Fish and Chips

Dreams 《Chapter 1》

The sky was coloured in vibrant reds and oranges as Madeline lay on her back on the tiny grains of sand. She admired the sky as the stars started to come out of hiding, revealing themselves to the shimmering water as the sun set over the ocean. It was was dropping below the water as she held her hand up to the sky, tracing the stars with her fingertips; wondering what lay beyond them. Madeline got up and started to walk towards the water, she sighed as her toes met the cold liquid.

She shuffled them around in the soft, squishy sand as she pushed her feet around before heading further in and getting waist high into the water: slowly enveloping herself into the cooling water.

She heard someone calling her name behind her and turned around to see where the noise was coming from. She squinted as the sky was getting dimmer and dimmer, the shadows blocking her view. She could slightly make out the tiny silhouette of a young man cupping his hands and shouting her name into the quickly darkening sky. Madeline tried to make her way back as a unfamiliar name left her mouth.

Her mind was clouded as she waded around in the water thinking about the familiar stranger and who he was. She felt like she should trust this stranger but had to make her mind up quickly as the stars started to close in on her.

Her feet started to move as she felt her blood flowing and chest thumping and her body reacted before her brain could make a logical decision. She gasped loudly, it was almost like her feet had a mind of their own. Suddenly the young man disappeared. Her heart stopped as it felt like the ground had been pulled from beneath her. She shouted the unfamiliar name. Her feet became stuck in the dark water as she tried to move, the water was holding her back and clung to her legs.

Madeline looked up to see a bright yellow, neon sign with words illuminating from the front, it was some sort of mobile structure, but as she reached for it, the structure flickered and slowly faded away. She closed her eyes as her head spun, the darkness grabbing at her. She wanted it to stop, to leave her alone. She fell into the murky water and sunk in to it's strange colour. She started to feel fuzzy and warm as her fingers began to tingle and her whole body felt like she was floating. A calm feeling washed over her, making her relaxed.

And then the dream stopped.

Madeline propped herself up on her elbow and blinked quickly, rubbing stardust from her eyes as she looked warily around her as the space began to stop spinning and everything came into better focus.

Her bedroom was warm and cosy as she was consumed by her bed covers that were filled with pale white and creme flowers that reached the end of the duvet. She stretched out her feet with her duck egg blue socks covering her feet. The bed was soft and comfortable as she spread out and lifted her arms above her head and tucked her neck in as she yawned.

She shifted slightly as she turned to face her small alarm clock and pushed the little ringing button on the top. The second hand was a little dodgy but no time for complaining she thought to herself as she slowly dragged her tired body out of her bed and made her way over to the mirror in her room. She slowly recalled last night's strange dream and looked down at her feet again, just in case. She sighed as she saw her socks for the second time this morning.

What a dream, she thought.

Madeline looked back up into the long mirror before brushing her fingers lightly over the glass. Clearing away small traces of dust before running her hand down the wooden rim that was splintering as she moved her hand over it. She then lifted her eyes up to meet the dishevelled girl standing in front of her. Her defection had a slight glimmer in its eyes. They were light brown with little flecks of darker brown scattered around near the middle.

Her hair was swept up in a strange hairstyle due to her peculiar dream and her body shifting when she slept. It was also brown but with lighter, natural blonde streaks that showed the beginning of summer. Her heart leapt slightly at the thought of it. A whole summer. With all her amazing friends. She thought fondly of last summer when they went camping in the woods and got up in the early mornings; going to the beach every day for hours on end.

Madeline moved away from the mirror and opened her door to find her mother, with her closed hand. Ready to knock on her door.