Chapter II - The Second Dream

Chapter II - The Second Dream

My heart beats rapidly in thought of my conclusion. I collect my thoughts, in hope that I might actually be able to survive the rest of this miserable day, then start back up the stairs. I haven’t eaten yet, however, my appetite has completely shattered after this morning’s conversation with my parents. I reach the top of the stairs and turn down the hall that leads to my bedroom when I hear a familiar voice from behind.

“What did Mother and Father want?” says the voice. I turn around to find Dahlia skipping up to me.

“Nothing.” I say turning back around, continuing down the hall. 

“Lyn wasn’t at breakfast either. Was she in the favoring room with you?” She asks, now practically running in attempt to keep up with my fast pace.

“Yes” I start to move faster and Dahlia starts to fall behind

“Wait- Liv- I can’t keep- up.” She stops, catching her breath.

“Ill talk to you later. I have things to do .” Of course, I don’t really have anything to do, I just wanted to escape any further conversation on the topic of my morning visit to the favoring room.

The rest of the day passes slowly. I skip lunch and take a walk down in the garden. Though by this point I actually am hungry, I’m not quite ready to face my parents. By the time dinner comes around I am so hungry there is no longer a point in avoiding a conversation that is bound to happen some time anyways. When I walk into the dinner room, my family is already eating.

“We didn’t expect you to show.” Says my father. When I sit down I notice the first course of our meal is one of my favorite dishes. A simple slice of triangular bread masked with a light-green creamy spinach sauce. Everyone always orders food from different businesses on the Upper-Flat-Lands. I don’t think anyone actually knows how to make it or even how it’s made, all I know is that every meal is ordered a week in advance and it shows up on our doorstep for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The evening rolls by faster than expected. After all traces of food have vanished from the table and Dahlia has gone to bed, we all go down to the favoring room. Mother and Father have already made travel arrangements for tomorrow. We will leave after breakfast and travel throughout the day. My mother’s brother, or as I know him, Uncle Berke, will come to retrieve my sister and I with his vehicle and driver.  After this we all silently head off to our bed chambers. It’s almost as if all of the pain and confusion of this day is completely wiped from my memory as I drop onto my soft bed. I close my eyes and the next thing I know, I’m in the forest again. However, this time I’m not running. I’m laying on the ground, covered in blankets. As soon as I sit up the noise of footsteps sounds from behind. I look around cautiously to find the same boy running towards me. However, this time, he is dressed in red. As he draws nearer my heart beats faster. A gasp creeps up from my lungs when I come to the realization that his clothes are not naturally red, but, stained red with blood. He’s injured. Badly. I run over to him to offer help. I catch him just as he begins to fall to the ground. I prop him up on a tree then Attempt to look at his wound. I begin to peel back the rags from the origin of the injury. Before I can even look at it, he grabs my hand, staring desperately into my eyes. He manages to release only two words from his aching body.

“Help- us” My eyes open. It’s not odd to have repeating dreams. But, this wasn’t a repitition. It was almost like a message, a vision of some sort. I keep turning the happenings of my dream over and over in my mind. How did the boy get hurt? What was he running from? What did he mean by “help us”? Who is “us”? So many questions swirl through my mind before I turn my attention to tomorrow’s events. This doesn’t help me very much though, because now there are so many different thoughts in my head my mind feels like a massive hurricane of confusion. I come to the conclusion that Aralyn is the only person who might, at this point, be able to calm the storm inside my thoughts. I bring myself out of bed, leading my feet through this large, sleeping house. I quietly open the door to Aralyn’s room. She is not asleep, but sitting on her bed staring at the blazing fire-case on the wall. She slowly turns her head towards me.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” She asks. I shake my head. “There’s just so much to think about.” she continues I walk over to the bed and sit next to her. 

“Lyn.” I say. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to-”

“-It’s okay. You were in shock and didn’t quite understand what was going on.”

“That doesn’t give me the right to talk like that to you.”

“No, I guess not. But, you’re my sister. We need each other now more than ever.” I nod.
“I’ve never heard of someone touring around the country to find a husband.”

“I have.” says Aralyn. “It usually only happens to girls who can’t find husbands within their home city, like me, or whose parents think of them as an inconvenience and marry them off as far away as possible.” My heart pounds at the sound of her words.

“Aralyn. You don’t think Mother and Father-” I start

“-No. Of course not. They may not be the most caring parents in the world but, they would never do such a thing. At least, I don’t think they would.” She stares at me, probably with the same thoughts I have at this point. I’m not even eighteen yet therefore they probably have not even tried to look for a husband for me, therefore they must be trying to get rid of me. She shakes her head.

“I doubt they would do that. They probably think that you will never be able to find a husband in Elatus either. No, that doesn’t sound right either. I’m sorry. Why don’t we change the subject?” She says. There is a long pause when I finally speak up.

“I had a strange dream just now.”

“What about?” Asks Aralyn.

“Well, it started with the dream I had last night. I was running in the forest.” I pause

“From what?” Aralyn asks in anticipation

“I don’t know. I just kept running. Until, I ran into this boy. He must have been about my age I suppose.”

“What did he look like?”

“He was shorter than any boys I’ve ever seen in Cultridia. In fact, he didn’t even look like anyone I’ve ever seen.”

“What do you mean?” Aralyn asks, sounding slightly confused.

“He had black hair, dark eyes, and his skin was similar to the color of almonds.” Aralyn’s face turned pale at my description.

“Did he say anything to you?”

“No. I woke up before he could.” Aralyn’s countenance was unreadable. It was almost as if it had been flushed of any sort of emotion or expression. “Lyn, is something wrong?” I continue.

“No, I’m fine. What happened in the dream you had tonight?” She responds, redirecting her thoughts back into the conversation.
“I was laying down, on the ground, in the same forest as before. I think it was in the Lower-Flat-Lands. I sat up and I saw the same boy, running towards me. But, this time he was injured and bleeding. When I tried to help him he said something to me.”

“What? Livy, what did he say?” She said with a panicked voice

“He said- ‘Help us’.” Aralyn looks shocked at the boy’s words. She almost looks as if she’s afraid of them.

“Aralyn, do you know something? Do you know who the boy is, or where he might come from? Do you know what he means by ‘us’?” 

“I- I can’t.” These words lead her into sobs even worse than the ones from this morning. I move closer and wrap my arms around her. 

“Shh. It’s okay.” I whisper

“It’s an awful story, Livy. Please don’t make me retell it now.” She manages to say in between sobs. What could have happened to make her so upset? I wonder. I now regret even bringing up the dream. My sister has endured so much emotion for one day, or, even for one year. I’ve never seen her like this before. It hurts seeing her like this. It almost feels as if she’s a different person drowning in her pain and sorrows. I just wish I could make it all go away. 

About half an hour passes and Aralyn’s sobs break down into sounds of sleep. I gently lay her head down on the pillow and drape a blanket over her finally calm body. I silently step out of her room and back into my own. This night was insane. This entire day was insane. This country I live in, the country I have loved for seventeen years, is now becoming something bigger than my own life. Something I’m not sure if I even like anymore. I am beginning to be more aware of my surroundings and the people in them. I’m starting to realize that my home country of Cultridia just might not be as great as everyone makes it out to be. As I return to my bed, it’s softness that was so comforting to me only a few hours ago becomes the most awful discomfort. I now know how much I long to break the seal of my parent’s hold, and the hold of Cultridia, to live freely.