Go to sleep, everything is alright - an introduction.

Thud.

I woke to a thud. The noise from upstairs, it echoes and echoes and I can't seem to get it out of my head. My head... my head aches from this constant ringing and I can’t shake it. I sit up slowly, the blanket gently falling to the ground. I stand, struggling to gain balance from all of the white and pink dots in my eyes. I notice red on the floor. My nose is bleeding. Red on the floor and red down my face… I touch my neck, red on my fingers.

Thud.

I hear it echo… Where is that noise coming from? I quietly walk towards the stairs, not worried about my blood dripping to the floor. My vision begins clearing up a bit.

Thud.

The echo subsides as I get closer to its place of origin. I walk up the stairs. The lights are out, the gate separating the landing from the stairs is broken, and my nose is still bleeding. As I reach the top, I crouch down and begin to crawl towards the loft left of me. My head still hurts and that ringing won't go away.

Thud.

I crawl into the loft… I see nothing but pitch black and my skin and clothes. I stand. The ground feels empty, as though I’m walking on nothing.

Thud.

The noise feels like it's right in front of me. I stomp my foot on whatever substance it is I'm walking on. Nothing... No thud…
I turn around to run towards the stairs but the world has become pitch black. I can't find myself. Where's my loft? Where are the stairs? Where's my house? Where am I?

Thud.

It echoes... I'm surrounded by a wall of echoes. I try and shout but I can’t hear anything. I clap. Nothing. No sounds except the echo from the thud and the ringing in my ears.

Buzz.

A dim light turns on revealing a stage… I'm no longer in the empty space. The world is now black and white, or that's the color scheme they decided to use for this place. I'm sitting on a theater seat, the only seat in the house, and I'm wearing a grey suit. Confused, I look at my hands. There‘s no color. I touch my nose and look at my fingers. Red. I touch my face. It feels the same as before, but I’m curious if it‘s really me. I pinch myself. I’m awake, I’m pretty sure of it. I look to my right and notice a vanity mirror.
I’m well groomed, dressed nicely, black and white, and somehow the smear of blood around my mouth and nose is red. 'At least the ringing is gone' I think to myself.
I hear studio applause and look around. Nothing. I look to the stage as the curtains open. Black... There's nothing but black. A clown steps forward into the light. He’s an unhappy clown, black and white. Big buttons, big shoes, ordinary nose, painted tears, and a frown. He‘s squinting.

"A candy-colored clown they call the sandman tiptoes to my room every night"

He begins to sing. I notice a microphone without wires above his head. His voice is soothing and his song surrounds me. I have no time to react or be confused.

"I close my eyes, then I drift away into the magic night"

Buzz.

More light. Three seemingly faceless women step forward. Black pin curls and dresses are all I can make out. As they get closer to the light I notice their faces look like they‘ve been ripped off. Only, I’m not scared. I listen to them as they help in the chorus of the sad-clown's song - their microphone swinging back and forth from its cord.

Buzz.

Another light turns on behind the singers and the clown. It's an old man sitting on a stool and I recognize him. He's smoking a cigarette. As he exhales, the smoke fills the stage to the point where I can barely make out his face. Dad?
The second hand smoke slowly melts the clown's face off revealing muscle. I wince a little. There’s his skull! I finally see his big eyes; they didn’t melt with his skin. The three women become skeletons as well, but no skulls for faces this time: only the void with pin curls placed carefully on top. I cough. I tried not to, but I couldn't help it with all that smoke. And where am I?

"I can’t help it… I can't help it if I cry"

The smoke begins to clear and the man on the stool is just as bare bone as the singers and clown. I can see his black lungs. Tar drips from them as he takes another drag.

Drip-drop, drip-drop.

The singers turn to ash and red blood falls from the skeleton-clown's eyes. I should be disgusted, only I'm not. I’m more amazed than anything at this point.

Drip-drop.

I look at my lap and notice I've become red. My tears are a waterfall pouring down pools of blood from my nose. My headache comes back and the ringing starts over again.

"Only in dreams, in beautiful dreams"

The skeleton-clown steps back and disappears after he finishes. The ashes of the three singers remain under the light and the fire from a cigarette remains where the lungs on the stool once were. An imaginary audience applauds the performance and oh how my head still hurts.
Red water slowly and smoothly runs on and off stage like the ocean on sand, the ashes washing away. I'm no longer in a theater I realize as I‘m staring at the red tide; I’m on a canoe and am surrounded by a red ocean. I look across from me and notice another canoe - this one has a shiny white figure with a white umbrella inside. She's the light in this dark place, the only light I see. As I slowly approach, she glances at me. Even with her face hidden behind her heavily netted veil I can tell she's the most beautiful woman I have ever come across. I catch a glimpse of her shy smile as she waves at me.

She giggles.

Then, out of the red, I see a shark fin stalking her canoe. I try to scream! Nothing. She looks at me again and smiles, not noticing the monster in the waters. She gracefully stands and blows me a kiss, my arms flailing. A giant monster shoots from the sea of red in the world of black and white, swallowing the small boat and woman in white. The light in the sea is gone. I'm alone in the abyss surrounded by a circle of red water in my black and white coffin. The monster rises from the waters again, gazes at me, and swims away.

Thud.

I hear it again. The ringing of my headache is gone, but there's that noise again. I don’t know what to do. I’m scared. I pull my hair and try to scream as loud as I can. Nothing. I run off of the canoe and leap into the red sea. The water seems so clear for a few feet, but the empty of black consumes the rest.

Thud.

I lightly hit my head against a wall of rocks. I resurface and climb. The rocks reach to eternity it seems; the bright and white sun against the grey sky blinding me. I look up again and see a feminine arm extended to help me up. I take her hand and she helps me roll onto the smooth surface. I’m drenched. I lay and look into the endless grey sky. I slowly stand to view the sea of red below, white birds circling and cawing. I turn to talk to the woman that saved me. Her back is to me and she's wearing a striped dress and doll shoes; her arms crossed and her light-colored hair blowing with the soft breeze.

"I love you."

She tells me.

"I've always loved you. It's just... it's just, I never wanted you to notice."

I recognize her confident and tender voice. I don't know what to tell her since I'm not sure who she is, but I feel safe. I wrap my arms around her waist and smell her hair... It smells so sweet.

"I want to be yours and you to be mine, but I'm afraid."

I turn her around, her head down and face hidden as she gently weeps. We hold hands and I kiss the top of her head. It feels so peaceful here with her. I want to stare into her eyes and feel and taste her lips so badly. My fingers pull her face up by her chin. There is no face. I'm staring into the nothing. Terrified, I step back three steps and the world suddenly disappears. I’m in the empty space again. Boulders begin to fall from the sky barely missing me. I try as best I can to avoid being smashed. I look up and see one that's too close for evasion. It gets closer, and closer, and -

Thud.

I fall on the floor in my living room. I'm safe. Finally safe. I look around and pinch myself. No more black and white for me. I sigh in relief. I get up and look at the couch, but someone is lying there under the covers. ‘It’s probably my nephew’ I think to myself. I playfully pull at the covers to wake him, only it’s not him. My jaw drops as I stare at myself on the couch sleeping. And I'm terrified.

What the fuck is going on here?

I dart to the stairs as fast as I can. I can't stop running. I trip and fall into the gate, knocking it off of its hinges. 'This seems familiar' I think to myself as I get up and look down at the broken gate. I begin to run again. Run towards the loft. I look ahead and see

THUD


Lyric Excerpts: In Dreams by Roy Orbison