In Dreams We Met

Prologue - ♪ In Dreams We Meet ♪

Crystal Fairway woke up in a sweat, not sure what she had just dreamt. Not to mention that... did she remember she was a guy in her dream...? Okay, Crys, she told herself when she regained her senses, guess that's thanks to what you read last night before bed. It definitely wasn't the first time, bits and bobs from books have gotten into her dreams, and they made the dream more interesting to boot. However, never have I suddenly switched genders in a dream, nor in the past...

Shrugging, Crystal looked at her watch. It was around four in the morning. This, too, wasn't abnormal. She normally would wake up in the early morning. So she relaxed again, thinking over the dream again. Maybe she could finish it? Sometimes she could go back into a dream she had woken from. Maybe she could finish it, and see what it was.

And one solid thing lingered. A name. Alexander, she thought. Who are you? Are you... real?

She went back to sleep. Sure thing, she'd gone back into the dream as this "Alexander" character her mind decided to make. Now this was unusual. It was rare enough she could get back into dreams, but create a character while doing so? Well, what other answer was there?

When Crystal woke up to her alarm, nothing was any clearer. She didn't remember much of the dream. However, she did recall the name. "Alexander," Crystal said to herself. "Who on earth are you?"

She stayed in her bed a while longer, the faint memories of the dream fading and receding. There was only silence to greet her as Crystal glanced around the dark room, as it was early morning. She could just barely see the dresser across from her bed, the dark wood blending into the shadows. A closet door to the right was cracked slightly, where the quiet brush of a living thing came out of the silence.

Crystal gave a small smile. "Ebony," she called, adding a little purr after it. The black cat gave a similar trill in response, the vocal animal. "Here, kit," Crystal continued softly. Not a moment later, she felt the mattress shift just noticeably as the young cat jumped up into her bed. "Maybe you know who Alexander is? Maybe you can help me. Black cats were thought to be witches, after all." Crystal laughed quietly. She didn't believe in any such nonsense. Black cats were cats, and that was it. "Maybe not," she said, as the cat watched her.

Crystal finally got up, the sun rise shining through her window's blinds. Ebony jumped up onto the dresser, sitting near a bowl and giving Crystal the most innocent look she could. "Yes, you'd like breakfast, wouldn't you?" She opened the cat food container next to the dresser and scooped out some food, petting the cat for a moment before leaving the room.

She lived in an apartment, a small one at that by other people's standards. However, for herself and Ebony, it was perfect. Not much to clean, and not much room to hoard useless items. And so, when Crystal entered the kitchen, as small as it was, she was thankful for the simplicity. She pushed the switch down on a kettle specifically made for boiling water, noting for a strange moment how useless it was, with a second kettle siting on the stove next to it. Crystal shrugged it off; for this is what she did everyday.

She got out two brown sugar and maple oatmeal packets, poured them in a bowl, and waited for the water to finish. Still, the dream persisted.

Good thing today is a Saturday, otherwise I wouldn't get much work done, she thought. Not that her job was scheduled. Crystal was her own boss, but she still wanted to make it a routine. What she did for a living was take normal, unused to-be-plaque wood and used wood burning tools to make general or custom designs, such as a sports team's symbol, or a gift having many different objects burned onto it. It wasn't much, but it paid the bills and kept herself and Ebony comfortable.

Crystal tried to shake away the thoughts. "Relax, Crys," she told herself. "You'll drive yourself insane this way. You're already doing that trying to figure out who Alexander is." The water stopped boiling, and Crystal finished making her oatmeal. She ate it, trying to silence her thoughts.

Turns out, that wouldn't be very easy. She moved over to the other side of the counter and opened her laptop and checked out some videos on YouTube. After all, nothing like nonsense could drown out other nonsense.

♪♪♪♪

♪ And here we are! The beginning of a new story, written by Charizard_100 and OwlStream! I, Chari, am going to be writing as Crystal Fairway, and Owl will be writing as her character, Alexander Samuel Sparrow! Also, the reason for the ♪ everywhere is so you know who's talking, or writing. Ev will have a different one to use! ^_^