insomnia [✔]

scene. v

It was like two hours since Madeleine had wished Gar a good night. She had even assured her that it was not necessary to accompany her to her room and she had managed to find the paths without incident. But now that she was comfortably settled in her bed, she couldn't fall asleep. The time seemed long to him. No matter how much she told herself that she would leave at the first light of day, she couldn't close her eyes for even ten minutes.

So she moved a lot in her sheets, not knowing what to think. She had even thought about texting Sam, her best friend, then she remembered that her phone had been having trouble connecting to the internet, since she had been here. The young woman therefore considered distracting herself by recovering the book she had taken with her. A story of investigations which, failing to help her find sleep, would entertain her until the next day, by deceiving her boredom.

So she pushed back her blanket and got off the mattress. However, as soon as her foot touched the floor, she was struck by lightning. Her eyes suddenly turned purple, she threw her head back, mouth half open without being able to scream for help. His whole body shook with terrible convulsions. Purple sand seeped in, crawling like an army of tiny, glowing ants. The sand surrounded Madeleine, but also began to rise along her legs, completely enveloping her. The young woman felt like she was sinking into quicksand, she couldn't breathe properly.

Madeleine took a last breath in the manner of divers, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was amazed by the shadows surrounding her. She rubbed her eyelids, thinking she was hallucinating. But his environment remained unchanged. A kind of converted cave, filled with earthenware dishes and jars. She also realized that she was lying on a bunk made of braided vegetable fibers between them. She sat up, and the touch of her own clothes made her feel strange. Her pajamas had been replaced by a kind of long white tunic. Looking at her wrists, she saw that they were surrounded by cuffs made of turquoise blue, red and brown wooden beads. Around her neck, too, she felt dangling ornaments of the same style.

She tried to take a step forward, to find the exit, but a violent migraine surprised her at the very point where she faltered. She caught herself on a protrusion from the wall of the cave and hurt herself there. The palm of his hand had been scratched. So she brought her back to herself grimacing, and cursing internally against this strange place where she had woken up as if by magic. She comes to wonder if she had not been kidnapped by members of a sect, or of a more than dubious brotherhood. With her good hand, she looked for her phone, but of course she had no pockets and the smartphone was nowhere to be found.

"Shit..." Madeleine muttered between her teeth and dropped to the floor.

As she moped, arms around her knees, a figure approached and planted itself in front of her. She was a middle-aged woman, with long gray two-strand braids that came down to her waist. She, too, wore a white tunic, bracelets; but her bracelets were more numerous and more elaborate than those of Madeleine. Emanated from his person a form of wisdom and poise that could hardly be ignored.

"You're finally awake," the woman said to Madeleine, and she touched her forehead as if to check if she had a temperature.

Madeleine frowned slightly. She was facing a stranger who had perhaps helped her. However, the young woman did not remember anything. Moments earlier she was in a grim mansion, now she woke up in a slightly less grim cave. The situation was no less incredible. Nothing made sense, she had searched, she didn't understand how she could have come to this. The older woman smiled at her, and then she snatched a small animal skin bag, which she wore on a tie around her neck, and gave it to Madeleine.

"What is this ?" inquired the young woman while recovering what was handed to her.

The mysterious one did not answer her, although her face was still benevolent. Madeleine swallowed loudly from the stress. She was curious to know what this little bag was, so she opened it slowly, with an excess of caution. Against all expectations, she discovered a kind of purple dust. The young woman's eyes widened.

"What does that mean?!" exclaimed Madeleine, taken aback.

"Didn't you wonder, my child? Didn't you want to know the origin of your powers?" declared the woman.

"I... I'm not sure" stammered Madeleine "How could this dust be useful to me?"

"You have the answer within you" replied the woman calmly "You have to trust yourself"

"I made way too many mistakes..." confided Madeleine "How would it help me to know where my powers come from?"

"Trust yourself" repeated the woman, she disappeared in a tornado of indigo smoke.

"Come back!" exclaimed Madeleine, confused; then she grumbled, saying: "I trust myself, huh! All this is just picking up bullshit!"

She showed bad will, then she thought that knowing the origin of her power, could perhaps help her to understand it. She looked at the small animal skin bag and took a pinch of the dust it contained. The texture had a certain resemblance to spices, a bit like coriander or salt in fine grains. It was also fragrant. Perhaps it had been partly made with dried leaves? Madeleine tasted a little of it, despite her mistrust, and found that it tasted rather good. Was some sort of cure? She tasted it a second time, out of curiosity a violent wind rushed into the cave.

"What's going on..." wondered Madeleine, then she resolved that for some reason it might not be advisable to eat a little too much of this spice. It could just as well have been a coincidence. Coincidence which had the merit of indicating the exit.

So she walked in the direction from which the wind had come, and during her progress she perceived more and more drafts: a sign that she was on the right track. She walks, and when she finally emerges, she discovers a vast plain. The sky was a purple hue, like at dawn and devoid of clouds. Madeleine continued to advance among the blades of grass, these were large enough to reach her height. The young woman walked like this, without really knowing where she was going. Finally, she finally noticed a tree with low branches. The only tree for miles around. Madeleine walked up to him. Up close, she saw that it was a Flame Tree and she said to herself that it was superb.

She decided to take shelter under the tree and let herself slide along its trunk, in order to sit down while leaning against it. From there, she could observe a large part of the plain and noticed nothing suspicious. No commotion, as if there was no one else but her. Not even a squirrel. Not even a prairie dog. Madeleine took advantage of this calm to reflect on what the woman had said to her. Nevertheless, she had no idea how she could find the answers within herself.

She closed her eyes, tried to concentrate, but no vision came. It was as if her powers had stopped working since she was in this strange place. So she let herself be discouraged, for a moment, then she told herself that it didn't make any sense. So, giving free rein to her imagination, she decided to sow the contents of the small bag. She threw it all around her, having fun like a child, convinced that it would have no effect. However, the wind picked up again and tested the foliage of the flame tree hard. It sounded like a call to order, so Madeleine scooped up as much powder as she could and put it back in the little bag.

"I still don't get it!" she cried, sure the gray haired woman would hear her. "Stop making fun of me! Tell me what I need to know! I couldn't do it alone! I know you're there! I repaint the fields with the powder you gave me!"