“You’ve forgotten where dreams come from,” said the voice from the open closet. Reggie sat frozen in bed. Unable to move. When the shadow moved towards him he screamed. He screamed like a banshee being born back into the world.

It’s too bad Reggie lived in a home where it didn’t matter. No one came running. Only the slow, plodding steps. Only the creaking wood under heavy weight and the thunder of his heartbeat.

“I have a very important job for you, Reginald.”

***

Twenty-five years old and making ends meet as a postman, Reggie Klein hadn’t dreamed in seven years. He made sure of that.

Rhythmic bass bumped in his ears as he walked down the street. His fingers tapping away on the bundle of parcels in his hand. Reggie didn’t let his mind wander like his feet did. He’d already learned where that could take you.

Step, electric slide, deliver, step, skip deliver, a varying beat played out through the day. Each movement dictated by the changing tunes in his ears.

Reggie smiled at anyone who sat on their porches enjoying the start to their days. The dogs rarely barked at him and cats always sprawled in his path for a pet.

His mood stayed as high as the sun— until night fell with it. Reggie followed a consistent routine as he returned home. He’d triple lock the front door, closet, and his own bedroom. A dab rig sat on his table like an alien artifact, not fitting with the mess of grimoires and encyclopedic texts more often found in abbey cellars than millennial bedrooms.

Before the sun fully set, Reggie would torch the wax in his rig and catapult into a dreamless state. He’d consulted intuitives, psychics, witches, palm readers, and all manner of lay people who flirted with the what lay beyond. Reggie thought of them as deep sea divers or astronauts into the ether.

Either way, he found little in the way of answers. He’d experimented with most vices attempting to blot out the rush of fear. His dab rig was the only thing that had held it back.

Whatever knocked at the door— the orange, yellowish wax made sure Reggie couldn’t answer.