Her mind wandered to the first night the sleep curse had spread over the world. At first it began in other parts of the world where there were reports that thousands of people who slept died in their sleep.
Bai Xue Yao had thought it was a minor issue, not just her but everyone. They thought those people were just unfortunate until it became rampant and spread to every corner of the world like a disease.
Her family had managed to escape the curse because they were celebrating their parents' anniversary.
Now the streets of the country Mayhem had become empty because it had lost two-thirds of its citizens to the sleep curse. Only one percent of a thousand people managed to wake up, and now they had become the government lab rats and research satellites in the dream world.
Today was the eleventh day since the plague hit the country of Mayhem and many who refused to sleep had already started showing signs of cognitive impairment, hallucinations, and physical exhaustion.
Bai Xue Yao wasn't sure about what the future held for them anymore, if you didn't sleep you would run mad and die, if you slept there was only a percent chance that you might survive the terrific world waiting for you.
She let out a deep sigh, she had lost some of her friends and family members to the sleep curse, and although her family tried to act like nothing was wrong, they all knew a day was coming when they might fall victim to the curse.
She was scared of that very possibility.
"I have read a couple of apocalypse novels but I have never seen one where the disaster is sleeping. The universe is too cruel, all humans have to sleep yet it chooses to punish us in this way. If someone told me there would come a day where I didn't sleep for an hour I would not believe it. I sleep twelve hours a day, and if I have nothing to do I can even sleep for seventeen to nineteen hours a day." Her words were already slurry as her eyes fluttered lazily.
"Not to mention Shen Yan, that jerk… I can't believe he really did that. Even though mom and dad didn't say anything I know it because they don't want to make me feel bad. What an abomination! And he still had the guts to tell me he did it so they wouldn't fall asleep, lame excuse. I just can't believe how he could do that to me when he knew how much I loved him…" She weakly kicked the bed in annoyance before pulling the cover over her chest.
"I'm not going to sleep, I'm just going to close my eyes for only a moment… just one second, only one second…" Her words slurred as her chest heaved up and down.
'Before mom comes back to disturb me… I'll be quick.'
Soon her snoring echoed through the room.
At first everything was dark and blank, then it was like she was being pulled by a spiralling force. She grimaced at the spiralling feeling and in the next second she felt the warmth kissing her skin.
'That is strange… I'm not supposed to feel anything in my dream… okay one second is over, time to wake up.' Bai Xue Yao thought as she snapped her eyes open.
The vast blue sky was the first thing that welcomed her. She closed her eyes before opening them again, but the blue sky was still there.
"I think something is wrong, I'm supposed to be staring at my ceiling and not a sky… not a sky… let me close my eyes for a few seconds and everything will return to normal again." She muttered under her breath.
Just then, she noticed she wasn't lying on her soft comfy bed, her hands moved around the strange surface. 'Isn't this grass!'
Xueyao snapped her eyes open, the blue sky smiled at her happily as if welcoming her arrival and she slowly turned to her side, and just as she had thought she was lying on grass, and in the far distance were tall trees scattered around the vast space.
She immediately snapped her eyes shut again. 'No, no, no, no this can not be happening… maybe if I try to sleep again maybe I'll wake up."
Minutes went by, and she summoned her courage to slowly peel one of her eyes open. And the view was still the same. She jerked up to her butt, "Ahhhhh!" She let out a scream.
But her scream startled the birds and they immediately flew away.
She pushed herself to her feet, her eyes scanning over the clearing she was lying in. Her heart thudded in her ear like a war drum. Erratic… and painful.
"No way." She muttered under her breath, before letting out a deep sigh. "You did it again XUEYAO." She said, sagging her shoulders.
Before she could figure out what to do next, she heard a low growl from a distance. She paused, straining her ears.
Growl.
The sound came again.
Xue Yao slowly turned around only to find a strange creature that looked like a giant tortoise but with a dragon head.
Her jaw dropped. 'I guess this is the part I run.'
She turned around, dashing into the woods. "MOM! SAVE ME!"