The Nature of Dreams

Emma Lawrence was a girl just like any other. She had a family that loved her, made up of a father and mother who fought only sometimes but quickly made up for it with murmurs of true love and forever. She had friends who she enjoyed spending time with, all of whom were just as afraid of growing up as she was. She had a sister whom she loved and looked up to, who was three years older than herself and who, in Emma’s eyes, was the epitome of wisdom and maturity.

She lived in a sleepy coastal town in a sleepy coastal state where nothing much really happened and everyone seemed to be fine with that.

Yes, Emma Lawrence was a girl just like any other but for one, single trait: her dreams.

And on that particular night, she dreamed of mud.

The marshy liquid surrounded her on all sides, sucking at her heavy limbs and dragging her down to her knees. It seemed the more she struggled, the more it seemed to pull her down. Crying out, she turned her head to the empty sky, her cry muted against the heavy darkness.

Then, suddenly, the darkness shattered before her to reveal a brilliant auric light. Through the blinding white, a swan beat its long, opalescent wings upward, black eyes meeting hers.

For a moment Emma forgot the mud, forgot the feeling of her body as it sunk deeper and deeper into the darkness. She lifted her hand, now black, and desperately reached for the bird.

She didn’t know why, but the sight of it made her afraid.

She didn’t know why, but the sight of it made her want to weep.

The swan drew nearer and nearer, it’s dark feet coming into contact with the dirty earth beneath it. The ground seemed to puncture at the touch, opening up beneath the creature like the maw of some horrible monster and swallowing the pale swan until there was nothing left but a single white feather floating amidst the nothingness.

Emma often had nightmares, but that particular scene refused to leave her mind. An ominous feeling settled heavily within her – like heavy storm clouds predicting a coming storm.

“Em, are you coming?” Lucy said, nodding her golden-crowned head toward the end of the hallway and, presumably, towards the lunchroom.

“Yeah, just one sec. Got to grab my lunchbox.” Emma said shyly, quickly putting in the combination to her locker. Lucy nodded, turning to follow the other students as the hallway began to empty.

“Cool, I’ll meet you there, ‘kay?”

“Okay!” Emma shouted just as her friend disappeared around the corner.

Just like that, the hallway was empty.

Emma tried her combination a few more timed before releasing a frustrated sigh. It was her first year having a locker, and coming from elementary the notion of having her own private space to put her things had seemed like a dream come true.

But after only one month of using the thing, Emma had quickly become disillusioned.

Cursing, Emma gave the bottom a swift kick, and the red metal door immediately popped open. Glaring, she shoved her backpack inside, pulling out her notebook and grabbing her lunchbox before moving to close the door.

That’s when she saw it.

Sitting there on the top shelf, propped up against her textbooks, was a thin white envelope. No name adorned the front, but seeing as the item had been left in her locker she had no doubt it was meant for her.

It could be anything. Maybe it was a love confession. Maybe it was a prank. It was just an envelope, after all…

So why did looking at it make Emma feel so uneasy?

Reaching up her stomach churned, and the moment her fingers touched the smooth white paper Emma felt as if she would pass out at any moment. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and her head throbbed as if someone had decided to take a hammer to her temple.

Still, she slowly turned the letter over, gazing at the plain red wax seal that adorned the front. Gritting her teeth she tore the seal away and pulled out the letter within. Immediately something fell from within the folded paper, and she barely caught it within the palm of her hand. Opening her fingers, Emma found herself gazing at a single, white downy feather.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Unfolding the letter her eyes fell upon the unmarred page, still as white and untouched as freshly fallen snow but for two words written in elegant script across the center: The Roof.

Letting the letter and the feather fall to the floor, Emma turned and ran. Jogging through the cafeteria she ignored the confused calls of her friends, choosing instead to go down the hallway towards the gymnasium and take the emergency stairwell. She took the stairs two at a time, her footsteps pounding in time to her beating heart.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong.

She reached the top, throwing open the door to the roof to see nothing but blue sky and the metallic gleam of the fencing that lined the rooftop.

Relief immediately flooded through Emma’s veins, and she had to lean into the doorframe in order to stay standing.

She almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous her previous fear was. What on earth had she been expecting?

Maybe the letter had been a prank after all.

Releasing a small chuckle at her own stupidity, Emma was about to turn around and head back to her locker - which she then realized she had left open – when she saw a flash of movement from the corner of her eye.

Swiveling her head, her gaze settled on the figure of a student standing on the rooftop’s edge. Their sandy blonde hair caught in a sudden breeze – sending the golden locks into a wild dance as the girl glanced back at Emma. For a moment blue eyed met brown and the other girl opened her lips in a silent murmur before releasing her grip on the railing and turning forward.

It was like when Emma was a child and had first leapt from the rocky ledge of a cliff down into the water. There was a certain euphoria to the feeling of being so high up, looking down past craggy rocks at the serene water below.

Her heart raced, her body would fill with adrenaline and her mind went completely blank. Then she would let go and fall and for a terrifying moment, she was really, truly convinced that that was the end. The whole world came to a stop along with her breath, and her eyes fell shut and she could feel everything around her: the cool air rushing past - tinged with a soft bite of moisture - the water below, the sky above, the heat of her own skin. Every breath, every palpitation of her heart as it sent blood rushing through her veins – she could feel it all.

And for that moment - traipsing across the lines between existence and nonexistence - it was as if Emma were both living and at the same time gone, a thousand miles above the clouds, floating away.

Of course, in this particular situation she then hit the water and with the sudden bone chilling contact all her senses came rushing back and her eyes flew open and Emma rose to the surface to suck in a gasp of air only to release it in ecstatic laughter.

Yet standing there, on that sunny rooftop on a day not at all unlike any other, Emma suddenly felt suspended like in those final moments before hitting the water. She watched from afar as her own mouth opened in a scream, her limbs creaking into sudden motion as she darted towards the railing. The feeling of the sun beating down, the distant sound of the other students eating lunch and the image of a body dressed in blue almost floating amidst a cloud of honey-hued curls.

And then she hit the ground, and everything came crashing back in a searing burst of reality.

She could feel the seconds weighing down on her along with the painful sounds of everyday life as it carried on around her.

One moment.

Two.

From below there was a scream, the sound of which seemed to jolt Emma’s stunned mind to life like a shock of electricity. She took in a quick breath, her entire body going limp as her knees hit the hard cement of the rooftop with a thud that mixed oddly with the fluttering sobs that passed her lips.

Just like that, Emma Lawrence was no longer average anymore.