Tomorrowland is Amazing in my Dreams

Word Count: 1,233

I was around 12 years old when I first heard about Tomorrowland. For those who are not aware, Tomorrowland is one of the biggest music festivals in all of Europe, and it attracts people from all over the globe. Literally. All. Over. The. World.

My cousin is the reason I know this festival exists. I remember sitting in the same room as him and hearing a combination of screaming and music coming from his laptop. All of these sound effects peeked my interest enough to ask him what he was watching.

"Alejo, qué ves?" 

"Tu-Marr-O-Land"

"Qué's eso?"

That's when I saw the videos, and that's when I understood why people love EDM festivals so much. I remember seeing all of the bright colors. I remember seeing the array of flags people within the crowd were holding high above their heads. I remember feeling the energy and thinking, "I'm going."

The face I made when I saw my first Tomorrowland video. 

So, I'm going!!... but not yet. This is  on my bucket list of things I will do in my twenties. This is my checklist:

1) Go to the music festival

2) Spend all four days living inside of a giant fantasy 

3) Explore Europe after the festival has ended

4) Stay in Europe and live happily ever after :) (This probably won't happen. But I can dream, right?)

5) Laugh about how crazy my friends and I were years later

Here are some clips that capture this hyper-fantasized event:

This is one of the festivals that took place in Brazil.

    Disclaimer: This video is forty minutes long. 

After daydreaming about how I will one day travel to and attend this festival, I finally dreamt that I was there while asleep. I'm not sure how I am still able to recollect this dream accurately, and I'm taking it as the universe sending me an immensely appreciated message. Here's how it went:

I woke up in a psychedelic-print tent, and I immediately began blinking because the brightly colored patterns were hurting my eyes. As soon as the space around me stopped spinning, I looked around to gain a better sense of my surroundings. I saw multiple backpacks aligning the sides of the enormous tent. I took this as an automatic indication that I was sharing this space with several other people. 

Not only were we sharing the space, but I also saw that we all agreed to live somewhat minimally. We each had our own sleeping bags, with our spaces claimed by a personal item we laid down on top of our pillows or the temporary beds themselves. 

"Wow," I said, "it looks like the '70s just threw up in here." 

I decided to just sit down for a few more minutes until I was able to recollect where I was. All of a sudden, I heard someone scream my name at the top of their lungs. Their yelling was drowned out by both the sea of shrieks and the stampede of footsteps happening at the same time. I'm still not on my feet, or even thinking about getting up, and am paying close attention to the music I hear in the background. 

"Is that... Swedish House Mafia?"

"HELLO BELGIUM!!!" I heard one of their voices boom through several high-definition speakers. At this point, I am beyond perplexed... but more excited than anything else. All I feel is my heart skip a few beats, and I am hoping that I am exactly where I have wanted to travel to since middle school. 

"Cy-y-nthiaaa," a few people sing while running in the direction of the tent. "Cynthia!" One girl squeals before tearing the entrance fold apart and jumping on me. She kisses me on the cheek and looks at me. 

"Hey love!" I say hugging her back. (It's a dream, so I don't know her name.)

"What are you doing sleeping? Sleeping?! Are you serious right now! What, what!!! You're done already?!!" I see a guy staring at me through the massive pair of shades he has on. His vitality was contagious and made me laugh.

"Did I ever say that!!" I screamed back with an equal amount of intensity. "It's hot outside; I just needed... some water, you know?" I say with a smile. I turn around to see a water bottle next to me and open it immediately. It feels as if my thirst is practically unquenchable, or as if water is the last thing I had drank in the past few days. 

"Wow, well at least she's not lying!" the girl now resting her head on my shoulder laughs. 

"Well, naptime or drink time or whatever is over. Come on Swedish House Mafia just started their set!" the guy says while fixing his hair in a small mirror. He immediately turned back to face us and grabbed our hands, "Come on, come on, come on!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" I say back as we all dash outside in the direction of the music. The scenery was bright, colorful, and majestic. All around us were the people who ran the carnival/festival dressed up in costume and acting out their characters as if these were their real personas. It reminded me of something that I used to outline in the color books we all used in elementary school. 

Everyone else who's attending the festival is living freely and happily. Everyone is living in the moment. Swedish House Mafia's music was blaring and encompassed our whole atmosphere. We started to dance immediately after we rejoined the crowd and those we came with.

"Don't you worry, DON'T YOU WORRY CHILD!" Yes, that's me screaming like that so that I can hear myself above the "Tomorrow People" chorus. (Side note: I am the most obnoxiously loud and hyperactive person out of my entire group of friends. There is no other way than to express one's self to the fullest during such festivities.) 

We must have danced for fifteen hours straight. These were hours composed of continuous jumping, laughing, and "mind-off, heart-on" moments. The funniest part is that the Swedish House Mafia performed the entire time we were fluttering around.

The only reason I went back to the tent was because my legs were shaking and I felt like I was going to just fall asleep on the ground we were standing on. I asked a few of my friends to come back with me that way I wouldn't have to walk alone. 

After a quick trip to the sanitation area, because I was beyond sweaty, I collapsed on to my sleeping bag. I scrolled through the excess of pictures I had taken while there, and this one was by far my favorite: 

ERRRR. ERRRRR. ERRRRR. 

**Blink Blink** 

I popped up from my bed and look around my living room. It was the morning and I had fallen asleep on the couch after a night of binge-watching my favorite TV shows during Christmas break. I was annoyed with myself for setting an alarm and walked over to my bedroom to continue on where I had left off with my night and watch the movie "Dope."