CHAPTER SIX - The Deceitful Dove & Serendipitous Snake

After some time, we stopped running and instead transitioned into walking. That dove’s not stopped flying overhead and that thicket doesn’t seem to be getting any closer, but the walk is enjoyable enough since Anton is accompanying me. Everything is made better since he’s here to share this experience with me, though he’s not as easily impressed as I am. I can tell he’s growing a bit weary of walking through this sprawling meadow land; he’s rummaging through his pants pockets presumably looking for the cigarettes he always keeps on his person at all times. He’s wearing the same milsurp store-bought camo pants he always wears, and I can’t help but feel a bit jealous that he gets to wear something cool while I’m delegated to the same pajamas I wear almost every night.

“It pisses me off that I’m in my pajamas but you’re in your normal clothes in this dream,” I huff, “If I had my way, I’d be wearing a really cute outfit right now. These slippers aren’t meant for walking in dirt and grass.”

“I’d say it’s fortunate I’m not wearing what I went to bed in last night,” Anton muses, “Would leave little to the imagination. I’ve come to the conclusion we each have our own angles in this dream. You’re unable to get injured, and I am able to choose what clothing I wear.”

“I guess, I mean I did take a pretty bad tumble and didn’t get hurt one bit; meanwhile I bit you and you bled like crazy!” I scratch my head as I think, “But hey, wait a second! When you grabbed my arms you left bruises, so I wouldn’t say me getting injured is completely impossible.”

I hold up my wrists, and though the marks aren’t as angry as before, they are still very much there. He takes note of this.

“Indeed true. Perhaps this means we may hurt each other, but our environment is unable to, since we are both real and operate under the laws of reality. Our environment is unable to harm us because it is synthetic and merely a figment of our imaginations. Don’t quote me on that, though, I came to this conclusion rather quickly and it may not be entirely accurate.”

“No, I think it makes a lot of sense, actually. So basically what you’re saying is, as long as we keep our hands to ourselves, we’ll be fine!” I smirk, “That should be easy enough!”

“Er, right, just don’t lose your temper again,” he replies, giving up on looking for his cigarettes, “Ah, damnit. These pockets are empty. Guess this means I lack the ability to bring real objects here. How unfortunate. All I wanted was a cigarette.”

“Maybe this is your sign to finally quit smoking!”

“It very well could be, but I choose to ignore it.”

We walk for a bit more, not speaking to each other. The silence is amicable, though, and it’s nice to hear the wind rustling through the grass and all the little bugs chittering underfoot.

“Surprised you haven’t begun to pursue that dove from the air,” Anton says absentmindedly, breaking the silence, “Since you seem to have regained the ability to fly in your dreams.”

“Well, I thought about it once we first started chasing after it, but since you can’t fly I’d just end up leaving you behind. I don’t wanna do that, it would make me feel bad,” I say, looking up at him and frowning slightly, “And what if we got separated from each other? Or you got lost and I couldn’t find you?”

“Don’t let your fears stop you. I’m nowhere near important enough to impede on your dreams.”

“But–”

“Was it not you who told me only yesterday how you missed flying so dearly? If I said it would be wise to take advantage of this ability now, would you?” He interrupts, “This is something you’ve wanted to do for so long, so why not do it?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I begin to smile, “As long as it’s okay to leave you behind for a bit.”

“Fine by me, I can fend for myself in this rugged world,” Anton replies jestingly, “And a short bout of silence might be nice.”

“I don’t talk that much,” I roll my eyes, “But whatever. I know you value your alone time.”

I begin to mentally prepare myself for flight. I’m excited at first, but as I plan on following through, a wave of anxiety begins to wash over me. Although it is true that I’ve missed flying a lot, I haven’t done it in so long and I’m a bit worried something might go wrong. Though, what Anton said about our environment being unable to hurt us… If something really did go wrong, I’d be fine, right? I guess I don’t have all that much to be worried about. This is a dream, after all!

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as my feathers begin to unfurl and poke out of the skin. It doesn’t feel painful at all! I give an optimistic smile and thumbs-up to Anton, who’s looking slightly queasy as he takes a step back.

“You know better than anyone that I’m not at all a squeamish person, but those feathers of yours… Eugh, so unpleasant to watch them unfurl from inside your skin.”

I ignore his disgust.

“Well, I’m gonna go now! Wish me luck!”

He wishes me luck and I crouch, channeling the breeze all around me. I can feel it rush through my hair, and it becomes a part of me. Even though it’s been some time since I’ve last done anything like this, it still feels natural and the air still speaks to me like it once did. I leap into the air gracefully, catching a nice tailwind that blows me sky-high and to the level of that dove. Below, far below on the ground, the teeny-tiny ant-looking Anton shouts a BE CAREFUL message my way.

I do a couple of corkscrews as I ascend, unable to hold in the laughter bubbling within me. It’s exciting and magical, and all of my worries from before are completely erased. The dove takes notice of me, though, and begins to fly faster.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” I shout loud as I can, the wind carrying my voice away, “ANYWHERE FUN?”

“A FEATHERED, FLYING HUMAN THAT SPEAKS THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. HOW CURIOUS,” it shouts back, its squawking sounding more like a crow than anything.

“I’M A BIRD TOO, JUST LIKE YOU!”

“FOOLISH HUMAN. YOU ARE NOT A BIRD. YOU’VE NOT A BEAK NOR TALONS.”

Before I can even make sense of this statement, the dove gets caught in a headwind and is blown in my direction, narrowly avoiding collision. The gust of wind sends glitter in my eyes and I’m blinded! I fall out of the sky as I instinctively try to rub the sparkly residue out of my eyes, and crash through the branches of a big tree to the ground below. Guess I can say I’ve made it to the thicket now…

“Oooof,” I groan. I’m not really in pain but more so disoriented. I shake my head to get the dizziness out as I brush leaves off my head and shoulders.

I hear the sound of snapping twigs and big boots rushing towards me. The footsteps sound like Anton’s; thank goodness for that!

“Hong! Hong, are you alright?” He asks, wiping sweat from his forehead and catching his breath, “I saw you falling but I wasn’t nearly quick enough to catch you…”

I get the last glitter specks out of my eyes, and stand back up, dusting myself off. Damnit, I think to myself, groaning, Now my pajamas are not only torn, but all dirty and dusty too! And that dove… I look up, and it’s gone. I guess I was right in the fact it led us to some utter bullshit and was a COMPLETE waste of our time.

“I’m okay, but I’m kinda pissed that this whole thing ended up being a waste of time. The dove’s gone now, and we could’ve been doing something way cooler than this!”

“Oh, really now? Like…?”

“I don’t know, literally anything other chasing a stupid bird?!” I groan, “This is a dream! We could’ve done something impossible and magical!”

“There’s no need to get yourself worked up again. Frustration is pointless; any time spent here isn’t wasted since none of this is real. Surely we still have plenty more opportunities to do something that is, in your words, ‘impossible and magical’.”

“You’re right,” I reply, retracting my feathers and taking a deep breath to calm down, “I’m not really all that upset, I’m just a teeny little bit ticked off. Glass half-full, this dream hasn’t been all that bad, actually. I did get to fly, after all, even if it was only for a little bit. And I also get to spend my time here with you! I always like spending time with you no matter where we are or what we’re doing.”

“How quickly you were able to turn your mood around,” he shakes his head and smiles, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “Your optimism truly is admirable.”

I consider whether I should thank him for saying that or not. As I think, I hear a quiet rustling in the bushes nearby.

“Did you hear that?” I ask.

“Hm?”

I point to the bush a few footsteps away from us. He looks, and the leaves shift a bit, making way for a white python to slither towards us. My first instinct is to scream and run away, but it doesn’t seem to be rushing towards us to attack. I’m still wary, though, and I hide behind him.

“An albino snake…?” I mutter, peeking out from his side.

“Leucistic, to be precise,” he says, looking back at me, “Notice how the eyes are still blue? Leucism is a partial lack of pigmentation, while albinism is a complete lack of pigmentation. The only pigment here is in the eyes.”

“Why does that even matter?! I’m trying to figure out if it wants to kill us or not!”

“It doesn’t. It appears to be a ball python, a quite docile and anxious animal that is not known for being particularly fearsome.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, and close my eyes for a brief moment. When I open them, the snake is gone and replaced by a pimple-faced teenage girl with white hair wearing a white dress. Our eyes meet for a second, and I swear it’s like I’ve seen her before. Anton seems taken aback as well; as I step out from behind him I can’t help but notice the way he’s staring at her.

“Um, hello,” the girl says anxiously, curtseying, “I’m Maggie. I am a guardian of this dream. I’m here to guide you both on your journey through this land.”

Interesting… I’ve had this dream so many times and I don’t recall ever seeing this girl here before, even if she does look familiar somehow. Our eyes meet again, and I panic for a second.

“Oh! Where are my manners?!” I blurt, “I’m Hong, and this is my mentor, Anton!”

I gesture to him, and he mutters a curt and awkward ‘hello’ in response.

“It’s nice to meet you both. If you come with me, I can show you some really cool stuff around here and keep you safe from any danger.”

“It’s very kind of you to offer us guidance, but I’ve had this dream a bunch of times and I don’t really think we need any help! Right, Anton?”

“We do not,” he agrees, looking quite put-off.

“But the both of you look quite worse for wear,” Maggie responds, “I heard a bit of a tussle back in the meadow, and you guys seem to have gotten hurt.”

She heard that? How embarrassing! I guess she does have a point, but I’m a bit worried her ‘guidance’ will send us on another wild sparkly dove chase and be another waste of time.

“Hong, this dream isn’t a safe place. Even though you may have been here before, you still haven’t explored even half of it yet. There are things far more dangerous than a big dove or a fight with your mentor lurking in the depths of this place,” Maggie’s face grows deadly serious and I swear I can hear some crows cawing ominously overhead, “If you come with me, I’ll keep you guys both safe. I know all the ins and outs of this place because I live here! I know everything!”

“Perhaps it’s not the best time to bring this up,” Anton says, “But it’s strange, you strongly resemble someone I went to middle school with. It’s almost uncanny. I believe her name was–”

“Oh, um, I get that a lot,” she interrupts anxiously, “But I’ve never been to school, and I’m not from reality. I’ve only lived here, in the dream realm, as a figment of others’ imaginations. We don’t know each other at all. Any resemblances are a coincidence.”

Anton doesn’t seem entirely convinced by that answer, but he doesn’t respond. He’s still very unnerved. I beckon for him to lean down, and I whisper in his ear: Do you think we can trust her?

He looks at her, then back at me, and shakes his head. No. Let’s just move on, he whispers back as he stands back up.

“Welp, it was nice meeting you, but I think we’ll be on our merry way now,” I say to Maggie as Anton and I begin to walk past her.

“Wait, don’t go!” She protests.

I feel her tiny hand grab my arm. It’s ice-cold and trembling.

“You guys don’t trust me, do you?”

I turn back to face her, and her eyes are big and wide and wet like a puppy’s. Seems like she’s taken a page out of my ‘how to be charming’ book! Luckily for me, I’m not so easily swayed by that kind of stuff, and Anton isn’t either. In fact, he’s even more creeped out than before!

“Uh, not really, no,” I scoff, “You’re like, a little kid. Why should we follow you? Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to talk to strange adults?”

“I’m not a little kid! I’m thirteen, and I hold way more power in this dream than you do, mister!” She stomps her foot on the ground.

“Mister?” I gasp, flustered, “Y-You think I’m a boy?”

“You’re not? You’re a girl?”

“I-I’m actually neither,” I mumble, crossing my arms and staring at my slippers, “Ugh. It’s complicated. I get how that could be confusing to a kid.”

Anton is silent. He’s confused, but he seems to be getting some sort of entertainment out of watching me argue with a child.

“Oh,” Maggie replies, “Umm, I forgot what I was gonna say. But please don’t leave; not yet! Will you guys let me gain your trust? I promise I won’t hurt you or lead you astray. I just want to help! That’s why I’m being so insistent.”

“Ugh. Fine. Whatever,” I grumble, turning to Anton, “She’s gonna keep bothering us if we say no to her, so let’s just have her do whatever she needs to do.”

“You make an excellent point,” Anton replies to me, rubbing his forehead, “I’ve dealt with enough annoyances in one dream. My sanity can’t afford any more.”

I turn back to Maggie.

“Okay, I guess we’ll trust you…”

“Thank you, thank you! I promise you won’t regret this,” Maggie says, waving her hands in the air as brilliant blue magic begins to emanate from them, “Both of you have hurt arms. Let me tear the secrets from them.”

As she continues to wave her hands, I notice that the bruises on my wrists are starting to fade away as is Anton’s bite wound, the cloth serving as his tourniquet falling to the ground and withering away. His eyes widen in disbelief, his frustration from just a few moments ago seeming to wither away with it.

“A healing mage?” He asks, “How impressive. I specialize in healing magic as well.”

“Uh huh! I like healing up people who’re injured. It’s kind of part of my role as a dream guardian,” she smiles, “I was able to learn a lot about you both from healing you. When I heal people, I get a vision of what happened when they got hurt. In my head just now, I was able to see some of the argument that led to these injuries.”

“What an interesting ability you have. I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Anton continues, awestruck, “Your magic is quite powerful for someone your age.”

“Uh, Maggie, I hope you didn’t see very much of our fight,” I interrupt sheepishly, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, “It was really embarrassing. I kind of made a big fool of myself. Anton said we shouldn’t talk about it.”

“Oh, then I won’t bring it up again,” she walks closer to me and grabs my left arm, studying it, “I noticed you have a lot of big scars on this arm. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to make them go away. It seems like they were caused by some very powerful magic that I just don’t have the strength to unbind.”

“Yeah… they were. It was a whole big thing,” I frown as she lets go, unpleasant memories flooding my mind, “Don’t feel bad about not being able to heal them, I think they’re kinda here to stay. Even Anton’s magic has never been able to make them disappear completely. I usually keep my arm bandaged up since they draw a lot of unwanted attention.”

“Um, changing the subject, I also noticed the clothes you’re wearing are really dirty and torn up. Since I have a lot of control over this dream, do you want me to change what you’re wearing?”

I nod.

“Yes please. That would be really nice, actually. My feet are starting to hurt from walking around in slippers outdoors.”

“Okay, then close your eyes and think very hard about what you’d like to wear. When you open your eyes, you’ll be wearing that outfit.”

I close my eyes, and think hard. I wanna wear something lightweight and easy to run around in, with shoes that won’t hurt my feet when I’m walking around in the dirt. And I wanna bandage up my arm so no one can see the ugly scars. I continue thinking and… Yes, I’ve got it! I open my eyes and look down, thoroughly pleased with the XTC t-shirt, corduroy shorts, and high-top sneakers I find myself wearing. I’m now much better equipped for roaming the wilderness, and my arm is covered up, too!

“Woah, so cool!” I gush, “Thank you, Maggie! You’re awesome!”

“Hehe, it’s really nothing. I can make a lot of amazing things happen in dreams!” She twirls, her dress spinning with her, “So, do you guys for sure trust me now?”

I look to Anton for his approval, and he nods hesitantly.

“Yeah, I think we do,” I reply, not feeling all that suspicious of her anymore.

“Yay! I knew you guys would! See, I’m not here to cause you any harm. I just wanna help out! Now, if you just follow me, your grand adventure will truly begin~”

She begins to walk ahead of us, but before I can follow, Anton grabs my shoulder and whispers to me: Don’t let yourself be so easily swayed. I still feel something’s amiss with this girl. Although at the moment she certainly doesn’t seem like she wants to cause us any harm, I don’t entirely trust her. Let’s keep our wits about us. The logic of dreams is flimsy, and you never know when things are going to take a turn for the worst.