In dreams and insanity

Prologue

"Smell this," the little boy's mother said as she held a fresh fruit in front of him while he tried not to get distracted by all the racket around them. It was hard for a young boy to stay focused when there were crowds of people around and so much noise. The sun was bright in the sky and his mother was always excited when the marketplace opened in the beginning of summer, no matter the circumstances. The boy leaned forward and got a whiff of the big fruit in her hands. The smell was sweet as honey, the kind of sweet that makes your mouth water and you can imagine the juicy taste without having to take a bite.

"Now that is a ripe melon, my boy!" she said with a smile and turned her attention back to the man owning the stall. The boy felt an immediate sense of joy to see his mother's smile.

"How old is your son?" the kind man in the stall asked the boy's mother.

"He's six, and his name is Colin," she replied in a friendly manner.

Colin saw the man look down at him with a warm smile on his bearded face. He looked so friendly, even though his beard and short hair was black as the night. His eyes reminded Colin of the family dog's, big and brown with a hint of mischief gleaming behind the surface.

"He seems very sweet. What's your name then, if I may ask?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. My name is Laura Stern," she giggled and reached out to shake his hand as the man continued his conversation with her.

Colin looked around, taken by all the stalls and the scent of different kinds of candy and fruit. He started to stray away from his mother and walked over to another stall nearby to look at the many different kinds of jewelry that a lady sold, all handmade. He especially fancied a necklace with a tiny shark made out of wood and thought maybe Laura would be kind enough to let him have it.

"Psst..."

He could've sworn he heard something, so he carefully put the necklace back down and looked around, not sure from which direction the sound had come.

"Psst!"

He heard it again, to his right. He walked behind the stalls and saw someone in the distance, peeking their head out from behind the corner of a big, sand-colored brick building. They made a gesture for him to come closer, waving their hand in the air. As the heedless little boy that he was, he walked towards them without further concern about any consequences that might occur. He stepped off the paved road and walked on gravel along the wall of the building, not caring much about the stubborn, tiny pebbles that hopped into his sandals. As he got closer he saw the face of an old woman. He stopped in his tracks and gasped quietly to himself as he noticed how old she really appeared to be. He had seen movies picturing mummies from old tombs and this woman was the closest you could get to that while still being alive. Her skin was wrinkled and dry, and she looked as if she had already lived through many lifetimes.

"Come here, boy. Don't be afraid!" she whispered in a raspy voice, but unfortunately he was already afraid, or at very least uncomfortable. Nonetheless he was still curious, so he slowly stepped forward, the gravel crunching beneath his feet, as the old lady looked around as if she was hiding and didn't want to be seen. Once he got close enough she grabbed him gently and dragged him behind the wall so they were both hidden from the crowds.

"Good boy, Colin."

His eyes widened as she spoke his name.

"Your name is Colin, is it?"

"Y-yes..." he stuttered with his big ocean eyes searching for anything to look at besides her face, until his gaze locked itself onto her clothes. She had a long, hooded cape that was glimmering somehow, but what was most interesting about it was its colors. They weren't any colors he had ever witnessed before, which made them impossible to describe, even in his own mind. They were colors, but as far as he knew, colors without names - colors that don't even exist in this world.

"You were looking at necklaces over there, were you not?" she asked him kindly with her weary voice, while trying to make eye contact.

He just nodded, without looking up from her abnormal clothes.

"I have something for you, something very rare and special. Something you will never find in any stall at any marketplace in this world."

As he heard those words, he finally lifted his head and looked at her. This was when he noticed her eyes. He'd seen gray eyes before, but these weren't really gray, more like silver. In a way, they looked oddly young and beautiful. He watched with curiosity as she picked something out of a huge pocket of her cape. With a toothless smile she held up a necklace in front of him. His jaw dropped and his narrow lips formed into a smile of amazement. It was alluring, gorgeous, even better than the little wooden shark. It was a narrow silver chain and attached to it was a charm about the size of a penny. The charm had an oval form and looked to have been made out of some form of metal, but it contained the same colors as the old woman's clothing. Imagine a metal as it's melting, that reflects all the colors of the rainbow, but this rainbow was made out of these otherworldly colors he just couldn't begin to describe. He started to think his eyes were deceiving him, or maybe he was dreaming. After all, most of his dreams were insanely vivid, much like this very moment. The old lady handed him the necklace and he accepted it with open hands.

"You will need this for the future. There are big plans for you. You will see as you get older. Promise me to hold this necklace close to you always, and never lose it!" She grabbed his wrists and stared into his eyes, as if she was delivering the most important message of her life. He nodded frantically to show that he understood, and promised he wouldn't disappoint her.

"Colin, where are you?" Laura's distressed voice was heard in the distance.

Colin looked away from the old lady to the direction of his mother's voice.

"Maybe we will meet again. Be safe, Niloc."

As he turned his head back toward the old lady, she was gone. He was just standing there in the alley, alone, with the necklace still in his hand. His mother's voice was still echoing in the distance, getting closer. Niloc, why did the lady call him that? What kind of plans was she talking about? He was confused, befuddled, his entire reality shaken to the core.

"Colin! Oh my god!" Laura exclaimed as she ran to him and grabbed his arms.

"Why didn't you answer me?" she asked, as tears welled up in her eyes. "You can't just disappear on me like that, you hear me? You can't! I thought I'd lose you too!"

She sobbed, hugging him tightly while he just stood there, quiet as a mouse. As Laura was collecting herself she noticed the piece of jewelry in Colin's hands.

"What is that?"

"An old lady gave it to me," he replied, showing off the necklace to his mother.

"What old lady? There's no one here. Did you steal this from a stall?" She tried to take the necklace away from him, but he clasped his hands around it.

"Where did you get it? Did you find it here?"

"I told you. The lady gave it to me." He could see that his mother was getting frustrated.

"Come on, let's just go home," Laura sighed and took Colin's hand.

"Mom, what are these colors?" he asked as he held up the necklace in front of her, and she stared at him with a look of confusion.

"What do you mean? There are no colors, honey. That necklace is gray. Curious thing to give to a little boy." She dragged him with her as they began to walk home.

He couldn't keep his eyes off the piece of jewelry, wondering why she couldn't see the beautiful colors it possessed even though he could, clear as day. Even though he couldn't wrap his head around anything that had just happened, he knew that he had to keep it safe.