Sleep

Aurora

What the heck! I just woke up after I fainted twice, discovered I'm princess Aurora, realized Jeanne is gone, and my whole life as Kate was a dream, and my father is expecting me to go to a stupid ball?! It's for some prince named Carmen, he's looking for a wife, and I'm engaged to Phillip already, which is enough to worry about. Even weirder, I've discovered that I've been in this sleep for 10 years, that's how old I was in my short life as Kate. Imagine being asleep for 10 years, without knowing your asleep, and waking up with little memory of where you are and who you are. The most displeasing of all was someone having to explain to me my life as Kate was all a dream. That meant my friends and family in the dream weren't real. All I wanted right now was to see Jeanne. Even if Phillip told me my friends in the dream world weren't real, I new Jeanne was out there somewhere, I could almost feel her. Thinking about her made me sad, and my stomach felt like it was shrinking.

I began to cry clear orange-ish tears, which didn't cross my mind as strange at the moment. Salty droplets hit all around me, as if it were pouring and I was under an umbrella. What used to be droplet sized tears now seemed as big as softballs. Still there was a circle of dry oak wood around me, and I realized I wasn't crying anymore. Where was the water coming from? With the droplets forming a sheet of water, it was hard to see the ceiling, if there was one. All I did was just stand and marvel at the sheet of rain coming from no one in particular. The sound was so loud I didn't hear the door open, the sheet so thick I didn't see the assassin enter the room. What I did notice was the glint of the sharp knife in the rain. Out of panic I stuck my arms over my face, but it seemed useless. When the knife sailed into the air, the rain, forming a thick mass, engulfed the knife, slowing it down immensely, and I grabbed it. Only turning to see the figure had fled, and the rain pouring down, soaking me.
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A shadowed figure kept along a stone wall and I followed. His face was hidden, concealed by a long dark robe that was silky and went to the floor. He was creeping around in the palace, in a hall that leads to the dungeon. He opened a rusty-barred cell, that had a small lit candle on a desk.

"Speak, what have you found," the figure said.

I heard some shuffling around and then a raspy voice spoke.

"I have found these, Rectar," the prisoner held up a rusty old shard of glass, it was a mirror shard.

"Good, Traiez," Rectar said.

The prisoner, Traiez gave a rotted-tooth grin, finally showing his face in the candle light. His hair was scraggy brown and looked like you could break off pieces. He had blotched skin, as if he let a 4th grader paint on it, his hands and face were wrinkled, he looked like his nose was broken, and there were streams of dried blood coming from it. He had gashes here and there, and coughed after every sentence. Rectar reached out a hand to collect the mirror shard, but Traiez closed his hand at the last minute.

"What about my part of the bargain," Traiez spoke.

Rectar gave a scowl, but shrugged and placed his hand on Traiez's forehead. What happened was remarkable. The dried blood streams vanished, the gashes and wounds disappeared, his skin became all one dark color and smooth, and he stood up taller.

"Rectar, you fool," Traiez cackled. He lunged at Rectar, knocking him to the ground. Then, Traiez grabbed a sword from Rectar's belt and struck.

I woke up, dribbling with sweat, and breathing fast. I tried to let out a scream, but my voice had traveled to my feet. Morning light filtered through the window, and I could hear thumping coming up to my room. The door opened with a swing, hitting the wall loudly. A guard stood in the doorway, holding a small bell.

"Well I see your already up. Can't blame you after you've slept so long. Oh, too soon?" He said clapping his hands. Instantly, more staff started flowing into the room, each holding different items, like a towel, a breakfast tray.

Honestly, it's very awkward having people groom you. It felt like hours before they were done dressing and waxing and bathing and shining and polishing. Why do I need to do all of this anyway. All for some silly ball. When all the 'beautifying' was done they practically dragged me to the mirror, chattering excitedly, laughing giddily. Looking on the mirror was like looking at a painting you would find on a cathedral. My golden hair is in perfect movie-star locks, my skin is absolutely perfect, and shining. I felt like a doll. Especially with the dress I was wearing. It was pink satin, decked with gauze on the outside, as if it were drapes. I felt like a really expensive funeral casket. I smiled and thanked them anyway, the maids smiled and giggled pleasantly, proud of their accomplishment. Looking back in the mirror I realized 2 things. 1) I didn't know any of the staff's names. 2) I really missed t-shirts and sweatpants and sneakers. I also really missed Jeanne. But I felt she was out there somewhere.
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Have you wondered how to eat food when you feel like a legit plastic Barbie doll. Yeah, so did I. It almost felt like I needed someone to bend my arm for me and pretend feed me.

But what was most surprising was when a tall guard rushed into the room. It was the same guard who had come to wake me up. He rushed into the doorway urgently.

"Your majesty," he said to my father, "there was a security breech."

"Arm the men, get Aurora to safety, in the cellar," my father said urgently.

The guard rushed me urgently to a secret room behind a curtain. Now was the time I decide to learn names, you know instead of hiding away where I would be safe like the king wanted.

"Excuse me, what is your name?" I asked.

"Mine, is Rectar," he said ushering me into the room.

"But your not dead," I said stupidly.

He looked at me funny and went to leave. At the last minute, I decided to follow him. He walked down a familiar corridor, and I knew where he was going. I realized with horror, I was living my dream.