The Nocturnal Vol 1 : The Awakening

Chapter 3 Part 2

On the other side of the fluid curtain, the feeling under my feet was different and made me feel like I was walking on an air mattress. I suddenly stopped, lowered my head very slowly and saw the void under my feet.

- 'Whoo! Whoo!'

My heart suddenly accelerated.

- 'Above all, no panic, no sudden movements,' I tried to reason. 'Breathe, think, breathe again. I'm above the void, but I'm not falling! Quite normal....'

My thrill grew even more exciting when the obvious, quite relative given my situation, came to me.

- 'I'm flying!'

Torn between joy, excitement and panic, a pleasant feeling of freedom overwhelmed me. I felt like I was growing wings. To the question "I wish I had been...", I always answered: the wind, to be able to travel around the world, to rush into the smallest gaps, to feel life differently. Soaring, falling, looping... I tested all the acrobatic figures I knew, and even thought of inventing new ones. I had done this all my life in my dreams, and now I was doing it in real life. I felt so alive, so free. I finally felt like I was breathing!

Effortlessly, I reached the city-cumulus. The futuristic and refined buildings had all kinds of geometric shapes that blended harmoniously. From floors to ceilings, furniture and decorations, everything was made of glass only. Perfect and total transparency. I walked alone in the deserted streets in search of the Nalupes, the people of the clouds. This world was theirs, I was sure of it because I had dreamed it. Suddenly, I heard a repetitive little "clap clap".

Attached to a whole section of the wall, small white windmills of different sizes swirled happily, driven by the wind. After passing through a series of pyramids, I arrived on a large balcony overlooking the agora. All the Nalupes had gathered there. They were human in appearance, made of stardust and could control the Light. They embodied purity itself, everything in them was graceful, from their fine features to their light breath and veil-like clothing. On their foreheads and on the palms of their hands there were sapphires protruding. One of the Nalupes brandished a Nul above the crowd, a Nalupian child.

I then remembered my dream, the very last of the Nocturnal. When the Nalupes promised themselves a sincere and true Love, all the particles of their being mixed for an instant to become one. From this perfect alchemy was born a Nul, a beautiful being of light whose brilliance surpassed that of the stars for a few days.

I carefully observed the ancestral ceremonial. The protocol seemed very precise and rigorous. Some Nalupes showed signs of irritation, disturbed by the screams coming from the other end of the yard. A small group of children were playing in front of a large opaque cube. Their entertainment consisted in getting as close as possible to this dark and rough mass. I didn't really understand the point.

After all, it's just a common stone.

Watching them all play and laugh together, I felt the absence of my friends. I would have liked to be with them to share these same moments of laughter and play. So, I decided to cut the ceremony short and fly out of the city to meet them. Very quickly, I realized that I didn't know where to " fly ".

How do I get back to the tree room? What direction should I take when my only point of reference is the horizon?

I had to face the facts. I was lost in the middle of the advancing clouds, unperturbed. Then, at the bend of a cumulonimbus, a lighthouse appeared with a bright red dome and a white barrel striped with four large red diagonals. It was about sixty metres high and twelve metres in diameter, all anchored on a creamy cloud. I went to this building to look around and inspect it thoroughly from top to bottom. I found the entrance to the lighthouse at the base level. It was decorated with a circular pediment on which was written: "Relay of light". The wooden door had been replaced by a water curtain, like the one I had used to get into this world. As I looked through it, I guessed the dream tree. The place I had arrived in was therefore not a simple tower, but a large and beautiful lighthouse.

I took a deep breath and blocked my breathing to cross this watery interface, probably out of fear of drinking the cup. Nevertheless, just like the first time, the liquid did not wet me.

- 'And now that I'm here, how do I get home?' I asked myself, a little annoyed at myself for not having paid more attention to the path I had taken.

I was gathering all the pieces of the puzzle in my mind.

From my room to the world of dreams through the pillow, okay. Travel from the lighthouse to a dream through the waterfall, okay. Return from the dreams to the lighthouse through the waterfall gate, okay. But what about the passage from the lighthouse to my room? When I arrived, I found myself next to the tree. The exit should therefore be nearby.

I went back to the willow tree, looking for the slightest hint. As I detailed the tree, I noticed a handprint engraved on its trunk and realized that it was exactly my size when I put my hand on it. Instantly, a silver rain began to fall from the branches, and the next minute I found myself in my room, lying on the bed, with my head on the cotton pillow.

I rushed to my feet and grabbed my laptop that was left on the bedside table.

I have to tell my friends about this at all costs!

"Got smthg crazy to show u!!!!! Home now!"

- 'Confirmation of receipt, OK! (They won't believe their eyes.) Confirmation of reading, OK!'

I then went into the lobby to wait for them, impatient. We were all lucky to be neighbours. We were only two blocks away from each other.

How am I going to present things to them? Do I tell them everything before I show them? No, what if I did the opposite instead. They may not believe me. I'll see when the time comes. What the hell are they doing? What's taking so long?

I walked in circles like a caged lion. The wait seemed endless to me. The seconds were minutes, the minutes were hours.

- 'What the hell are they doing? They all read the message...'

I was pacing, watching from time to time through the eyelet on the door.

- 'Finally, I laughed with relief as I heard the bell's ringing.'

The first to arrive was Eva. No time for me to close the door that Erwan was already showing up. Vaness was not far behind, but as usual she was the last one. We were all gathered.

- 'So, Remi, what is this incredible thing that requires us to come so quickly?' yawned Eva, obviously woken up from a lie-in.

- 'Yes, tell us!' Vaness added with a cheerful tone.

- 'I think the simplest thing would be for me to show you,' I said, inviting them to follow me to my room with a unifying gesture.

- 'Why all this mystery?' asked Vaness in the hallway.

- 'You will see. I still can't believe it myself!'

I pushed the door of my room and showed them my pillow.

- 'What are we to understand?' Erwan asked, doubtful.

- 'Erwan, take this pillow.'

- 'If it makes you happy,' he said, grabbing the object. 'And now what? Can you finally answer us?'

- 'Look at it carefully!' I insisted.

Nothing happened. But why? Why?

- 'Wait a minute, I hope you're not telling me you brought me here just to see your pillow,' Erwan said annoyed.

- 'Of course not, he's playing a joke on us,' Vaness defended me, waiting for a sign from me, a nod, a smile, but I didn't react, lost in my thoughts.

I don't understand. Why isn't anything happening? I didn't dream it... I don't think so. Everything seemed so real.

- 'Great! Getting me to stop a video game while I'm at the final boss's level for a ridiculous cushion. Well, that's a new one,' Erwan said offended and threw the pillow at me, annoyed.

It was when I stretched out my arms to get it back that the pillow began to glow as I approached. Upon contact with my skin, the dreamcatcher emerged from the pillow, like the first time. No one was moving anymore. Even Erwan had swallowed his tongue, he who always had something to complain about in all circumstances. Taking advantage of this temporary inactivity, I threw them one by one into the steam to bring them into my kingdom of dreams.