Once Upon a Story [ HIATUS ]

Dream World: The Realm of Giants

It's the way I'm on vacation and have an exam tmr 🥲 can I just not deal with any of this?
The prompt is from Written Word Media in the Children category.

Dream up your own imaginary world.

Word count: 416
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Many have heard stories of Ljósálfheimr, the famed realm of dreams, where children spend their nights in fields of flowers, prancing around with ljósálfr, flying with their colourful butterfly wings.

But have you seen my world of wonder?

It starts with a lake, a large pond. Water lilies spot the surface with white lotus blossoms flowering near their patches. A few frogs hop around, croaking to each other, snapping buzzing flies into their bellies for lunch. Avoiding them are dragonflies, butterflies and bees alike, staying out of reach of their long sticky tongues. Nearing the pond's edge, tall reeds sways, roughing up the water's border.

Surrounding it is a forest, thick with leafy trees and a few pines. Their scent carries in the humid air, permeating stronger than other fragrances.

Everything looks regular, no different from what you've seen and know. But this world hides a secret deep under the water. Take a step and find yourself submerged without needing to breathe a single breath.

Small fish, some quite large, swim around, but your focus shifts to the shadows looming around you, gliding around with a grander of ancient times.

Closer to the surface, Ichthyosaurs wriggle their bodies like reptiles in the sea. I admit they look funny, like lizards with added fins. Even their mouth extends like the snout of a gharial. Plesiosaurs soar above your head as you swim deeper, flapping their lengthy flippers. Even the smallest in size stretches as long as a school bus.

The journey continues, and two massive whales almost roll you over. They look alike, but their faces are distinct: A predatory Basilosaurus and what looks like a sperm whale, a Livyatan melvillei. Both have rows of spiked teeth; both would surely tear or crush you apart. The Basilosaurus' face protrudes outward like a crocodile. It's a weird thing to see on a whale's body.

But Livyatan catches your attention as it clicks. Echolocation reverbs in your ears as it dives past a cliff, deep into the depths. Looking, swimming deeper, something else appears on the sandy bottom. A creature with a dorsal fin. Crawling at the bottom is the Spinosaurus, a carnivorous dinosaur adapted to hunting on land and sea. With an alligator appearance and webbed feet, it effortlessly moves through the water, pursuing fish.

Peering up, all the creatures you've seen still roam around, but their numbers have grown, multiplied to whole masses.

It's incredible, right? They're shadows from your perspective but provide a magnificent silhouette around the pond's center solar light. And if you close your eyes, searching for the sun, you'll reappear in the woods, lying on the soft grass.

The air is still fresh, and the wind rustles the leaves, prompting your eyes to open and look as nature revolves around you.

That is my dream world, well, part of my dream world. Today ancient beasts rule the waters; tomorrow, butterflies may spawn from a glass sanctuary. There's no way of telling what the pond will show you. But that's the beauty of it; the beauty of a dream.

Unlimited creation and delightful fascination.