Singularities: Dorian Alexander

Disclaimer:  Any names or proper nouns are the work of fiction in this book.  Any name that is similar to someone in real life is a coincidence.

Chapter  1

What is there to say about Dorian Alexander?  Not that much if you ask anyone else.  He is the child of a loving family.  He didn't really stick out that much in school.  He didn't get good grades, but he didn't get that bad of grades either.  Some of the brutes of the school would push him around from time to time, but he kept his head low, and usually, they left him alone.  He went to church every Sunday with his parents.  Although he wasn't the most religious person in the world, he didn't fight going because his parents appreciated it so much.  It was a normal life in which he lived.  However, that was soon to change.

Dorian started to have these nightmares.  He would be swimming in the middle of an ocean, unable to breathe.  Then when it seemed like he would drown, he found himself in a hot desert.  Eventually, with time the unbearable sun started to overheat him with its scorching rays.  Some dreams it would be total darkness, and he would be unable to move.  This continued for a while. It seemed like he was unable to really do anything about it.  For weeks he seemed to be unable to have a decent night sleep.  Every night it seemed to almost drain him even though he got the sleep he needed.

Mr. Alexander.  A voice called to him in the darkness.  Mr. Alexander... Mr. Alexander!  He woke up in the classroom.  His sleep deprivation had caused him to fall asleep in class.  He didn't seem to have the nightmares or rather didn't get to.  He could hear the various smirks and chuckles of the other children in the classroom.  If you are going to sleep, go outside.  The teacher said this to him, which of course, made sense because a child bothering no one but not learning needed to create more of a scene and learn less, he reasoned.  He didn't fight the teacher and got up from his seat.

The hallway was empty, he perceived.  He would have to wait.  The teacher would teach the class like normal while he stood outside then berate him.  This is about the 3rd time that this had happened.  The lack of sleep was concerning.  It is strange to him that teachers proclaim to do this for the children when the teacher would obviously proclaim some type of punishment.  After all, he was infringing on the teacher's easy paycheck.  Dorian didn't have that much respect for teachers least of all this Mr. Ferguson, or was it mister Anderson?  Either way, some forgettable teacher that could do what they wanted in life so they hoped for an easy paycheck and maybe to influence a child that would do great things to give them some credit in the future. 

He wasn't a favorite of the teacher either.  Students that are liked by the teachers are usually the best and the brightest who don't even need the teacher in the first place.  Kind of strange when you think of how useless the whole situation is really.  Then Dorian thought that this was a strange thought to have as well.  Before, he would just do as he was told more often than not.  He didn't have this rebellious attitude toward teachers, but lately, things seemed to be changing.  Apparently, not getting that much sleep over 3 weeks will do that to you.

Still, it could be worse.  He could be out in the job market and could have the potential to lose his job over this.  Although Dorian thought that he should get a job.  I mean, he was 18, and this was high school.  Many of his peers had jobs while they went to school to get extra money.  Dorian didn't even really think about college either or what else lay ahead of him.  He thought for a while, and nothing really came to mind on what he should. 

The class seemed to be taking a while.  He looked through the window in the door of the classroom to get a view of the clock on the wall.  1 minute had passed.  Dorian thought that he was waiting here for about 1 hour.  Strange, he thought how much slower time passes by when one is waiting for something and doing nothing.

Still, Dorian thought about it, and he thought that he needed to get his affairs in order sort of speak.  He would have to talk to the people in the local community college to see what they charge for classes.  He didn't have the best of grades.  In fact, his grades were a mix of Bs and Cs.  Although with Mr. Alexson, he would probably not do too well.  Teachers tended to be vindictive people.  He couldn't prove it, but he even thought that they would give kids grades according to what they thought the kid deserved rather than actually grading their test or homework.  It was simple logic.  Mr.  Gravenson would assign way to much homework every day to actually grade and would seem to have it finished by the next day.  Either he didn't do anything in his life other than grade papers, or he didn't really try.

Not that it seemed to matter all that much.  Dorian couldn't prove it just yet, but he figured that the grades in class actually didn't matter all that much.  You just need to say that you pass.  It was something that he had heard was that jobs cared that you got the degree but cared more about past work experience, to begin with.  If you were a good liar, you could pass off for some experience where none was to be had.  Of course, this wasn't Dorian's style.  He didn't like lying if he could help it, though, and others always seemed to be able to tell when he was.

Strangely enough, the class wasn't over yet.  Dorian felt like it had been about 4 hours of waiting.  The class was about 30 minutes from being done.  He wondered what was the hold-up.  Dorian looked again through the glass in the door to the classroom, but just then, the bell rang.  Almost immediately, he could see the students shoot out of their seats eager to leave the class.  Almost no one wanted to be here, not even the teachers though they claim otherwise.

The students filed out of the classroom as quickly as they could as they wanted to escape this place as much as the students around them or so Dorian thought.  Then an angry-looking Mr.  Tragedededson(?)  looked over at him waiting and called him back inside.  Mr. Dorian Alexander, we need to talk about your sleeping in class.

Yeah, Mr. M I just haven't been sleeping that well lately.  I have been having these nightmares, and when I wake up, it feels like I didn't even really sleep at all.

The teacher looked at him.  The name is Mr. Vernson, how many times much I tell you.  You should remember someone's name or at least do a better job of hiding that you don't know it.

Yeah, sorry about that.  Names are hard, you know.  You try to remember the name of everyone that you meet.  It is really difficult Mr... Vawson?

A look of anger came across Mr Vernson's face.  "Look you can't just sleep in my class; otherwise, I will have to force you out again.  Did you even do the homework?

A yeah, let me just look in my bookbag and hand it to you.

The homework is on the board.  Remember, my name is Mr. Vernson and try to get some sleep; you are a mess.  I have to say that children like you are usually failures in life.

You are right Mr. Vaugn. If I don't shape up, maybe I will have to become a teacher.

Mr. Vernson just took his hand and caressed the bridge of his nose in a pinch.  I swear you are doing it on purpose.  Just get your homework and get out of here.  But be careful some kids have been disappearing lately.

The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful at high school.  Apparently, he was just sleepy in the morning, but later on, he was able to keep from sleeping or succumbing to drowsiness.  He was called out a couple of times, though, because he just had something of a sleepy look about him, which caused teachers to call on him.

Dorian had to walk home, though, as his parents used both of the cars, they had to go to work.  It was only about a 30-minute walk back to his house, and that was walking rather slow.  He had his head low because he wanted to just go home and get to sleep.

Here's for sleep walking!  Dorian heard the name of Roger Manson from behind him, but before he could turn around, he was shoved to the ground.  Dorian was a little bit scraped and turn around to retaliate.

However, when Dorian turned around, no one was there.  Dorian still had a little bit of energy from the partial adrenaline rush that being attacked will do to you.  Dorian looked around for about 5 minutes but didn't see anyone.  Perplexed, Dorian decided to just get up and keep walking home.

Dorian heard that if you don't get enough sleep, you can go crazy, and Dorian wondered how much he slept in the past 3 weeks.  Now he was imagining assaults.  Dorian decided that even if it took the whole day, he would try to just sleep the entire day.  Maybe he would actually get some sleep if he focused completely on it?

When Dorian got home, his parents weren't there.  His sister was still at her middle school as well.  The house was a 3 bedroom house with his parents sharing the biggest bedroom and his sister and him, each having a room.  He and his sister shared a bathroom while his parents had their own.  It was a one-story house in the suburbs of his city of Dalton, Texas.

Dorian got to his room finally.  It still had the wallpaper from when he was a little kid.  It was a wallpaper of an ocean with boats on it.  Dorian used to try to go to sleep by counting the number of repeating boats.  But that was when he was really young and had a night light.  It didn't really work anymore.  His bed was just a normal twin-sized bed to save space in his room.  Which came to meet him as Dorian just collapsed into his bed even while still wearing his shoes.

Dorian tossed and turn, but within an hour, he drifted to sleep.  In his dreams, they quickly became nightmares.  Dorian found himself in a cave.  It was dark, but there was a shaft of light that came through.  A gap between rocks that blocked the exit of the cave.  Dorian looked around as he was standing and saw that there was really no other way out.  It was just a shallow cave that seemed blocked by rubble.

This was a strange dream, but it felt so real.  So Dorian started to clear the rubble to try and make it past the rocks.  That is what Dorian did for the next several hours in his dream.  He would pick up a rock about half the size of his torso and try his best to pick it up and move it.  Some of the rocks were too big to pick up and move.

It wasn't until that much later that Dorian became exhausted.  There was only so much room in the cave, and it was starting to get filled with rocks as Dorian pushed them deeper out of the cave to try to dig his way out.  Dorian collapsed on the floor of the cave when he saw that a large boulder bigger than anything he could attempt to move blocked passage.  This was the end he would be unable to move it.

The light was getting dimmer as if it was becoming night where he was, and the temperature of the cave began to drop.  The air was a bit dusty, and it was getting harder to breathe.  Dorian was nearly unable to move, and his body hurt.  So he started to think about what brought him here.

Dorian thought of his family, which loved him very much, and he missed them.  This was a dream, or so Dorian thought, but for some reason, he was sure that he would die here.  He recently had an argument with his father, but he wasn't sure what it was.  Maybe it was the grades, but it didn't matter right now.  This was a strange dream as everything felt so real.  He was here for so long. It really felt like it was 8 or 10 hours.

His mother would probably be angry that he left his shoes on while he slept this time and dirtied the bed a little bit too much.  She worked a job as a secretary to some law firm, but he didn't know much else other than that because he forgot the name of the law firm every time that he tried to remember it.  She would often try to take time off to spend more with the kids.  Dorian knew that she would spend all of her time at home if the family could manage it, but his father didn't make enough for them to have a single income.

His sister and him didn't talk all that much.  She would just rush home and go to her room.  Every once in a while, Dorian could hear her laugh, probably talking to friends online or something.  She was in middle school right now, and he was in high school.

High school... That is right. What will he do about high school?  He is probably going to fail the classes because Mr. Albertson probably hates him because he can't remember his name or something.  Also, Ms. Benton and Ms. Gunter didn't seem to like him either.  If one teacher hates you, they all do so there isn't much of a point.  Dorian thought that he should have put some more effort into his classes.  Though he couldn't come up with a reason why.  It was obvious from what people have said that you need high school grades for college, which you need for a job.

Dorian didn't really take that much interest in many of his classes.  People often talk about finding a passion, but what if you don't really have a passion of some kind.  What do you do then?  What do you do if even video games get boring for you eventually?  Dorian would still need to do his homework from various classes, but he was stuck in this damn cave.

Dorian's eyes got heavy, and he drifted to sleep though he was already asleep.  Was he in a coma, he thought?  Dorian awoke, and there was light pouring through the cave in a stream blocked by a large boulder that he couldn't move.

Dorian could barely get up as he was sore all over his body.  This was a strangely realistic dream.  Dorian felt hunger, which was strange for a dream too.  So Dorian would have to try to move the boulder and maybe wake up from his coma or so he thought this was.

Was he going to die?  Dorian had these thoughts as he tried over and over again to push the boulder, but it wouldn't move.  Eventually, Dorian collapsed in exhaustion on the ground after about 1 hour.  The only silver lining was that he actually got a good night's rest in the cave.  Though he woke up cold.

There was nothing that Dorian could do.  There was nothing that he could do.  He just lay down and brought up his two fingers and placed them so that from afar, it looked like he was crushing the boulder.  He made his best attempt to try to crush the boulder with his hands or mind or whatever.  However, nothing happened.  Of course, nothing happened, but Dorian couldn't really move.

It took a lot of his strength, but Dorian got back up again and tried to move the boulder again.  He thought he saw it move a little bit, but that just made him waste all of his energy at once to try to move the boulder.  After about 2 hours, Dorian collapsed again.  This was exhausting to Dorian.  Dorian actually laid there for a while.  Eventually, his eyes grew heavy, and he drifted off to sleep once more.

Dorian woke up again in the cave and was very cold as it was nearly pitch black.  Dorian thought this was strange as he felt like he was actually getting sleep.  Dorian began to wonder if this wasn't really a dream at all, and maybe somehow he was just stuck inside a cave.  In his other dreams, they ended after about a couple of hours with Dorian not having sleep.  Why was this so different?

Dorian felt so thirsty, and yet he had to go to the bathroom.  He might have been here for about 2 days, so obviously, he would have to relieve himself right.  It was just piss, but he thought that he should try to do it as far in the corner as he could.  After all, he didn't want to smell it before he died, but he knew that he would.

Dorian just waited there in the darkness after making the occasional attempt to try to move the boulder.  Honestly, he started to think that he stood a better chance if he tried to crush it with his mind once more.  Maybe Dorian would magically gain some kind of superpower or something to push it.  Dorian tried praying, but he was still here.  Dorian waited until some kind of light came through the gaps in the boulder.

Dorian tried to crush it between his fingers once again, straining his mind as hard as he could.  However, nothing happened, which Dorian pretty much expected.  So Dorian closed his eyes.  He tried to envision the boulder and every atom in it.  Just the bulk of it in his mind, and he tried his best to force it away.

To Dorian's astonishment, he felt a rush of fresh air.  Dorian opened his eyes to see the boulder gone.  In wild jubilation, Dorian started to just move around but kind of pulled something in his shoulder.  Dorian walked to the outside of the cave, but the light was overwhelming.

When his eyes adjusted Dorian found that he was looking at the ceiling of his room.  This perplexed him.  What the hell just happened?  Dorian felt like he was saying.  It was a dream, wasn't it?

The clock in his room had about the same time as when he got home, but he was in a different position than before.  However, he still felt incredibly hungry but not tired anymore.  This was the weirdest short but long dream that Dorian had ever experienced, and he didn't know what it meant.

––––––––

Chapter 2

Dorian heard a knock on the door.  Just a gentle tapping.  He pushed himself to get up from the bed to look at who was there.  It was his mother, Cassandra Alexander.  She stood at about 5'5".  She had blond hair and green eyes.  Her hair was cut so that it stopped at her shoulders.  She was wearing a white blouse with a grey skirt.

I just got back from work, and I wanted to say that I missed you.  Did you miss me?  Have you eaten?  Cassandra said.

Hi mom.  What time is it?  Dorian replied.  Dorian looked to his left and saw that his clock read that it was 6 o clock pm.  Dorian looked back at his mother, I think I was sleeping for about 2 hours from when I got back from school.

You shouldn't fall asleep with your shoes still on.  You should take them off at the door to the house so that it doesn't get dirty.  I hear that is something that asian people do that sounds really smart.  Cassandra said.

Dorian didn't say anything.  He didn't want to take the additional effort to remove his shoes when the floor would get dirty anyway, but he just didn't want to say anything to his mom.  Did you just get back home?

I just got back home.  Your sister Lori has already come back home and is in her room.  I would ask her how her day was, but she locks the door like always.

Did you try knocking?

Of course I did, but she just ignores it, and I can hear her laughing like she is talking to someone online, but I don't know who.

Well, I'm actually very, very hungry, so I'm going to go to the kitchen to find something to eat.

Go take a shower, you smell terrible.  How do you smell so bad when it has only been about 2 hours?

Dorian smelled himself, and she was right that he smelled terrible.  He must have sweat like crazy or something during that dream.  Still, he was more hungry than he wanted to take a shower, so obviously that would be first.  Dorian went to try to pass his mom so that he could eat something.  Excuse me.

Oh, I will make you something.  It will be just like how it was when you and Lori were children.  Oh, you were so cute back then.  How about an omelet?

I'll eat anything if you are cooking.

"Well, that is just fantastic.  I would give you a hug,