The Deception of Magic

A Surreal Dream

She trudged home in the misty rain, only getting slightly wet, but not enough to soak through her clothes. When she arrived at her house, the light was on in her living room. Startled but not alarmed, she unlocked the door and took off her muddy shoes. Glancing across the living room as she wrestled with her shoe, she saw that The Deception of Magic was sitting under the light, with a page open. The shoe dropped to the ground with a thud and she walked cautiously over to book and peered in. It was like peering over the edge of the ledge, unsure of how far down it went or what was at the bottom. The book was opened at the page where she had left off a few days ago. She was sure she had closed the book and hadn’t put in a bookmark. So what was it doing it open and with the light on? She hadn’t used the lamp in years and was sure the light globe had blown. She grasped the neck of the lamp and clicked the light off, the darkness instantaneous. She crept slowly over to the light switch on the opposite side of the wall, cursing herself for being stupid not leaving the lamp on while she found alternate light. The lamp being on and the book opened were far too creepy for Ciara. The main light in her living room was slightly dull and it didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust. She needed to at least try and get out the smell of burnt meat patties from her clothes. She grabbed a cold vodka and soda from her fridge and opened the twist top quickly, almost draining the bottle in one mouthful. She spent almost forty five minutes in the shower most of which she spent scrubbing. Emerging slightly refreshed, she finished her vodka and soda, grabbed another as well as a bowl of pre-packaged fried rice. Drinking while the bowl rotated in the microwave, her eyes made their way towards the book. It had grabbed her curiosity now and her brain wandered with questions about the book. It had been interesting to this point but nothing spectacular. The alcohol was drifting slowly through Ciara’s body, making her eyes droopy and her body sleepy. The story had intrigued her and she wanted to keep reading, but her body had other ideas, and she soon fell asleep. 

Ciara opened her eyes and a sea of green was in front of her. Leaves on the

trees were a deep green colour, and many of the leaves had white speckles on the

back, making them looking silver in the bright sunlight. Ciara blinked her eyes

and the sight before her seemed surreal. She breathed in deeply and closed her

eyes. It smells of dandelions and dewy grass. Ciara looked down at her hands

and they seemed like they were still connected to her arms, and felt like they

were hers. She squeezed her fingers, just to be sure. They wriggled and she could

feel the blood beating through them. Looking down at her feet, she realised that

she had no shoes on. Surely she wouldn’t have forgotten to put on shoes this

morning. The Ciara realised she couldn’t remember what happened up until this

point. She felt suddenly cold and began to shiver. Stepped out from underneath

a tree, she felt the suns warmth on her face, but it didn’t seem to be warming up

her body. Moving on the spot, she hugged herself and tried to create warmth.

She created the illusion somewhat and began to look around. The scene before

her struck her as odd. Large purple flowers hung from the trees, and low to the

ground. There were large brown fruit hanging next to the flowers, many of

which had dropped to the ground, overripe and rotten. Ciara looked the right of

where she was standing and blinked her eyes. The pond shimmered in the sunlight

and it was so smooth it seemed like it was glass. The dragonfly hovering

over the top of the water could not even break the stillness that was beneath it.

Ciara looked above her, and a massive droplet of water fell on her head.

She closed her eyes in reflex, opening them again to realise she was in her bed, she had left the window open, and the newly falling rain had ventured inside. She blinked, uncomprehending. Sitting up in her dark bed, she looked around and felt for the light switch. The dull glow illuminated the room in a spooky kind of way. Shadows bounced off the wall, growing larger as Ciara moved to a position where she could stay. What the hell had just happened? Was that real or a very vivid dream? She could distinguish the difference. Her heart began to race. Not being able to believe or fathom the idea that what had just transpired wasn’t anything more than just a dream, one of those that you could smell, speak and hear what was happening. It was like a movie been played out in her eyelids while she slept. It was strange, but she thought it was just her subconscious processing the book she was reading or what had happened during the day, some repressed dream that had reared while she was asleep. She calmed down, her heart beat returning to normal.