100 Word Stories

Waking Up and the Confusion Encountered Upon Doing So (May 2020)

Where, Who, Am I?

The sensation that wakes me resolves into a hand on my shoulder applying a gentle pressure, enough to intrude on my dream as the terror of being grabbed suddenly from behind.

I'm in the passenger seat of a car, the driver waking me with a lover's tenderness. But I don't recognise them.

Through the vehicle's window, I see we're parked outside a thick walled cottage on a narrow village street, unfamiliar in the streetlights' sodium glow.

"Hey, we're home," says the driver softly.

I try to recall the dream, quickly fading as reality asserts dominance. I want to go back. An attempt to capture the feeling of being out of place immediately after waking up. Or maybe something about neuro-degeneration. I'm not entirely sure.