Invisible String

Chapter One- Time, Curious Time

She sucks in air through her top teeth, tosses the phone onto soft carpet and strips down to  underwear, not bothering to wash her makeup off because, fuck it.

Usually it takes awhile to actually pass out because her whirling dervish of a mind won't allow for a easy time, but surprisingly, once her head hits the pillow and she finds a comfortable spot, her eyes slip closed.

She stands at the beginning of a long, windowless corridor. There's no question whether or not she should start to walk; instinctually, she knows that she has to. Her bare feet pad against the linoleum that she half expects to be cold, but it's the opposite.

"Hello?"

No one answers and she hadn't expected them to. Her voice bounces off of the tile, creating an odd, muted echo . She keeps moving. Towards what, she doesn't know, only that she shouldn't stop until she's told.

She's wearing a long dress of a brilliant blue. It looks deceivingly heavy, like the fabric should feel like pulling a wheelbarrow behind her, but it's airy against her skin, falling into a cloud over the spill of her hips.

At some point, the hall narrows and as it does, her pulse speeds up. She isn't afraid, though, only curious. Did she reach the end? Did she find what she was supposed to?

"Stefani."

The voice is not demanding; in fact, it is soft, but something within it makes her turn around immediately.

She's faced with a woman who appears to be about her mother's age with the most spectacular head of silver streaked hair she's ever seen. Everything about her is regal and commanding.

"Come with me."

Mesmerized, she nods mutely, following the stranger around the bend, just where the corridor had narrowed.

The room is awash in sunlight, completely made of windows. She expects to squint from the glare and she's surprised when her eyes adjust easily.

Without pretense, her gaze falls to the center of the space and she gasps, tilting her face towards the woman for an explanation.

She smiles. "Look more closely."

A million tiny red strings, all intertwined. It robs her of breath, watching as they float in mid-air, tied up in the such a perfect, intricate way that she wants to cry out.

So entranced is she by what she's witnessing that she almost forgets to ask the one thing she wants to know.

"But what does it mean?"

The woman reaches out to caress her cheek; a loving gesture and again, she reminds her of her own mother. 

"You already know, Stefani. "

She starts to shake her head, even though she doesn't want to offend her.  

But the woman is patient. She takes two fingers, touches them to her own heart.

"The answer all begins in here. If you reflect inside, you will understand. But you must be patient, Stefani. Do you think you can be?"

There is such a loving, infinite wisdom present in her words and in the woman  herself, and she nods solemnly. 

"You don't understand right now," the woman lays a gentle hand on the crown of her hair, "but you will."

When she wakes, it is light out and for a minute, she thinks she's still in that room, expecting to see that glorious symphony of string and it takes her awhile to come to terms with the fact she was dreaming.