The Longest Nap

  Rei found herself sitting on the edge of a small stream.

  She didn’t know how she’d gotten there but she felt compelled to cross it.

  It was almost as if an unseen force was pulling her closer to the stream’s edge.

  She looked over at the other side. It looked no different from the side she was currently on and yet she wanted to be there.

  Who even was she?

  Her mind was blank, she couldn’t even remember her own name.

  Whoever and wherever she was, she’d felt at peace.

  Did she really need to remember anything? Why not just cross the stream and see what’s on the other side?

  She was just about to when a hand reached out to stop her.

  The hand belonged to a woman with skin so white she seemed translucent. Her hair was so long that it reached all the way down to her bare feet.

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Eva, goddess of live. I’ve come to bring you home.”

  Home? She didn’t even know who she was, the last thing she remembered was her home.

  “Hey, you seem to know your way around, do you know what’s it like across this stream?”

  “Across this stream is where souls travel to begin their journey to reincarnation”

  “Will I reincarnate if I cross over?”

  “Why would you wish to do that?”

  “I can’t remember who I am, what if it’s better to become something new.”

  “Rei, your world is in danger and you’re the only one who can save it.

  “I am?”

  “Yes, it is your presence that has changed the course of this world’s history.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Back home, you made a partnership with a man not of this world.”

  The man she spoke of seemed familiar. She could see him but she couldn’t remember his name.

  “This man will either be this world’s new savior or its greatest threat, help him to make the right decision.”

  Before Rei could ask what she meant by that, she awoke to find herself in a bed made of moss with a wingless harpy beside her.

  As soon as the woman say she was awake a small smile formed across her face.

  “Thank the gods, you’re finally awake.”

  Despite her smile the harpy seemed to be heart broken, as if she’d just experienced a tremendous loss.”

  “Where am I? And who are you?”

  “My name's Freya, I am a healer and this is my home. Maximus brought you to here some time ago. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”

  “How long have I been asleep?”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Two weeks!”

  It had felt like it was just another dream, just a small nap.

  But it wasn’t, she had been beaten so bad that two weeks had been stolen from her while she recovered.

  Her memories were still a bit hazy. She remembered being with Elizabeth when…

  “Elizabeth!”

  She remembered everything. How Elaine had come to take Elizabeth back with her to Dulciena. How she’d kicked her so hard that she’d felt her bones snap from inside her.

  Sweat ran down her face as her heart pounded in her chest. She remembered Elaine’s hands around her throat as she squeezed the life from her.

  “Please calm down Rei, you’re safe now.”

  “What happened to Elizabeth? Where’s Maxwell.”

  “I don’t know anything about this Elizabeth, and if you meant Maximus then I haven’t seen him around lately. Then again, I have been outside since…”

  Rei could see the marks of where tears had been on Freya’s face, she had been crying for a very long time.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No Rei, I…I just lost my brother.”

  Rei immediately felt guilty, she may not have known what Elaine and the royal family had planned for Elizabeth but clearly, Freda was still mourning the loss of her brother.

  “I’m sorry to hear that about your brother.”

  “I don’t know what to do with myself, Rei. He was the only family I had left. I feel so alone.”

  She didn’t know anything about Freya other than she’d healed her and watched over her while she was recovering. But she knew what it was like to feel alone.

  She often wondered why her parents had abandoned her, she always wondered if it was her fault?

  Could she have done something to make them stay with her? 

  That was a question she would never know the answer to.

  Even in her weakened state, she changed into her true form and sat on Freya’s lap.

  She didn’t know why people found this so comforting but she figured it was worth a shot.

  Freya seemed confused at first but soon she understood what Rei was trying to do.

  They sat in the silence of each other’s company. Two loners being alone together.