Student Publishing Program ::

Hannah Arnow

Dreamscape

She steps through the door,
climbing hand over hand
toward the daylight.
Something is wrong. The air is off.
Scratch that, the whole atmosphere is off
the mood.
Gazing up at the sky
no
that is not it.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Swallows swirl overhead in lazy circles.
Pedestrians pack the streets with their pounding appendages.

The door slams shut behind her,
no longer supported.
The scooters clip her as they buzz by on the sidewalk.
Indifferent to their flight
she eases into the bustling throng on the street

Shoving to get through
she slowly
but steadily
navigates her way uptown
through the vicious crowd.

Checking the sun
she groans
five minutes behind schedule.
Instilled with a new determination
she surges onward.
Dodging around the citizens
she moves at a quick clip.
Before long
her destination comes into view.
A large expanse of onyx
gleaming in the unforgiving sunlight.

Pushing through
the wall of pedestrians,
she stumbles
onto the sidewalk.
An angry shout follows her
as she rushes down the granite steps.
The reward for her misstep.
She ignores it
and heaves open the heavy doors.
She slides through.
The doors close,
vanishing into the bed of black stone.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2011 EDITION]