Nobody’s Dream: The Forgotten Prophecy of the Sky

A short story I wrote 7 years ago while sitting at my desk at my boring summer engineering internship. Would love to hear your interpretations of the prophecy!

It was a serene day and the sun was glowing. The sky was as blue as can be and the clouds were puffy messes of white. The day was just another summer day. I decided I’d take a chance at cloud watching. I laid a soft, red blanket on the ground and looked overhead. As time progressed, I began to wonder if anyone else actually took the time out of their day to do something as nonsensical as look at the sky. I lacked imagination, but I always slept with dreams as vivid and visceral as action movies. The clouds began to change before my eyes. They turned from white to light gray, then blackened even more. The sky was a purplish dark blue and it became very hard to see anything but the clouds.

I didn’t smell any rain coming, so I laid there as still as can be. The clouds began to roar. This roar was no ordinary sound of thunder. It was a war cry. I began to see cloud men storm from their base to a castle in the sky. They charged with their swords, and they seemed to have declared war on the tall fortress. For some reason, I simply knew that they were trying to kidnap the king of the heavens.

I began to panic, but I had no way of traveling to the sky in order to reason with the gray men. I tried shouting, yelling, even screaming to the sky. My words may as well have been mute. I stood up from my blanket to get a better view of the battle. The castle sprung up a golden gate that was as high as a mountaintop. The men easily cut it down with their strength in numbers. A great sadness came over me as I hopelessly thought of all of the treacherous possibilities. I could do nothing but close my eyes and wait. When I opened my eyes, I was there.

I had somehow teleported inside the castle in front of the king’s throne room. A beautiful woman with wings gracefully came to me holding silver armor and a diamond sword. She told me that the armor and sword were crafted by the best blacksmith in heaven. She warned me that the diamond sword with a golden hilt could only be wielded by a man of morality and honor. If the king had the slightest notion that I was undeserving, he would have the sword turn on me and pierce me through the heart. I took a hard look at the woman and embraced my destiny. The prophecy was bestowed upon me.

I ran to the entrance of the castle covered in silver. I couldn’t help but notice that the hallways were full of treasures of the wildest dreams. Everything was covered with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds from the chairs to the chandeliers. I ignored the extravagance of the mansion and proceeded to open the door.

There stood before me a thousand men made of nothing but shadows and darkness. I was lost in desperation for a fleeting moment. Then I realized that the king believed in me. He had chosen me to protect his precious kingdom. The king had entrusted me with chaste integrity and it was my duty to seek out justice for all of the evildoers’ crimes. I raised my sword, closed my eyes, and charged!

I began to fall. I didn’t realize how much the armor weighed until I opened my eyes to see the ground coming at me faster than the sound of my own screams traveled to my ears. I wanted to fly. I wanted to be as swift and agile as an eagle, but I plummeted clumsily through the sky. I lost faith in myself. The confidence I had in my own abilities were lost deep in a sea of troubles.

Right before impact I awakened. I quickly rose up from the red blanket and came to the conclusion that it was a very, vivid dream. I was doubtful to believe that it had only been a dream, for it was too real for it to be surrealism. I cursed the chasm of my mind for tricking me into believing that I had a higher purpose. Then I saw it. The sword was lying next to me as it reflected the beautiful royal blue sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. I was muddled because I thought I had failed my mission. How did I fall so gracelessly to earth from the skies and survive? How did I even destroy the thousand shadows that were waiting to consume my heart and soul? The questions remained unanswered, however I heard a resounding whisper in my ear. The word of the King came to me, “you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

Instantly the diamond sword shattered into oblivion, and I had no other evidence of what I had experienced. I decided to never talk of this vision again as I was sure it was a reality for someone else far in the future. I was but a holder of a fantasy that would never be my own truth. The day that I observed the lost prince’s ascension from earth was the day that I learned the prophecy of the sky.