I had a dream once . . .

Daily Prompt:  Just a dream

You’re having a nightmare, and have to choose between three doors. Pick one, and tell us about what you find on the other side.

I had a dream once.

I didn’t know it was a dream at the time but when I woke up, sheets clenched in one hand and my .22 in the other, I knew.

This dream I had started out like most: a kiss . . . woodsy musk . . . moist skin . . . sublime release;  and the sex, especially the sex, always better than the real deal, left me in a mellow place.  I was dreaming, though I didn’t really know it at the time but I knew it was a place I wanted to stay.

Pungent earthy compost, sharp ammonia, devil’s dung took over in the dream that I didn’t know was a dream.  My senses reduced to a small shaft of light and lead me down a long hall towards three doors.  Strong,  majestic . . . mahogany, I thought.

I touch the smooth hardness.  Instinct — or perhaps that omniscient knowing that takes place in the dream place — lets me know that one of those doors would lead back to my sensual haze, while the other two would pitch me straight into chaos.

Ah, this one, I thought as my senses caught whiff of a hint of lemon mixed with just a hint of sweet myrrh.  The one in the middle.    Though I was still dreaming, remember I didn’t know it at the time, I knew I wasn’t ready to wake.  I wanted more time with … the kiss . . . woodsy musk . . . moist skin . . . sublime release.

I reached out, time had no meaning here and hours beckoned before my hand touched the cool door handle.  No sooner than the knob twisted beneath my anticipatory fingers when a blast of devil’s breath sprayed across my face, lifted me into the air and plunged me deep into the dark abyss below.

Once, I had a dream.