Eutopia (First version)

Chapter 8

Tears stained Eutopia’s cheeks as she woke, disorientated in the bright light of the bedroom. She had fallen asleep with the light on but the window to the right of her enormous bed was still black. She glanced at the nightstand beside her for a clock, but didn’t find one. It was clearly still night though, if the blackness outside was anything to go by. A heavy sigh escaped her as she rubbed a hand over her face, trying to shake off the sadness that still clung to her from the dream she’d been having. Eutopia untangled her legs from the duvet and slid off the bed soundlessly onto the floor. She crept across the room and into the hall, crossing the space without even thinking about what she was doing. Her thoughts were still fuzzy in the cocoon of sleep, safe in that space that was halfway between waking and dreaming. Opening Jinn’s door without knocking Eutopia let the welcoming beam from a bedside light spill over her toes as she glanced sleepily about for him. She couldn’t get rid of the empty loneliness her dream had left her with and she felt the need to be near somebody, even if it was that strange yet somehow familiar man.

Eutopia found Jinn laid on his bed on the other side of the room, his back propped against a mountain of pillows and his un-booted feet crossed at the ankle. He had a book in his hands, his black hair loose about his broad shoulders. He glanced up at the soft creak his door made as Eutopia entered, looking dishevelled from sleep and a little bit haunted.

‘Are you OK?’ he asked, placing the book face down on the bed as he sat up. The girl nodded, her eyelids were heavy with the slumber she longed to return to.

‘Strange dream s’all,’ she mumbled, climbing onto the bed and curling up cat-like on her side. ‘Needsomecompany.’ Her words merged together and were cut off by a huge yawn that made Jinn grin. He pulled the thick duvet out from beneath himself and folded it back from his end of the bed to cover Eutopia with it. He shook his head with a smile as he watched the girl burrow deep into the warmth of the covers, barely taking up any space at the foot of his bed as he stretched his legs out around her.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ he asked.

‘No. I can barely remember it now, just that feeling you sometimes get with dreams, you know?  I’ve always had strange dreams, vivid ones, ever since I can remember, but give it ten minutes and all the detail drains out of them,’ she yawned widely again and wriggled about so she could see Jinn at the other end of the bed whilst still remaining tucked in. The huge room was quite cold. She nodded at the book he had picked up again. ‘What are you reading?’

‘It’s an old book, by Thomas More,’ Jinn replied, twisting it so she could see the title printed on the front cover.

‘Oh,’ she said. Jinn studied her for a moment.

‘It’s called Utopia,’ he offered.

          ‘Oh?’ the girl sat up with interest, pushing the duvet back with suddenly bright eyes as she crawled to the head of the bed and settled herself against the pillows beside Jinn, taking the book from his hands to look at its plain black cover. Utopia was printed on the front in elegant silver script. ‘But that’s my name,’ she said, tracing the letters with a finger, ‘it’s spelt differently though.’

‘How do you spell your name?’ he asked, curiously watching as she traced out a hesitant capital E before the U. The movement was careful and considered, slightly shaky, like a child learning to write. It confirmed Jinn’s suspicion that she could not read or write particularly well. He smiled, watching her as she collected the pages in one hand and flicked through them with one thumb, eyes skimming the small print, only to gather them again and do the same as though she were looking for pictures.

‘Good place,’ he said, softly.

‘What?’ Eutopia asked, handing the book back to him. Jinn showed her the front cover again.