Oh dream wonderland

Chapter: 1 - Happy thoughts

The transparent shadow of a young man followed him through the gloomy, dim forrest. Branches breaking everywhere; leaves flying through the air, the forest winds growing stronger. He held on to his hat, with his head leaned to the front. The gale threw various little stones. One after another they struck his hat. The right hand he was using to hold down the hat, also took quite the beating; his knuckles were blue, aching as he continued to endure more of the stones that came his way. The anchoring backpack he carried on his back managed to keep him on the rumbling ground away from the merciless gale. The dust filled the space in his shoes. He didn't take a deep breath, in case a bigger chunk of dirt flied his way. Either way, he still felt like he was being suffocated.

The man reached his house. He could barely close the door after him.
- Laurence? Is that you? – A voice came from the kitchen. A woman came to the man and hugged him; she was holding a half-pealed potato in one hand and a short knife in her other one. The energetic elderly man hugged her back; some of the dust that had gathered on his fedora fell on the dress of the lady. The man was with thin glasses with lens the size of his eyeballs. He was with short white hair and a bracelet on his left wrist.
- Ops...ha, sorry. – Laurence cleaned the dust off the woman's shoulder.
- Oh..., dear. Don't worry, I'm going to become a pile of dust sooner or later. – She chuckled and turned around and headed back to the kitchen. – I could use another pair of hands. But do clean yourself before you join me in the cooking.
- Of course. – Laurence was about to head upstairs.
- And Laurence!
- Yes, Magi?!
- Could you wake Vanessa up? She has been staying in her room all day.
- Sure, dear. – He hurried up to change his clothes.

After a while Laurence came out of the bedroom.
- Dad? – The feminine voice of a young girl caught his attention. He turned towards her.
- Vanessa!
- Hi! – She leaped for a hug.
- Ugh...ha, ha! I missed you, sweetheart.
- I missed you too, dad. – Vanessa let go of him. – So...how was your trip?
- Fan-tastic! You won't believe how beautiful it was. The sun rise, the sun set and the thrill of the hunt!
Vanessa giggled joyfully.
- You look like you came from a century - old buried coffin, you mummy.
- And what makes you say that?
- When did the house become a desert?
Laurence saw the trail of dust he had left all over the ground.
- You still have some left behind your ear...and that unshaved beard and mustache.
- The facial hair shows a man's dedication.
- Dedication? And what exactly are you dedicating yourself to? Gathering dust? – Vanessa couldn't take that cheeky smile of hers off her face.
- Gathering dust. No...or not only that. I dedicated myself to a lifetime with you two. Oh! That reminds me. – He headed back to the bedroom and searched through the pockets of his leather backpack. He found what he was searching for after a bit of digging around
Vanessa was waiting outside, staring at her father through the open door.
Laurence faced her, holding one hand behind his back. He slowly came closer to her.
- Since I know how much my little angel loves the creepy crawlies. I!...Decided to get you something.
- Something I love and at the same time is creepy? Hmm...? No. I can't think of anything.
- Then I better not keep you wondering.
- Please don't!
Laurence smiled.
- Here. – He handed her a book and a small box.
- Ahh!... Thank you! – The book had a thick cover. Vanessa placed the book in front of her nose and sniffed it. She coughed. – "The queen of Egypt". I appreciate you managed not to leave this dust-free, it really feels like it came from Egypt. I can't wait to read it.
- There's something even more wonderful in that little box.

Without asking about the content, Vanessa grabbed the box while holding the book in between her fingers, and opened the black carton box.
In the box, there laid a necklace; it had a small silver chain and an even a smaller bright blue crystal which was dressed in a silver outline. Half of it was poking out. Its end was sharp and shattered from the side. It was a natural grown crystal.

- Whoa! – She held the necklace in front of her with her two index fingers, staring at it with admiration.

- You seem to like it.
- I do...
- Good. I'm glad to hear that. You have fun with it, dear. I'll be heading to the kitchen to help your mother with the cooking.
- Alright, dad. – Vanessa went in her room.
Laurence watched her go. His smile faded, he looked worried.
- Laurence! If you're done, I would appreciate it if you gave me a hand here. I'm not going to get any younger anytime soon. – Magi shouted all the way from the kitchen.
Laurence heard her and went down the wooden steps.
- Coming!

Vanessa was lying in the bed with the necklace around her neck. The cinnamon brown dress she was wearing made the blue crystal look even whiter. The gale was blowing off the leaves of the trees. She looked through the pages in a flash and opened a random one.
- "The guards of the palace heard a scream. They steadily approached the place from where they had last heard the unknown voice.
A small girl was standing in the middle of the room with a big smile on her face.
- Here you are.

The guards anxiously stood in position to attack. They raised the shield in one hand and the khopesh in the other.
- Afraid, I see. Listen...you walking corpses. I will offer you a deal. Accept it and you shall be granted immortality. Deny it...and you will experience true suffering. – A shadowy black mist was standing behind the beautiful young girl. The mist had a monstrous figure that was even bigger than the two guards. – So...what will it be?

The guards stood in silence for a moment.
- We will defend queen Mena. You, soulless, will be the one dying today!
- Defend? – She snickered at the two. – Your pathetic queen is in no condition to walk, talk...or live. Your duty as guards is over, probably for the best...or not...depending on the way you look at it. You're free. But that doesn't mean you've escaped death. I'll ask once more. What will it be?
The same guard opposed her again.
- We will not follow scum like you! We will fight to our last--
The man next to him stabbed him

- Sorry, brother, but I don't want to die today.
- You...fool, creatures like her can't be trusted. She'll kill us all. She will--
The shadowy figure pierced his heart.
- Sigh...the man was right, you know? I will kill you all.
- Bu-but you said that we could join you if we wanted.
- It seems he was right... you are a fool.
Sand emerged from nowhere, sucking him into a sand coffin."

A knock on the door brought Vanessa back to the living world.
- Yes?
- Vanessa, are you sleeping again?
- No. I'm still awake. – She left the book on the bed.
- Dinner is ready. Come down when you're done.
Magi went down the wooden stairs. Vanessa took the book and put it vertically next to the others on the shelf. She ran her thumb up and down it. The rough cover felt nice. Finished with adoring the book, Vanessa headed down. She saw Magi putting the food on the table from the hallway. The green salad couldn't get any greener than that. The mix of all those vegetables would make anybody hungry. Vanessa surely couldn't hold back. Magi brought out some chocolate cookies and laid them on the center of the table.

- Wow... – Vanessa felt her mouth water at the sight of the cookies. – The queen can only dream of having something like this served on her table, if she were ever able to live this long... – She said quietly, wondering what she was going to eat first.