Wheatie

This story is based on a dream I had.

Wheatie (A Dream)

Background:

Once upon a time there was a small, strange world. At least, it was small compared to our world, and only strange in the sense that it was different. But when I say that this world is small, you must think quite small indeed. It had no sun, or moon, or stars beyond itself. This  world was no larger than a small summer camp. And if you have ever been to a summer camp, you will better understand what this world was like. I myself have not seen this world in some time, but I will do my best to describe what I remember to you. The world twenty acres in our world’s measurements. There were about ten buildings which were scattered about. The land was surrounded by water, not an ocean or a lake though. Just water. After a few hundred feet there was no more water. The world just ended. There wasn’t a wall or a cliff or anything of the like. I’m afraid I can’t explain it at all. We don’t understand such things. The world simply ended. There were only about one hundred people there, and the world must have been new, for they had not all yet met. The land was full of hills, and every house was built upon one of these hills, except one.

Also, every house was built as a square, except ont. The same house which had not been built upon a hill was the shape of a rectangle.

When I was there, I followed the journey of a young man my age. His name was Tommy. Though, it was some time ago, so he must have been about fifteen at the time. He was a shy young man, but honest and humble. He was popular, and he had very few friends. To be precise, he only had one friend. His name was Tyler. I do not know how long they had been friends. 

Day One:

My trip to this world did not last long, and I saw very few things. Tommy was walking about the land by himself. He passed a tetherball pole at the bottom of one of the nine hills. He looked up this particular hill. Atop it stood a very small house. A cement path led to the top. He had seen this house a thousand times while playing tetherball, but today it stood out. Something was different.

“Tommy. How’s it going?” came Tyler’s voice from up ahead.

But Tommy couldn’t take his eyes off the house. And suddenly he knew why. The screen door (for all doors in this world were merely screen doors) opened, and out stood a young woman. 

There are very few moments in life that play out like the storybooks. Time passes slowly for many, but to actually go in slow motion is far more rare. That moment when where your heart tries to force itself out of your chest, your eyes don’t move, and even breathing no longer matters. Tommy saw Wheatie. 

Now as I said before, this was not a large planet. Most people knew each other, but Tommy had never seen this person before.

“Who is she?” Tommy asked Tyler.

“Um, I’m pretty sure she just heard you ask me.” he replied.

The young girl smiled.

“My name is Wheatie.” she replied as she began walking down the cement path.

Tommy was frozen on the outside, but every part of his insides were turning this way and that, fluttering about.

“He’s Tommy.” Tyler said for Tommy.

Tommy broke out of the shell shock. “Hi,”

“Hello.” she replied, and the shell shock took him again.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Tommy asked after a moment.

“Yes.”

Now call it what you want. Call it what you need. Call it insane. This world does not work the same as ours. Oh the joy for us men if it did. 

The two began to walk around the island. 

“When did you get here?” asked Tommy at one point.

“I’ve always been here,”

“Why didn’t we ever meet?” 

Wheatie shrugged. 

“You never saw me I guess.”

Tommy led Wheatie to large pier that went out a fifty feet into the water. Wheatie stood at the end of the pier. The wind had picked up, and her long, sandy brown hair blew nearly straight back. She was like one of the goddesses in the books Tommy had read. It was said that a goddess could actually control the heart of the one she chose. A goddess only entered the world once in a thousand years, and it always preceded a great disaster. The man the goddess chose would always become a hero in the end. Tommy began to think of himself as a hero. That’s where the fantasy stopped. Tommy chuckled. He was no hero, even if Wheatie was a goddess.

“Do you like me Tommy?” Wheatie asked as she turned toward him.

Day Two:

Tommy opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling above. A dream. It had been a dream. Bummer. He groaned, and looked at the clock. It was early. He never woke up this early. Must have been the dream. Tommy yawned, picked his nose, and got up. He put on a pair of jeans and a plain white T-shirt. He walked into the kitchen where he saw no one. Weird. Tommy opened the door, and his world changed. The ground was covered in a foot of water, and it was raising every second. The wind was rushing at a hundred miles an hour. Trees were blowing over. It was as if all the waters were emptying themselves onto the land. 

“Tommy!”

Tommy looked up. It was Wheatie! She was running toward him as fast as her legs would take her in the water. 

“Wheatie!” He began to run to her, but the water was rising fast.

When they met it was nearly at there their waists.

“What’s happening?” Tommy yelled.

Wheatie’s face grew very serious.

“A disaster.”

Tommy couldn’t breathe. It hadn’t been a dream, and he had been right. Wheatie was a goddess. That’s why he had never met her. A goddess was known to all but the rescuer. The disaster had come, and Tommy was to be the rescuer. His eyes grew wide, as he stared into Wheatie’s own.

“I’m not a hero.”

“You will be.”

No story of a goddess ever ended the same. They always began the same, but one never could predict what would happen after the disaster. Sometimes the goddess would turn evil, and destroy the entire world. In others, the one whom she chose would save the world. In others, the hero would become afraid and unable to fulfill his destiny. In those stories, the goddess would save the world. Tommy knew all these stories, but he himself had only ready one. 

And that story was so very familiar to his own. The young man met the young woman, who stole his heart upon the first meeting. The next day, however, disaster has struck the world. In his story, it had been with fire. The goddess had run to the chosen one with great fear in her eyes. 

“Save us!” she cried, as if she herself did not know the ending.

The chosen one looked on as the fire engulfed the world, getting closer and closer to himself. And in the moment that fire was but an inch from his face, he took the goddess’s hand and ran into the fire. As he did so, great powers were granted to him, and quenched the fire until there was no more, and the world was saved.

Tommy looked ahead as a great wave came toward the land, growing closer every second. Tommy’s frightened eyes locked with Wheatie’s, whose seemed so very calm.

“I’m scared.” Tommy said ashamedly. 

Wheatie took Tommy’s hand in her own.

“It’s okay to be scared.”

The wave was a hundred yards away.

“Tommy?”

“Yes?”

“You are a hero.”

Tommy’s grip on Wheatie’s hand tightened. Tommy didn’t think he was a hero, but if there was ever a day to try, that day was today. The wave was only feet away. Tommy took one last look at Wheatie, so that if he were to die, he could remember her face for eternity.

Tommy stepped into the wave.