Entry: September 15th, 7:05am

After writing down my last dream, I went to school in the morning of the 14th of September. It was amazing. My dancing went great. I never knew I was that agile. It was as if I put myself into the body of my characters. In school and at work, every time I felt tired, or bored, or freaked out over something I didn't understand, I imagined Seung-ho. What he was going through in the cell. How strong he was, and how much he believed in my abilities.

As for last night's dream? It was a jaw-dropping experience, from the very beginning, until the end.

First, the corridor. It transformed. The floor was clean. The bars in the windows were gone. I ran up to the windows and looked out, not into an abyss of darkness, but onto a field. It was raining, but it didn't matter. I could see grass, flowers, trees, and horses. Lots of horses and birds. I completely did not expect this. Practically skipping over to the cell (the entrance to which was now a wooden door with a nicely carved handle), I called, "Seung-ho!".

His room changed, as well. There was a bed. And a chair by the table. There was a lamp hanging from the ceiling, and a window with a look-out onto the soaking field. Quite an upgrade.

Seung-ho was sitting on his bed.
"What in the world happened?"

He shrugged. "As your skills develop, so does the story and its setting," he said.

I laughed. "So my skills are finally deserving of a bed?"

"That's exactly right," he smiled. "It's symbolic. I can now relax, since you are improving very fast. Hence, the bed. As for the light and window... I guess, we... learned a little bit over the past couple of days. Which allowed us to see things from a new perspective."

I didn't know how to answer.

"So where to, today?" he asked.
"A river," I said simply, wanting to leave the rest for later. I opened a door and we left the cell behind.

We crossed the threshold and stepped straight onto a boat. We were rushing down a river, rocking from left to right dangerously. Two oars were already prepared for us, and we quickly grabbed them. There was absolutely no point to them, since no human could possibly have enough strength to push a boat against that current. From the very beginning, I freaked out. We couldn't win against an element. Just slow it down a bit, I told myself. I willed the river to calm down. In several seconds, the river grew wider, and the current slower, until it almost completely stopped. It felt more like we were going down a really long lake. The surroundings were peaceful and we went along, rowing slowly.

"This isn't even a river anymore," Seung-ho pointed out, irritated. I sighed, but unfortunately couldn't argue.

"Fine. Let's get something more dangerous," I said. The river sped up again. In spite of that, I was still enjoying myself. It was actually very relaxing, and I didn't mind. Working on these dreams was very tiring. I didn't understand how it could be possible that I always woke up rested in the morning, despite all the insanity I faced at night. I stopped focusing on the dream, and just kicked back in the boat.

That's when my unconscious mind took over with something totally unexpected.

The boat crashed into a rock sticking slightly out of the water. I yelped and jumped, only making the rocking worse. Seung-ho told me to grab the oar, and we tried steering between all the rocks that suddenly appeared in our path. My arms quickly got tired, since we were moving really fast, and we had to switch the oars from left to right constantly in order not to suffer another hit.

"Watch out!" Seung-ho called. "Left side!" I pulled the oar over to the left, but the moment I dipped it in the water, another rock appeared. "Right side!" he yelled. It went on like that for a while. Until we noticed the waterfall a mile away.

"Oh, crap," I said. "We have to get out of the boat!"

"Right. Jump."

"There's no way we can fight the current."

"Jump onto the rocks!" he ordered. I nodded, thanking myself for making him a character in the story, not just a non-existent being. His mind was very useful.

"Go first. You see that one? We're getting closer, get ready!" he warned. I gulped, and stood up. The boat swayed slightly, but I managed to keep balance.

"And you?"

"I'll be right behind you," he told me. I held my breath. The only thing I had to trust was the insane river and my own judgment on how far away the rock was. Then, I pushed my feet against the boat and jumped.

I made it, slipped, and grabbed the rock with my hands. The current pulled my feet, but I held on tightly. Spitting out water, I turned my head to see what Seung-ho was doing. The moment I turned, I saw him jump out of the boat, reach out for a rock, and miss. He fell into the water and disappeared under the surface. I screamed out his name, and waited for him to reappear, but there was nothing. Then, I realized. His hands were still handcuffed. There was no chance for him swim and fight the current. Crying in frustration, I climbed onto the rock, hopped over to another one, and continued moving forward, toward the spot where Seung-ho sunk. I didn't care if I was going to slip and fall and die, I just kept moving, not able to think straight, worried insanely about what could have happened to him. I stepped on the rock he was supposed to jump onto, and called him. Of course, he couldn't answer. Taking a deep breath, I stuck my head in the freezing water, and saw him.

Seung-ho's handcuffs were attached to a tree log about seven feet underwater. He was stuck, unable to float up. His head was very close to the surface, but he wasn't quite tall enough to reach it. Every couple of seconds, a bubble would escape his mouth, and he looked about ready to pass out. I picked up my head, took another deep breath, and slipped back into the water.

For a couple of scary seconds, I lost feeling in my entire body, before snapping out of the shock. I tried reaching the log while keeping most of my body behind the rock, so that I wouldn't be pulled away by the current. I barely reached it, but there was no way for me to get a hold of the branches that imprisoned Seung-ho. After ten more seconds of struggling, I couldn't take it anymore. Seung-ho was clearly giving up too. His eyes were closed, and there were no more bubbles coming from between his lips. His body was being jerked back and forth in the water by the current, but he made no voluntary movements.

There was only one chance left.

I let go of the rock and smashed into the log. I grabbed Seung-ho's shoulders, and kicked the tree with all my strength. At first, there was no reaction, and I felt my energy seeping out of me in an instant. Dizziness took over, but I couldn't stop. I kept kicking. After what seemed like eternity, the branches broke and our bodies flew with the current. When my head broke through the surface, I immediately started coughing frantically, trying to catch a breath. I was still holding on to Seung-ho's shoulders, but he didn't make a sound. I was crying. I succeeded in getting him above water, but failed in saving his life. I had no more hope. I could have still tried to grab onto something, but it was impossible with me holding onto him, heavy water pushing me away from safety. And I was exhausted. I felt the string around my neck let go, and a quick thought crossed my mind. The key is gone. Seung-ho died. My imagination died. I can't come back here anymore. I closed my eyes and the current carried us along the rushing river, until we fell.

A second later, it was over.

I picked up my head and looked around. I was still in mid-air, the canyon stretching on both sides, the waterfall roaring behind me, the river waiting one hundred feet below. But Seung-ho and I were lying on something solid, in the middle of this chasm. I rolled him off my back and noticed that he was holding onto something: my key, sticking out of a keyhole in the door we were lying down on.

"What..." I croaked out, confused.

"I think that's enough for one dream," Seung-ho whispered next to me. "Let's hope it opens inward," he added, and turned the handle. The door opened and we fell down. Knowing that the river was far below us, I expected to plummet towards it, but instead, we fell down less than ten feet and landed on Seung-ho's bed with a loud ugh!

It took me a while to process what had happened. We just lay there, unable to speak or move. I looked back at everything that happened in the past minute, and finally started understanding.

Seung-ho was alive. He survived and didn't give up hope. While I was losing my mind in fear, he thought of a plan: grabbed my key, and right as we fell, turned it in the air to form a door beneath us - a horizontal door that would take us back to his cell.

Why didn't I think of that?

"Are you alright?" he asked. I nodded, not caring whether he could see my head move or not. As usually, I was horribly embarrassed.

"It's okay," he petted my hair. I felt a chill run down my back. We were soaked and we just almost died. It was not okay.

"You almost died. And you were smarter than me. I couldn't save us," I admitted.

He laughed.

He actually laughed.

That one I didn't see coming at all.

"I'm a piece of your imagination, Seol-hae, you silly girl. I'm a piece of your own mind. Everything I do is influenced by your thoughts. So me saving us was actually your brain forcing me to save us."

"That makes no sense," I told him, still in denial.

"Just pretend like it does," he smiled. "We're safe, so you didn't fail. You succeeded at writing a pretty cool story."

I guess I should have been celebrating. Seung-ho thought this to be satisfying proof that I had a great imagination. But there was still something bugging me. The fact that he almost died. I almost killed him.

"Give me back the key," I told him.

"Seol-hae..."

"Give it back," I ordered. There was something bossy about the way my voice sounded, and I was startled at my own confidence. But Seung-ho didn't argue anymore, just handed over the key. I scrutinized it with narrowed eyes, and prayed. Prayed that it would work.

I stuck it into the keyhole in Seung-ho's handcuffs and turned.

They clicked open and clattered to the floor. I smiled. Now he was free. Seung-ho gaped at his wrists in disbelief. He flexed his hands, then stretched his arms, waving them around. I couldn't blame him. They were chained together at the front of his body for weeks.

I felt like hugging him. Some part of me couldn't let go of that old wish of mine. I wished that these dreams could someday become reality. I wished that I could see Seung-ho in real life.

"You're free," I told him.

"That's it, then," he answered with a smile. I stared in confusion.

"What?"

"Your dream mentor is now officially free to roam the universe," he laughed. "But don't worry. You don't need these insane dreams anymore, Seol-hae. Trust yourself out there, in the real world. Write and share your stories. Balance out your life, so there's enough time for work and rest, for reality and fantasy."

"Why are you telling me all this..."

"Bye," he smiled.

I blinked, and he was gone. Just like that, in a split second, his body disappeared as if he was never standing in front of me in the first place. His bed was still here. The lamps were here, and it was still raining outside. Nothing changed, except now I was all alone.

"Seung-ho?" I mumbled. I didn't have the courage to call out louder, in fear that he wouldn't answer.

Calm down, I told myself. He probably needs a break from me too. Tomorrow would be back to normal, with another insane dream to write down. I turned the key in mid-air, and a door appeared around it. I pushed it open and woke up.

Now I'm sitting on my bed, fidgeting nervously. I don't feel any different than I did yesterday morning. So why am I freaking out? I didn't get to say goodbye to Seung-ho. Even though we've become so close, he evaporated without a word, and it was my fault, since I just unlocked his handcuffs without a warning. And his speech from right before he disappeared is still replaying itself in my mind.

Entry: September 15th, 11:51pm

I fell asleep after coming home... but I don't remember anything. Seung-ho didn't come back. My dreams didn't come back. But when I woke up just now... I felt relaxed. I realized something. Not long ago, I had been unable to write any stories. I was too stressed to escape into my dream world. But my own mind healed me. When I had trouble coming up with stories during the day (because of my busy schedule), I started coming up with some interesting stories at night. Thanks to them, I became happier. My dream world stories, and my favorite character, Seung-ho, had a big impact on my everyday life. His words, the words that came from my own imagination, will never be forgotten.

Entry: September 16th, 11:30pm

I decided to make some time in my schedule for story-writing instead of over-working myself. I started a blog, in which I will share all my stories with others. I already posted my dreams about Seung-ho and a couple of my old stories, and received feedback. It's surprisingly good to hear what others think of my stories. I realized that my conscious (when awake) and unconscious (when dreaming) minds can cooperate. And maybe so can my two worlds - my dream land, and my real life. I need to get a couple more hours of sleep before getting up, so I'll be ending it here. I would thank Seung-ho for giving me encouragement and increasing my confidence, but I know what he'd say. "It's all you, Seol-hae," he'd roll his eyes. "I'm your imagination. I'm your mind. We are one. Now go, and share your stories with the world and live your dreams out in reality." And so I shall do.