Babble - Beyond Dimensions

Interlude 3: The one where they have post

Malin crossed her arms before sighing. This was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

And dangerous. So completely dangerous that it wasn’t even funny anymore.

Her fiancé didn’t seem to notice. He strutted through the room as if he owned it, armed to the teeth. His ridiculously huge backpack was packed to the brim with literally anything one could need if they travelled through warzones, rainforests, the poles, deserts, the sea and finally to the moon for good measure. Malin absent mindedly wondered how he hadn’t collapsed under the weight yet.

The young man meanwhile grinned and pulled the two absurdly large guns strapped to each leg from their sheaths to make a dramatic posture when he caught Malin’s eyes on him. “So how do I look?” he asked, before putting the guns back to where he had taken them and straightening his army jacket. And where he got that soldiers uniform complete with the green-brown camouflage colors without ever having been at the army was another mystery that Malin did not want to solve.

“Like you’re going into a suicide mission” Malin finally voiced, a frown twisting her face as she crossed her arms.

The blonde sighed at that. “Love” he breathed. “You know that I cannot hesitate any longer…”

“But what if they’re already dead!” Malin finally broke out as she fought against tears. “What if you’re risking your life for nothing! What if you die? We planned to finish our studies this summer and then finally marry! Why throw your life like that away?”

He looked away for a moment, trying to collect himself: “But what if I can still save them? I cannot let this thought go. You promised you’d let me at least try.”

Helplessly he threw his arms up, before turning to the young woman sitting on the couch of the room: “Zelda, please explain to my…”

He stopped short when he saw that the girl had fallen asleep. Drool dribbled down her chin and she was in for a crick in the neck when she awoke. Next to him, Malin sniggered: “Well, you took too long getting yourself into gear, so she decided to take a quick nap.”

Now more solemn, she approached her friend. “She hasn’t been sleeping well recently. Nightmares have continued to plague her and if it aren’t nightmares they’re still dreams that stay on her mind every waking moment. Impi is at her wits end seeing as even sleeping pills don’t help her get a resting sleep.”

Impi was one Zelda’s father’s employees. She was a middle-aged woman with albinism that had been employed as Zelda’s bodyguard after a kidnapping incident when Zelda had been only eight. By now the woman had also become a kind of mother surrogate for Zelda and the one in charge of keeping this family running. Right now she was missing, probably running from doctor to doctor to get a suitable treatment for her charge’s nightly troubles.

Gently Malin touched Zelda’s shoulders and shook the girl softly awake. The girl snapped her eyes open before blinking a few times, trying to adjust to the light.

“Slept well?” Malin asked. “Zelda’s green eyes focused on her, before the girl spoke: “I saw them again.”

“They’re just dreams” Malin gently said and the young man felt as if he was missing a huge chunk of information right there, while he watched the two women interact.

“No, no” Zelda insisted. “They’re safe and sound. And they answered me. I dreamed they mailed a letter. I watched them travel through time and space.”

Then her gaze snapped to the blond, boring into him before commenting dryly: “You’d be an idiot to go now.”

“How do you know that?” he answered then, angered. “Where is this letter you speak off?”