Heart of a Dreamer

The Dreamer

Rowan opened her eyes. Her heart started to race, her violet eyes widened, and her small mouth opened in surprise. Never before had she summoned this beautiful of a place before. She was lying in a patch of soft grass, and she held up her hand to shield her eyes from the brightness of the golden sun. She was surrounded by beautiful trees of every kind; oak, birch, elm, and many that even she couldn't name. All around her were colorful wildflowers, and many of which were occupied by butterflies. She had done it. Rowan smiled, and ran off into the woods her mind had created.
~~~
"Rowan! I asked you a question!"
Rowan opened her eyes, and saw Mrs. Guild glaring at her.
"Um, s-sorry, Mrs. Guild. Um, could you repeat the question? Please?" Rowan stammered, choosing her words carefully.
"I asked what year was Napoleon Bonaparte sent into exile on Saint Helen's island?" Mrs. Guild said sternly.
"Uh, wasn't it... 1804?"
"Incorrect. Would someone like to inform Ms. Blanchard of what we discussed three minutes ago?"
Everyone in the small classroom snickered, and Rowan, being the independent girl she was, pretended nothing happened and kept her face from blushing too much.
Welcome to high school, she thought.
~~~
"Hey! Rowan!"
Rowan's friend Mya came jogging towards her. Rowan glanced up from the sidewalk home, and looked back down. Not now, she thought. Please not now.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Mya said.
Rowan pointed forward.
"My house, duh."
"Oh, well, can I walk with you?"
No, Rowan thought.
"Sure." She said.
"So, what happened in history?"
"Nothing, just dozed off."
"Yeah, Mrs. Guild is so boring."
They walked together in silence, and Rowan was irritated for the whole trip. She had almost done it! She had almost created her best "image" yet! And Mrs. Guild had ruined it. She ruined all of Rowan's good "images". She wanted to feel self pity alone, but with Mya being the social butterfly that she was, Rowan hardly ever got that satisfaction. If she could just show Mya why she was annoyed, then she wouldn't have to be irritable all of the time. Before high school, Rowan could create worlds as she wished. She always had something to look forward to at night. Now, she hardly ever had the pleasure. All of her negative experiences turned her images dark, and sometimes they turned so warped and terrifying that Rowan would refuse to give in to sleep. So far, Mrs. Guild embarrassed her in front of class, Coach Ray called her out in front of the gym class and called her a "cow with the speed of a slug", and some idiot senior dumped their lunch on her. Tonight, she thought, is definitely not gonna be pretty.
~~~
Rowan woke up in the same meadow as before. Something was wrong, however. She could sense it. Suddenly all of her memories from the day came flooding to her from the sky, whispering and snaking their way to her. No, not again, she thought. The bad memories hit her like a hammer, and suddenly, once she remembered the terrible memories from the day, her beautiful meadow started to change. The flowers started to wilt, the trees began to rot, and the sky started to turn black as coal right before her eyes. Then, the storm started. Wait, wha- oh no... Rowan thought. It's here. The thunder suddenly turned into growls and snarls, and the wind turned into bloodcurdling howls. When the lightning flashed, Rowan saw the dark outline of a gigantic, ebony-colored wolf. Not just any wolf, this was the Nightmare. Rowan's eyes widened as before, but this time with terror. She ran into the now-rotting grove of trees, and in a split second she heard the thunderous, running paw steps coming from behind her. The Nightmare never stopped at nothing to capture it's prey, and it never failed. Rowan knew this, but she kept running. Unlike her good "images", she felt pain and worst of all, exhaustion. She felt more tired than she ever had, and knew that if she even stopped for a second, the beast would surely catch her. It always caught her, but it seemed to Rowan that maybe, just maybe, there could be a way to escape this monster and force it to return to the pit it came from. She imagined a sort of button or lever, or maybe even she had to go to a certain place and say a certain word to make it disappear. She hadn't found anything yet, but her tiredness wouldn't stop her this time. This was a new "image", so it would be much harder to find escape, but Rowan just kept sprinting through the rotting trees. I can't, I have to stop, she thought. The howling of the Nightmare kept her going. The forest seemed to never end, and everything looked exactly the same. She had to stop. She had to. She slowed, turned around, and looked into the red, droopy eyes of the Nightmare. It knocked her over with it's strong shoulders, and used a gigantic, black paw to pin her down. It howled in triumph, like it had won this "game" for the hundredth time in a row. It snarled down at her, its long talons digging deeper into her skin. Rowan knew this part was coming, but was always frightened of it. The Nightmare looked her in the eye, took it's paw off of her chest, backed up, lunged at her, and everything turned black. Rowan woke up screaming, a cold sweat soaked her hair and face, and the image of blackened teeth coming toward her face was seared into her mind.
~~~
Hey guys! Hoped you liked the first part of my story! If ya didn't... That's ok... Lol... Part 2 is coming soon, so yep!
Byeee!!😋

-Ashley🐼