~As you begin to fall asleep one night, you find yourself in a mysterious place. It seems like a forest. There are trees plotted along the side of a grassy path with their leaves and branches growing overhead, blocking out some of the sun’s light. You can even hear the calls of a mockingbird way out in the distant. You realize you’re dreaming, but it feels so real. It feels as if, you’ve been here before, despite it seeming like a foreign place. You take a sigh of breath as you look around, feeling very tranquil.
Suddenly, it starts to rain. You seek refuge under one of the trees to keep dry. But you sense something odd. Something is wrong. It starts getting darker around you. Scary shadows begin to take form in the distant, eyeing you with threatening faces. Frightened, you retreat frantically, running down the grassy path. You start to hear the whispers of demonic voices echoing inside of your mind, as more of those dark figures begin appearing in front of you. ‘’Ugh! G-get out of my head!’’ you exclaim, clasping onto the sides of your skull. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind barrels through, ripping up all of the trees from their roots, carrying them into the sky. The once peaceful forest is now gone, replaced with an open plane, riddled with dead stalks. The gentle rain turns into a strong storm, water pouring down heavily from the sky, lightning striking the ground, thunder booming so loudly that it’s almost deafening. This dream is now a nightmare. Deeply bewildered by all that is happening, you fight your way through the blinding rain. Howling winds blow harder and harder straight into your direction, making it very difficult to stand up. No longer having the strength to carry on, you drop down on both of your knees, burying your face into your hands. ‘’I want to wake up!’’ you scream, on the verge of tears. Suddenly, you begin to hear a familiar voice inside of your mind. ‘’Mommy...’’, it calls out to you. It’s the voice of your young deceased daughter. ‘’S-sarah? Is that you?’’ you respond ‘’Please come back to me. Why did you have to die… p-please… just please come back.’’ Suddenly, a bolt of lightning strikes right through you, killing you instantly. Now knocked unconscious, the nightmare slowly ends.
You finally wake up, eyes open wide, gasping for air. You look around your room then look outside of the window beside your bed. A rain storm had begun while you were asleep. Leaning your head against gazing the window staring outside, tears roll down your face as your heart breaks into pieces.
‘’I miss you…’’
These spare compositions from Icelandic pianist Gabríel Ólafs are as gentle as snowfall, as soothing as a winter sunset. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 27, 2020
