned, and though Finn was given the chance to execute revenge; he didn't. Both were laughing and pursued the swim.

The sun had reached the vertex when they returned to the shore. Its warmth evaporated the water drops on Finn's and Blake's skin. Finn sat himself down on a large rock and took off the wet rag of a shirt that had been clinched to his body like gum to one's sole on a hot summer day. 

Finn's legs against the stone felt pleasantly baked, he now removed his shoes and socks, and tossed them on the gravel. The rock's surface embraced dark circles due to water dropping off of Finn's hair and face. They wrung out their shirts and placed them flat on one of the rocks next to the lake.

"Do you remember Mr. Burke, our third-grade teacher?" asked Blake as he watched the sunbeams dancing on the water. "Remember how he'd tell the same monotonous joke every day?"

Finn smiled inevitably.

Blake imitated their teacher's squeaky voice, "Standing on the edge of the lake, someone shouted across 'how do you get to the other side?' I replied—"

"You are on the other side," finished both together in synchrony, followed by laughter.

"That joke is burned into my brain," said Finn. "I couldn't forget it if I tried. It's a shame he never told us math jokes, perhaps I would have passed with a better grade."

"Fair point. I—"

A thunderous noise in the distance caused silence at the shore. It was a defeating bang and a continuing crackling sound, so loud they could feel it. Behind the heads of the trees, on the opposite side of the lake, a silver object arose. 

The two stepped back as the water skipped and shuddered. They looked up and watched a rocket launch into space. The sound had traveled from KSP, across the forest, to finally die within the cove's boulders and barriers. Blake looked over to Finn, whose eyes pursued the space shuttle.

"Are you feeling alright?" ensured Blake. He was aware that the sight of a launch would unveil unwelcome memories of Nitha's departure.

To his own surprise, Finn did not hurt, instead, he came upon a revelation of an addition to his dream.

"She was there," he thought out loud, deeply distracted.

"Who was where?"

"Nitha. She was at the cabin." The pieces slowly came together, building the puzzle that could percase resolve the meaning of Finn's dream.

"When?" Blake's confusion was written in his face. "What are you talking about?"

"In my dream, she pointed out the flower, she said she brought it for me. I only glanced at it for a brief second, but when I turned——Nitha was already gone.

The rocket had left the atmosphere and all that was left to see was a slowly shrinking stain in the sky.

"I thought that was where my dream ended, but the fact is, that wasn't the end. I couldn't remember it earlier, but now I speak with certainty; I still felt her presence, so I entered the cabin to search for her. The inside was the entrance of a spacecraft, yet I didn't realize the failure of actuality in relation to space and time, so I carried on. It was dim, but light entered through an egg-shaped window, similar to the one on that rocket up there, I looked and saw our home from outer space. I couldn't move in order to continue my search and the last thing I remember before I woke up was an unbearably loud din and a kick, so real, that I could still feel it after opening my eyes. I think I died."

"What do you think does this mean?"

"I wish I knew."