Sleep as a Hobby

I’m having nightmares nowadays. It’s not encountering some vicious animals or dark things, but I often get very sick which is unpleasant.
First of all, I have never watched a movie or read a book about a hunger game; only seen a trailer from Youtube. It’s amazing how it got into my dream like that.

I opened my eyes… to see a white ceiling, and a desperate looking man, who calls himself ‘dad.’ He really seems to care dearly for his daughter, who supposedly is me. I am confused… it just… I don’t think I am a daughter who he thinks I am.
‘Dad’ went out for a cup of coffee.
I tried talking to him; say I don’t know who he was, but my voice wheezed out as if I’m having a very bad flu.
I got dumbfounded for a moment till I felt a sudden excruciating pain from my right hand… it…
It was not there. It was……………Amputated…
What used to be my right hand becomes a dark purplish flesh… rotting.

MENTAL DEMOLITION… ㅇ_ㅇ!!!
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There was a white card with a red cross on the top left corner. There were four blue lights, flickering.
● Level 5
○ 30:02 left
● your presence is detected by a hunter 10m
● your prey is detected 150m
There was a digital google-map, showing other players; preys and hunters, around me.

Kill or be killed.
Only hunters and the prey carry a white card, we are the only ones knowing in this sin city… the rest of the earth is oblivious.
I have to kill the prey while avoiding a hunter; trying to kill me, within this time or I will be degraded to a lower level, gaining more bloodthirsty hunters with higher level. If I kill the prey within a time, I will get more time for the next prey and get useful harnesses; weapons, wider range of google-map and so on.
The top of the food chain is level 20. At that point he/she will be like a lazy sublime jaguar hunting and resting as much as it likes.
No one knows who is a hunter or a prey in a mass crowd except for a dot showing on the map and viewers. Viewers are on the other planet with sneering smirks, watching and eating popcorns, of this real-life city of jungle; overflowing blood and massacres. It is horrifying and the most disgusting game in my life. I wonder what kind of insane psychopathic alien freak would create ‘this’ kind of game in a first place.

I’m now in a restaurant with ‘Dad,’ he is feeding me a meatball. So far he has no signs of being my predator, but genuinely cares for me. I feel a little sorry for him. After all he is an innocent civilian who happens to be stuck in a disaster, and he doesn’t know his ‘daughter’ is not someone he knows. He is unknowingly taking an extreme danger for giving me some kind of a glass like protection.
As I blew a balloon out of my chewing gum, a mysterious looking woman with sunglasses and a black suit, walks toward me and sits across my table… She is introduced that she is a very close friend of ‘dad.’ She might be a watcher sent by a freak. Need to evacuate immediately.

‘Nice meeting you ‘dad.’’

I excused myself for a washroom break; her sunglasses reflected a white light from a ceiling. As I casually pass behind her, I flicked a gum on back of her hair.

‘Better shave your hair Miss.’
I heard a sharp shriek behind a closing door and smirked.

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I stumbled from shaky legs. I feel very dizzy with a high fever; to the point I see a world in a whirl circle, but can barely feel pain from it. A painkiller or whatever drugs ‘dad’ used is strongly effective indeed. It is strange… to sense that I ‘have’ a right hand… as if it’s only made out of soul, but not flesh.

I need to hide somewhere… quick. I did not kill or attempt to look for my prey, so I am now dropped to level 0; whoever kills me will increase their level two times plus a special prize.
I decided to hide in a midst of school parade practice. Everyone is on the field. All lined up horizontally and vertically following moves from a person in front like an army. I rest along the side, under a tree shade, where I met my childhood friend Purple.
It is time…


Avoiding looking directly at her face, I normally asked “here for the hunt?”
She did not answer; I can almost feel her eyes burning across my face. Nevertheless I continued,

“It’s scary… one moment you are just a student like they are, and next… everyone, aliens, hunters and governments alike are looking for you like I’m some kind of a living chocolate.”

She shuts her mouth tightly, so I gather up my courage and cautiously hand her my right hand, feasting with fleas. She did not take it… my middle fingertip broke into black ashes.

Purple stared at me, “God is everywhere.”

I sigh… I’m talking to a wall,
“I do not believe in alien freaks,”
I heard everyone holding their breath with surprise.

Awkward silent filled the air.

Everyone… students, teachers, walking civilians, birds, ants… hundreds, thousands of them… everyone… gave me a cold look at the same time. I flinched back a little… they look… possessed. They all have a purple smudge on their lips as if they carelessly had a poisonous cake.

A student with a Santa suit, hurled towards me with a drunken deer; it too had a purple smudge.
I snorted with disgust. I did not come to my deathbed, unprepared.

“Early present for Christmas.”

I closed my eyes and threw my right hand high above the air.

YOU'VE JUST ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD

“Bye~”