Imagine #1: A Dream...

Prologue

"A planet where it always snows!"

"A planet with really tall forests!"

"A planet where everything is made of FOOD!"

Diana and Sylvia, ages five and six. They were cousins, and best friends from nearly birth. Their favorite game? Always make-believe. They had dreamed up an elaborate universe where anything they could have possibly wanted would exist. A galaxy where every planet was something new, and everyday, they picked a new planet to explore. The "Dream Realm" as they called it, for all dreams could come true there.

In the middle of their bedroom, in the middle of the night, the two cousins didn't and couldn't fall asleep with all of the adventures waiting for them. Despite it being the middle of the night, both were awake and ready to play.

"Let's go to Polarex this time," Sylvia, the older of the two, suggested. "We went to Forestical last time."

Polarex, the planet of ice and snow. One of Diana's favorites to visit. She readily agreed, and the two set off through their imaginary portal. Diana pretended to shiver, hugging her arms close to her. "Brrr!" She said, "It's so cold here!"

"That's the point, silly," Sylvia reminded her, laughing, and they began their game, taking in the views and ice-skating around the frozen lakes

Not too soon after, someone opened the door to their room. "Hey, you two need to sleep. You can play more tomorrow," Diana's mom told them from the entryway.

"Awww, but I wanna play now!" Diana complained.

"You can play in your dreams," She said firmly, tucking them in before closing the door gently.

But the fun didn't stop just because they were asleep. In a strange way, their minds seemed to be connected, and their exploration of the Dream Realm continued, but it was a little different. Instead of their surroundings being sparked from their minds, they seemed real, as if they were truly on a planet that didn't exist, at least, not that they knew of.

Diana blinked her eyes inside her dream, surrounded by actual falling snow and frost-covered trees. "Sylvia?" She called out.

"I'm here," She responded, grabbing Diana's hand at her side. "Let's keep exploring this place! It's all so real now," She said, the line between dreams and reality blurring together.

So their game continued, at that age neither truly recognized the strangeness of what was going on. They were simply two best friends enjoying their imaginary realm, in waking, and in sleep. It was their favorite pastime, spending hours and hours in their game of imagination. They had, in their minds, the best time ever.

But after ten years had passed, they didn't remember much of anything.