The Garden of Heathen

Dreams

Dreams are funny things. No one seems to agree about why we dream and what our dreams mean, if they mean anything at all. Maybe they help us release emotions or process our memories from the day. They can also reveal a creative idea, providing inspiration to the dreamer. But in the Garden, dreams were something else.

Memories cannot be erased or taken away, but merely hidden, locked away from the rest of the mind. But when a memory or an emotion has been thoroughly digested by the unconscious mind, it stays there forever and, if you're lucky, you can catch a glimpse of it again. So when a Gardener dreamed, now matter how strange or bizarre it chose to be, what they were really doing was remembering.

Gally was remembering now. Aussie was back in his arms as he carried her down the corridors of the maze. The ivy covered walls loomed above them, the metal signs on every corner. Aussie's fingers traced over his back as he calmly walked along the stone paths.

"You forgot what you're looking for," Aussie murmured against his neck and he relished the feeling.

He didn't say anything back, but he knew that he was looking for the way out.

"You forgot," she said again, her voice low and soft.

He turned a corner when she pulled away from him, her face filling his vision as her hands cradled the back of his neck. There were no bruises anywhere on her and he was mesmerized by her eyes, so vividly clear and detailed down to the dark ring of blue on the outer edge of her iris, and the shine.

"Gally," she said, an urgency in her soft voice now. "You forgot her."

Who did he forget? He placed his hand on her back and pulled her to his shoulder again, her arms wrapping around his neck. The corridor in front of him was now lined with doors, wooden doors with brass knobs directly across from each other on each side of the corridor and evenly spaced, stretching as far as the eye could see. He walked along instead of trying to open any of them, until he came to one that was broken, the knob on the ground surrounded by splinters, the door wide open and askew on its hinges. He stopped and looked inside.

Thena stood in the bedroom, sunlight streaming into it as if it had no roof just like the rest of the maze. She looked calm and composed as she stared at them.

"Just stay here, where it's safe," Thena suggested. "Bring Aussie in here where she's safe."

He had to admit, that sounded good. Something clicked deep inside of him that provided a bit clarity and the accompanying relief, and he held her tighter. He wanted to keep her safe, expressly and explicitly he wanted Aussie to be safe. But Thena was not to be trusted. The answer was not to go in that room, but to keep going forward.

"You can save her," Aussie whispered, her nose and lips grazing his ear as he glared at Thena over her shoulder. "You can save us both."

With that he turned and sprinted down the corridor. His legs pumped, his breathing was perfect, he was practically flying. A figure appeared on the horizon, just a dark splotch against the white-blue sky. Whoever it was waved.

The edges began to fade as he slipped from dream to awake, a hand gently shaking his shoulder and a soft voice calling his name. His eyes opened to see Gertie standing over him, sunlight illuminating the whispy ends of her hair sticking off her head. It was slightly flattened on one side.

"I thought you freaking died," she almost laughed. "You slept yesterday away and it wasn't enough?"

He just groggily stared up at her, bits of his dream still floating through his head and he was trying desperately to catch as many as he could.

"Joan and I are going to go wash up, remember the schedule? Anyway, stay here with Aussie and don't wake her up, she should get as much sleep as possible."