we came from the moon

Prologue

I don't know where I was. Some kind of empty void it seemed. I didn't like it very much, so I summoned grass. It came. There wasn't any kind of thought process behind this, it was just something I knew how to do. The grassland was vast and scenic, rolling over hills into a woodland full of distant birdsong. Of course, none of the hills were in my path, no point in making the journey harder for myself. I marched through the field of my creation, eager to reach my destination. It was then I became aware of something following me. It was a dark presence but I was not afraid of it. Not here.

"Leara." The darkness called in his deep demanding voice. "Leara, stop!"

I continued to walk, hoping that he might get bored and go away. I should've known better.

"Leara, please. Why are you being so cruel?"

I stopped and turned to face the man. His face was ever changing, like he were several beings at once and all of them were fighting for a spotlight. I focused upon his eyes, the one feature of his that did not change.

"I am not cruel." I said, holding my gaze defiantly despite the chill the black depths of his pupils sent through me. "You hurt me."

His face grew more clarity, similar to the way a camera focuses, and his face became one. The face that appeared was painfully familiar to me. Its features were contorted with indignation.

"You're not being fair." He looked at me sulkily, his lips pouting ever so slightly like a scolded child's. "You hurt me first."

I resisted the softening of my resolve. "Life is not fair, Dante."

"We can do it over." His eyes filled with tears and I wondered if those could be faked here. "You promised we would journey together."

"We're on different paths now..." I said, looking away and attempting to breathe in the grass scent. I could taste the salt of his tears. I hated it.

"We can find each other again. I promise. Come with me." Dante held out a hand.

And I woke up.

It was the strangest dream even by my standards and I was known to have a vivid imagination. Reaching for my phone and squinting into the blinding light of my lock screen , I checked the time. 5:56am. Typical. I had four minutes before I had to get up for my shift.

"Noooo..." I wailed, rolling over and burrowing into my duvet. Then, like the aftershock after an earthquake, the real tragedy stuck me.

Dante and I were over.

I wasn't talking about freaky-dream-Dante. I was talking about the real Dante. My boyfriend of four years. My future husband... My ex.

An immediate ache took over my chest as anxiety, sadness, and loss wreaked through my body all at once. Impulsively, I grabbed the phone back and checked my notifications. There was literally nothing. Nothing. A nasty lump rose up in my throat, but the tears that threatened to fall were interrupted by the most evil and irritating noise in the world. My alarm.