The Dreamer

Chapter 8

As I sit in darkness, I hear the woman's voice. The scent came back to me and the tune she was humming flows into my ears. Her voice grew louder and louder, almost as if she's right next to me. Then in a split second, I woke up again with a soft gasp. My eyes snap open and I can hear music and laughter and voices around me. I'm looking up at the night sky and fell something weird surrounding me.

I move my arms just a bit to sit up but froze when I feel multiple soft little things cover my hand. I recognize the feeling almost immediately. Are those flower petals? I quickly sat up and look around. Where am I? What happened? Is this another dream?

I carefully glance around and saw what looks like a party. People dance, talk, laugh, sing. There's so much happening that my mind can't register everything. They're all dressed so nicely. Women wear frilly dresses while men wear suits with big hats. I catch a glimpse at some of their faces and my jaw drops. They all still look human, but they have sugar skulls decorating their faces. It almost looks like face paint, only it glows. I look around me to see that I'm in a bed of petals. They're all piled on top of each other.

"Eira?" I spun around to see Zeke. I froze as my breath caught in my throat. His face is the same. It's decorated with a skull full of different designs on it. He wears a traditional looking suit that a musician here would wear. His sombrero and suit also have different designs covering it with a few skulls on it. "Where are we?"

"I think we made it," I answer. Zeke looks me over and I slightly blush. "What are you wearing?" I look down at myself and see that I also have a traditional looking dress on. It's bright blue with trimmings of gold along each layer of fabric. On each layer, there are also a few skulls lined along the gold. The off shoulder sleeves are even frilly. I look at my feet to see that I'm wearing black flats and I sigh in relief.

When I look up again, I see a mirror and I see that my face is also decorated with a sugar skull. It seems like everyone has their own design. Almost like it represents them in some way. "What now?"

"We have to find the cave."

"Maybe we should give it a better name." I shrug. "It probably has one; we just don't know what it is."

"Okay, then where do we find it?" We both look around to find at least a clue of where it is. I can't see much from where we are though. There are
too many people surrounding us and the tall and colorful buildings don't help a lot either. "We should get to higher ground."

Zeke nods and we start walking down the crowded streets. "Excuse me," I hear someone say. I feel something softly touch my shoulder and I turn around. "Are you the Dreamer?"

"Who are you?" I ask. "I'm your escort. You're looking for a cave, right? Skull Temple?" Is that what it's called? I nod and she smiles. "Good, I was waiting for you."

"Wait, what's your name?"

"Esperanza and you are?" We shook hands. "Eira and this is Zeke. How did you know it was us?" She just smiles and starts walking. "It's a lot easier to find newcomers than you think. Also, I was with my daughter as she was putting you two into a trance." She glances to Zeke. "You shouldn't doubt someone's ability so easily." I turn to Zeke with a triumphant grin as he blushes. "How do you know where it is though?" I ask. "Everyone knows."

"Everyone here know about it?" She nods as we push past people. "Yes, but no one has the urge to go, however. They have their own things to do such as partying and enjoying the afterlife here." I look around and see that they are in fact eating as well. "Oh, and you only have two days to find it. When the celebration ends, the doorway between here and the mortal world closes. If you don't make it, your souls will be trapped here until it reopens."

I look to Zeke with a look of concern. What if we don't make it? Just as we're pushing through a crowd though, we suddenly hear more music playing, but now almost everyone's dancing. They all start jumping and clapping and before I know it, I'm suddenly dragged away from Zeke in someone else's arms. I look up at them shocked and the stranger only smiles down at me.

"Eira," I hear Zeke call out. I couldn't get a clear view through the dancing crowd. The guy then starts talking to me, but I don't understand what he's trying to tell me. "What?" He seemed confused about me as well. Next thing I know, I start spinning. I became dizzier within the second and almost lose my balance when I stop. "Are you okay?" I hear a voice ask. I look and see Zeke looking down at me. It's then that I realize he's dipping me. "Yeah, but I'm really dizzy."

"We need to get out of here." He helps me up but we're surrounded by people still dancing. "We can't just push our way through." I can tell that Zeke's thinking when he looks around. "I got an idea." Then he turns to me and holds out a hand. I just stare at it confused. "What?"

"Take my hand. We're going to dance through." My eyes dart around the area, understanding what he's doing. Without even hesitating, I take his hand and he pulls me closer. "Ready?"

"Not really." Then we start dancing. I've never been one to dance, but I'm actually having fun. I'm smiling and Zeke laughs. We successfully made it through easily, but we didn't stop. I don't think either of us was paying attention either because soon, we've isolated ourselves from everyone else. Zeke was the one to stop us and I take a deep breath. "That was fun."

He smiles at me in response and I look around. I see what looks like a lake and the moonlight is reflecting off of the water beautifully. "I think we went a little too far," Zeke comments. "Yeah, maybe."

"No, I mean, we're actually standing on the water." My eyes widen and I look down. Oh my gosh, we are. I panic for a second, almost ready to jump up, but it feels like we're actually standing on solid ground. I look up at Zeke and time seemed to just stop. I start to feel nervous and self-conscious of myself. The moon reflects off of his bright red eyes, making it glow. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to say anything that could end this moment. "Eira," he says with a look that's foreign to me. He opens his mouth to speak again but is interrupted by a voice.

"How did you guys get over there?" We turn and see Esperanza waving at us to get closer. We both turn to each other with me feeling a bit disappointed. We tread over and I look back at the water, seeing something that I hadn't noticed before. It's the same scene as one of my drawing! The only difference is I'm not wearing a ball gown.

The drawing is a couple standing on water. The moon's reflecting off of the water and the couple is wearing fancy attire. Something they would wear to a royal ball.

"We should get going." Then we continue to follow her. We walk through the colorful streets. Even though we're in the spirit world, it feels like this place is full of life. More life than I could ever imagine. There's just so much happiness and laughter. It's almost overwhelming, but I'm more joyful than overwhelmed. I don't think I've ever seen so many people happy in one place.

"Is everyone always this happy?"

"No, not all the time. This time of year is the best. Especially since they get to see the loved ones that they had to leave behind."

"Makes sense. I'd definitely be happy to see my family again if I died." She laughs and nods. "How far away is it?" She points forward at an angle. "Just over there." I look but only see more colorful buildings. I suddenly jump when I hear a loud popping sound and I see tiny squares of colorful paper fall in front of me. I look up, seeing that they're almost coming out of nowhere. "Why is it called Skull Temple?" Zeke asks.

"It used to be a temple. Unfortunately, it had to be changed. Warning though, there are challenges awaiting you inside." Challenges? My heart drops at the thought. "It's to prove you're worthy of the prize. Think of them as tests." Then my worry grew. "I'm a horrible test taker," I mumble to myself. "I'm sure you'll be fine though."

We continue walking for I don't know how long. I became so bored, that I just started to count how many yellow bricks are in the random assortment of colored bricks that stick together to form the ground under us. So far, I've counted forty-three. "There!" My head snaps up to look to where Esperanza is pointing. It's the same cave as the one in the book. "I have to leave you here. Good luck!" Then she skips away like a child who just got free ice cream.

I took a deep breath and turn to Zeke. "Ready?" His eyes flicker to the cave before turning back to me. "Do I have a choice?"

"Not really." He curtly nods and we turn towards the cave, walking towards it and eventually inside it.