A Dream of Chrysanthemums [Revised 8/22]

 ~ “Say, how does the ice cream taste?” ~

Everything was way too vibrant and saturated, it was hard to make anything up. I tried to look up to see who asked me that, the voice sounded feminine, but her face was covered up by a dense white fog. Focusing on the background, everyone’s face is covered by that fog. Everything felt close to heart, yet nothing was familiar. Or was it a cafe?

~ “It’s good? Let me try!” ~

I didn’t say anything, did I? I tried saying something, anything, but no words came out, my mouth couldn’t move. I tried to get up, but I was paralyzed. I tried to look around to get a better idea of where I was, but my head wouldn’t turn. The only sensory experience I had was sight, it seemed.

~ “Here, try my coffee.” ~

My hands brought the cup up to my lips on their own, and the steam fogged up my already foggy vision.

~ “It’s good isn’t it? Or is it a bit too sweet?” ~

I can’t taste it, but I felt it, or remembered it, with some sort of lingering memory I had hidden in the back of my head. It was overly sweet, and all flavors were overpowered by the taste of milk.

My head turned itself to the window. It was a snowy night, bundles of azalea grew in flower boxes hanging off the window frame. The sky was darker than obsidian, and the streets were illuminated by a tall pole with mage light at the top, street lamps. The snowflakes drifting down were the size of coins, and the ground laid covered in them, turning into a carpet of white. It was pretty, even though it felt like I was being possessed or was possessing someone.

~ “It’s getting dark, huh. Why don’t we go back?” ~

I got up, not by my control, and it dragged me off the chair. A bell rang as we opened the door. We walked down the street, a road laid with black gravel, asphalt, cut across it with dotted white lines running along it. Before we crossed through, she spun back, the fog around the edge of her face flew off and scattered like glitter.

~ “It is a little late, but can we take a detour to the fish shop? I want to have a look at them before we go back.” ~

~ “Really?! You’re the best!” ~

She gasped out smiling, grabbed my hand, or what I think was my hand, and we ran across it. A horn sounded, louder than a dragon’s roar even when muffled by the snowy winter night, and a sharp white light sped through from our side, crashing into us. A white armored monster, with one single massive glass panel for its eye. A truck, was it?

I laid flat on the ground but felt no pain, my vision turned scarlet from my, or this body's blood. Red seeped into the snow below, tainting the perfect carpet. A bloodied hand not mine crawled into sight, it took a while for me to realize it with my fading vision. My heart turned into glass, shattering upon hitting a forgotten memory, pieces floating into an empty void.

“-ake up,”

I was leaning against a tree before jolting awake from whatever that was. My companion was shaking me, trying to wake me up with a worried look. Oh that's right, I was watching over her and fell asleep.

“Hmm, nightmares during travel aren’t a good omen you know.”

The elf stood a few steps from us. Don’t need you to tell me that. Now I remembered why I never traveled with people, this dream, or whatever it was, would keep haunting me until I was killed by that white thing. What was it called again? I could never remember those strange words my mind would recite to me while I was in those dreams.

But this time, it felt different, even though I couldn’t put my finger on why. I wasn’t much of a surprise when those memories had already faded off, leaving only a husk of them behind.

“We’ve been waiting for you for nearly an hour already, mister guide.”

The sun has been rising for a while now, and the travelers already had their luggage on their backs. Right, we’re supposed to get out of this grass field by the end of today. Cupping a bit of water with my hand, I gave my face a wash. I packed up my supplies, and before we headed off, my companion wrapped a towel around my hand and arm, giving them padding and protecting me from the grass cuts.

The journey was smooth, with few obstacles. We managed to leave the field one or two hours before sunset. But the sense of imminent danger was heavier than ever, it wasn’t from any monsters or beasts, they would have attacked when we were still in the grass.

Pushing aside the grass with my focus set elsewhere, it felt as though that elf had been sneaking a couple glances at me, heaving my mind whenever he did. For now, I could only hope those were just my imaginations, but my companion might have felt it as well, tightening her grip on her staff and bringing it closer to her chest.

When night fell, it went just as yesterday. I built a fire while the travelers set up their tents. She prepared our food, and we ate around our fire.

“Have you two met fairies before? Your way with magic reminded me of one I met before.”

The elf asked, turning to my companion at the end of his question.

“I saw it on a lake, I couldn’t get close but the magic around it felt similar to yours. And you, warrior, you’re quite experienced aren’t you? Any encounters worthy of sharing?”

“What about the leshy you talked about before?”

“A tree spirit, what did you do to anger one?”

“It had probably just gotten lost and gone feral, attacking from behind unprovoked and running back into the woods after losing an arm. They shouldn’t be this far south."

###

I went to find a tree to lean against after they finished dinner and went back into their tents, watching over my companion with a rope tied around our wrists in case the river current sped up and drifted her away.

Moonlight beamed down, casting away some of my worries, giving me some peace. Looking up, one was a crescent moon, the other filled into a perfect circle. I took in its beauty and surreality, and it dawned on me. It felt more real than before… That snowy night in my last dream felt more real than those before. The peace washed away, but the calmness somehow remained.

That dream always felt like it was brought up from the depths of my soul, sort of like a memory long forgotten. But last night, it felt exceptionally real. Those faces that I can’t see had their shapes more defined, that coff- whatever had taste, and the mahogany chair I sat on had a scent of wood oil.

Soft river currents running into rocks poking out of the water surface created a melody, humble winds from up north formed the chorus, turning the sounds of nature into a lullaby.

There was ambience. The caf- something seemed to have music playing, even if muffled. The people in the background were fuzzy to the point where I could barely call them humanoid. But I heard them speak, their voices were soft, but they were there.

And that girl I was with filled my heart with something, it was not a feeling that could be described, but it was strong, stronger than any magic. And when it left, it was more painful than being burned alive.