When Shadows Rise | I

Ch. 22 | Meditation

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Talia did not know what to expect for this dream around. First things first, instead of finding herself in a vacuum, she was quite surprised that her fingertips were touching something tangible. It felt like something soft was tickling her bare skin. She sat up from wherever she was laying on top of and observed as much as she could of her surroundings. The scenery was a great change than the last two settings— blue skies, slivers of sunlight stabbing through the fluffy white clouds, a gentle breeze playing with her hair, and lastly, the lush, green grass she had the courtesy of using as her mattress. Hills and hills of lively flowers rolled on for what seemed like forever.

How strange. . .

Talia even looked down at herself, noticing that she was wearing an outfit that definitely would've came out of her wardrobe: flowy skirt, a top with floral appliqué, and cardigan— all three pieces were color coordinated, as it was standard procedure in Talia's fashion world. The exact choice of clothing brought a vague feeling over Talia, but she could not say for certain what it was. At least she was not caught in a hospital gown.

She arose from the ground, staring down at all the flowers that waved to her and danced with one blow of the wind. When she was younger, she had the crazy thought that the flowers were actually fairies in disguise, using their powers to obey nature's call. Back when she still lived in Israel, Talia always used to search for fairies when her parents took her camping in the forest; she was convinced that they were real and if she looked hard enough, they would show themselves.

After Talia took the first step, Talia could not seem to stop. She could've been walking for an eternity; the path she was on had no ending. One thing she took detail of was that the flowers below were not a heterogenous blend— every single one looked the same to her in terms of appearance. She definitely did not recognize what kind of flower it was.

When she stopped in the middle of nowhere, the atmosphere shifted on a dime. The temperature dropped and the wind pattern no longer suggested friendliness, but rather animosity; aggressiveness. Within one blink of an eye, darkness took over the skies. Before Talia could even begin to process the horrifying transition, the unknown flowers at her feet  suddenly had a mind of their own. Their stems grew thicker and taller, wrapping themselves around Talia's ankles and wrists, successfully restraining her.

I should have known this dream was not going to be any different. The more Talia struggled, the tighter the stems constricted. She somehow needed to get herself free, but she started to feel woozy. Her eyes were slowly falling into the temptation of closing and possibly never waking up again, while her brain was on the verge of shutting down. All of this felt familiar somehow, but as of this moment, she could not think of anything. She did not even know why such a feeling was coming to her.

Talia then felt something clog up her throat, completely blocking her airway. Pretty quickly, she was making gagging sounds and panic, confusion, and shock crashed onto her all at once. She kept retching, hoping that she would cough up whatever was lodged in her throat, but it wouldn't budge; it was torture.

Moments later, she felt it— something slithering up her throat like a snake. In seconds, she was forced to open her mouth and puke out the same blooming flower that was keeping her captive- her own blood dripping from its delicate indigo petals.

Then everything went black.

***

"Damn. So that's it, then? Just when your dream started to 'feel' all sunshine and rainbows."