Dreamscapes

by D. H. Quinn

  I don’t dare look back. I walk forward quickly. GPS to the city, I think to myself. A device appears in my hand but the screen is blank and does not turn on. Too easy, that would have been too easy. Phone with Arden's number. I think after I drop my previously created device. The phone lights up.

  I immediately call Arden and continue walking forward. “Hello,” Arden answers.

  “Arden it’s me.” Arden says nothing and I look at the phone to ensure it is still working.

  “Hold on,” he whispers and I hear some shuffling followed by a loud slamming sound.

  “Kamari?” Arden’s voice is low.

  “Yes, it's me.”

  “Where have you been? Jack is furious.”

  “I fell into a void.”

  “A void, oh,” Arden tone becomes gentle. “I’ll let Jack know.”

  “Wait, Arden do you think there is any way that I can return to the city?”

  “Doubtful, only dream walkers can locate the city at any given time.”

  “So, I will find a dream walker,” I reply more so as a thought than a response.

  “Any dream walkers out there will likely not help you, especially the wild ones.” I hear the shudder in his voice.

  “Then I will find one from the city. What about Garrett? Could he come find me again?”

  “I don’t know. I will talk to them. Jack may think it is a waste of resources, especially if we don’t know if you will be able to enter the city again when you get here,” Arden’s pessimism is apparent in his tone.

  “Thanks Arden.” The croak comes up closer behind me. I jog through the forest without any sense of direction. A sense of danger rolls through me. “I have to go. I will be in contact shortly,” I say as I start to huff loudly.

  Arden hangs up without a goodbye and I drop the device and pick up speed. Calm, calm myself, I think and a sense of clear headedness presents itself even though that was not my intention. I create a compass whose sole purpose is to lead me out of the woods. I follow its arrow for only a few minutes and find myself in a clearing.

  A large savanna stretches out in front of me. Yellow grass covers miles and miles of this mostly flat land. The impressively large baobab trees dot the landscape. A tall hill in the center of the field, slightly to the right catches my attention. I stand still, taking time to catch my breath and to listen. There is silence thankfully.

  I start slowly towards the hill as I closely examine my surroundings. The hill would give me a better view of this world and I can figure out where I should go to next. The grass rustles but I see nothing.

  I pick up my pace, ignoring any sounds that frighten me. I climb the hill easily and once on top I get a clearer view of my surroundings. I look back at the forest I exited. It is as impossibly vast as the flatland

  Directly opposite the forest I exited is another forest, this one covered in snow and populated by pine trees. I cannot see far so I decide to create some binoculars. The snowy forest is closest to me but it is not the most practical option. A desolate desert sits to my right.

  I cross my fingers as I look to the left with my binoculars. There is a large lake with a low number of trees. I scan the lakeside. A small figure stands by the lake. The possibility that it could be a dream walker excites me. The distance to this lake however discourages me. The walk could take a few hours unless I use my creation ability.

  I stand at the bottom of the hill facing the lake. I picture an off-road Jeep with strong tires. The rustling sound grows even louder now. I don’t look behind me and instead jump into the Jeep and start it up. The movement in my rear view mirror catches my eye and the animal that must have been following me in this land shows itself.

  An enormous sized lion prowls behind me, roaring loudly. I don’t hesitate, I press on the gas hard and the Jeep lurches forward. The lion begins its pursuit, growling loudly as it pounces forward. Its jump is enough to catch the bumper but not enough to stop the car’s momentum. I watch what’s in front of me and what’s behind me simultaneously.

  As I swerve past a large tree, I glance back and see that the lion is now missing. My car swerves a hard right and I see the lion in the side view mirror as it rams into the car once again. I focus on driving, pressing harder on the pedal and swerving more to the right to avoid the lion but the lion is quick and easily maneuvers to catch up with me.

  It growls louder the and I imagine the Jeep trembles. The lion manages to hit the car again and a plume of smoke pours out of the hood. I am unable to see where I am going and I am out of time and so is this vehicle. I come up with an idea then and put it into action although it is crazy.

  I place a large recently created rock on the gas pedal to hold it down. The lion preps for another ramming. I climb over the center counsel quickly. With the speed that I am going, this is going to hurt. The lion roars and I take that as my cue.

  I tuck myself into a ball and jump out of the vehicle. The vehicle keeps going as planned and once the lion rams it again, a large explosion occurs. The heat reaches out to me and singes me. I see no remains of the lion from this distance and I am sure that I do not want to. A fire blazes around the destroyed vehicle.

  The pain from my impact overcomes my adrenaline. A large gash bleeds profusely on my arm. Dizziness overcomes me when I sit up. My head throbs and I touch the back of it and my hand returns warm and sticky with blood. Heal, I force myself to think, heal, I think again and I finally feel it take place. My mind clears.

  Something rustles the grass, far off into the distance. I need to leave this area immediately. I create another Jeep and zoom off. The drive to the lake takes around 20 minutes. The land feels still.

  I come to where the two lands meet and a perfect line is between the two. I step over it and feel tremendous relief flow through me. The figure still stands next to the lake. It bends over and picks something from the ground.

  I walk over and see a small girl with fair skin and dark hair. She wears a yellow striped dress and a sun hat. “Hey can you help me?” I ask.

  The girl looks up at me. She holds a small bouquet of flowers and her nails are covered in dirt. “I just picked these for my mother, I must get them inside and in some water. Would you like to join me?”

  “Sure,” I reply. “You’re a dream walker, right?”

  The girl skips off, ignoring my question completely. She hums a familiar tune and I wonder if I have created her. Nothing else is familiar to me about her though. I do know for certain that dream walkers do not have parents so either she is acting or she is not a dream walker.

  “Wait.” She stops and turns, a rather large smile on her face. “The city is in danger and I was helping them, I need to get back there,” I tell her letting the urgency in my voice shine through.

  She stares at me blankly and then blinks dramatically as if she quickly processed the information I gave her and then just as quickly wiped it out. “I need to put these in water,” she says again and turns back towards the house. I follow here closely, unsure of what else I can do. Maybe she would lead me to someone else who could help me.

  I follow her to a log cabin. The vines crawl up the sides of the cabin. This place has been here a long time, rooted deeply into the ground. The size of the house however is rather small looking. The little girl walks onto the porch and tugs at the wooden handle. The door croaks open. She holds the door open for me to follow her in and I do.

  “Mother!” The girl calls loudly. The house’s interior is decorated in a country rustic fashion. It looks like something out of a magazine. So much wood and twine surround me along with a mixture of steel decor.

  The girl goes into the kitchen directly to the left of us. She opens a few of the cabinets and closes them until she pulls out a vase. She fills the vase with water and places her flowers in it and then puts the vase on the table. She grins widely with pride. The flowers instantly suck in the water as they grow taller and become bigger and bloom even more.

  “Mother!” The girl calls hopefu
lly again. Footsteps sound in response from the hallway. A bearded man appears. He wears a red ragged flannel, light jeans and muddy boots.

  “Mother isn’t home Emily, you know that,” he says gruffly. He hardly glances at me and I wonder if I am just taking part in a repeated scene.

  “I brought her some flowers. I bet she will love them.”

  His eyes grow sad. “I am sure she will Emily. Hey, why don’t you go outside and check the lake traps?” He asks as he gives me a meaningful look, finally acknowledging my presence.

  “Oh, I’d love to!” Emily says as she claps her hands together and skips off, the front door closing loudly behind her.

  He looks me up and down. “What do you want?” The roughness in his tone is surprising.

  “I was hoping to get back to the city.”

  “There’s no city anywhere near here,” he answers dismissively much to my dismay.

  “Not any city, the city where dream walkers are safe.”

  A mocking laugh escapes his lips. “There are no safe places for us.” He leans against the wall.

  “So, you admit you are a dream walker?”

  “I am.”

  “I was the human in the city that was trying to make a change in leadership,” I say in hopes that he had heard about it and would actually care.

  “Yeah I heard of you but you sound stupid.” He scrunches his nose and the brief change in his face appears to make him look older. I say nothing in response so he continues, “A change in leadership? Just who the hell do you think you are?”

  “I am trying to help your kind.”

  “What a joke! Humans have never helped our kind in any way,” he says with disbelief.

  “Humans helped build the walls for the city.”

  He stands up straighter and the tension grows in his body. “Who have you been speaking to?” He asks with more softness in his tone.

  “Jack was my boss but not of my own free will.”

  He laughs lightly. “She’s back at it again then huh.” His face suddenly becomes stone like. “You need to leave.”

  “I just need a direction, somewhere to go, somehow to find it,” I plead.

  “If Jack wants you she will find you. You need to leave now. You are endangering Emily.”

  “Your daughter?” I ask curiously. Arden said dream walkers didn’t have parents. Could these dream walkers be different? Maybe they were delusional. It sure seemed like Emily was. But maybe this is how they cope in this world.

  “No of course not, but I have grown to be her caretaker, and after the incident with her pretend mother,” the man stops speaking as if he just realized what he was saying and that he wasn’t supposed to be saying it.

  “Her mother, is she gone?” I ask sympathetically.

  “Yes, for good unfortunately and if Emily loses me I am afraid of what may happen to her so please understand.”

  “I do. I will leave. Which direction do you suggest?”

  He looks relieved but also reluctant. “There’s a town south of here with many dream walkers who may be able to help you. It is not too far away. Just don’t stay there too long either.” Guilt reflects in his eyes.

  “Thank you.” I walk towards the front door.

  “Do you really think you can change it?” My hand rests on the door handle.

  “I am hopeful,” I say as I look over my shoulder with a smile back at him. He nods in response and I leave their little house. Emily kneels by the lake, reaching down into the water. She seems content here. I don’t say goodbye, not wanting to disturb her any further. I make myself a compass and follow the southern direction.

  I head towards a river and a sparse number of green trees. As I am walking I get a sudden urge to talk to Aleksander. The device appears in my hand. I dial him up.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey, I am sure Arden informed you by now,” I start.

  “Kamari, yeah, I have to say I was disappointed you did not reach out to me first,” he responds. I cling to the phone tightly. I wish I could see him now.

  “I am sorry, I thought you may have been with Jack.”

  Aleksander sighs and I wish I could take my comment back. I want to tell him that I trust him. I want to say so much more. “Yeah she has me running around since your disappearance. Arden informed her of what happened and she is still furious so everyone is giving her space including me.”

  “Oh, well it is kind of her fault for sending me after those Mahrts. They were different.”

  “Yeah they are still being investigated. Listen do you know where you are?”

  “I just left a large lake with a small house. I am headed towards a larger lake village,” I say then add, “I am trying to find a dream walker who can return me to the city.”

  “Keep trying. I would try to find you but a million places could fit that description and the only one that could locate you exactly would be Jack.” I hear the realization in his voice. “Which is where I am going to go now.” He pauses and a silent moment passes between us.

  “Kamari, be safe,” he says sadly.

  “You too,” I reply.

  “I hope to hear from you soon.”

  “It’s tough but I will try. I am always on the move here.”

  “I understand. Just be safe,” he repeats. “Goodbye.” My heart aches. I want to tell him the reason I did not call him first was because it hurt too much, because hearing his voice reminds me that I may never see him again. Now is not the time for that. Maybe if he convinced Jack to find me then he would come find me himself and we could see each other sooner.

  The rushing sound of a large river stops me. The water is high and fast with no way for me to safely cross it. The compass still points in the same direction, across the river. I place my cellphone and my compass in my back pockets.

  I vaguely remember a movie I watched where a man died because he could not cross an out of control river. I remember that man had chosen to isolate himself. But this is the dream world and I could change the environment to achieve my goals. I just had to be careful with what I could potentially attract.

  I examine my surroundings and take everything in. I don’t see any potential dangers but I am aware that I am never safe. I need to rely on my instincts to survive. I make a small, secure, overarching bridge that reaches perfectly over to the other side. The bridge looks stable so I quickly cross it. When on the other side I pull out my compass and continue marching forward.

  I reach the village a short time later. Around 25 houses are perched around the lakeside. This lake however appears smaller than the one that Emily and her caregiver were on. A few dream walkers hustle around carrying baskets. One man fishes directly in front of me.

  “Excuse me,” I call out to him. He turns around and glares at me. His hair is gray and slightly balding. He has a scar from his temple to his cheek that reaches his cloudy eye. His good eye connects to mine.

  “Miss I am a bit busy here.” He turns his head back to the lake.

  “I am sorry to bother you, I just am looking for someone who can help me find the city.”

  “No cities around here.” He does not look back at me.

  I take that as my cue to leave him be. I walk around the side of the lake and come across two women carrying baskets. One of them juts her hip out, supporting the basket. They happen to place the baskets down and look to be resting when I approach them.

  “Excuse me,” I say politely. The two women look up at me with intense disinterest.

  “Ugh a human,” one of them mumbles under her breath and the other one giggles. She then looks up to me with a fake smile. “How can we serve you?” She asks in a pleasant well-rehearsed tone.

  “Well, I am trying to get back to the city.” I may as well give up on finding help.

  “THE city?” the other woman speaks, emphasizing the word makes me realize I have caught their attention.

  “Yes, the dream walker city. I was there until I fell into a void.”

  “Dream
walker? It’s like she is completely aware,” the woman says more so to her friend than to me.

  “Impossible,” the other woman responds.

  “I am aware actually, I have learned a lot from the people in the city and my dreams are continuous.”

  They both look over at me, mouth agape. “You’re not the human from the city that was doing Jack’s dirty work?” the woman on the right asks.

  “I was helping the city and yes I was that human,” I say somewhat defensively. Does the whole dream world refer to me as Jack’s slave?

  “I heard about you. It’s crazy that you are here now,” the woman on the left says.

  “Yes, it is and I really need to get back to the city quickly before,” I start to say but stop as I really examine these women. They clearly weren’t interested in helping me but they were more so interested in the potential gossip they could get out of me. “Look, I just need some help, some direction, anything really.”

  “Fine, you should go to the cabin,” the woman on the left says.

  Her suggestion shocks the other woman. “She can’t.”

  “She can try. Besides he might help her,” the woman raises her eyebrow at the other woman.

  “Any help would be appreciated.” I add again. The women exchange meaningful inside glances. “Where’s this cabin?” I ask urgently. An alternate sense gives me the feeling that I may be awaking soon. I may be transported somewhere random. I can only hope that I can continue to make progress to the city.

  The woman who was against the other’s suggestion listens as her friend whispers in her ear. She rolls her eyes and picks up her basket. “You do what you want,” she tells her and then walks away.

  The woman I am left with looks down at her own basket. “I just need to put this away and then I will take you there.” She lifts her basket and sticks out her hip just a bit to support it.

  “It’s not far is it?” I ask anxiously.

  “Not at all. Should take us two minutes,” she says as she walks away.

  She returns quickly and gestures for me to follow her. “So how do you like living among us?” she asks as we follow a path that heads away from the main portion of the lake.