Lost in My Head (Open Novella Contest)

Three

  I shoot up in my bed and immediately start to dress. Rosaluna has laid a new set of clothing out for me at the foot of my blanket. I dress and head out of the room to find her. She is standing behind the counter just like yesterday. I go up to her and she spots me. Her eyes go wide at the sight of me wearing Elven clothing. She had given me a black tunic with silver fastenings and black pants. The shoes were small boots. Black, of course. Black seems to be her preferred color, as she was wearing it yesterday and today.  She is polishing a piece of glass. "I-I am g-going to the capital with you," I announce anxiously. She grins at me. "We have to leave right away! I have bags of equipment for us under my bed. Will you get them for me?" says Rosaluna. I run back into her room and pull out the large gray bags. I carry them out to her and she slings them over her shoulders. 

  Rosaluna walks me outside to a wagon. She tosses the bags in and tells me to take a seat. She heavily plops down next to me. She sighs and snaps her fingers. The wagon begins to move. Wait, it began to move! There isn't anyone driving it! I glance at her in awe. She smiles back at me. "I am a windblower, someone who controls wind and movement," she says, gesturing with her hands. She reaches out of the wagon and picks up a bright green leaf. She throws it up into the air and pushes her hand forward and the leaf blows away. I gasp. This is real magic. 

  I gaze at her with amazement in my blue eyes. "How do I learn this?" I ask in wonderment. She laughs. There is a true joy in her eyes that makes me feel happy too. I've never made anyone smile as purely as she is. "It's simple, you draw the power from within yourself. Then comes the hard part; learning to control it," says Rosaluna, explaining the concept of magic. 

"It doesn't sound all that simple to me," I say. 

She laughs again. This is fun. I think I might like this Elven friend thing. She continues blowing leaves along with the wagon. She explains to me the Elven flora and fauna surrounding us. I quite like this world. It's quiet and peaceful, and full of nature, of course. I love all those things. This realm is like a dream come true. 

"First, I must teach you to meditate," Rosaluna says.

"Oh, come on, I'll just fall asleep."

"Just try," she says, exasperated. 

I shut my eyes and begin to think. I think of nothing and everything. I think of Rosaluna, the plants, the power inside of me. Nothing. Nothing happens. There is no sudden twirl of wind or growth of trees. I open my eyes. She looks sad all of the sudden. I go to ask Rosaluna if she is okay, but then I think better of it. She has no idea that I overheard her conversation last night. Plus, it's just straight up rude to eavesdrop. 

I sit up straighter and tell her that nothing had occurred. She looked a little disappointed, but then put her 'content but still not happy' smile back on. We continue on through the town in silence.

We eventually reach a dense forest. It appears to be the same woods that I arrived through. "We are now officially leaving Omyan Taesi," Rosaluna states. I am officially becoming very nervous, I think. I push those thoughts aside and take in my surroundings. There are the same green leaves and shadows as before, but something is different. This part of the edge of the woods seems less cheerful. There are more mysteries and secrets propelling off the tree trunks, more intrigues pulling me in from the forest canopy.  It is really beautiful, yet there is still something dark about it that it throwing my thoughts off course. 

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Once we make it far enough into the forest, Rosaluna decides that we will camp there for now. She throws a piece of fabric on the ground. It sprouts up and forms a tent big enough for two. "Woah," I say. The magic is real. With each time I see it, it becomes more and more real. We head inside quietly so that we don't disturb the creatures lurking in the dark. 

  I cannot sleep tonight. There is a great full moon outside the fabric of the tent. It shines a dim, silver light through the tent. It reminds me of home. They have a moon here, just like in my dimension. It makes me feel the teensiest bit safer. 

  That morning, Rosaluna wakes me up at the crack of dawn. "Come on, sleepy-bug, we have to get going," she says, nudging me up. I get up slowly, my head still cloudy. I can tell that I most definitely did not get enough sleep. I dress in a new Elven outfit today. It is a silk-looking blouse, but the blouse is a little longer than usual. It is a light pink. Rosaluna has paired it with tight black pants. I put them on. Rosaluna shows me that I have to tie a knot at the front of the blouse. It is really pretty. Elven culture is a lot cooler than I expected when I first came here. 

  We walk out to the wagon. Rosaluna snaps her fingers and the tent becomes an ordinary piece of fabric again. I jump onto the wagon with a little more pep in my step. I am starting to feel cheerful. Rosaluna senses my optimistic attitude change and it rubs onto her too. She begins to smile as purely as she did yesterday. "We can try magic again," she suggests. 

"I'll try, but don't get your hopes up," I say. 

  She instructs me in meditation again. This time I feel a tiny, little, itsy-bitsy flutter in my left hand. It's so small, I can barely feel it. My eyes fly open. "I felt a tiny little movement in my hand!" I say. She smiles again, and it grows broader with every second. 

  "You're getting there. Slowly, but surely," Rosaluna says.