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(From Chapter 13)
A sound downstairs groaned with a quiet squeak at the end. That would be the door from the mudroom into the kitchen. My eyes hardened. I looked at the red numbers of my digital alarm clock. 11:59. The stairs creaked. Heavy footsteps entered the hallway, muffled by the carpet before the door across the hall from mine was opened, then shut. Edan was finally home.
I yanked the brush from my hair and slammed it on my nightstand, causing the scented candle to gutter out. I pulled the pillow up around my ears, holding it with one arm while pulling my comforter up with the other. I needed a padlock for the anger scratching aggressively at my nerves. Closing my eyes, I told myself to go to sleep. Right now.
It worked. I was asleep, relief chilling my brain like the cold breeze on naked legs swinging off a branch that twisted and bent away from the trunk. I was very high in this unclimbable tree, bare beyond its flaking bark and standing charcoal against the eggplant colored sky.
The tree snagged my skirt and held it above my knees. It was costume party elaborate while sacrificial in color. I began to wonder when the dragon would be coming to get me.
I stopped breathing when I realized the birds were there. There were dozens of them lined up on the arthritic limbs of the tree. Each one watched me expectantly. Balancing on to my feet, I curled my toes around brittle bark. Below me I could just make out the shape of an elaborate headstone set at the North side of the tree’s roots.
One raven called out, the herald of the others. The air grew darker with so many wings lifting in tandem. My own arms rose and I stepped off the branch.
How melodramatic, I thought dryly. Only, I didn’t fall. The ravens were taking flight around me with a frame-by-frame feeling. My arms were spread beside me, then slightly behind me. The dress became silkier, more a part of my skin than covering it.
Feathers shimmered softly, the tips of white wings flashing in my eyes. I was a bird again, a raven whose feathers were so pale they reflected moonlight. Time resumed. The ravens surrounded me, crowding me as they flew through the air. I flapped my wings convulsively, wanting to use them like arms to cover my head while trying to remain aloft.
It took a moment to understand the ebony birds weren’t attacking. They were jostling with each other, struggling to contend with the crowd. Once their wings brushed mine, they left, opening up space for the next one to fly in.
One minute passed and they were all gone. I was alone in the night, gliding over the cemetery.
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Okay, a little afterward. This scene originally took place on a building (see picture). When I decided to grab it for this week's post I forgot I had changed it to the tree. The tree is actually much more significant to the story where the building was pure imagery. I'm also aware of the hard transition between being awake and being asleep. I am working on it. One day, it will be fixed. Somehow. Yeah.
Question time. Do you turn into an animal when you dream? Which one(s)?
What an interesting dream sequence! I thought you did this well!!
ReplyDeleteI've actually never dreamed of being an animal, although that would be very cool!
Thank you. What's interesting is I like some of the changes dictated by the mandatory words. They may find their way in to the draft.
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