Dreamland

Chapter One

I growled in frustration as the landscape changed around me again. But really, that wasn't what had bothered me. What really bothered me was that my simple t-shirt and jeans had changed along with it. Now I was wearing a vastly uncomfortable eighteenth century ball gown. It weighed me down considerably and constricted my breathing into shallow gasps. Usually I would admire a dress such as this, with its intricate patterns sown into the deep red fabric and would wish that I was the one wearing it, but not now. By now I'd found myself in two other similar dresses, and in that time discovered that their only use was to look pretty on the wearer, which I increasingly wished I wasn't.

Oh, how I wished I would wake up soon. I was tired of the constant changing of scenery even as I stood still, tired of how I had no control over when my clothes changed, or what they changed into, tired of the chaos of Dreamland.

I pushed my way through the newly manifested ballroom, accidentally knocking into a few faceless waltzing couples. They ignored me, of course. I wasn't a part of their 'script' despite being in the ballroom with them. I hated that. I hated that everyone seemed to follow a script that I wasn't privy to. It made me feel lonely.

Finally I made my way through the crowd of dancers and rushed toward the only door that I could see. As soon as I stood in front of it, I opened it. The only thing beyond it was a sheer drop into a churning ocean as the wind howled and rain slammed into every surface. I closed the door, searching the gilded ballroom for any other exit.

"Come on," I mumbled not seeing anything. "There has to be another way out." There wasn't anything, but I kept searching, waiting for something to change, the whole of Dreamland had an attention span the size of a gnat; something was bound to change any minute, whether it would be the landscape, or something would be added or taken away.

A few moments later, I had what I needed. As I'd swept my eyes across the room for the umpteenth time, I'd seen a grand staircase that hadn't been there before. I again made my way through the faceless dancers of whom had started a quickstep. I did my best to make my way through them without being pulled into it or getting my feet stepped on. I let out what little breath I had after getting through them and immediately sucked in a new one, as much air as my corset would allow.

I climbed the stairs two at a time and by the time I got to the top I felt like I was going to pass out. I breathed as deeply as I could as much as I could in an attempt to return oxygen to my brain.

When I could breathe properly and didn't feel on the verge of losing consciousness, I took a good look around me, taking note all the doors on the wrap-around balcony. I dismissed all the ones that were simply illusions, part of the walls, and only counted the ones that went somewhere. I was only able to tell which was which because the ones that were fake I couldn't look directly at, no matter what I did, my eyes simply slid off them.

I headed toward the first real door I saw. I reached for the golden handle and turned it hesitantly, slightly worried the ground would disappear as soon as I opened it. Before I could overthink it and lose my nerve, I opened it. To my relief, there was a room beyond it. But not an exit.

Disappointed, I closed the door and moved on. The next doo I came across lead into a long hallway lined with lit torches in perfect intervals. I hesitated for a split second before I made my way inside. As soon as my wide skirts were past the entrance, the door closed itself behind me. I glanced back and swallowed. That hadn't been ominous at all.

I forced myself to face forward again. I doubted that the door would lead back to the ballroom now.

I stared into the depths of the hallway which seemed to have no end, and walked.

As I went, I glanced at the walls; in some places, it couldn't seem to decide whether or not it lead anywhere. In those places, the walls flickered between being an archway that lead somewhere, to solid wall. I found these places disorienting and tried to force myself to keep my eyes ahead of me, but the flickering was trapped in my peripheral vision and still managed to annoy me.

Finally I just couldn't take it anymore. I stopped and shouted to the walls, "Make up your mind already!" To my astonishment, they actually did. I stood there, stock-still as the walls either opened or solidified and stayed that way.

After a few seconds, I clicked my jaw closed and quickly made my way forward, worried that this little bit of normal wouldn't last for long.

Eventually I came to a turn in the hallway, which I almost missed, nearly nocking into the wall while I was at it. I stopped abruptly and turned to find myself no longer in a hallway, but a hedge-maze.

"Great," I mumbled to myself. How in the world was I supposed to find my way through this? I could barely navigate the hallways of my school, let along an actual hedge-maze. I sighed and made my way forward. I'd already come so far, I couldn't quit now.

As I walked, I tried to figure out a way to get out of the maze. What was that trick again? Was it always turn left? Or was it right? Or neither? I just couldn't remember, so when I came to a fork in my path, I hesitated.

I was fairly certain I would've stood there for an eternity if I hadn't heard the voices. My parents. I was sure of it. I thought I heard their voices coming from the right. And suddenly my hesitation was gone and I followed the sound of their voices deeper into the maze.