12-11-2014, 05:10 PM
He was running.
For a moment, he considered why he was running. Where was he running to? How much further would he be running? Could he get there by walking, instead of running? When did he start running, exactly? There were leafless trees around him, a sea of muted grey. Where a blue sky should have been, there was only a wall of clouds, or fog, or something obscure, yet light, he wasn't entirely sure. It suddenly occurred to him that he was lost, and so, he stopped running. Looking around in all directions, he was disoriented, confused.
A flash of white, like a wisp, darted through the trees in the distance, drawing his attention. Not a wisp, he realized, but stark white hair, streaming behind the head it was attached to; a pale, lithe body, running through the barren trees. As he watched this unknown person running, hearing a far-off, feminine giggle, he realized he had done this before. He had done this just now. He would run after her, and lose sight of her, and then forget why he was running. He would stop, and she would reappear, a reminder of the past. He had no choice but to start running again. But he would not forget this time.
He was running.
For a moment, he considered why he was running. But just for a moment. He was chasing something. No, someone. And as he reminded himself, that flash of white hair reappeared, a little closer than before, but still running from him, as if leading him along somewhere. He would follow her.
"Was that so hard, Lex?" she asked. Though she wasn't facing him, she knew he was there. The girl with white hair sat at ease in a wooden chair. With a wave, a second chair appeared on the other side of a small table, but still, she didn't face him.
"Who are you?" he asked, moving to the chair and taking a seat. As he did, the girl turned her face away from him, avoiding his gaze.
"Allow me to defer," she smiled. Or at least, he had the impression that she was smiling. "There are more important questions, surely." As she suggested it, another question popped into his mind, and without thinking, he blurted it out.
"Why were you running from me?"
"You were insufferably dull when you got here," she answered bluntly. "Incapable of retaining anything. You wouldn't stay in one place, always walking off into the mists," she trailed off, gesturing at the pervasive fog around them. "A predicament, truly. For all your strength of mind and body, you are no lucid dreamer. So, I ran, and you followed, again and again, countless times, until you realized it." Lex looked around, but it was a wasted effort; the fog hid everything beyond the girl and the simple table between them.
"I'm dreaming," he confirmed with a slow nod, as if realizing it for the first time. "This is a dream."
"You are dreaming," she nodded back. "But this is no dream. Indeed," she laughed, raising an arm lazily into the air. "You stopped dreaming the moment you sat down in this chair." She swung her arm down with both force and grace, like a sword cutting into the fog, and as she did, the fog ahead was parted, revealing a pleasant scene. They were on the edge of a lake, its waters serene and undisturbed, for nothing lived within it. For the first time, Lex saw the sky through the clouds, a black, star-studded canvas. "Lucidity is no different from reality, in this world. And I can't say that doesn't please me greatly."
Lex grabbed the table's edge with both hands, pushing it towards the woman with all his might as he stood up, his chair falling to its side with a loud thud as he stepped away. The woman stopped the table with her hand, an effortless gesture, and she laughed, rocking her own chair onto its back legs with a smile. "It seems I've answered both questions by mistake," she conceded, turning to face him for the first time. Her face was obscured by a white, marbled mask with no facial features, no eyes to speak of, just a number of cracks that had the slightest semblance of a face. As she continued to laugh, her pale skin turned pitch black, her snow white hair bled into a deep crimson, the marbled mask taking on vermillion hues. Lex spat a name in disgust.
"Atranellia."
For a moment, he considered why he was running. Where was he running to? How much further would he be running? Could he get there by walking, instead of running? When did he start running, exactly? There were leafless trees around him, a sea of muted grey. Where a blue sky should have been, there was only a wall of clouds, or fog, or something obscure, yet light, he wasn't entirely sure. It suddenly occurred to him that he was lost, and so, he stopped running. Looking around in all directions, he was disoriented, confused.
A flash of white, like a wisp, darted through the trees in the distance, drawing his attention. Not a wisp, he realized, but stark white hair, streaming behind the head it was attached to; a pale, lithe body, running through the barren trees. As he watched this unknown person running, hearing a far-off, feminine giggle, he realized he had done this before. He had done this just now. He would run after her, and lose sight of her, and then forget why he was running. He would stop, and she would reappear, a reminder of the past. He had no choice but to start running again. But he would not forget this time.
He was running.
For a moment, he considered why he was running. But just for a moment. He was chasing something. No, someone. And as he reminded himself, that flash of white hair reappeared, a little closer than before, but still running from him, as if leading him along somewhere. He would follow her.
"Was that so hard, Lex?" she asked. Though she wasn't facing him, she knew he was there. The girl with white hair sat at ease in a wooden chair. With a wave, a second chair appeared on the other side of a small table, but still, she didn't face him.
"Who are you?" he asked, moving to the chair and taking a seat. As he did, the girl turned her face away from him, avoiding his gaze.
"Allow me to defer," she smiled. Or at least, he had the impression that she was smiling. "There are more important questions, surely." As she suggested it, another question popped into his mind, and without thinking, he blurted it out.
"Why were you running from me?"
"You were insufferably dull when you got here," she answered bluntly. "Incapable of retaining anything. You wouldn't stay in one place, always walking off into the mists," she trailed off, gesturing at the pervasive fog around them. "A predicament, truly. For all your strength of mind and body, you are no lucid dreamer. So, I ran, and you followed, again and again, countless times, until you realized it." Lex looked around, but it was a wasted effort; the fog hid everything beyond the girl and the simple table between them.
"I'm dreaming," he confirmed with a slow nod, as if realizing it for the first time. "This is a dream."
"You are dreaming," she nodded back. "But this is no dream. Indeed," she laughed, raising an arm lazily into the air. "You stopped dreaming the moment you sat down in this chair." She swung her arm down with both force and grace, like a sword cutting into the fog, and as she did, the fog ahead was parted, revealing a pleasant scene. They were on the edge of a lake, its waters serene and undisturbed, for nothing lived within it. For the first time, Lex saw the sky through the clouds, a black, star-studded canvas. "Lucidity is no different from reality, in this world. And I can't say that doesn't please me greatly."
Lex grabbed the table's edge with both hands, pushing it towards the woman with all his might as he stood up, his chair falling to its side with a loud thud as he stepped away. The woman stopped the table with her hand, an effortless gesture, and she laughed, rocking her own chair onto its back legs with a smile. "It seems I've answered both questions by mistake," she conceded, turning to face him for the first time. Her face was obscured by a white, marbled mask with no facial features, no eyes to speak of, just a number of cracks that had the slightest semblance of a face. As she continued to laugh, her pale skin turned pitch black, her snow white hair bled into a deep crimson, the marbled mask taking on vermillion hues. Lex spat a name in disgust.
"Atranellia."