Dream Valley

THE RIVER OF KING RIGEL

Fog covered the field, the sun was not up just yet; the valley was cold and lonely. The column of air over the soft green grass was dense and misty. The green-ness of the mountains surrounding the valley made the thick cover of the fog gleam its tranquil shade. The time passed on like the narrow silver river that bend its path through the valley. If it flowed slowly, the time would slow down. If the river moved faster then time would do so too. The river controlled the time just like sleep controls dream; as in the Valley of Dreams everything is possible and no one can distinguish it from the outside world. The valley is somewhere in the MAGIK mountains that borders the coast of Ranthur and marks the beginning of the endless Dezin Ocean. And somewhere near this river there is a kingdom ruled by King Rigel the Rambunctious.

Caroline, a young girl around her age of eighteen or nineteen, was wandering in the thick morning mist of the valley. Her dark brown eyes squinted around her surroundings in search of some life. But she walked and walked without getting any sign of anything. Then, just when she let her guard down for a fraction of second, a shadow leaped on her and in no time she found herself tied to a wooden log, upside down, carried by two shadows at two ends. Her mouth was gagged so she could do no more in screaming for help than letting out only muffled yelps. Everything had happened so swiftly that after her capture Caroline started to think of what had happened. She felt stupid; this was all her fault; she should have never let her guard down; how was she going to go back now? And most importantly, what would happen if her father knew how a nincompoop she was? He might just eat her alive!

Blood was running up to her head; she tried to turn towards the front and on lifting her head a bit she saw the shadow of a huge gate being opened. On her right and on her left there were more shadows, giving muffled cries and screams like herself. She suddenly realized that those shadows must also be of other peoples who were being captured just like her. But the more she thought about everything that was happening, she felt lost. As if she was in a dream and she had lost its control. She had to get out, but also she wanted to see the drama that was going to happen next. Everything seemed oddly familiar to her.

And then, suddenly, everything swished past her; the mist dissipated swiftly and the bright sky became visible, with a sun glowing over her head. She felt really tired; as if she had hiked a range of mountain. She wanted to fall asleep and see a nice dream...

Beside her there were several wooden logs on which men and woman wearing suits and gowns were tied just like she was. This time her mouth was ungagged and that is when she realized that she too was wearing a gown. In front of her there was gallery full of masked people and on a high raised platform sat a fat-white man who was looking at the row of prisoners with an expression of glee. He wore a crown crested with so many jewels so that it made it look unorganized. His red cape was encrusted with red rubies and his fingers were covered in gems and other precious stones. A few of her teeth were of gold and shone oddly under the dazzling sunlight when he bared his teeth to smile. He showed off his riches too much; Caroline thought that he did not care about the beauty of the thing he possessed but about the amount of riches he added to them which actually made his things look clumsy. Caroline snorted with the sudden surge of laughter, after seeing the man. He was definately the king; he had to be.

Seeing her laugh, the king turned his head towards her and looked hungrily at her. Caroline stared back at him, hard. Seeing her look at him like that, the King averted his gaze onto the other prisoners. Caroline turned her head on her right to survey her fellow prisoners too. It was the first time that she noticed the man standing beside her. He was rather skinny and was looking really handsome as his black, messy hair reflected the rays of sun. He was looking at Caroline with amazement.

'How do you do that, huh?' he asked abruptly. Caroline, who was taken aback by the sudden question, obviously did not realize what he was talking about. So she replied, rather lamely,'Excuse me?'

'Oh. I'm sorry. My bad. You just look so similar to someone, that I thought you might be her and pick up my inflection,' he smiled sheepishly and then as abruptly as before spoke again,'Are girls a pro in speaking intent languages through eyes!? Because what you just did with that guy up there and the way he avoided your stunning gaze, I realize that you are no normal woman. Oh, and by the way, are you real.'

'Maybe they do. I mean the girls, as you said we communicate with eyes more than our voice. Anyway, am I real? Is that a question or are you really dumb?'

'Dumb? Me? Never. I have scored a 100% in Mathematics. Anyway, what I meant was, are you in your dream or is this merely just my dream and I just met someone new in my dream whom I might meet in future when I go for a world tour across the globe?'

Caroline looked intently at him and then there was a flood of memory in her brain and she remembered why and how she had got where she was. She said, 'Okay...So, um... let me get one thing straight! Are you real? Because I do not know you and I also know that right now I am in my dream and I am on the Great Gladiator's Killing and Torture zone which is my most favorite part in 'The River of King Rigel'. When all the prisoners are sacrificed, the King would receive a curse from the Sun and vanish as soon as he tries to escape.'

The boy stared at Caroline with bulging eyes and then broke out into a fit of hysterical laughter. Everyone stared at him. The guards hurried towards him. Then he broke of in mid laughter and shouted,'Let us meet again in our next dream. Think of 'Betelgeuse's Burning Balcony'. '

And then everything around Caroline became a whirl of mixing colors and then everything went dark as she closed her eyes. She felt dizzy and when she opened her eyes, her untidy room came into view. She smiled and sat up. She stretched her hand towards the book shelf and pulled out a thin book which was titled,'Betelgeuse's Burning Balcony' and flipped it open to its front page.

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