Wanderlust Dreamers

Dreams can be a portal to another world. They can be an escape from harsh realities. But reality will always catch up with you.

Wanderlust Dreamers

Daydreams take us where we can’t go ourselves. I suffer from; let’s call it, chronic Wanderlust.  I need to move and see new places. I want to be somewhere I haven’t been before. I feel this way all the time. It almost never stops. Its caused by several things. The most common cause is, not wanting to be where you are. Say family problems bug you to the point where running away and being anywhere but home is fine. This is the beginning of Wanderlust.

When you cannot escape whatever is causing you the need to wander, dreaming can become the only escape. People daydream in boring classes at school. Its natural to daydream.  That is also the mild side effect of Wanderlust. But in extreme cases, like mine, people become 'Dreamers'. We are able to send our subconscious to places we could only imagine, but in truth, somewhere in this universe, they exist. And its not just the world around us that changes. We ourselves, the Dreamers, change too. To fit our personalities better, we can be become the person we want to be.

Why I am a Dreamer is simple. My home life is horrible. Parents always arguing, a little sister that does things a girl her age shouldn’t even know about and I have to deal with it all silently in the center.  I want to get away so badly, but there’s nowhere for me to go.  Also, I want to leave this tiny town I live in to search this world for love. I’m certainly not finding where I am. This place is too confining, almost like a jail cell, but without walls and a barred door. And yet I still can’t leave. School also keeps me locked down. I want to learn so I can succeed out in the world. Without knowledge, I won’t be able to go anywhere. Dreaming is my only escape. Being a Dreamer allows me the freedom to roam without consequence.  But it doesn’t solve my problems; it only makes them go away for so long.

Its one of those times again. Where I’ve locked myself away in my bedroom and turned on the music loud enough to block out the angry drunk voices of my parents. They’re arguing over my younger sister’s behaviour again, blaming each other for it. Truthfully, its both their faults. They’ve ignored us both for too long and are just beginning to notice us again. I’m splitting apart at the seams. I need to get out of here.

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. “Anywhere but here please.”

 Its a land one could only imagine, I can tell quickly by the scenery and the azure sky being too blue for reality. I stand near a cliff, looking over the sea. The waves crash against the cliff face, sending a mist into the air around me.  This is my favourite spot in this world. I wish I could stay here forever. But ‘he’ must know I’m here already and will be coming to find me, that is, if I don’t go to him first. The walk between this spot and the hamlet where he lives is a nice short walk through a forest. The walk will clear my head of the anger and spitefulness.  His telepathy would pick up on it otherwise, and then he’d ask about it. I’d prefer if he didn’t.

I begin my walk, thinking about how the sunlight dapples on the ground, through the tree branches and bright green leaves.  I pass the small watering hole and stop to make sure I look at least slightly presentable.  My alternate appearance reflects in the water, staring back at me with ice blue eyes and long black hair streaked with the same blue. I’m taller and thinner in this world and without teenage blemishes and slightly paled skin; I look almost like a vampire. Not that I mind. I straighten my black and blue dress. Its tiny silver chains tinkling lightly as the fabric beneath them shift. Once I felt satisfied, I continued on my way.

I came to the crest of one the hills that surrounded the small town where he lived.  I could see him leaning on the door jamb looking up the hill in my direction, as always.  His emerald eyes find mine and lock onto them. ‘He knew I was coming today. How does he do that?’

He pushes himself from the door and meets me half way up the hill. “Welcome back, Liana,” he says, holding his out to me. I place my smaller hand in his. “Its good to be back, Artemis,” I reply. He leads me to his house, where I stay during my ‘Dreams’.

Time moves differently between reality and the Dream realms. One hour in the Real world can equal up to twelve hours in the dream realms. But the way time actually works in the other worlds doesn’t affect them the way one would think. The people of the worlds age slower than we do, thus their lifespan is equal to ours even with the difference of the movement of time. He and I both know, I’m gonna be here for a while.

I stay with Artemis when I’m in this world. He’s kinda like a teacher, care taker, and a boyfriend to me. He teaches me the ways of this world and the majicks of it, he lets me live with him, while I’m here and, well, you get the picture. He’s also a very good cook.  Did I mention I have to eat while I’m in the other realms as well? Its literally like having another life.

Fire appears in his unoccupied hand and he flicks it to the hearth where it ignites the logs for a fire. Little sparks float away from the fire and light the candles that are dispersed throughout the small cabin of a house.  Its dark in the cabin, even when the sun is out. His scholarly habits leave him with overflowing bookshelves and piles of papers and manuscripts, which often block the windows. The candles sit where ever they can or are needed. The second floor of the cabin is much worse than the first.

I look over to where he had gone after lighting the fire, where he shuffles papers and scrolls. His arms are full and I take some from him. “Let me help you,” I say, pulling another scroll from his grasp. “Now, where do I put them?”

Artemis manoeuvres around several piles of books and places his arm load of papers on another pile. “Here,” he says, patting the pile with his hand. I place them down and turn to see what was cleared of paper now.  A table lay bear, for once, with two chairs. Artemis has gone off again. He comes back with a large cauldron and he hooks it on the spit. “The only time you really cook is when I’m around,” I say, scowling slightly to get my point across. He’d study his papers and books and starve to death if I didn’t come around often enough to remind him to eat and that he was an amazing chief.

“I do too eat when you’re not around,” he replies, hearing my thoughts.

‘Damn you and your telepathy.’

He laughs and continues to prepare whatever he feels like cooking. By the looks of it, its my favourite dish, Hawthorn leaf and nirior soup. I’m not a huge fan of soup, but this was amazing. He adds several spices and herbs into the mixture. A heavy aroma fills the cabin, a bitter sweet smell that’s almost tangible.  This smell is much better than the nauseating smell of cigarettes in my true home.

My thoughts begin to drift back to the place which I am forced to call home. I wonder if my parents are still arguing and if my sister has snuck off somewhere. She’s probably ‘dealing’ with it her way. If she keeps doing it the way she is, she’ll never get anywhere in life. And no matter how many times I tell her this, she looks me in the eye and says, “You’ll come to me for help when your stupid dreams can’t help you.” I wouldn’t dare use her methods.

“You don’t have too,” Artemis whispers. He’s very close to me. I hadn’t noticed him move. He wraps his arms around me and holds me close. “No matter how hard you try to hide the fact you’re here to escape, I’ll always know.”

“Its not like anything I do here will help with anything there,” I reply, looking away from his face. He cups my face in his hand and forces my eyes back to him.

“That’s not true.”

I’m surprised, very surprised.  I study his face. He has an expression of whimsical amusement. He knows something.

“Of course I know something,” he says, taking my hands and clasping them between his own. “I study majick and the planes, how they interact and even about those like you.”

“Dreamers.”

“Exactly.”  He smiles and leads me to one of the chairs near the uncovered table. “We’ll eat first then talk.” He leaves me sitting at the table as he grabs bowls and spoons for both of us. He returns with the bowls full of soup and places one in front of me and sits down on the other chair.

We talk as we eat. Its mindless chatter, but it keeps my mind from my world. Then the conversation takes a serious turn when Artemis says, “I found a way to allow full planar travel.” I nearly choke on the soup.

“What?” This is big news, even for this world. Artemis is very young compared to others in his profession, so for him to find something like this is monumental.

He nods nonchalantly, as if it something everyone knew, which it certainly wasn’t.  “Its a small portal that’s created in both worlds and connected by casting a spell at exactly the same time in both worlds.”

“Wouldn’t that be hard to do, with the difference in time movement and all?”

“Once a circle is cast, the time within the two synchronizes and becomes the same. The hard part is actually creating the circle properly and obtaining the proper power stones in your world.” He places his arms on the table, clasping his hands; he rests his chin on them.  He looks extremely serious, its almost scary. “I can give you a list to memorize if you wish to try it....But, I’m not sure it’ll work.”

“Why not?”

“I created this spell. I’m gonna have my doubts that it’ll work or not.”

“Its not the first one you’ve created. Your other ones worked.”

“After much trial and error. What if I made a major mistake and the portal doesn’t work as you attempt to come through it? What if you’re sent to another world? What if-“

I reach across the table and silence him by pressing a finger to his lips. “Enough with your doubts. Surely there’s a way to test it.”

“How?”

“Throw something through it perhaps? Like a ball or a book.”

He thinks deeply for a moment, his eyes move in an almost twitchy matter as he formulates something within his mind. “I think that would work.”

I smile. I can finally escape permanently. No longer would I be a burden to my parents or a wet towel on my sister' would be house parties when they’re gone. They could do as they wish without having to worry about me. I could stay here with Artemis, learn more majick than I ever could just as a visitor. My mind drifts to a place of doubt again. Would I be a burden on him? Would I be bothering him by staying here?

“Never,” he answers. I love and yet still hate his telepathy. “I could teach you it once you’re here permanently.”

I smile. “I’d like that.”

He laughs. “We’ll be able to read each other’s minds. There won’t be any need for verbal conversation anymore.”

I stick my tongue out childishly. “Well fine then Mr. Pessimist. I won’t learn telepathy just so you have to talk.”

I look out one of the unblocked windows. One of the three moons that orbit around this realm had risen while I talking to Artemis. Were I to go outside, I’d see the sun setting over the forest in a burst of bright reds and oranges.  A hand waves in front of my face while I gaze out the window.

“I’m still here,” I say, getting up and taking both our bowls and spoons to the enchanted sink where they wash themselves. It looks like a crude version of a dish washer, but uses majick instead of actual water to clean the dishes, one his many inventions. After placing them inside I turn back to Artemis, only to find him right behind me, which is actually now directly in front because I turned around. He gives me his sly smile and wraps his arms around my waist, tugging me closer. He’s in one of those moods. “Its gonna be so much nicer when you’re here with all the time. I won’t have to wait for you to come back all the time.”

I giggle, which is odd, because I don’t do that often. He leans over me as I go on my toes to kiss him. But a slamming pain in my gut tears me away from him. The world blears and I begin to see both at the same time. Someone is trying to wake me up.

“Liana?” Artemis asks; worry making his emerald eyes dark.

“Some idiot is trying to wake me up,” I reply. “I’ll be back. I need that list of power stones so we can make that portal.”

He nods and backs away as I fade back into my real head, in my home world.

“Wake up damn you!” screams a high pitched voice.

“I’m awake,” I grumble, hoping it wasn’t my mother and if it was that she wasn’t drunk or stoned. But it is her and she is drunk once more.

“Finally.  A kid your age doesn’t need naps,” she says, slurring her words. “Go find your idiot sister. She’s gone off again.”

I refrain from rolling my eyes. No matter how drunk she gets she always seems to notice that small movement. “She’ll come back on her own like she always does. What makes this time so different?”

“Some son of a b***h called Child Services on me and your dad. Since we don’t know where she is and you probably do and I don’t want the cops on my a*s, you’re gonna find your little sister like a big sister should.” She points to my bedroom door. “Now go!”

With my back turned to her, I now roll my eyes. Child Services, fun. It wouldn’t be the first time either. The first time was when they found I was a Dreamer, by law the local cops must delve into why, what reasons and then how to solve the problem. That made me the hated child.

I leave my room and stopped once in the doorway to the living room to see which worker had come. I’d never met this woman and by the looks of her, I don’t want to. She has that look that tells everyone, but herself, that she’s a mean, hateful witch, the kind you don’t cross once, much less twice. I slipped away to the back door where my shoes were, put them on and left the house. I walk in the general direction of where my sister most likely would be.

A couple streets later, I come to the busy road with the bridge. The fastest way to cross is under it. With night haven fallen a few hours ago and the new moon covered by dark clouds, its hard enough to see on the streets, much less under them. But I risk it anyways. I don’t know what I had stumbled onto, I couldn’t see anything, but I heard the voices. One was angry and the other pleading. Both stop as they hear rocks tumble down as I stumble under the bridge. I was tempted to conjure fire into my hands,(majicks work in all realms) but decided against it. It was better to not bring complete attention to myself, however much I had already failed on that.

“Who’s there?!” demands the person with the angry voice.

I reply feebly, “Just someone who’s looking to cross under the bridge rather than get hit by car.”

There’s laughter, it comes from more than just the two voices I heard. Its all around me. I wrap my arms around and think of several spells I could use to get out of this.

“Sorry, but I can’t run the risk that you heard something...,”says the angry voice again.

“Please! I just have to find my sister! She’s at the Hole.” The Hole was a place her and friends found and made it their own. But, as it turns out, a lot of people knew of it. Everyone calls it the Hole.

“Oh, really now?...I don’t care.” There’s a rustle of fabric and a metallic click.

I reach out with my hand and shout the command for a fireball. I launch it the general direction of the angry voice. The fireball engulfs the whole area under the bridge, revealing to me that there were indeed several people there. I cringe in fear as two people dodge the fireball. They’re older, probably in there thirties, but one looks really weak.

I’ve stumbled across a drug deal by the looks of it . I’m in trouble, big trouble. I found myself wishing Artemis was here. He’d protect me. With my limited arsenal of spells, I couldn’t do much and I certainly couldn’t fight all these guys off with my fists.

“You’ll pay for that! You nearly ruined my new leather jacket,” the angry voice shouts again, it sounds even angrier than before.  I’m really afraid now.

I think of a spell that will knock several of them away if they come closer. They didn’t. Instead a loud bang echoes under the bridge and an agonizing pain spreads in my chest. Someone shot me. Warmth spreads from the wound. I fall to my knees in the dirt. Its my life’s blood draining from my body. Tears begin to sting my eyes. I fall to face.

I won’t even be able to say good-bye to Artemis.

Author's Note

In case you haven't noticed this is written in first person present tense.
Tell me where there are any spelling errors and such!
EDIT: Spelling errors corrected...Or at least the ones I found...

Reviews

[Chellie]

The ending was so unexpected. It made me so sad. I wanted her to end up with Artemis forever. I would love to see this as a book, describing more of her adventrues with him and in other worlds. The idea and plot of this are very interesting, and I would love to see more of it. There was great description, and the storyline flowed very niceley. Ther were a couple spelling mistakes and a couple places where you forgot a word or put a word down twice. They are all very easy to see. Just go back and read through it. They should be very easy to spot. Thanks for entering this in my contest, it was such a joy to read.

[Dark Aeris]

That was the ending?! Wow. I thought it would somehow continue. Amazing twist I suppose, she should have lived out her dream before it died. Regardless, I loved your story. :] I'm glad I was able to read it.

As for spelling mistakes and things of that matter, maybe I was really into your story but I don't think I really saw any, I mean if you read over it, I'm sure they were just obvious mistakes due to a pretty lengthy write.

[Preeti]

You should have a friend or beta proofread this...I found some grammar errors (punctuation, to be more exact).

I like your concept of Wanderlust and Dreamers and such but I have to say that I really didn't get the point of that ending. I was expecting something related to Dreaming, a spell gone wrong, or...just something else. The ending was unexpected but it didn't really leave me with a sense of closure. Rather, it just makes me wonder why you spent so much time explaining the concept of Dreaming if your main character was only going to get shot to death.

So, other than the ending, I liked it.

[Thoctar]

Good job! I like it! Sorry I cant say much, but i think chellie said enough already XD

[Paradoxical]

I really like the storyline and the whole premise of this... Great work!!! Love it!!