The blonde nurse said it again.
"Elise, it's time to wake up."
The hospital room started to gradually disappear. The smiley face on the whiteboard went first. The cooking host waved him goodbye as he turned to dust. The rolling tray slowly rolled into oblivion. The smell of the soup Grandma Margaret had left on his lap wafted into nothingness.
'Wait… Wait!'
Eli reached for the bracelet on his wrist, but it was already a strip of rough fabric when he touched.
'NO!!!!'
Then he opened his eyes.
"AH!"
Eli breathed raggedly, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
'A dream…'
He just had the realest dream ever.
'I thought I was really back…'
Did Eli wish he was back? Maybe. Even though this world had become his reality, sometimes he still wished he could go home. When he saw his elderly friends in the dream, he even cried and told them he would stay there forever.
"Argh…"
