The light filtered
through the windows of the hospital corridor, motes of dust spinning lazily to
the floor. There were people around: doctors and nurses hurrying from one room
to another, pausing only to acknowledge coworkers; patients in embarrassing spotted hospital gowns
shuffling on their way to the cafeteria or the courtyard; visitors who scurried
nervously along, glancing at room numbers with apprehension. It wasn’t the
strangest of scenes, but it took Karina a few seconds to register that this
scenario was playing with the sound off. She stood in a silent hallway, but it
didn’t seem the least bit eerie. Behind her was an open door to a private room.
She stepped inside to see a woman in labour, her screaming and the surrounding
staff’s encouragement completely muted. It felt like a private moment, so Karina
turned to face the door which was now closed. She approached it and reached for
the handle. But although the metal was solid beneath her hand, she found she
couldn’t turn the knob. She tried to twist it for as long as her patience
lasted, then reluctantly turned back to the birth. Except everything had changed. There was
only one person in the room now.The woman who had been in so much pain just a few
moments ago now sat up in her bed, reading a book. There was something familiar
about the woman, and Karina drew closer to see. She looked like her friend,
Dee. But older. Her mother? Dee was having a little brother or sister? Karina
stopped to ponder that happy thought. Was this a dream? She shouldn’t be so excited
for her friend if this was all in her subconscious.
A
nurse breezed past with a baby in her arms. She handed it to Dee’s mother and
the woman stared down into the bundle, a quiet contentment filling her
features.
Karina opened
her eyes to find herself on her bed. Sound rushed back to the world and for a second,
she thought she could hear the air moving around her. Bringing her mind
completely out of the hospital room, Karina realised she was sitting. She
looked down at her bed. Still made, as it had been since she got up that
morning. And it was the middle of the day. A beautifully sunny Saturday. She’d
just had lunch, and had come up to her room to get ... She didn’t know.
Karina’s mind was slow to readjust to her life. Dee appeared in her line of
sight in the doorway.
“There you are!
Did you zone out again or something?”
Karina must have
been a blank, because Dee gave a worried frown and sat down beside her. It
wasn’t until Dee’s hand touched her own that Karina remembered the two of them
were orphans. She’d never met Dee’s mother. Dee had never met Dee’s mother.
“I just had the
strangest zone out,” she told her friend. “I saw ... I don’t know what I saw,
exactly.”
“Don’t worry
about it. Let’s go outside and climb the hill to look out on the town. You like
it when we do that.”
“I do?”
Dee gave her a
soft smile. “Don’t be worried. You’ll get it all back soon.You’ll be okay.”
Karina let her
friend take her by the hand and lead her through the doorway. They were almost
at the stairs when Karina pulled back, having had a sudden flash of memory. Dee
gave her a questioning look.
“When I ... go
... I don’t usually see things, do I?”
“You haven’t
before.” Dee searched her face, a frown trying to hide in her pale blue eyes.
She gave Karina’s hand a light squeeze. “What did you see?”
Karina gave a
short laugh. “Nothing to be worried about,” she said. “It didn’t even make
sense, really. What I saw ... what I must have seen. Was you. Being born.” She
laughed again, but this time it was filled with nervousness.
The worry left
Dee’s face. “So when you go away, you’re probably dreaming. It’s fine. We’re
fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Karina gave her a
half smile in return. “You said something about the hill?”
Dee nodded. She
didn’t let go of Karina’s hand as they made their way down the staircase.
Karina stared at the panelling on the walls as they descended, trying to get
some memory back. The old farmhouse was pristinely clean for a building that
housed twelve kids between the ages of six and eighteen. If it wasn’t, she was
sure Mr and Mrs Brabham would be able to find a group of cleaner kids to keep
watch over. There was no shortage of unwanted children throughout Gradia’s
towns, and staying at the Brabham farm was quite a sweet deal.
Both Karina and
Dee were at the older end of the orphan spectrum, nearing the time when they’d
have to strike out on their own after Academy exams, which were looming ever
nearer. Dee tugged her urgently through the open door and into the sunshine.
“Better yet?” she asked, stopping to face her friend.
Karina closed her eyes and felt the warmth on her skin. “I’m wondering whether I’ll be able to remember how to do sums in time for our exams,” she said with a cheeky smile.
Dee sighed with relief and Karina lifted their joined hands, pulling her friend towards the hill in a run.
The young man held out
his sword, a beam of brilliant light streaming out of it towards the writhing
darkness. His mouth opened to yell something Karina couldn’t hear. He charged
forward, driving the illuminated weapon towards the formless black.There
was a flash and the sword vanished along with the shadowed mass. The man then
turned to face her, giving a determined glare to something behind Karina.
She turned to stare into the eyes of a dragon.
Karina was startled back from the other world to find she was being shaken. She moved her hands to pull off the offending grip that held her and stopped when her blurred vision focused on Dee.
“Please stop now,” she asked softly.
Dee let go abruptly, causing Karina to stumble backwards into a wall. She turned to face it, trying to regain her balance. When the world finally stopped pitching, she turned to Dee. Her arms were folded, clearly waiting for Karina to speak first.
The two girls locked gazes. “What?” Karina demanded.
“Do you know where you are?” The words seemed to drill right into Karina’s soul through her friend’s stern stare.
“Ahh ...” Karina tilted her head to look up at the building behind her. “Oh. The Academy.” She rested back against the wall, but pushed off it in alarm when she remembered something else. “Exams! Did I ...?”
“We just finished when you went away again. I had to drag you away before anyone noticed you were just blank.”
“And how long were you shaking me?”
Dee looked down. “Long enough. You make me worry that one of these days you won't come back.”
“Right. Thanks. I’m glad you’re here to look out for me.” Karina gave Dee a comforting smile, but it didn't remove the concerned look Dee was giving her.
“Where were you this time?”
“In a cave. There was a man – a boy our age, I think. And he was fighting a dragon!”
“A dragon? Your dream-world is kind of disturbing.”
“You think these are dreams? They’re too real to be dreams.”
Dee finally approached Karina and placed a hand on her shoulder. “If they're really not dreams, what are they?”
