11

11
Sleep saws through you with paralyzing images. The light of dreams fears its shadows, and struggles to flee. It's as if some waking body won't let the nightmare expire.
When you finally make eye contact with the world, you forget where you are. You have a remote suspicion that you awoke before falling asleep. The lapse in memory shifts the ground; as if the earth were spinning the wrong way, you trip over yourself in pursuit of a stable place. Walking into the wind, you listen to the roar of this waking nightmare.
Finally, the fear subsides and you venture out into Lexington. This time, the world seems dramatically different. It is emptied of anything familiar. Nothing resembles the people you search for or the places you've been.
Fearless and hungry, you enter a Mexican restaurant. It is different than the ones you've been to. This one is divided into many compartments. You poke through them until you are surprised by a familiar face.
You quickly withdraw. Mario didn't see you. You walk away when somebody taps you on the soulder.
"Hi, I'm Maria and I'll be your server." It's Mario's likeness, yet in a woman's disguise. "How do you do?"
[to stay and see, continue. Otherwise, flee to chapter 13]