The dreams usually start with an eternal darkness and floating around, like being in pitch black water but being able to breathe. Then a tiny drop of light begins to appear. The light grows bigger and bigger until branches start shooting out of it: massive, ash-tree branches that twist, expand, and reach their places to form the holy tree of Yggdrasil. Underneath the tree stand my Norn-sisters Valerie and Willa, though in this dream world they prefer to be known as Verdanti and Urdr. The two grin at me, waving their porcelain-colored hands precariously, as if they might fall off. They tell me its etiquette, but who cares in the modern world? They always look so formal in my dreams, with ivory satin sheath dresses that flare at the floor and blow calmly in the breezes. I always wondered if they ever thought to get with the program and choose to dress a little more modern, like in designer jeans or something cool like that, but Urdr makes the decisions because she’s pretty much running the whole show. The show of the Norns, that it.
I grin and charge over to them, picking up my own ivory skirts so they won’t be soiled in the damp soil. Ugh, I think, Urdr watered already. Urdr is in charge of keeping Yggdrasil healthy and strong by watering it with special water from the well named Urdr, after her of course. The only issue is ground is so rich it doesn’t absorb the water all at once, so we have to skip around the pools of mud. My hands wrap around Urdr when I finally reach her, getting tickled by her red wavy hair in the process. She squeezes me back and then I hug Verdanti. Verdanti’s a little more relaxed than Urdr, but her vain nature keeps her pin-straight blonde hair shiny and smooth and her poreless complexion glowing. I feel a little plain next to these two, but Urdr always says that its just part of my job and its what keeps mortals unsuspecting.
“Skuld, you’ve grown!” Urdr sings when i finally let Verdanti loose. I’ve always loved her voice; it sounds like sunshine would.
“Its only been a month,” I giggle, “and I STILL can’t get my hair to grow as long as yours, Verdanti,” Verdanti shrugs and runs her fingers through her hair, the strands a rainbow of every shade between caramel and vanilla.
Urdr clears her throat to get our attention. “Now, ladies, we have to go on with our meeting. Odin is counting on us!” She snaps her fingers and Yggdrasil lifts one of its roots to allow her to access the mortals’ files. Mortals are so oblivious to how much we, the Norns, actually know about them. I wish Ellie could come and put these files on a few laptops for us, but she can’t dream-travel and the only time she’ll ever get to even see Yggdrasil is if she dies and the gods see her fit to accompany the Valkyries. Usually, I get to make the call on that, but the mortals I know have to be assessed by someone who doesn’t interact with them on a daily basis in order to not make emotional decisions, so generally Urdr makes the calls on them.
We sit on the various seats Yggdrasil supplies us. Magic trees definitely know how to make a comfortable seat. Drinks pop up from the cup holders too, so you can drink whatever you want whenever you want. Yggdrasil puts even Starbucks to shame. Urdr grabs a few files carefully and brings them back to my seat. I sit as tall as I can, hoping to look official so that I can get my assignments quickly and look through them. I wait for her nod and then grab them carefully, desperately trying not to spill frappuccino on them. I glance at the names, ages, and places. A lot from Minnesota, Scandinavia, and Missouri, a few in Colorado, two in Nebraska, and a bunch from assorted places all over Northern Europe and Canada. All of the files are of people in their late 80s or even late 90s. But then I get to a file about a teenager. I stare at the age, hoping it’ll morph into an older one or even just disappear, like some do when another culture claims them instead. But no, it still says ‘17’ in Urdr’s loopy handwriting. “Um, Urdr,” I say calmly, “did you pull a teenager’s file by mistake?”
Urdr raised her eyebrows. “Why of course, Skuld. I never make mistakes.”
“Why does he have to die so young?” I wail. “He’s barely started his life!” Verdanti smirked at my naive feelings, but Urdr looks calm as always an answered simply.
“We need him to give Yggdrasil a look over and we also need a new militia general. As the records say, he fills both positions and that doesn’t happen all that often. Besides, I heard he has spunk and would keep the the others hyped up for our battles!” She grinned, as if this was the most brilliant idea since someone invented Google. Then she fell into her ‘motherly love’ face and gave me the half-hearted, “He’s Christian, so HE will claim him if we wait too long.” Urdr has serious issues with God, probably because most people think he exists and we don’t. She shakes her head. “I already heard the rumors going around the heavens. They want him to sacrifice himself to save his girlfriend, as a chivalrous way to keep him remembered on earth. Pathetic, isn’t it?”
I shake my head side to side and stuff all the files into my brightly patterned backpack, the only modern thing in this calm world of nature and happiness. Hoping that it looks like an accident, I drop his file on the ground. Verdanti and Urdr are glaring at me now, a full throttle one too. I look down at my feet and walk back to my entrance. Out of curiosity, I look back at them, and immediately wish I could rewind that and just keep walking.The tree begins to shape into dark shadows, creeping in on me. Both Verdanti and Urdr continue to stare bullets at me, their eyes turning to red, glowy beams of light. I scream and all of the shadows wrap around me, plunging me into the pitch black darkness I came in with. This time, I’m not happy though. Oh no, this is not the right way to leave a dream, especially a trip from the heavens. I can only see the four red lights, the beacons that were my sisters’ still-glaring eyes. Their chants echo through the wind that lashes at my hair and rips my dress: “Kill him soon, or say goodbye to Earth."
I don’t really want to think what “else” is, and then I scream myself awake and take in the surroundings of my room. The white sheets have been twisted around me from my tossing and turning, and the pillow I was laying on is soaked with tears and sweat. I take slow, deep breaths and concentrate on reality: my name is Sakina Green; I am sixteen years old; I go to Apollo High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota; I love math; and I am Skuld, youngest of the Norse Fates, the one who chooses the when, where, and how of the end. I’m the one that picks your fate.
