State of Dreaming

Town and Guards

The sun was high up in the sky as we reached the edge of the forest. My heart sank as I looked around and saw the river curving to the right, behind a steep hill and still no sign of anything useful. I felt tired, hungry, defeated and most of all, angry. I had been here for over a day now and still had zero idea where I was, what I was doing here, how I got here or anything. I couldn't even remember anything from before I woke up in the forest other than faint clips from my own life. The anger pulsed and swelled in me as I stomped out of the forest and into a clearing of long grassy fields. I was at the base of a hill, the river flowing between this one and the one on the other side. A valley? Swallowing my anger, for now anyway, I set down the furball and sat down in the soft grass, my head in my hands, my long, dirty hair sliding over my knees.

The little animal purred and nuzzled me as it had before and I felt the anger be replaced with a wave of defeat and tiredness. Getting to my feet after a short break I continued following the river, furball at my heels, as it curved steeply to the right. Then, as if someone had punched me in the gut, I fell to my knees. Relief and exhaustion filled me as I spotted, a mile downstream, a town. It had been hidden by the hill before but now, it was in clear view, and not far away. I scooped up the furball and placed it on my shoulder, now almost running towards the hope of the town. As we neared, I approached a small cottage built a few dozen feet from what looked like main gates. It didn't look like a security shack, more like someone who didn't want to be inside the gates. And the sweet holy grail I had been looking for was right in front of us, billowing in the wind, pegged to a washing line. A dress. Clothes! Finally!

Approaching, crouched low I ducked behind the small stone wall of the cottage.

"Little one, do you think you could go and grab that dress for me?"

Without hesitation, the furball leapt off my shoulders and snatched the dress from the line, sending pegs and other items of clothing flying to the ground. I felt a twinge of guilt but not really. After the ordeal I had just gone through, what was one person doing another load of laundry for god's sake? The dress was completely dry and I slipped it over my head. It was dragging a tiny bit on the floor once it was fully on. This surprised me. Back home I always towered over people. I was a very tall woman. Yet here, in this strange land, a random woman's dress was even a little too long for me? I gulped down a hint of fear and tried to tighten the laces on the front of the dress but it still hung loose. Little one ran up the side of the dress and back onto my shoulders, vibrating with excitement as we approached the gates of the town, leaving the cottage and the forest behind us. We didn't look back.

It dawned on me as we passed through the gates that I had no idea what year it even was anymore. Looking around me, it was clear I was no longer in the 21st century, but similarly, there were no defining features of any time period I would recognise either. There were few people and they weren't close by but the buildings looked old. Old but beautiful, like it would have taken a master craftsman years to build each one. Each was unique, in a deep red brick with brick patterns made around each window and doorway. The wooden facias were carved into delicate patterns- no stories. Each facia seemed to tell a story of a family. I felt my mouth hang open in utter awe at the sight. My gaze was still fixed upwards, taking in the shimmering roof tiles and the fancy chimneys until the buildings got taller and taller as we walked deeper into the town. The sound of people talking snapped me back into reality and I looked around us as people milled in and out of beautiful buildings with large glass frontings. Shops, bakeries and every other kind of business I could imagine. Then my gaze fell upon the people and I felt a scream bubble inside of me but I kept my mouth clamped shut.

A few had stopped what they were doing to openly stare at us, but mostly people walking past simply eyed us up and down and moved along. But what really caught my attention was that these people weren't ... human.