As the dreams melted away, Muko woke up to find himself in an altogether different place and a far worse one.
A bell was ringing; not the gentle tinkle of the bell in his kindergarten teacher's hand but an insistent, ugly sound that had broken into his sleep and stripped him of his memories brutally, without any warning. He opened his eyes and propped himself on his elbows. He looked around. He didn't know this place. He wanted to burrow back into his dream and hide from the harshness of the new environment.
