《Lucid Dream》


 The Edge of Reality

    Katherine rose up from her bench, a wavering light piercing through her locks like a static bullet. She brushed the fabric of her sleeves, finding their warm touch comforting, to the December cold. She made a small cloud, which soon faded to nothing. "Where am I..?" she asked. She tried to remember anything about the past hour, but found no memory other than the one where she went to sleep last night.


    Like a soft brush, the wind had spread it''s white all over the land, covering each bit like a artist''s mark. Snow angles were left behind, from school parks and used swings. Katherine, in the other hand, bothered by the lack of entities to her surrounding, found a serene comfort, in the deserted cake stores. It was too dark to see in, yet it was still too early to turn on the lights. The streets were filled with footprints.


    Of course, the woman had left with a frown, not being able to find her favorite type of cake, nor anyone in particular. It was empty like a cake without icing.


    A storm brewed inside her eyes, a reflection upon the real world, which soon came into image, with a large grey flying cotton. She gasped mildly, before turning her head towards the crossroads. She used to like the rain. It would sooth her mind, bring her to sleep--as long as she was indoors with someone else. And at this current moment, the two were absent.


    But then, she bumped into something. Inevitably. Katherine then realized that she was at the ground, rubbing her own head with her hands. "Ergah.." she mumbled. What could have possibly been on her way that was so unnoticable for her to notice?


    She opened her eyes, obeying to her own curiosity, which killed the cat. She noticed the small blue cracks in the air, like a canyon in the sky. She watched the zig and zagging lines with fear, as they opened and closed extremely slowly, even almost unnoticable, but not for her.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Katherine stopped, before closing her eyes once more. "It''s just a dream it''s just a dream.." she convinced herself, over, and over, and over again, until her tongue was too tired to repeat itself. "..it''s just a dream." she concluded.


    She took her rightful wits back to her mind, before coming back to thereal world she remembered. She eyed the flying cotton, a mix of turning blues, whites and greys all over the horizon. "This is just a dream, isn''t it?" she repeated, not finding any remorse to her actions.


    Though, her frightened expression turned into a wide fascinated one.


    "If this is a lucid dream, why can''t I turn that cloud into a pink one?" she wondered. She also pondered, who would listen to her lament?


    Katherine was debating whether or not this was thereal world or her dream--but she couldn''t pick which. It was too unpredictable and it was uncontrollable, suggesting a real life''s place, but then, why would a scenario be so dry of people?


    "Hello?" she called out. No responses came back, other than the echoes from the cake shop. "Hellooo?" she repeated, lengthening her voice for further possible reasons. Nothing. She plucked herself down to the snow, feeling their cold touch. "Where am I..?" she asked. "When will I wake up? Will I wake up?" she questioned it again. As if, an answer would come.


    "You''re currently in the parks of Retrovva, a fictional place near the coasts of a fantasy world of Laylados'' Grasp--a viewtiful continent which most likely resembles the Europe continent. This city was much inspired by the cold breaths of Russia, but with the calming profiles of Italy, mixed with London. Familiar, but not familiar at the same time, is the right feeling."


    Katherine, surprised with the voice, turned around at the speed of sound. But when her eyes darted to search for the voice, a white light followed. "Ach! So.. bright!" she commented, shielding her eyes with her two arms.


    When she woke up, she found herself knee deep in morning sunshine.


    Beep, beep, 05:05, you''re late for work, Catherine, beep, beep.


    ~ end of chapter 1; edge of reality ~

 Eccentric Mondays

    "Damn it."


    The soft rustles of Katherine''s bed soon turned into violent rushes of air, immediately after the warnings of her digital clock. Soon, the woman found herself back to her bad habits--her inevitable feeling of clinomania retreating back to her veins. Like a stab in the heart, Katherine froze once her steps were near the end of the corridor.


    The cracks in her--or someone else''s--dream she had, it had reappeared. In fact, it had presented itself more close and personally with it''s chasm starting from the mouth of her bathroom till the edge of her kitchen. She gasped for air, and took what she had thought wasreal air. "T-Torus! Help!" she cried out. No rumblings came, only the shine from the blue lines that were still present--and expanding--near her feet.


    She traced the wooden walls of her home, backing up from the cracks as they sat silently, in a static moment. Katherine, finally able to muster back her wits, stopped at the light switch. "Torus! Where are you!?" she shouted in despair. Then, there she sat, acquiring back her sanity that she lost. The blue cracks waved in harmony in return to her calm attitude. Katherine, which was still over-reacting toward the alien objects that she allegedly found in her dreams, stopped to think again.


    "Okay, Katt. Play it cool, it''s not Retrosha--or wherever the hell that freaky voice told you! It''s.. your apartment. It''s just another segment of your bad dream." she assured herself, hastily.She placed herself back to her dominant position, as the owner of the house. "It''s not like a movie. Ugh." she pointed out.


    "It''s Retrovva, not Retrosha. Though, it would be quite the fitting name!"


    Katherine froze.


    "Y-You? Why are you here?" she questioned the voice, silently."Why, I should be asking that. I should also be asking that to your apartment--it''s not fitting to Retrovva''s dystopian setting, you know?" he replied back, chuckling again. It was the same voice as before, just moreinformal in some ways.


    Katherine spun in a flash, her expression mixed with fear and confusion. "Who are you!?" she asked, the stuttering masked with the volume of her voice."We all come by different names, Cat. I come by Kol. Very.. mawkish I must say."he replied back. Katherine fixated her eyes upon the man, a floating, relaxing figure clad in a blue suit and a dashing butterfly tie."Though I remember people calling me as Anatoly." he said again, rotating his body in the air, before landing. Katherine retraced her steps again.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "W-Why is this happening to me? This is purely insane! I need to get out of here! I need towake up!" she cried out. Anatoly massaged the line between his eyes, before sitting back on the chair, just in front of Katherine."The boy''s still asleep, and we would need to wait for about.." he said, before stopping his sentence to pull out a small, antique watch. "..300 seconds. 5 minutes, if you can count! But before rush hour''s over, we still have to wait out the.. act." Anatoly explained. Katherine, finding the comfort of her own living room--or somewhat, a place similar to it--better than the cracked corridors, decided to join Anatoly''s sitting.


    "What do you mean by the boy,rush hour and the act? How do you know all of this? Why am I here?" she asked, more calmly. Anatoly in return, smiled at her new persona."I''ve been here long enough to stay sane with these circumstances. Now, what I meant by the boy, it depends. Do you know any young lad in your lifetime? Someone who remembersYOU, perhaps. Someone with enough desire to pull your conscience to their dreams. That explains OUR presence."Anatoly stopped to exhale."For the time being, the little kid''s in a light sleep, which means rush hour has ended quite long ago. And with the acts, it''s simply the duration we have to sit through before the child wakes up--and we do!" Anatoly concluded.


    "..you didn''t even explain about rush hour?" "It''s better witnessed than said. Now, come on! We''ve got some errands to run, Cat!"Anatoly beckoned her.


    "How did you even know my name?" she asked. "..and what are theseerrands you speak of?""You were over Retrovva''s news, all you for the past weeks, sweetheart! I wonder who the boy thinks of you." he mumbled, before producing a small torn piece of newspaper. The word ''Cat'' filled it all.


    Soon, Anatoly exhaled deeply, pushing his own suit (and himself) up to standing level. He jolted his arm out, and spoke casually; "Pull my finger."


    "What?" Katherine asked. Anatoly peeked back to Katherine. "This is a lucid dream, so we''re free to do what we want, gal." He winked.


    Katherine, feeling an odd meme sense up her spine, did it hesitantly.


    The room beneath, on top and around her all deceased in color, their orange and yellow life desaturated to a mere grey and white. Soon, the woman caught a glimpse of Anatoly''s smile, before it faded into a kaleidoscope of a tunnel.


    ~ end of chapter 2; eccentric mondays ~

 Walk In The Park

    Grass. Katherine never felt it in a long time--even if it was in the dream.


    "Come on, no lazing off, Cat. You''re not an actual cat.. yet, so I beg you to lift yourself." Anatoly ordered. Katherine opened her eyes, her hair forming a jail cell in front of her eyes. "Unf, Anatoly..? Where are we..?" she asked, pushing herself up, feeling the authentic feel of tiredness. She adjusted her eyes, before sitting upstraight in the grass. It seems she landed safely in a patch of grass in what seems to be a park.


    Though, what caught her eyes wasn''t the park, nor Anatoly''s creepy smile, but it was the city behind him. She had remembered it from her ''past dream'', Retrovva. Though it was somewhat different. Her sitting body and Anatoly was standing up an anomalous hill, which looked more like a bump after she stayed for long enough there. Meanwhile, the buildings around her were there, but broken and floating, pieces of debris and cracks present, while static in the air. It was a blissful, chaotic sight for her to see.


    "A-Anatoly? What''s going on here?" she asked, quickly standing up to him. Anatoly winced a bit at the lightning fast movement the woman had, but he was used to it, just like he said before."Our ''act'' is going to end, princess. Quickly, before the audience leaves, we must go to the backstage! We don''t want to get knocked over by the curtains, correct?" Anatoly said, and riddled her. Well, it was more like a vague statement that made her confused--but it did the job the same.


    "W-Well--where is this backstage!?" she said, getting anxious with her surroundings. Through the corner of her eye, she saw the cake shop fromyesterday. Anatoly had let go of Katherine, his hand reaching up to her head as he patted it. He soon walked down the bumpy streets, passing through the floating boulders. "H-Hey! Wait!" Katherine shouted, running quickly (and carefully) around the obstacles and to Anatoly. Anatoly however, jumped and passed through each of them like a walk in the park. The ground beneath them grumbled, just like how Katherine''s stomach did, when she first saw the cake shops.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "Don''t worry, that''s just a slight bump. Come on, the backstage is over here." Anatoly instructed, his finger pointed at a clock tower, just past the playground where Katherine first.. appeared in. "That''s where I first woke up here!" she said, hurrying over, almost slipping on an ice puddle."Yep, and that''s where I first used my flashbang. Kid needed some entertainment, so I had to, haha!" he said, still walking. Soon, Katherine caught up with the man.


    "So, after we go to the backstage.. will we wake up?"Katherine asked."Think of it as a theatre, Cat. We don''t go until the audience goes first. During that, I''ll answer the rest of your questions--and meet you up with Shokoh and Keiser." he said, his head turned to her, as she caught up with him."Who are they?" she asked again, feeling the snow pile up below her shoes. Maybe she could clean it up in the ''backstage''?Though, her thought was cut short by Anatoly''s answer;"Same as ours, consciences that are drived into this world through the sheer amount of will. But, I think I haven''t told you that imaginary figures could also be implemented as well. That explains the presence of the things you have seen, the cracks in the sky--but that''s just small talk." he explained.


    Katherine immediately noticed where they were going. She wondered if that clock tower that served as a backstage was as elusive as her apartment--was it bigger on the inside? Will it teleport her to somewhere else? Or is it just as it is? She wondered. "So crazy things like nightmares can happen?" she asked."..that is correct, but it hasn''t happened for a long time, usually if it wasn''t the dystopian fantasy saga of Retrovva--it was the holy war that roared for Keiser''s fantasy world. Or Shokoh''s science-y neon blazing city! I love it, but we can only talk after the acts are over, for a couple of minutes. Never knew those imagos had great personality! You''ll love ''em too." he said, his hand reaching for the handle.


    Katherine wanted to open his mouth to ask another question, but stayed for another time.