At 5:12 PM on Sunday afternoon, detective Jane McNally woke up from another daylong nightmare. She had wallowed in light sleep for a couple of hours but failed to break through the sheets and sweat to get to a happier place. McNally never remembered her dreams, which is why she loved sleeping so much. Heavy curtains adorned both her bedroom and living room windows, in case the urge to briefly mingle with the unconscious ever struck. Her eyes were heavy and bloodshot; had she not still been wearing half of her GIU (Government-issue-uniform), she could have been mistaken for a common street rat.
Jane had never been an ambitious girl. Her parents were Government employees, and she had always known she would go to the Federal Academy. There, as always, she earned average grades. After graduation, she quickly found a comfortable job in law enforcement. Crime was so rare, qualified detectives were not in high demand. She was good at her job when she needed to be and otherwise just drifted from home to the office everyday. Still, the few crimes she encountered were solved efficiently. She was well-liked among colleagues, particularly because she stayed out of everyone's way.
Still, she couldn't seem to shake the emptiness of the scene today. McNally closed her eyes and crawled over to the living room couch. No sooner did she close her eyes than was the hiker sitting in front of her, on a stretcher. His pupils were dilated and started expanding. She bent down in amazement and lost her balance, falling into an endless abyss of color. Greens, yellows, blues, reds fly upward as Jane falls deeper, deeper, deeper. There are cries of laughter--children, perhaps?--coming from below, and the wind whips through her long, brown hair.
Then, without warning, McNally hears a loud splash and finds herself six feet underwater, scrambling for the surface. Swimming comes naturally to her, and she easily glides to the surface, jumping and diving in the cool, refreshing pond. She plunges deep into the water and comes face-to-face with a large green fish, who seems to beckon her to follow. When she doesn't, he turns: "Are you coming, or not?"
Jane had never been an ambitious girl. Her parents were Government employees, and she had always known she would go to the Federal Academy. There, as always, she earned average grades. After graduation, she quickly found a comfortable job in law enforcement. Crime was so rare, qualified detectives were not in high demand. She was good at her job when she needed to be and otherwise just drifted from home to the office everyday. Still, the few crimes she encountered were solved efficiently. She was well-liked among colleagues, particularly because she stayed out of everyone's way.
Still, she couldn't seem to shake the emptiness of the scene today. McNally closed her eyes and crawled over to the living room couch. No sooner did she close her eyes than was the hiker sitting in front of her, on a stretcher. His pupils were dilated and started expanding. She bent down in amazement and lost her balance, falling into an endless abyss of color. Greens, yellows, blues, reds fly upward as Jane falls deeper, deeper, deeper. There are cries of laughter--children, perhaps?--coming from below, and the wind whips through her long, brown hair.
Then, without warning, McNally hears a loud splash and finds herself six feet underwater, scrambling for the surface. Swimming comes naturally to her, and she easily glides to the surface, jumping and diving in the cool, refreshing pond. She plunges deep into the water and comes face-to-face with a large green fish, who seems to beckon her to follow. When she doesn't, he turns: "Are you coming, or not?"
