Nothing but a Dream

[sn12345678987654321]

Hi everyone. It has been a really long time since I have written a story here. Well. . . I have really  only ever written 2 stories, so I guess “long time” is sort of an understatement. But I am so thankful for all the amazing contributions you all make, so I thought I’d try my hand at another one. Especially in this season of giving (and giving thanks). 

I’m not sure where this idea came from. . .but I hope you like it. 

Ok, on to the sneezing . . . .

 

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“Something was seriously wrong,” Ali thought as she sat up suddenly in bed. It happened again. The same dream as last night. Well, almost the same. Everything except the last word was identical to the nightmare she had yesterday. Her head was spinning, and her skin was covered in a light mist. 

 

It was unlike her to remember her dreams. When she was a child, all of her friends would talk about their dreams at school, but she could never participate. She used to wish she could remember what happened when she slept. But for the past two nights, she remembered everything. Now she wasn’t sure remembering what happened in her dreams was such a good thing. 

 

As she sat up in bed, she grabbed her bedsheet to wipe off her face, but just like last night, the sheets were wet too. She swung her feet off the side of the bed and onto the floor. Despite what had happened yesterday (the first night she had the dream) she still didn’t quite believe it. But this morning was eerily similar to yesterday morning. 

 

Yesterday was the first time she had ever woken herself up with a sneeze like that. She remembered the pleasure of that big release as she sneezed directly up into the air, and then the feeling of the droplets of spray gently falling back down onto her face and the covers around her. She didn’t mind waking up that way. In fact, she kind of liked it. But she didn’t like what had happened during the rest of yesterday. She would have to be more careful today. 

 

She hopped into the shower and rinsed the sneezy mist off of her face. As she lathered herself up, she reflected back on her dream from last night. In the dream, she woke up in a room. The room looked like it was the dressing room of an old opera house. Despite warm colors and plush carpets, the room felt eerie and wrong. In the corner of the room was a long mirror. It was just hovering there . . . in midair. She shivered just thinking about the dream. Even in the warm water of the shower, she couldn’t help feeling a nervous chill. “What was going on?” 

 

Ali turned off the shower and toweled herself off. She took a moment to check herself out in the bathroom mirror before wrapping a towel around her body, and another around her long brown hair. She walked into the bedroom and flipped on the light switch. “Ugh,” She groaned. Even the ceiling had a little mist on it today. She had always been a powerful sneezer, but getting mist onto the ceiling was pretty impressive, even by her standards. She decided to open up the window to air out the room, hoping that it would dry off the mist a little more quickly. 

 

Just then, Ali felt her nostrils start to itch deeply. It was as if they were instantly tickled by 100 feathers. She crinkled her face to try to subdue the tickle, but it was coming on strong. She started to gasp a few hitching breaths. “Huuhhhh. . . Haaaahhhhhh. . . Whaaaahht the hell is goin . . . .AAAHHHHHHH . . .” Her nostrils flaired as her towel covered body began to bend backward with the intake of air. The fierce tickle grew. Ali thought to herself “why is this happening,” as she tried to fight it. She put a finger under her nose, but the tickle continued to grow. Her cheek muscles tightened. She turned her head to the side as her jaw began to go slack. “HhHeAAaaaHHHHHH . . .” she gasped. She tried to keep her eyes open to find what was causing the tickle, but it was impossible. They thinned to slits as her breath hitched uncontrollably. Her body filled with air. Her nose was on fire. She knew she couldn’t hold out any longer. She was going to have to give in. “HEhhAAAAAAAAAAAAA . . .” 

 

“HeeeaaaaAAAAAAASSSHHHCCCCOOOooo” the sneeze ripped from her body with a giant gust of air and spray. She brought her hands up to her face just as the second sneeze fired forward.  “EEEAAAASSSHHHEEEEWWWWWW.” she felt the spray soak her fingers as her hands feebly attempted to cover what was escaping from her nostrils and mouth. 

 

The tickle didn’t subside. It kept tingling on the insides of her nostrils. “What the hell is happening,” Ali thought as she futilely tried to fight back the next impending blast. Her body hitched as her nostrils, red rimmed and shimmering flared even larger. “Haaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. . .” she gasped, anxiously trying to determine what was doing this to her body. She swung her head from one side of the room to the other, trying to figure out what was going on, but her mind was foggy and her eyes kept clenching shut as she hitched and tried to fight back the explosion. “Heehhhhhhh . . Oh . . please . . .” she said to no one in particular in a gasp that dripped with desperation. “HhhhaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHH . . . “ 

 

Her eyes opened for a second as her cat, Tibbs, perched on her desk chair. She couldn’t hold back any longer. 

 

“HhhhhhEeeeAAAHHHHHHCCCHHHEEWWWWW” she exploded. She could feel the spray shoot through her fingers and heard a “meow” as the cat took off into the other room. Her nose was dripping. She went to her nightstand to grab a tissue. 

 

“HHHIIIIISSSSSSShhhhhhhhhh.” The tissue was useless. She sprayed directly through it. 

 

With the exception of yesterday, Ali had never had a sneezing fit like this before. She clamped her nostrils shut with her fingers to give her a bit more time before the next blast, and anxiously searched the room for a clue as to what was going on. 

 

That’s when Ali looked over at the open window and immediately knew what was happening. As the itch began to build again, deep in her nose, her mind flashed back to that word. The one the woman whispered at the end of her dream last night. 

 

She raced over to the window, and reached up to shut it. Unfortunately, the moment she removed her fingers from her nose to grab the window, the tickle returned full force. “HHEeeeeeaaaaaaaaaAAHHHHH . . . “ her head reared back and her eyes clenched shut as she desperately flailed her arms, groping for the window. Trying to pull it shut. Her jaw fell slack. Her nostrils were giant, deep caverns of torturing, tickly air. Her hands connected with the window, just as she felt her body completely give in. The window slammed shut as a giant, ecstasy-inducing release fired forth from Ali. “HaaKkkkkkkkiiiiiSSSSSHHHHHEEEWWWWW!!!!” Her whole upper body pitched forward with the strength of that sneeze. 

 

Exhausted, Ali opened her eyes. She saw that the window pane in front of her was blurry after having been soaked with the spray from that last, giant sneeze. But even through the blur of the sneezy haze, she could see the grassy meadow that was right outside her bedroom window. Even though that grass had never made her sneeze before, she knew immediately that grass was the cause of her intense reaction. She knew, because she remembered that soft whispering voice from her dream. She shivered as she replayed in her mind that final word it whispered before she sneezed herself awake. 

 

“Grass,” it had said. 

 

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Ok. Perhaps a bit strange, but I hope you enjoyed it.

If you liked it, let me know, and I’ll continue it. I think I have an idea for a next chapter.

Like always for me, if you have ideas for where to take the story, I’d love to hear them. It is more fun for me to write when I know what people would like to see happen.

Ok. . . That’s all for now.

Sweet Dreams!!!!

 

[47Bears]

This one was really creative and the sneezes were very well executed with both the build up and release. Great job

[Lefty]

I’ve enjoyed all of your stories so far and this is another great idea. Looking forward to seeing where you take it. 

As for ideas, I’m sure it’ll be great whatever you do, but I thought each night could be a different word? And my mind wondered whether it was some kind of spell or curse and whether there’d be other people under it. 

Lefty 

[sn12345678987654321]

Hi all. 

Thanks for the comments. It’s great hearing what people think.

Here’s part 2. Enjoy!

 

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Ali had never had allergies. So she had no way of knowing if allergies were what she was experiencing. She had a cat, a beautiful garden with all kinds of flowers, down pillows, etc..... but she never had a problem with any of those things. Nothing had ever irritated her nose like this before. So what was happening to her now? She searched her mind. It didn’t make any sense. 

 

She replayed the dream in her head. 

 

In the dream, she was in that room with that strange mirror. When she walked over to look at the mirror, she immediately knew something was wrong. She didn’t see her reflection in the mirror at all. In fact, she didn’t see anything in it. It was just blackness. 

 

That’s when she heard a whisper. “Welcome” it had said. She whipped around and saw that standing in the corner of the room was a woman with long flowing blonde hair, a blue dress, and a grey scarf. The woman looked almost angelic. She was beautiful. She had soft features, slender arms and legs, and deep blue eyes. Everything about her was stunning. But for some reason Ali couldn’t quite explain, there was also something eerie about her. Ali let out a little gasp and stumbled backward. The woman continued to whisper, “Soon it will be your turn.” 

 

“Who are you?” Ali asked. “What do you mean ‘my turn?’ My turn at what?”

 

The woman seemed to glide, rather than walk, toward Ali. “My days will soon be done. Soon, you will decide.” She whispered. 

 

“Decide what?” Ali said. 

 

That’s when the woman said the poem. Or the riddle. It wasn’t entirely clear what it was. She said:

 

“Learn what’s true

Obscure the view

Then, my friend

You’ll be the new”

 

Ali was entirely unclear what that meant. But the woman didn’t seem interested in explaining further. She just stared at Ali. It seemed like she was waiting for Ali to do something, but Ali had no idea what that “something” was. 

 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the woman scowled and said . . .”I guess it won’t be tonight.” Then, she walked up to the mirror, standing only 18 inches away from it. Ali could see that there was still no reflection. 

 

Then, it looked like the woman started saying something into the mirror. Ali tentatively stepped closer to see if she could identify any of the words. It looked like some sort of incantation. The woman’s body was rhythmically expanding and contracting, as she moved her mouth and face. It seemed like a chant, but Ali couldn’t hear any words. 

 

That’s when Ali saw the woman’s nostrils twitch. She realized the woman was not chanting. She was preparing to sneeze. 

 

Ali watched as the woman stood in front of the mirror, nostrils twitching, breath rhythmically contracting and expanding. She saw the woman’s head slowly tilt back, as her nostrils flared and her eyelids fluttered. Her jaw began to open as her body tilted back. The woman somehow gave the illusion of simultaneously being fully in control, and dangerously out of control. Ali thought about how she had enjoyed that very same feeling every time she purposefully had made herself sneeze. The woman’s face was a beautiful picture of desperation and willpower. It looked as if she was holding back in an effort to make the sneeze grow larger. But it also looked as if she was about to fail at holding back for much longer. The woman took another huge gasp, and  finally. . . It happened.

 

“KKerCCCCHHHHHHHHHIIIiiiiisssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhew. . . . Whew” 

 

Her sneeze was bigger than Ali’s normally was. The 18 inches between the woman’s face and the mirror, became filled with droplets that escaped from the woman’s mouth and nose. As she sneezed, the woman moved her head from up to down, so that the spray covered the entire mirror. 

 

When she was done, she let out a huge sigh of relief. Ali knew how good it felt to release like that. Ali saw that there was a small glistening strand that had shot out of the woman’s left nostril and was attached to the mirror. The woman didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy grabbing her grey scarf in her hand. She began to wipe the spray soaked mirror with it. 

 

As the woman wiped away the spray, Ali saw that the mirror began to reveal something. With each wipe of the woman’s scarf, the blackness of the mirror seemed to be slowly wiped away, revealing the scene of a room. As Ali looked closer, she noticed that the room in the mirror looked a lot like her bedroom. 

 

Wipe . . . Wipe . . .Wipe . . . It WAS her bedroom. It was as if they were looking in on her room from the mirror that hung above her dresser. 

 

Wipe. . . Wipe. . . Wipe . . . Ali froze. With the final wipes of the mirror, Ali could see herself in the mirror. She saw herself asleep in her bed, in her bedroom.

 

Ali was just about to summon the courage to ask the woman what exactly she was doing, when the woman turned to look at Ali with those deep blue eyes. Before Ali had a chance to say anything, the woman whispered a single word. . . 

 

“Grass . . .”

 

Just then, the whole world started spinning and swirling. The woman and the room began to stretch and bend and swirl. In the next moment, Ali felt like she was falling. Falling through a swirling darkness. As she fell, she noticed her nose was tickling fiercely. “When did that start happening,” she wondered. But she didn’t have too much time to wonder. A moment later . . . 

 

“KKerCCCCHHHHHHHHHIIIiiiiisssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhew.” 

 

She woke up in her bed to a huge spraying sneeze that hit her ceiling. One that sounded very much like the one the woman with the grey scarf had directed at the mirror in her dream just moments earlier. 

 

Now, Ali was sitting in front of a spray soaked window, looking out at a field of “grass” that had sent her into a wild sneezing fit. It was just like what had happened yesterday. But yesterday the woman had said, “perfume.” She didn’t even want to think about the mess she had made at the department store yesterday. She certainly would not be allowed to go back there again. 

 

“What is happening to me?” Ali wondered. 

 

But she didn’t have time to think about it for too long. She heard her doorbell ring. “Crap,” she thought, definitely NOT wanting to risk opening the door and having a repeat of the last 10 minutes. “How the hell am I going to avoid grass all day?”

 

 

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“Hi Karen,” Ali said through the door. “Ummmm . . . I’m . . . Uhhhhhhh . . . I’m not quite ready yet.” That was an understatement. Ali was still in her towel from the shower. Between the sneezing and the worrying, she had lost track of time. Karen had already arrived to pick her up for the rehearsal. 

 

Karen was one of Ali’s best friends. Last month was the first time they had ever been cast in a show together. Since they lived so close, Karen often picked Ali up and they headed over to the theater together for rehearsal. 

 

“Again?!?!?” Karen complained through the door. “How long do you need? If we don’t leave in 15 minutes or so, we’ll be late!” 

 

“I’ll be ready. . . I will. . . I promise.  I’m so sorry.” Ali said with a mix of regret for holding her friend back, and concern for what would happen if she went outside into the world today. 

 

“Damn it, Ali. . . Fine. . . Let me in, and I’ll wait for you.” Karen said. 

 

“Uhhhhhh . . . “ Ali stalled. She wasn’t sure she wanted to let Karen in. Karen was her best friend,  but she wasn’t ready to tell anyone about what was happening to her yet. Karen often liked to wait for Ali in her bedroom so they could chat or go over lines while Ali finished getting ready. She certainly didn’t want Karen to see the state of that room. “Ok. . . But please come in quickly, ok?”

 

Ali unlocked the door, and took a deep breath. She hoped that by holding her breath when Karen came in, she would avoid her newfound grass allergy while the door was open. She tentatively opened the door, and Karen came in. Then she slammed it shut. 

 

But it didn’t seem like it had worked. Even in the brief moment the door was open, Ali felt her nose start to burn. “Sniffff. .  .” She sniffled to try to quell back the itch, but that seemed to be a mistake. “Heeehhhhhhh .  . .” Ali started to gasp a little bit, but she was trying to do it quietly, so Karen wouldn’t notice. 

 

“Oh, come on Ali. . . You’re still in your towel. We are supposed to be there in 45 minutes. What the hell!”

 

But Ali was having trouble concentrating. She was focusing all her energy on holding back her sneeze. “Iiiiiii . . . huhhh . . . I’m . . . soorrAAAAHHHHHHH. . .” she stammered. Trying to get an apology out through hitching breaths. “I’m . . .reallHHHHAAAAhhhhhhh.”

 

“What the hell is wrong with you, Ali?” Karen asked, looking at her friend. “You look . . . weird.”

 

Ali’s beautiful green eyes had an unfocused gaze, as she looked at Karen. She was trying to play it cool, but her nostrils were twitching, as she fought back the sneeze. And her mouth hung half open. But this was not as powerful an itch as before. Thank goodness the door had only been open for a moment. “I . . .I . . .fine . . .hhheeeeeAaaa. . .” She stammered to her friend. 

 

“You are definitely not fine,” her friend said. “It looks like you are going to . . . sneeze.”

 

The itch was fierce now, it had blossomed and spread deep in her nostrils, which had also spread. They were already red from the earlier episode, but now they were the size of dimes as Ali gasped, trying to find relief. She brought her hand up to her nose. And waved it frantically. “You. . . AaaaAAHHHHH . . .riGHHHHHHHAA . . . HAGGGAAHH . . . . “

 

“Well, just go ahead and do it already . . .why are you fighting it? Are you embarrassed? I’ve seen you sneeze before.” 

 

With those words from her friend, Ali decided to stop fighting. She reared her head back, took a few desperate gasps, turned 90 degrees so that she didn’t spray her friend, and gave in. “HHEAAARRRRCCHOOOoooooooo . . .” She sneezed a desperate sounding sneeze into the crook of her arm. That was her habit because she thought it was the most hygienic and polite way to sneeze. However, with no shirt on, she felt the spray against her arm, and was certain that it didn’t contain the sneeze. But she wasn’t done. “Haaaaa . . . HeAaaHHHHHssssshhhhhhhhhheeeww.” Another spraying blast escaped her nose, this time wetter, and a little bigger than the last. Her body heaved as it lost control. Struggling against the itch. 

 

“Feel better?” Karen asked with concern, as she looked over her friends petit, heaving frame. 

 

“Oh . . .I’m . . .not . . .quite . . .HhhhhhHHHHHHAAAA . . .” Ali’s nose twitched fiercely. She felt like she was right on the cusp of another sneeze, but it just wasn’t coming. “I’m . . .hhhhhaahhhh . . . yes . . . I feAAHHHHHHHHH . . . feel . . . a bit bettAAAHHHHHH . . . DAMN . . .i have one moAaahhhh . . . more . . .but . . .”

 

Karen was stunned at her friends display. Ali looked lovely in her towel, looking so helpless. Karen wanted to go over and help her. To take care of her. but she didn’t want to make it weird. She thought going over and hugging her sneezy, towel-clad friend might give away a secret she had been holding on to for a long time. Instead she decided to grab her friend a tissue from the bathroom, and bring it over to her. 

 

“HaaaahhhHHhHh . . . “ Ali stood there, sort of confused and uncomfortable. Teetering on the verge of a huge sneeze. Wanting desperately to get some relief. But also not wanting to continue making a scene. But the tickle was subsiding. “Okay . . . I think that’s it,” she said to herself as her friend walked in the direction of the bathroom. “Whew . . .” The tickle had faded to a light itch. Ali put her arms down to her sides and let out an little sigh of exhaustion. “SNnnnnnnnFfffff,” She wetly sniffed. 

 

Karen returned moments later, and walked over to hand the tissue to Ali. As she approached, Ali reached out to her to take the tissue. “Thank you” She started to say, but then the world went still for a moment and Ali noticed 3 things all at once. #1 was the low rumbling sound of a lawnmower outside her door. #2 was the small little green specks all over her friend’s t shirt. Damn . . . Cut grass clippings. And of course #3 was the immediate, and fierce reemergence of the tickle in her nose. 

 

As their hands both reached out for the tissue, Ali knew there was nothing she could do to prevent what was about to happen. The slight look of shock on her face was immediately overtaken by a giant intake of air as her body reared back. 

 

Karen saw it too. Moments before it was about to happen. As Karen reached out to give her friend the tissue, she saw Ali’s eyes go wide for a second, before her head tilted back and she took in a deep gasp of air. Karen could see up Ali’s glistening, flared nostrils as her eyes clenched shut. Then . . . 

 

“HHHHHEEEAAAARRRRRTTTCCCHHHHHEEEEEEEEEwwwwwwww”

 

Ali fired forth with an enormous sneeze. Karen saw the spray as it emerged from her best friends nostrils and mouth. It appeared to happen in slow motion as it exited her friend in a small condensed blast, and spread out into a cloud as it moved across the divide between the two women. Karen first felt the spray on her outstretched arm. Followed in quick succession by her body and face. In all of her years of having an “interest” in sneezes, she had never seen a sneeze in quite this way. 

 

Karen looked at her friend, and saw an odd expression. It was part embarrassment, part fear, and part desperate need to sneeze again. She saw her friend turn on her heels, and run in the other direction, sneezing all along the way.

 

“HhHHHHIIIIISSSSSHHHEoooo” up the stairs. 

 

“HhhHHHHHHAAARRREESSHHOOOooo” down the hall. 

 

“KeeerrrrccHHhHHOOOO.” into her room. 

 

The door slammed shut, and Karen heard a few more muffled sneezes from inside the sealed off room.

 

Ali sat in her room, not knowing what to do. This dream. This mystery allergy. It was messing with her life. She had just soaked her best friend with one of her biggest sneezes yet. She couldn’t leave the house for fear of her grass allergy. She was going to have to miss work, and might get fired from the show. She didn’t know what to do. 

 

But then she remembered the dream. There was some sort of poem, or something that the woman in the dream had mentioned. Something about her deciding. Something about her being “the new.”

 

She wasn’t sure what any of it meant, but she knew that if she could get back there, she might have a chance of figuring it out. So Ali made a decision. 

 

She shouted through her door “I’m so sorry Karen. As you can see, I’m really not feeling well. Can you tell the director I need to stay home today? Please just go on without me.”

 

Through the door, Ali heard Karen reply. “Are you sure you’re ok?” Ali thought how nice it was of Karen not to mention what had just happened. 

 

“Fine. Thanks. . . Go on without me. Have a good day. I’ll let you know how I’m feeling later.”

 

“Ok.” Ali heard Karen say. Then she heard the downstairs door open and close. Then silence. 

 

Ali let out a sigh. She was alone again in a grass protected house. She should be ok for now. But she knew what she was going to have to do. If she was going to make this right, she had to go back to that room. 

 

She had to find a way to fall back asleep. 

 

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Hope you liked it. If you are enjoying the story, and have any favorite allergens or situations that you’d like to see me try to work in, just let me know. I like stories to have some participation, so let me know your favorite irritant. 

And as always, I’d love to hear what you think. Thanks for reading. 

[Klingon]

I hope you'll continue this it's really good so far. please use ragweed in the next installment if it's not too much trouble thanks.

[randomguy]

Okay, okay, this is seriously the funniest thing! I randomly found this story a couple of days ago and got hooked almost right away without looking noticing that you were the author. Legitimately, as I was reading it, I started started thinking about how much it read like "20 Sneezy Questions," and I got so excited because that's one of my favorite stories on the forum. I was so shocked when I checked for an update today and realized that this one was by you too! What are the odds?! Anyway, I'm super excited about where this story is headed, and I can't wait to read the next part. Welcome back!

[Jack]

Honestly, I really adore the few stories you have posted here. Please feel free to continue this... and also to post anything else that comes to your mind. You are good  !

 

On 16/12/2017 at 5:59 PM, sn12345678987654321 said:

Ali thought about how she had enjoyed that very same feeling every time she purposefully had made herself sneeze

I find really erotic the fact that Ali enjoyed her own sneezes to the point of inducing herself. Would like to see more of this !

And also like the "interest" of her friend Karen. Would like to see this evolving too