She knew she was dreaming.
Passing thoughts made vague scenes like old reels flickering rapidly across the many walls of a room. Many, many walls. And many, many more memories. It was not intrusive or jarring. The dark background and opaque projections created a warm pocket of existence for Alora as her body rested, her mind weaning out its remaining vestiges of inertia.
Lucid dreaming.
She glanced aside. I know. Lucid dreaming, that's what it's called.
From a warp of the space, a form materialized as Alora continued to stare through the oblivion, proceeding with falling into a deeper sleep. It was lean and of similar height to Alora. Crossing their arms, they tilted their head at Alora's calm.
You're not scared of me anymore?
Alora blinked, silently sighing. Phil told me you're anything but bad for me. After a moment, she lowered her gaze. And a part of me knew that. I just didn't want to be that kid.
The weird one, they chorused.
It was true though. After days and weeks of devoted journaling of her dreams, Alora had long since known that she was not like other kids. No one, even writers, had such consistency with persons in their head. Characters with vivid personalities, memories, and desires. It was no longer a dream. It was an entire person. What helped was that she knew how to run and wake up. Plus, she was respectful of her space. Alora was always able to keep her at a distance. But she never had the guts to look at her and walk past these normal walls of her mind.
Phillan smiled at me when I glanced from my current journal. "Ready for tonight?"
Fingering the fraying borders, I remembered the voice. Her voice. And her loneliness. "You're sure this is okay? That I'll be okay?"
She nodded. "She's your person and you are hers. If you can't trust her yet, at least trust yourself. I'll be here if you need me anytime tonight."
Closing her eyes Alora took deep breaths, her fingers rubbing their thumb as she remembered everything she had learnt with Phil. This is her time. Out time.
Slowly, she turned her gaze behind to see a bright pair of hazel eyes over a rising smirk. The girl's face was perky and bright with little freckles across the bridge of her nose and straight shoulder-length blonde hair tucked behind her pointed ears. A cute white lace skirt was paired with a blue vest top and sporty red canvas shoes with white laces. She was pale, this was the feature that drew Alora in the most.
"How can we not have the same skin tone?"
The girl shrugged, flipping up a hand. "Can't control it. So? You're ready now?"
Alora paused, gathering her words. "Is the door open?"
Understanding what she was referring to, the girl's expression softened. "Hm. You can come in now."
You're ready.
Nodding to the affirmation, Alora looked at her. "Where do we go from here?"
She smiled as a corner of the room opened like a box, the white light illuminating a breathtaking craggy landscape of rich greenery and glistening rivers. "Home."
Wide-eyed, Alora stared out into the unknown and deeply breathed as she felt the cool wind against her face and body. Her clothes rustled vicariously and her black hair whipped up towards the sky! The room was replaced by the mouth of a small cave in the cliffside, the strong scent of wet mud, weeds, and dry sand assaulting her nose as her brown eyes dilated to the midday sunlight. She moved her feet against the ground and memories of visiting the National Canyon Park flickered past, grounding her in the inevitable truth. She couldn't deny the familiar feel of the grainy, crumbling sandstone beneath her blue canvas shoes.
The girl amusingly watched her host stare at her with utter stupor before looking around some more. She didn't have to say anything. Her face switched through expressions fast enough to give her justice. Covering her lower expression with a fist, she watched Alora cautiously near the drop-off with a hand against the wall...to be momentarily distracted by the cool feel of the wall...and then questioningly stick a head out...before retreating at the strong gale of passing wind.
After another moment of silence side by side, looking out into the horizon of the winding valley, Alora nodded multiple times.
"Okay.... Okay. Cool." She looked at her. "Nice place. Much bigger than mine."
"Hm. This is my territory. Not my house."
"You have a house?"
She shifted her gaze. "More of a treehouse, but yeah."
Alora consciously kept her mind open with another nod. "Okay. How do we get there?"
Raising two fingers, she took a deep breath and released a shrill whistle. The trees shuddered as natural winds passed and Alora passed time watching the world.
My inner world. Raising her gaze, her vision stopped at the familiar blue azure and moving white clouds. It's beautiful.
Suddenly, a large shadow darted over them, blocking the sun and startling Alora as clear bird calls filled the air from two monstrously large eagles. Bright white stood out from brown and their feather's patterns were clear as they circled before them with bright blinking eyes.
"They're beautiful," Alora breathed.
"Thanks. Are you scared of heights?"
"Can you catch me?"
"Touche." She smirked and promptly waved to the eagles who flew a few more rounds and then carefully approached the cave.
It was then that Alora noticed the ropes clenched in their sharp talons.
Minutes later Alora was seated in a swing-like lift as she screamed and laughed with her alter, a magnificent unraveling of scenery accompanying her.
Sighing, Alora remembered Narnia and she looked ahead at her as she seemingly looked towards the main river in the distance. That reminds me. What's your name?
There was a pause. Interestingly, she could feel it.
She smiled. I don't have one. But this...is Psychro.
A/N:
Picture Prompt theme- Adventure
Maximum Words- 1,000
@earnestwrites