This was such a fantastic little story, mate! I absolutely loved it.
I don’t know if anyone else will feel the same way when they read this, but with the dream’s calm and alluring set-up, I NEVER expected that particular dream “kick” (to use an Inception term) to happen. I literally snorted in abject surprise!
And then the subtly sinister cliffhanger was perfectly pulled off.
Overall, I thought this was top-notch (and in no way is it because your story is the first challenge entry in my challenge, oh not at all(!)), so I award you 5 pencils.
In the words of Bruce Forsyth: “Good game! Good game!”
=))

Ooh. How unnerving! This oscillates wonderfully with seriousness and humor – the contrast is great. I’ll bet he stayed awake all night.

Oh thank you!