The Girl on Fire

Preface: You may or may not know that I don't share all the dreams I have, because some are just too personal or I don't feel comfortable sharing them.  I have always been reluctant to share this dream mostly because of the latter.  Though I have come to a point in my life at which I feel comfortable in finally sharing it.   

Dream: I am sitting on the porch of my grandma's house in the middle of an enormous wheat field.  I am lying back in a rocking chair.  The porch is otherwise vacant and the only thing to look at is the far-stretching field in front of me.  The sky is a dark gray but I am almost certain that it's not going to rain.  My grandma pushes open the screen door behind me,
"Sam, that wheat isn't going to harvest itself!"
I ease out of the rocking chair with familiarity.
"Yes Nonnie, I'm on it."
I go to the shed at the back of the house and get my scythe.  It drags on the dry dirt as I trudge out to the empty space in the wheat field where I left off.  As I push through the last few stalks of wheat I see a bright fire in the middle of the clearing I had made yesterday.  When I stepped into the clearing my body went rigid, it wasn’t just a fire, it was a girl.
"Miss, are you ok?"
The girl turned to me eyes wide open but with a relaxed poise as if she was waiting for me.  The flames crawled up her figure carelessly.  She was a sight to behold, she wasn't wearing anything yet the flames seemed to clothe her elegantly.  I couldn't believe the girl was still alive let alone standing.  She began walking towards me with a calm smile about her face.  The ends of her long hair crackled along with the flames on her body.  The ground scorched at her every footstep.  Eventually she was right in front of me staring right back at the frozen expression on my face.  She raised her hand and cupped my face, I winced in anticipation of her fiery hands.
"Please like me."
When I heard her say this I opened my eyes and saw her lips were trembling as if she were about to cry.  I quickly gave her a reassuring smile and took her hand.
"Follow me," and I took her to a green hill far beyond my house and the field.

The sky was now draped with night and we laid down on top of the grassy hill looking out over the vast wheat field and my tiny wooden house.  No words were spoken, no actions were attempted, we just laid there looking out in contentment.  Hours passed until it was so dark that neither of us could see too much farther than what her fire could illuminate.  She turned and faced me,
"Let's go home."
I lifted her off the blackened grass and raced down the hill.  Despite running into complete darkness with only her light to guide me we laughed the whole way down.  When we got back to the house I gently brought her feet back to the ground.  I opened the front door and revealed the very simple interior of my grandma's house.  The main room was large and contained a bed with gray sheets in the back left corner.
"That's mine, my grandma sleeps in there," I gestured towards a blackened doorway.  We look back at each other and see we both trying to hide our weary expressions.  We both smile once we realized the situation.  So we crawled under the cheap gray sheets and talked until we both fell asleep.

I awoke the next morning cold.  A thin wind kept dancing along my back.  I turn and see the girl is not in the bed and scorched footprints lead to an open front door.  I begin to panic and race through the door and onto the porch.  I step out into windy weather.  The wheat is swaying back and forth violently with the wind.  I follow the black footprints into the field until they turn into a thick black line that stretches out farther than I can see.  My lips tremble with emotion,
"Damnit!" I drop to my knees and begin smashing my fists against the blackened earth.

Epilogue: I had this dream when I was about 15 or 16.  Over the next few years I would still think about this dream.  I'd remember how some portions of it felt as real as the keys I am pressing right now to type this. I can remember spending nights with my fingers crossed, hoping she would visit me again, but she never did.