Awake

Travis woke up. He lifted his torso up and instantly felt the chill of winter upon him. He found himself in the midst of a snow covered countryside. Questions with a mix of shock began to flood his mind. How did he get there? Where exactly is here? He looked all around his position and saw a structure that he could not readily make out in the distance. He picked himself up and knocked the snow off of himself.

“How did I get here?”

The answer he hoped for did not magically appear. The snowy plain he was on stretched for seemed like forever and was ringed by what looked like tall pine trees in the distance. In the opposite direction the land began to slope upward in what appeared to be a hull. At the top was the structure his eyes could not completely focus on.

“Maybe that’s a house. Someone might be able to help me figure out where I am.”

Travis began the slow walk up the snowy hill. For a second he wondered if any of this was a dream. The sound of the crunching snow beneath his feet made it feel real. The cloudy overcast sky obscured the sense of time. He knew it was daytime and nothing more. The cold air that would gust at times felt very real. The weight of his body moving up the hill felt very real. Despite this, nothing made sense and still had a sense of unreality to it that he could not shake.

As Travis got closer to the structure at the top of the hill, he could see that it looked to be a barn. He walked closer and saw that it was an old barn. As he walked around it trying to get to a door, he noticed the signs of wear and tear. The red paint bordered with gray was peeling off. He found what appeared to be a door and pulled it open. He carefully walked in fearing that he was intruding.

“Hello? Is there anybody here?”

As he walked in, Travis noticed that a variety of lanterns were placed in various spots illuminating most of the barn. The inside was noticeably warmer and he quickly shut the door behind him as he entered.

“Hello? Anybody here? I seem to be lost.”

Nothing. The only sound heard was a creaking of the barn as a strong gust of wind hit it. Travis looked around and saw where the barn’s center floor area had pieces of straw all over. Stacks of hay bales were along the edges. He looked up and saw that the barn ceiling seemed higher than it looked on the outside. There were stairs that led up to another level of the barn and it too had various stacks of hay all about it.

Travis went over to a single bale that was next to a wooden pole. He sat on the bale and began touching the bale with his hands.

“Just checking,” Travis said to himself. The hay was prickly on his hands as he patted it. The idea of this being a dream was still fresh in his mind.

“That should have no problem holding you up, I bound it myself,” a voice said.

Travis leapt up from the hay bale frightened by the suddenness of the voice. He looked behind him and saw a beaded and dark curly haired man dressed in jean overalls with a gray shirt. He was casually sweeping the floor of the barn as though he was there the whole time.

“Who…where did you come from?”

The man continued sweeping the loose straw into a pile and did not look up when he replied, “Name’s Sam. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked up at Travis for a moment and stopped sweeping.

“You didn’t hear when I was calling..”

“I did actually,” Sam interrupted. He stood the antique straw broom up with one hand and placed his other hand out to shake Travis’ hand.

Travis warily held his hand out and shook Sam’s.

“Came through the other door when I heard you in here,” Sam said smiling as he pointed in the direction behind him. “What’s your name?”

“Travis. Travis Murray.”

“Well, Travis, what brings you here today? What’s your story?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Travis said as he sat back down on the hay bale he was on.

“Not sure? Nonsense. Everybody has a story. I’m sure you got one in you as to why you’re here.”

“That’s just it, I don’t really remember. It’s just a blur. I woke up not far from here, saw this place, and made my way here. Where is here anyway? Is there a town nearby? Maybe a phone I can use? I seem to have lost mine.”

“Well” Sam said as he was sliding a bale from the edge of the barn over to where Travis sat. “This is my father’s barn. He lives miles from here. He’s not big on the phones people carry around. My brother should be here shortly should you need travel. In the meantime, what about you?”

“What about me? What…ah, that’s weird,” Travis said as he felt and odd tightness in the center of his chest. He placed his hand over the spot and began to rub it.

“Must be gas. Might have been something you ate last,” Sam said. “To answer your question, I like to hear stories from what people pass through our area long enough to talk. That’s all. As you can see, we don’t get many out this way. Besides it might help you answer how you got here.”

“Okay, you might be right. Um… I live in an apartment. Just me by myself.”

“Any family?”

“My mom lives far from me, I think. Wait, yeah. She lives on the other side of the country. She…didn’t like where I lived too much or some of the habits I picked up there.

“Habits like….what? Smoking?”

“Yeah. She said I smoked too much. That’s how I got asthma. Still couldn’t give it up. Do you?”

“Smoke? Nah! Go on.”

“I remember loving being out on my balcony smoking. I loved the view out there at night. The sounds of the city moving and thriving like something out of a movie. Last time I was out something happened,” Travis said as he felt the odd sore spot in his chest get tighter. He placed his hand over his chest for second as the pain subsided.

“I think you’re getting somewhere,” Sam said leaning a little closer. “What happened next?”

“I…I had an attack. Couldn’t stop coughing. Then…then…”

“Then you fell,” Sam interrupted.

Travis felt his blood run cold at the mention of falling. He remembered the sensation of tumbling down and fighting for every breath until…

“You woke up here,” Sam added.

“Then I’m here. I…” Travis gripped his chest as he slid off the bale. His airways felt like a vise then the pain subsided and he could breathe again. “I know what happened now.”

A knock at the barn door caused both to look up. Sam knelt down to Travis and helped him to his feet. “My brother is here. He’ll take you home.”

“Why a barn? I expected a lot more,” Travis said as a sense of peace came over him.

Sam smiled and replied, “It depends on the person. In your case, when you were a boy there was a picture you saw in your room of an old barn.”

“I remember now! I used to think what it would be like to be there when I was a little boy. How did you…never mind. I get it now.”

The knock at the barn door grew louder from the first.

“My brother is getting a little impatient. Time to go home,” Sam said as he patted Travis’ back and walked him to the barn door.

As the door opened, a brilliant light that seemed to come from everywhere engulfed Travis and Sam. It was as though the warm light of dawn greeted them itself. Then, for the first real time in his memory, Travis woke up.