The In-Between

An Unfamiliar Place

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar place. I wasn't in my bedroom anymore, instead, I was surrounded by pink petals falling ever so slowly the ground. I was standing near a lake, listening to its soft ruffles.

I looked around to try and get a clue of where I was, but the surrounding wasn't recognizable. The grass was greener than the one I'm used to, and the sky was an unusual orange and pink. I walked a little further until I came across a small wooden cottage. Sitting beside the door was a little sign that read, "Please knock before entering."

I knocked on the door, not expecting anyone to answer until a small woman, looked about in her mid-30's or early 40's, answered.

"Ah, a visitor. Its been a while since we've had one." she opened the door wider and gestured for me to come inside. "Please, come in, darling."

I hesitated before stepping into the small woman's house. It looked fairly decent, everything looks very neat and organised. She had antique vases everywhere, and the ceiling was low enough for me to have to crouch a little.

I spoke for the first time, "Could you tell me where I am?" I asked. It was strange how I knew nothing about this place. It certainly didn't look like Earth.

She was in her small kitchen brewing some tea. "Take a seat on the sofa and I'll tell you all the information you need."

I nodded and sat down. She walked over with two teacups on a tray and set it on the table. Everything about her home was small, from herself to the teacups.

"What do you want to know?" she asked as she handed me a teacup.

I wanted to know what this place was and how I got here. I decided to ask one question at a time. "What is this place?"

"This is the land of the Dreamless, in other words, the In-Between," she said.

I was still confused. "The In-Between?" I questioned.

She placed her teacup back on the tray and looked at me. I could see the flecks of green and blue mixing together, and the waves of her dark brown hair. She didn't have any wrinkles, so she must have aged well.

"People who don't have dreams, nor nightmares, come here. But, it's rare nowadays. You're the first in years."

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"As I said, you come here because you can neither dream nor have nightmares. You're special." she smiled.

"Is there a way to leave?" I asked almost too quickly.

"You wake up when the sun rises in your world."

Who knew how long that was gonna take. I had an early class tomorrow or today, and I couldn't be late. This place was leaving me confused and scared and I was more than ready to leave. 

I put down the teacup without drinking any of the tea. "Thank you for the information, I'll be going-"

She immediately stood up, looking almost panicked. "You can't leave now!"

I looked at her with confusion, "Why?"

She walked over to the small window that sat across from her. I tore my eyes from her to look outside and it seemed to be getting dark. The sky was turning an unusual mix of purple and blue.

She was still staring out the window, "It is dangerous at night here. You may not make it back to your world if you walk outside now."

That sentence was enough to send instant chills through me. "What's that suppose to mean?" I asked.

She turned towards me, "It means, you are safer here than out there. The In-Between is a mix between dreams and nightmares, hence its name."

You're kidding.

"Is there a way to tell the time in my world?"

Her eyes went from me to the floor, she looked as if she was trying to carefully choose her words. Her green eyes had found mine, again. "Time moves slower here. One minute here could mean an hour there," she said.

How long have I been here? It felt like a couple of hours since it was dark.

"You've only been here for 8 minutes," she said.

"Only eight minutes?" I blurted.

"Which means you should be leaving soon."

Eight minutes here would mean eight hours there. How was that possible? Did there would move slower or does mine speed up? All these spiralling thoughts in my head came to a stop as all of a sudden, a light started forming around me along with sparkles of blue.

"What'shappening?" I yelled at the small woman.

"It seems your time here has ended," she said.

I assumed she meant I was being taken back to my world. But I realized I hadn't asked her for her name. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Come back again, and I'll tell you." she smiled.

I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to come back. This place was freaky enough and I wasn't even sure how I got here, even though she had explained it to me earlier. 

I guess I just wasn't processing it right. 

"How do I know if I'll ever come back?" I asked. 

She walked closer. "You're special, you belong here."

At least that's what I thought she said. It was getting harder to hear her.

"What does that mean?" I yelled once more.

I felt like I was fading and she looked like she was getting smaller. She was far away now and I could barely hear her.

I barely managed to catch the last part of her sentence. But what little bit I did hear left me chilled.

"We'll see you soon, Harper."

 Then everything turned to darkness.

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A/N: Hello! I'm glad you found this story and I hope you enjoyed this little chapter.

This is just a fun little story I wanted to start because I wanted to get back into writing. There was no planning to this whatsoever so I guess its a mystery to both you and me on what's gonna happen next!

Please point out any errors/spelling mistakes and I will do my best to fix them. Let me know what you think of the story as well!

- shaliyah -w-