The tree that glowed like a ruby under spotlights was there again. In the middle of that empty field. In the middle of the dream Alexander has had on four different occasions.

With a grunt he stood from the dirt that he had just been laying on. Alexander's hands made quick work to dust off his finely tailored suit. "Perfect..." He grumbled to himself as he made his way to the tree. It always started this way, with him waking up dirt stained and disoriented, in a suit worth more than peoples rent. His body was always slow and sluggish as he walked for what seemed like miles, it aggravated him. Truly.

Once his miles long walk was finished, Alexander approached the tree with a calloused hand reaching out to feel it. The red bark had hummed beneath his palm, the warmth of it emanating through his skin. He pulled his hand away before it could burn him. He paced slowly in front of the tree. He wasn't a superstitious person, not even close, but having the exact same dream so many times, he couldn't help but wonder what's causing it. Alexander stopped mid-pace turning to the tree. With arms crossed across his broad chest he began to speak, "Tell me, oh great tree, why am I here, again?" The tree didn't respond. Which only served to aggravate him more. Not only is he not getting answers but now he's talking to a damned tree.

He hated this dream because for once he wasn't Alexander, King of Bel Air, he was Alexander, the fool caught talking to a tree. Alexander, the man with the stained suit and the broken Rolex that refused to tick passed 3:31. "Hmm?" He hummed audibly to himself. He's never noticed the watch before. That was... different. He looked closer, observing it. The hands of the watch stood still. The gears turned in his head. 3:31. What made the time so significant? Why is it just now that he's noticed it. Alexander turns his gaze around, scoping out the rest of the dreamscape. Nothing else has changed. So why the watch? Why the time?

As he pondered it slowly began to dawn on him. The cracked Rolex on his wrist was gifted to him by a grateful client after Alexander buried a lawsuit no one else dared to touch. "Is that what this is about?" He asked the tree once more; eyes still locked on the watch. "A shabby gift? All of this for a Rolex?"

But even as he spoke, he knew it wasn't about the watch, it was about everything the watch represented. The case he had taken on a few months ago, and won, had been... a morally compromised case. One that no other corporate attorney wanted their named attached to. But Alexander didn't mind. Because Alexander loved the high he got from winning cases and being showered with money, praise, and gifts. He wasn't the type of man to feel guilt. At least that's what he believed. "Am I supposed to feel sorry for the case?" His eyes finally raise to meet the great tree once more. "I was just doing my job!" Alexander shouted and in return the red aura of the tree flared.

"I did what was necessary! I have to keep a roof over my families heads!" He shouted at the tree but deep down he knew that wasn't the truth. He didn't have to take the case. He didn't have to burden the poor plaintiff who just wanted justice with even more hardship. None of it had to happen. But it did. And as much as Alexander wanted to deny it, it ate at him. It sunk so deep into his psyche that it bled into his dream.

"What do you want me to say? That I'm sorry? That I shouldn't have taken the case? What!?" When the red aura of the tree only grew Alexander broke. Before he could stop himself, his fists began pounding into the tree, breaking off pieces of the bark, bloodying his knuckles. The aura of the great red tree only grew higher and higher with each blow until it reached its apex. The tree busted, sending him flying back...

-

Alexander sits up in his bed, sweat pouring down his forehead and breathing labored. His eyes search his dark room, searching for any hint of the tree. He stands from his bed and races toward his dresser where the Rolex sits, the watch reading 3:31. His thoughts spiraled until his wife's voice broke the silence. "Alexander, what are you doing?" Her voice was soft and tired. "Nothing darling, just... go back to sleep." Alexander replied monotonously as he set the watch back down.

Taking a breath, he returns to his bed. The memory of the red tree and the guilt slowly fading away as he rested his head back onto the pillow. Maybe Alexander would learn his lesson in the next dream, maybe.