Dreams

Four

I am falling. The wind rushes around me, the strong blasts making an eerie howling noise. Only gentle breezes touch my skin. There is no fear in the fall. It doesn't even feel like falling. It feels like floating, except I know my body is going down in a predestined path.

A gray sky surrounds me, along with white wisps of clouds and mist. Below me, a small, blue dot, the end of the wind tunnel.

The thought to scream crosses my mind, but I don't. I just let the air continue to take me.

Something makes its way through the thick haze, creating a large looming shadow. I hear loud thunder, followed by a caw. The creature's vast wings begin to take shape before my eyes.

"Geneos," I say, and suddenly the gusts die down. The fog lifts. For a moment I am suspended in the air, with a large griffin in front of me.

That's when I really fall. This time, my heartbeat speeds up rapidly. I scream loudly.

I resist the urge to close my eyes, and instead try to focus on the flying beast in close distance. I reach out to him. His feathers touch the edge of my fingers but they keep slipping. I kick in the air, motioning my body towards him. When my hand permanently latches on to his back feathers, I release a breath I've been holding. I get on him, and the sensation of falling disappears.

"Thank you," I tell him, brushing his neck softly. I inhale and exhale, and relax my shoulders. "So, are you taking me somewhere special?"

He squawks at me in reply. I do not speak griffin, but I feel like he means yes. Another gust of wind blows the tips of my dress back, and I didn't even know I was wearing a dress. I hold on tightly. Thank goodness I did, as right after, Geneos dives down.

We stop shooting downward when the sea comes to view. A beautiful, rich, blue sea, with a surface that sparkles and shines.

Somewhere in the middle of that vast ocean, is a spiraling tunnel sucking up nearby rocks. White and blue waves circle over and over, into a whirlpool. At the center, a black eye. It makes me shiver just looking at it.

When the scary spiral disappears from view, the griffin brings us even lower, and I am tempted to put my hand in the water. But that would be too cliché. Besides, I'd rather not accidentally fall.

We reach the end of the flight: an ocean bay. Geneos releases a breath of air that turns into a miniature twister. It lifts me off his back and into the ground, and I feel my toes sinking in the fine, golden sand. It feels nice to touch sand that isn't burning hot. The smell of the sea covers the atmosphere.

A certain music fills my ears. The music of the ocean. I hear the water crashing against rocks, and seagulls squawking. I hear the sound of the breeze whistling, and a little bit of... classical music?

"Hey, girl!"

It came from somewhere near, but I don't see anyone.

"Girl with the braid!"

I unconsciously feel my hair, and I see the singular braid again. My next look towards the ocean is when I see it. Standing on a rock, a girl with a mermaid's tail. After seeing one of them, I begin to notice the others not far behind her.

"Join us!" they chorus, waving their hands at me.

"Should I?" I ask Geneos, but when I turn, he is gone. "Geneos?"

"Come join us," the mermaids begin again.

I etch closer to the water, and I feel the cool liquid against my skin. They could be sirens, I think. Luring me into a trap. But then again, if they were sirens, I should be drowned by now. I don't feel a dying need to join them, just an urge to swim. Now, is that my natural swimming instinct or a deadly false feeling?