At least in dreams you can simply wake up

I felt betrayed. Deeply, as I looked at the lights. I had grabbed someone, but they escaped my grasp and abandoned me on the stage as the curtain rose. Suddenly I was in front of everyone, with no more preparation than hazy memories of how I got here in the first place. There was some light clapping, slowly dying down, until everything fell into silence.

Let me be clear. In my short life, there has been nothing more nervewracking, NOTHING, than being abandoned under all those expectant gazes that had high hopes I had already betrayed from the moment I was born.

Ignoring the hundreds of eyes, I turned towards the first row instinctively, to a seat that I knew who was gonna be in. I looked at their face, and a deep fear started setting into my stomach. I didn’t know what to say, but they expected me to say something and to make it count.

This could not be happening, it had to be a nightmare, I had to wake up.

And so, I did.

I don’t know when I figured out it was a dream. Maybe when I saw his face? I dunno, but once again, I proved that escaping from uncomfortable situations instead of facing them is the true way to live a tranquil life. Or at least, that would be so if it also worked while awake.

I was out of the frying pan into the fire, as waking up presented me with a new problem. How was it usually said? I think the phrase went like:

“I saw an unfamiliar ceiling”.

A ceiling that I really wished to not see, but was there nonetheless. I wasn’t foolish enough to hope that it was the roof of a hospital, one back on earth, that would soon release me to go home. No, I was here for the long haul. If my instinct was right and I died in that fall…

I don’t want to think about that now. My real problem right now, is that ceiling.

Well, I should be more specific. In truth, with my hand on my heart, I actually could not see the ceiling. And that was the problem. I had a vague memory of waking up for a moment and being in this place enveloped in darkness, but somehow, it was even darker now. The only thing I saw outside was the silhouette of a very old looking and ragged house, illuminated by a small series of lights that were on the ground to its left.

I had read stories, as one do, of characters that die only to go to another world and live adventures. Certainly, the house, more akin to a hut than an actual house, looked otherworldly to me. There were two options, I was in another world, or I rolled down the mountain until I ended up in a far away tribe that lived as if we were a thousand years back in time. Both things sounded fantastical, but I did know that there weren’t any such tribes near my city.

Although I also did not know about any alternative world near it either, but whatever it was, here I am.

I got up, slowly, and painfully, back up. As my eyes adjusted to darkness, I could see what looked to be a dish with some strange blobs or something. Was that food? Was that blob supposed to be meat?

Well, I am famished, but even then, I’ll try to avoid the mystery meat for now.

I limped by body to the door, supporting my weight into its frame, and looked outside.

The lights that illuminated the side of the hut went on in a large line, or apparently, they may make a circle, as I can see them in the distance surrounding the other huts too. At the next hut at my right, quite far away from mine, there was someone else. A yellow eyed girl that looked at me with an expression of surprise before running towards me. She was screaming something unintelligible, it may be another language. But what language was it?

Whatever language it was, she definitely was saying something very unkind, judging by her tone.

“Sorry, I don’t underst”

Was all I managed to say before the frame of the door gave in under my weight and I collapsed into the ground, taking the door and its frame down with me. I faceplanted into the floor right in front of her, her hands almost catching me by my hair before I hit the ground.

The girl stopped for a moment and looked at me groaning in the dirt. Soon enough, she started grunting words that sounded even less kind, as she dragged me back into my hut.

At the very least, I think I now know what she was trying to say. Get away from the door, you moron.

Too late, but at the very least, I think it can count as my first success in communicating with the locals.

After bringing me back inside, the girl rose back and started walking away, but after crossing the door, she seemed to think about it more clearly. After a moment, she returned and sat down at my side.

She was looking at me, but she didn’t say a single word. And honestly, I did not want to say anything either.

“Sorry about the door, I didn’t notice it was that fragile.” I said, hoping that apologizing would improve her mood, but she still looked angry. Again, she said nothing.

Now that my eyes were more accustomed to the darkness, and she simply stayed there, I finally could give her a good look. She was wearing a simple light colored cyan dress that extended a little bit before her knees. On top, she was wearing a thick vest that seemed to be made of leather, covered partly by a very, very old looking piece of purple cloth. On her neck was a golden necklace that ended into a cross, like a rosary.

Wait, was that an actual rosary?

I didn’t see them often back home, but it most surely was one. Was she a religious person? If that religion actually is present in multiple worlds, it may even be the true religion. Should I ask about it? Should I join it?

Wait, why am I having a religious epiphany in another world? Right now, I have been staring at the girl in silence for about a minute now. I have to say something, I must look like the biggest weirdo she has ever seen.

“Thank you for bringing me back in. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we have talked before. My name is Pole Rast. It is a pleasure to meet you.” I said, extending my healthy arm towards her.

Once again, she looked at me without saying a word. She, once again, frowned even harder than before. 

Why is she getting so mad at me?

After staying with my arm extended for a moment, with no response from her part, I took it back and turned around. That was embarrassing, and I certainly didn’t want to look at her in the face after that.

“Did he wake up? And what the hell happened to the door?”

I turned around, and saw a figure of a new person at the door. Soon enough, I recognized that notorious horrible beard and released a sigh. Finally, someone I could actually talk with.

“Howard, finally.” I said, with a relief I didn’t expect to feel for someone I had barely met.

“Hey, you’re looking better. At least you are not delirious like before.” He said, happily sitting down besides the girl.

“Delirious?” I said, trying to remember what he was referring to, but coming out empty handed.

“Yeah, coming in and out of it. You had a pretty nasty fever, but it finally relented. More importantly, I see you have met my little Lyra.” Howard said, pointing to the girl.

At this, she finally stopped frowning at me, and instead started frowning towards Howard. He seemed unaffected by it.

“Lyra, so that’s your name.” I said, but once again, she did not look at me.

Maybe she speaks a different language?

“Yes, she’s my little dear. And also, she’s your new caretaker and bodyguard.” He said, trying to put his hand on her head, only for her to silently move away, looking at him with scorn.

“Caretaker? wait, Bodyguard?” I said, not sure which one to address first.

“Yes. During your stay here, she’s going to be the one taking care of you. I really hope you two can be good friends.” He said, with a tone that started on cheeriness, but seemed to fade the longer he spoke.

I looked at her again, unsure of what to think. Was it more worrying that my “caretaker” was a girl of my same age that clearly disliked me and could not understand me, or was it more worrying that I apparently needed a bodyguard? 

A bodyguard, for what?

I looked at her, but looking at her frowny face again, I felt the will to ask more questions vanishing away again. A deep, unknown feeling started to sit down in my stomach. The feeling that asking the question would be pointless, and that if I did, I would probably not like the answer.

I truly do not have the energy to deal with this right now. I would rather return to my dream, at least that one is a world I know.

I nodded, and simply laid down to rest again. My eyes were stuck staring the ceiling again, while it dawned on me that I was probably going to spend the rest of my life in this strange place.