The Rift

Chapter 17

The last few times I have entered The Rift, I have woken up in the dream directly in Faith’s valley, so there’s no chance for the Rift to attempt to attack me. This time was no different, and when I opened my eyes, I was laying on the ground, surrounded by purple flowers, with a maple tree to my right. A valley that now, had a very different meaning to me.

Faith was standing above me, a wide grin stretching across her young, sweet face. Her bright eyes glimmered with barley suppressed excitement. Her hands and arms were constantly moving with anticipation, and she paced back and forth across the valley, unable to keep still. I sat up; groggy as always was when entering a dream.

As I stood, squinting against the bright light, she turned on me, grinning.

“So, have fun yesterday?” she asked, sarcasm laying every syllable. I glared at her.

“Yes, it was lovely getting completely lost in the middle of town and wandering through a graveyard. A very familiar graveyard if you know what I mean.” I said. Faith laughed, a beautiful, ringing sound that was very out of place here.

“It’s very familiar to me, too.” She said, still laughing.

“So you knew, then? That it was… well…” I said, trailing off. I wasn’t quite sure what to say, but I was curious.

“Yes, I knew, or at least I had some idea. I knew there was a graveyard there, and I always played in that maple tree. It was, a happy place for me, I guess. So I thought they might bury me there.” She said, very calming, as if she wasn’t discussing the very place where her family had cried over her dead body.

“Oh,” was my only response. “So…you lived near there?” I asked, again, curious.

“Yes. Quite near there, actually. If you had walked only a few blocks from there, you would arrive at my old house. I’m pretty sure my parents still live there,” she said, staring of into space. I’m sure she remembered it clearly. It was probably all she thought about. Even talking about this, Faith still seemed excited. Energy still buzzed from her every movement and that silly smile was still plastered onto her face.

                “Oh,” I said again. She looked at me, still grinning.

“It did seem to me, however, that you had a rather lot of fun in your garden, afterwards.” I smiled. She had seen that, too.

“Yes. I skipped around like a little child and ruined my jeans.” I snapped. She looked at me, unconvinced. “Okay, it might’ve been a little fun.” I muttered. She smiled.

“That was a very nice thing that you did for your mother.” Faith said kindly, her tone soft and light, as if it didn’t matter, but we both know that it did. We both knew that it might change everything. And form the subtle tone in her voice, I could tell she was proud of me for doing that. And I was happy about it too.  Mostly.

“I thought…” I stopped unsure of what to say. Faith watched me, waiting for me to continue. “I thought it was the right thing to do.”  I looked at her. She was grinning from ear to ear. It was slightly annoying.

“You thought right.” She said quietly. “I never knew you liked Delphinium.” She said lightly, jokingly. I smiled, rolling my eyes.

“Yes. It’s one of my favourites. You know, it would work for you, too. The blue color would play up your eyes.” I said, joking back. She beamed.

“You know what flower I like.” She nudged one of the purple blossoms with her foot. I kneeled down, examining it on a closer level, the delicate lines on each of the petals, the tiny stems that connected in the centre, forming a purple bundle.