Recycling Bin :)

Slumbertale

Prologue

I still remember the first night I ever dreamed it. It may be one of the only nights from my childhood I can remember as clear as day. Maybe because it was a tad bit traumatic. Maybe because of how real it had seemed. Or, maybe- maybe because it changed everything.

It was like any other night. 

“Night Mommy!” I pressed my little lips to my mom’s porcelain cheek and she smiled down at me.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” she whispered, stroking my forehead and pushing back the little hairs on my head. “I love you.”

“Love you too!” I smiled. A yawn interrupted our conversation and my mother grinned down at me.

“See you in the morning.”

With that, my mom got up from my eight year old bed and my dad sat down in her place. He kissed me on the cheek as well before standing up from my bed.

Everything was normal that night.

My mom had pulled the covers all the way up to my chin and pulled the blankets tight around me like a straight jacket. I was satisfied with the milk and chocolate chip cookies I had half an hour earlier, and not just because my dad snuck me a third cookie when my mom wasn't looking. I lied to my mom when she asked if I brushed my teeth, only to get a scolding when she checked my breath and toothbrush to see if it was wet. My mom told me a story about a flying unicorn that would come to my window and take me up through the clouds and down to a magical meadow. My dad had just closed the door halfway behind him letting in some light from the hall. 

I was like any other eight year old girl. 

In about twenty minutes, I was supposed to fall asleep and dream about puppies and unicorns. Throw in some gum drops while you're at it and you've got a typical dream for an eight year old girl. 

I did fall asleep around twenty minutes later. But something went wrong. Everything around me slipped away. It felt as if I was falling but through my bed. Through the cold ground.

Then suddenly, the feeling was gone. And I felt awake.

I assumed at the time I had slept all through the night because I felt awake. I felt fully rested- and cold. My body was shivering.

There was sunshine streaming through my eyelids, an odd smell of pine trees and forest, and something wet pressed up against my face. 

My eyes shot open and suddenly- I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Not that we lived in Kansas, neither was I named Dorothy. 

I sat up and looked around me. My surroundings had consisted of tall trees, towering much taller than my dad who seemed quite tall back then. They reached so high that it seemed like they touched the sun!

It seemed as though I was lying in the only clearing of trees around. I was also lying in the only patch of sunlight for what may have been miles.

Immediately I pinched my arm. I pinched it ten times and nothing.

So I did what any eight year old would do when they’re lost or scared.

I started to cry. And not just little tears and some light sniffles- a full on heart-aching, lung-squeezing, gut-wrenching cry. I had no idea where I was or how I got there. I wanted my mom and dad. I wanted the heck out of this forest.

“Hello? Is anyone there!?” A voice had called through the thick forest leaves. My crying came to a sputtering stop and I clambered to my feet.

“Hello?” I called back hesitantly, wiping the dark dirt off my pink footie pyjamas. My feet sunk into the mossy ground as I took a step towards to voice.

“Oh! There is!” A light laugh followed the voice as it seemed like it was coming towards me.

A moment later, an older boy around thirteen years old emerged from the wood. The very first thing I noticed was his clothing. It looked like it was from one of those fairytale movies my mom had let me watch. A brown hand-made vest with a puffy long-sleeve shirt underneath and long puffy pants tucked into brown leather boots. A gold string belt was tied around his waist to keep his pants from falling I had guessed. He had brown floppy hair that my mom would look at in disapproval, along with bright blue eyes that shone in the little patch of sunlight like little gems.

“Are you hurt?” he questioned with furrowed brown eyebrows. I shook my head.

“I don’t know where I am,” I whispered while pulling my arms across my torso protectively.

“Oh, do you need help finding your way home?” He took a step towards me with his arms open wide.

“Yes please,” I replied instantly with a fast nod of my head. He grinned and motioned for me to follow him.

“This way!”

And before I knew it, I was running behind him through the winding path of the forest. He laughed as he jumped over logs then turned around and helped me over them.

“My name is Peter. What’s yours?” he asked politely over his shoulder after he had finally stopped running. The trees were starting to be sparser as we had begun a descent down a hill.

“Caroline,” I answered him as I stepped over a large rock.

“That’s a pretty name. Was it your mother’s?” he asked with another questioning look sent over his shoulder. I furrowed my eyebrows as he once again talked so formally. Why he talked that way fascinated me. He was an odd thirteen year old, that was for sure.

“No, it’s mine,” I said with a puzzled expression.

He shrugged in front of me, and then came to an abrupt stop as we reached a clearing.

I walked from behind him and stopped dead in my tracks as I took in what was before me.

A large, majestic castle stood at the top of a hill in front of us surrounded by houses, but not houses like the one I lived in. Homes made out of logs and homes made out of hand-made bricks. They spread out for at least a mile. The castle shone brightly in the daylight as if it were made out of pure white marble. Down below I could hearing horses clomping against the cobblestone and dirt roads. A loud market full of people mulling about was directly below our feet.

I wasn’t at home anymore.

“Where are we?” I whispered to Peter beside me.

“Tehall, of course.”

And with those three words, my life was changed forever.