Dreams are funny things. All sorts of fantastic things can happen in them and you believe it because you’re experiencing it. Only when you wake up to reality can you recognize the insanity, for now you have an entire world of normal to contrast it with. 

Yet, sometimes we find things that seem to have escaped from one realm into another. We encounter the unexplainable, the stuff from dreams and nightmares, that we would normally laugh at when we wake up, but confound us when we believe ourselves to already be awake. Real life bleeds into dreams all the time. We dream about school and friends and our normal problems. But sometimes it would appear that the flow goes both ways. 

Sometimes, the two bleed into one another so much, you can no longer tell which is which.

Wonderland

Carter woke up gasping for air. His seatbelt cut into his neck as he lurched forward, staring in horror out the window. Water. Water was flooding over the vehicle. The car tipped forward, sinking into the river. The glass would shatter in seconds. Would he have time to scream before the wave crushed his lungs?

“And now back to the show with your host, Nancy Fletcher,” narrated a calm female voice from the front of the car. 

Carter shook his head as if he’d been slapped in the face. 

“Thank you Dian,” a second woman responded, “I just have to say, that song brings me back to a much simpler time…”

The car leveled out and the boy steadied his breathing with the swish of windshield wipers. Grey light and white noise filled the cabin as the vehicle steadily made its way through the storm. The low hum of tires rolling on asphalt rose to meet the clatter of rain on the roof and whisper of wind fluttering past. 

Carter sank back into his seat, closed his eyes, and exhaled. It was only a dream. They hadn’t swerved off the road, they just went over a bridge with the rapids safely far below.

“We really have had quite the spring,” Dian the radio guest remarked.

“One for the history books, I’d wager,” Nancy concurred.

“Do you think we’re out of the woods yet?”

“Well, as my grandfather used to say, ‘For better or for worse, the harvest begins in summertime.’ We’ll just have to wait and see what kind of harvest we reap from a year like this.”

Carter rubbed his eyes and watched the rain flow across the window. He felt like they had been driving for more than a day but the storm made it look like dusk all the time. This whole year had kind of felt like a car ride in a storm, never sure what was in front of you or even where you were but always racing forward, all thought of a destination abandoned as you fought to keep the wheels on the road. 

The boy should have been nervous. His mind should have buzzed with questions and concerns. He should have been on the edge of his seat the whole way, but he wasn’t. He slept through most of it and even when he was awake he mostly just felt numb. The world didn’t make sense anymore, so it couldn’t surprise him. There wasn’t much he could do from the backseat, so in a way, he was free from worrying about the road.

As the wind howled and the car kicked up flood water like a motorboat, Carter Jenkins fell back asleep.

Warmth. He breathed it in and let it trickle through his body as he regained his senses. At the first hint of a stretch, he relished the feel of soft, clean blankets. A gentle morning glow seeped through his eyelids before they fluttered open. Birds sang outside a window with flowing curtains. This wasn’t his room, but he was enjoying himself too much to be bothered over that conundrum.

After a while of laying still and taking the scene in, curiosity got the better of him and he sat up to look around. The pale walls were unadorned, the spacious floor was bare. Aside from the bed and a couple modest cobwebs, the room was empty. 

Carter slid his bare feet onto the hardwood floor and saw he was still wearing his clothes from the car ride yesterday. Ah, the road trip, he remembered now, which meant this must be... the cabin.

The cold dusty floorboards creaked as he tiptoed out the door and found the kitchen. Rummaging through a pile of bags heaped in the corner, he found bread and jam and made himself some toast. It was comfortable enough in the quiet little lodge but the still room lacked the glory beyond the windows so the boy brought his breakfast outside.

The smell of rain steeped in the steam rising from dewy grass under the sunshine. Leaves sparkled like emeralds over ebony trunks. The whole forest sang with the steady flow of joy that blooms after a storm, every frog, fern, and flower celebrating the gift of a new day. Carter grinned as his toes wriggled like earthworms in the warm mud. 

Something bright on the edge of the clearing caught his eye. A snow-white rabbit sat munching a blade of grass with its cotton ball tail facing him. The boy’s eyebrows shot up but the rest of him froze. There were plenty of rats and roaches back home, but Carter had never seen a bunny venture into the buzz of his concrete jungle. 

He took a step forward on tiptoe and still it nibbled away, unaware. Leaning forward, he stole another step. Doubt in his chances of actually catching the thing warred with fascination. ‘Trying and failing would still be better than just watching it leave,’ said a voice in his head. A mischievous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. ‘True that,’ he thought in return. The boy pounced.

He hit the ground exactly where the rabbit had been, but it had sensed his presence a split second too soon and darted out of the way. So instead, Carter caught a handful of mud. Jerking his gaze upward, he glimpsed the white cotton ball streaking away into the woods. Half rolling half jumping, he regained his feet and took off after it. The chase was on. 

The little creature skittered around tree trunks, under fallen logs, and through bushes, always within sight but out of reach. Carter chased in a frenzy, careening around corners and crashing through brush. The two zigzagged through the forest for who knows how long. 

Eventually, they broke out into a clearing. Finally free from the maze of low-hanging branches and jutting roots, Carter charged like a bull straight for the bunny. He was gaining on it. One more stride and it would be in grabbing range. He reached forward as he ran. It was inches away from his fingertips. Then he crashed headfirst into a fence. 

When he woke up, all was dark. Crickets chirped, owls hooted, and unknown monsters rustled through leaves. Carter instinctively jerked in his sprawling limbs, hugging his knees to his chest. The night wasn’t terribly cold but he trembled as if he were stranded in the Arctic. Again, where was he? He felt a throbbing pain in his forehead and the fence behind his back. He remembered how he had gotten there but this time that couldn’t help him explain where he was, much less how to get back to the cabin. 

He remembered something else too, something about flowers in a palace. He must have dreamed it while he was knocked out. Part of him hoped he was still dreaming, maybe this entire affair was just a nightmare and he would wake up at home safe in bed. A wolf howled in the distance. That sounded very real. The dark felt real too. It weighed on him like water pressure at the bottom of the ocean where sightless fish and spindly crabs prowled about searching for the dead.

He wanted to run blindly home to safety but he didn’t even know what direction that was at this point. He wanted to find a place to hide but he shuddered at the thought of disturbing something else already hiding. So he sat and shivered, staring wide-eyed into the black, pleading desperately that he would see nothing.

Thoughts and fears spun round and round in his head like a whirling top, each streaking by so fast he couldn’t nail them down with words. It made him dizzy. Everything blurred together into an endless stream of foreboding. The top teetered like a drunken sailor as it lost momentum. Carter felt a dim wave of nausea. Then the top toppled over and rolled away.

Carter dreamed he was in a dungeon. Iron bars flickered in the light of a distant torch. The stone walls of his cell were cracked and close. The longer he looked, the smaller the room seemed, in fact, it was now no bigger than a closet, a pantry, a coffin. It was closing in on him. He backed up into the bars but their touch burned like the fire illuminating them. He jumped in the other direction and braced himself against the far wall, scrambling for a foothold on the smooth floor. He could find none so he slid forward, shielding his face from the iron about to brand him.

The back wall sped up and slammed him into the bars. There was a moment of agony that felt like an hour but could have been less than a second then the bars fell away. Removing his trembling blistered hands from his face, he looked down and saw the bars had fallen to the ground and were now a grate covering a gaping hole in the middle of the hallway. Where the opening to his cell had been there was now a seamless wall.

Something about the pit made him nervous so he walked away down the corridor. The torch must have been at the opposite end because the farther he walked, the darker things became. The end of the hall faded into black. The walls and floor grew blurry in the grey light. Carter thought he saw something flicker in the dark, he stopped in his tracks. His squinting eyes peered into the shadows, there it was again but closer this time. He took one step back and the floor creaked, his breath caught in his chest. He stared into the ominous black, waiting in horror. He blinked then screamed. Two eyes were staring back from an inch beyond his nose.

The boy half fell, half jumped backward. He flailed his arms and legs to fend off the monster as he desperately scrambled away. After tripping a couple times he regained his footing and took off down the hallway, blood pumping so fast it distorted his vision. 

He imagined the thing behind him, reaching out with spindly pale fingers and a gaping mouth full of needle like teeth. Faster and faster he ran until his own momentum seemed to push him faster than his feet could go. As he leaned forward away from slashing claws, the floor appeared to tilt downwards, in fact, he felt almost like he was falling at this point, his feet skittering down a steep slope.

Looking down ahead of him, for it certainly was down at this point, he saw a pit. It was the hole the iron grate had been covering before, but the bars didn’t cover it now. They stuck out from the edges like mangled fangs waiting to tear him to shreds. He was tumbling towards it now, no longer running but falling straight down, down toward the gaping jaws of the pit. He plummeted through the opening head first and let out a bloodcurdling scream that reverberated through the throat of the beast, morphing into the savage howl of a wolf as it killed its prey.

Carter jolted upright in a cold sweat, blood pounding in his ears. He had kicked around in his sleep and was covered in dirt and grass. Standing up, he leaned against the fence and brushed himself off the best he could. He welcomed the warmth of the sun after the darkness of the night and soaked it into his goosebumped skin, willing himself to stay in the light and not drift back into the shadows of his mind. 

The forest around him was much less menacing in the daytime with squirrels scampering through the branches. In fact, it made last night’s fears of wild animals seem like foolishness. It was a brave new day perfect for exploring.

Looking around he saw that the fence extended for a long while in one direction and turned a corner in the other. Brushing his fingers along the old boards, he traced it to the latter. Eventually, he came to a little gate with rusty hinges. Pushing it inward, he discovered the overgrown yard of an abandoned manner. What must have once been a gravel pathway extended from the gate to the back door of an ornate stone building. Vines and moss crept up the walls but instead of making the place look rundown, they merely highlighted the regal elegance of the architecture. It was the kind of place that had a story of its own, intertwined but distinct from anyone who may have once lived there and claimed to own it. 

The boy drew towards it in a trance. Stepping into the wild garden was like stepping into a fairy tale. His wide eyes gazed in wonder at the weathered archway and oak, his feet couldn’t help but follow. Ascending the steps, he placed his hand on the tarnished bronze doorknob just to feel it. He took in a breath of amazement when it turned and opened outward, welcoming him into the mysterious inner halls. 

Carter hesitated for a moment on the threshold. A sense of fear crept like frost up his fingers but curiosity laced it with excitement. Unabashedly relishing both, the boy stepped into the abandoned mansion with adventure pulsing through his veins. 

Columns shot up the walls like mighty oaks and splintered into an ornate lace of rafters like interwoven branches. Windows high up on the walls sent shafts of light through the open air and down to the opposite side where dusty old paintings stood in finely carved frames. The carpet on the floor had greyed with age but the rich colors and swirls were still discernible. 

The perfect stillness and quiet added to the vibrancy rather than subtracting from it, like it was a holy place with a presence felt by more than sight or sound. Without fully grasping why, Carter tiptoed as lightly as he could through the dusty halls, every breath carefully drawn so as not to disturb the ringing silence. 

The deeper in he ventured, the richer the splendor and denser the shadows. Crystal chandeliers sparkled in the dark expanse of the ceiling like stars suspended in the heavens. Moth-eaten tapestries hung upon the walls. On a long table in the dining room stood a golden candelabra that shone between the cobwebs and age spots. Crystal and porcelain glittered pristinely behind the dirty glass doors of the china cabinet.

As he opened the door to the next hallway, his ears pricked up. There was a noise, muffled and distant, but the first and only sound to disturb the silence. It sent a shiver down his spine. He couldn’t make out notes but he knew it was music in the same way one can hear speaking without understanding the words. 

He knew he should have been unnerved. His blood should have gone cold. He should have been frantically racing for the door. But he wasn’t. The boy stood there, transfixed, the melody beckoning from afar and his own sense of wonder answering the call. He couldn’t remember ever deciding to take a first step but eventually, he discovered himself drifting down the hallway. 

He wandered across corridors and through empty rooms, following the gentle whiff of music like a bumblebee riding the breeze toward a fragrant flower. The closer he came, the clearer the notes rang. It was a sweeping melody, bright yet somehow melancholy, like sunshine on a forest of barren trees laden with snow. He could make out individual notes now, each one brilliant yet fleeting, like a snowflake dancing in a flurry. 

His ears led him so swiftly, he hardly noticed the thickening darkness until he turned a corner and saw a bright glow emanating from the crack underneath a set of massive wooden doors. As he pressed himself against them there was no mistaking the flow of song from the other side. With a scratching creak, the doors wrenched apart and the boy stumbled into the bright expanse of a library. In the very center, rising above the towering bookshelves, spun a spiral staircase. Beams of light shot out from the top, streaking through the air like streamers of silk. The song cascaded down the steps. 

Carter picked his way between bookshelves, pulse and breath quickening. He was getting close. To what, he could not imagine. Swinging around the banister, he leaped up the first couple stairs. The music rose in volume and tempo as he scrambled around and around, hoisting himself on the handrails for greater speed. His head felt light from spinning and heavy breathing but his feet pounded on with almost a mind of their own. The melody churned like a blizzard wailing outside the thin walls of a cabin in the middle of the woods. 

Finally at the top of the steps, Carter flung open a shattered glass door and tumbled into a garden. The music exploded into a hurricane of emotion and power and intensity, high notes soaring to touch the stars and rhythm pounding like thunder. The boy’s eyes watered in the blinding light magnified by the greenhouse panels of the roof. Bright blooms of every color erupted from planters on the floor and dangled from potts hung on the walls. It was a palace of flowers. 

Amidst all the exotic plants in their overgrown glory danced a figure, rocking and swaying in the throws of the melody, arm furiously sawing away at the strings of a violin, other hand racing up and down the fingerboard, faster than sparks from a bolt of lightning. In a whir of white fabric and flying notes, they spun around and struck a final crashing chord that left Carter staring dumbfounded into the wide eyes of a little girl. 

The boy’s ears rang deafeningly in the sudden silence. His heart stopped beating and he momentarily forgot how to breathe. Everything stood perfectly still as if time itself had shattered. The girl still had her violin on her shoulder and bow thrust dramatically at the sky. Her hazel eyes gleamed a thousand colors like shattered windows of stained glass, shock and terror shining from every crack. 

Carter shifted his weight ever so slightly, unsure whether he was stepping forward or backward. A pebble crunched beneath him. The girl sucked in a breath and stumbled back as if the noise was as loud as thunder. 

“Wait,” Carter called, suddenly desperate for her not to leave. 

The girl’s face went rigid and pale at the sound of his voice. For a split second, she held his gaze, confusion, wonder, sadness, hope, fear, and panic all shining in her eyes, bright as an open flame. Then she wheeled around and took off like a bolt of lightning. 

“Come back!” the boy cried, racing after her, tripping on plants and shattering pots. He ripped through rose bushes until his fingers bled and fell so many times his knees were caked in the spilled soil but each stab of pain spurred him onward with added fervor. He ran in a wild fit of desperation as if from death itself. There was no time to think, to put words to the conviction that had seized him. He just knew, instinctively and inexplicably, with every fiber of his being, as he had never known anything before, that something about this girl was vitally important, like a flare of light from the dark side of the moon. 

Carter tumbled out of a flower bed just in time to see the lace of her white dress disappear behind a curtain of vines. Regaining his feet, he charged forward, lowering his head and smashing his eyes shut to batter through the dangling ropes. They caught on his limbs, jerking him back but he tore through, like a plane crash landing in a field of saplings. 

At once everything shattered. A million shards exploded across his skin. The ground fell away beneath him. His eyes shot open to find himself plummeting from a broken window, vines dangling on the other side of the newly made hole. Sunlight flashed off the splintered glass, blinding his wide eyes. There was just enough time for him to register a bone-cracking pain across his back as he crashed into something. Then everything went dark.

The first breath Carter took racked his body with pain. His lungs felt like they were being strangled by iron bands. The slightest movement felt like nails hammering into his ribs, splintering them crack by crack. His throat felt like it had been scrubbed with fiberglass and every inch of his skin stung like fire. 

He opened his eyes and the sunlight streaming down through the hole in the roof above him felt like daggers splitting his head in two. His temples pounded so powerfully he couldn’t tell up from down. It eclipsed all other pain, drowning everything in the dizzying rush of pumping blood. Spots swam through his vision and ringing filled his ears, both crowding out his consciousness until he slipped away from it again. 

He lost all track of time as he drifted in and out of oblivion. Sometimes he sweltered in a feverish heat. Sometimes he shivered from bitter chills. Occasionally the ringing in his ears would subside enough for him to hear birds singing and wind blowing. It may have been a trick of his delirious mind, but at times he thought he heard music, soft and sweet like a breeze through a flower garden but always tinged with a kind of sadness that sounded almost like regret. 

At last, he opened his eyes to find a clear night sky above him. The air was fresh and cool on his face. He risked a slight flexing of his fingers and felt something damp and soft resting on his hand, in fact, whatever it was was on his arms and legs as well. The touch was clean and soothing to his lacerated skin. He attempted to lift his head and see what it was but the movement summoned an attack of pain that raked all the way down his back. 

Carter let out a moan as his vision blurred from tears. The sound was answered by a soft rustle off to his left. He caught a glimpse of white fabric shining in the starlight as a gentle hand brushed away his tears. Slender arms slid beneath his shoulders and gingerly hoisted him against some sort of cushion that felt like dewy moss. 

He clamped his eyes shut trying to block out the pain from the shift in position. Eventually, it subsided and he opened them again. There in front of him sat the girl, searching his face with concern and hope and sorrow. He sucked in a breath but she put a finger to his lips, warning him not to speak. His diaphragm had already cramped up from breathing too heavily so she was probably right. 

Carter studied the girl's face as he steadied his breaths. Her pale complexion was nearly blotted out by the abundance of freckles peppered over it. Wisps of short brown hair fanned around her head like a dandelion. Her delicate features reminded him of a porcelain doll. As he looked closer though, he began to see the half-healed scrapes and scars, like cracks in roughly handled china. 

She placed her palm in his brow and let out a relieved sigh. With a weak smile, she retreated back into the shadows and returned holding a glass. Tea leaves or something similar swirled through the liquid inside and rested at the bottom. She tipped it to his mouth and slowly let him drink in the sweet cold mixture. Swallowing was painful at first but after a couple of sips the drink relieved it.  

When the cup was empty she set it down and picked up a steaming bowl. The savory aroma drifted to his nose as she spoon fed him the broth. He hadn’t realized until now how hungry he was but the stew tasted like home and holidays and family and he soon found himself nodding off contentedly, warmth seeping through his soar limbs. 

He awoke the next morning to the pure glow of dawn dripping down from the makeshift skylight like honey from the comb. It glistened on the white blanket covering him. But wait, it wasn’t a blanket. It was flowers, snow white lilies glimmering with dew. He breathed in the perfume deeply and felt an odd sensation in his chest. It reminded him of diving seamlessly into a clear pool of water or perhaps wandering into the sunshine after a long journey through dark cold caverns. He couldn’t really describe it but whatever it was, it was blissful and dreamlike. Perhaps he was dreaming. He wouldn’t mind if that was the case, this would certainly be a lovely dream.

A door creaked open somewhere behind him followed by gentle footfalls. The girl set down a tray on his left and started mixing something in a bowl.

“Good morning,” Carter wheezed.

The girl jumped as if she had been zapped, spilling the bowl and sending the spoon clattering across the floor. In the blink of an eye, she was ten feet away, arms out in front of her as if she expected to be attacked. Her eyes darted between him and the barn door as she stumbled towards it.

“Wait…” he gasped, the rest of his words cut off by a coughing fit.

The girl scratched the ground with her bare feet, tense muscles quivering as she fought with herself. Fear burned in her eyes but sympathy stormed behind them. With a shaky breath, she lowered her arms and met his gaze with such desperate intensity she might have been staring down a cyclone. Biting her lip, she took a small step forward. Inch by inch she made her way back to the tray, holding eye contact the entire time.

Crouching on the other side, she picked up the bowl again and set to work on the mixture. Every tendon was drawn tight like a rubber band about to either snap or spring but her jaw was clenched, holding everything in place like a metal stake bolted to the chain of a wild horse. 

Carter had so many questions but dared not ask any of them. He watched silently as the girl tended to his wounds, changing out old bandages and inspecting bruises for progress. The damage still looked severe but he could tell it had once been a lot worse. Minor abrasions had already healed over into a patchwork of fresh scars. When she was finished she gave him a drought of something that tasted like wildflowers and honey. 

A pang of sadness hit him as she gathered things back onto the tray to leave. He didn’t want her to go but knew he couldn’t make her stay. His mind flopped around like a fish out of water as she picked up her things and turned to the door.

“Thank you,” the boy whispered.

The girl stiffened with a wince but held her ground. Letting out a controlled breath she turned to face him and shifted the tray to one hand. With the other she held up three fingers to make a W, touched her chin with one of the points, and cast it toward him in a curving motion. If his neck wasn’t immobilized Carter would have cocked his head to the side, as things were, he settled for just squinting at her in his bemused befuddlement. A smile tugged at the corner of the girl's mouth when she caught his expression. With a parting nod, she turned back on her way and left him to think in the sunshine.

Many days passed in this manner. The girl would bring him food, medicine, and eventually a friendly smile. Occasionally she would come bearing some trinket, a colorful rock, peculiar leaf, or beautiful flower. She would sit for a while and display it from different angles, letting the light bounce off or shine through. Carter had never had an interest in such things but as she pointed out certain details, he began to see them through her eyes. He noticed how little cracks in stone looked like lightning in a stormy sky and the way dew on flower petals dripped like tears down soft cheeks. 

One night she crept in under the moonlight with something cupped in her hands. Kneeling down as close as she dared, the girl extended her arms toward him and nodded for him to take what she was holding. Slowly, with unsure fingers, Carter reached out and picked up a small white gecko. The little creature sat perfectly still on his palm, perhaps too scared to move. He admired its large glassy eyes and markings down the tail. The pads of its feet were so soft, he tried to pet its back with the tip of a finger. The touch woke the animal from its trance and it jumped to scuttle off his hand. Before it could get away he clamped his hand shut.

The girl sucked in a gasp and stared at his hands trapping the reptile, a wild fear in her eyes burning on the embers of disappointment. She tried to keep her face neutral but betrayal flickered over it. Carter was confused. What had made her so upset? Glancing down at his hands in bewilderment he extended them back to the girl but she backed away from him. Unsure what else to do, he lowered them to the floor and opened them to release the gecko.

The tiny creature stopped squirming as soon as the light hit it. Its little lungs heaved rapidly and eyes darted every which way in terror. Leaning down to it Carter whispered,

“It’s okay little guy. You’re free to go. Sorry I scared you.”

On that last sentence, he glanced up at the girl. Her brows were pressed tightly together, expression inscrutable as she studied him and the gecko. At last, with a flick of its tail, the reptile jumped onto the ground and scampered away. Both children watched it until its pale body vanished into the shadows. After a pause, Carter managed to look back over at the girl. Eyes still slightly averted he mumbled,

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

Her stillness caught his attention, forcing him to meet her gaze. It was the first time she hadn’t flinched at his words. She regarded him with a storm churning in her eyes but one beam of light shone through the clouds, gratitude. Her lips slowly inched into a quivering smile. She shuffled back over beside him and extended a trembling hand, clasping her porcelain fingers over his rough scabbed ones. 

The next day they tried to do an evaluation of how much Carter had healed. The girl would lift her arm and wiggle her fingers or some other exercise then point to him when it was his turn to try. She applied pressure in several different places to see if they were still sore and gave him different objects to lift to test how much of his strength had returned. 

The real challenge was to see if he could get up. Carter had no idea how long he had been there on the ground but whatever it was was enough time for every muscle in his body to get stiffer than a gnarled old tree. Sitting up made his head spin and vision swim with spots but he breathed deeply and held steady until he could see clearly again. Trying to get on his feet was a hassle, his arms shook when he lifted himself, and the moment he was an inch off the ground he lost his balance. The girl caught him before he could topple over and reinjure himself, surprising him with the strength of her slim arms. 

He sat huffing on the ground as sweat trickled down his face. He was sick of sitting around. He wanted to get up and walk again. At some point, he needed to get home. Carter clenched his teeth and tried to push himself up again but the girl placed a firm hand on his shoulder. He tried to shrug her off but she held on. He squinted up at her in frustration but she shook her head, pointing to his trembling fingers. With a huff, he collapsed back onto the moss and glared at her. She was probably right. He wasn’t ready to stand on his own yet but that didn’t make his pride hurt any less.

The girl spent the rest of the day working on various projects there in the barn where she could keep an eye on him so he couldn’t injure himself when she wasn’t around. Carter was somewhat curious about what she was preparing but brooded too stubbornly to show his interest. His anger wilted into defeat as he watched the shadows creep across the floor hour after hour. Back home he didn’t mind sitting around all day playing video games but for some reason the inactivity itched at him now. He wanted something but couldn’t quite tell what. A restless burn coarser beneath his skin. He couldn’t stand being useless.

That night he ate his dinner dispassionately, picking at the contents of his plate until he set it down only half finished. The girl watched him with concern as she ate and stared at him mournfully for a while after she was done. A sudden spark lit in her eyes and she retrieved a cloth package from a pile of her things. Untying the straps, she carefully removed her violin from the padded fabric. 

Situating herself next to him in the beam of moonlight, she began to strum the instrument like a guitar. The sound was warm and gentle to his weary mind, unraveling his tangled frustration until he could relax into the melody like a rocking hammock. He breathed it in and let himself be swept along with the flow of rolling notes like a gurgling stream. 

When her song was finished they both sat listening to the crickets for a while. Carter felt refreshed by the music. There was a cool clean quality to his thoughts now as if all the smoldering ashes of the day were finally washed away. It made him feel vulnerable somehow, like he was standing outside in the dark in a beautiful but strange land. 

He turned his head to the girl and studied the way her hands cradled the violin like a beloved kitten. There was something so innocent about the way she cherished it. The way she used it as an extension of herself, spoke through it with more emotion than could ever be transmitted through mere words, mystified him. Sitting there in her simple white dress and bare feet she seemed to him some sort of magical nymph or spirit from tales of old.

“Who are you?” He whispered, voice as soft as wind rustling through leaves but carrying the fragrance of his apprehension and wonder. 

She turned her opalescent eyes upon him, gaze brighter and more distant than the moon. Without looking away she brought the violin to her shoulder and bow to the strings. She traced one long searching note, then another, each one fading away into the night like a call to some faraway place. She twisted between heart aching minor and chords of macabre keys until at last, she landed on one major note, bright as a flower hidden in the depths of a winding labyrinth. 

That flower blossomed into a melody, a melody that rang with the joy and energy of birds soaring through the sky in spring or perhaps a small child playing in the sunshine. The tune moved to a graceful song, tender and patient as a mother’s loving care, then to a boisterous march, confident and proud as the strong steps of a father. The three themes wove together in a twirling dance, melody tinkling like laughter, song lilting like a lullaby, and march keeping the steady beat. 

The graceful song began to falter though, out of place notes slipping in. It wound slower and slower till each note felt like a labored breath, bow brushing across the strings in a hoarse voice. Wheeze… wheeze… silence. The song died. 

Out of that abyss emerged the march, all confidence shattered. It’s deep stumbling notes like sobs in the dark. Sobbing turned to wailing as the music rose in volume. Sorrow devolved into madness and anger. The bow crashed wildly onto the instrument, all semblance of the familiar tune lost in the fit of fury. 

After a pause the flowery melody emerged, heartbroken and confused, notes as quiet as whispered questions.

The deep, rumbling, beastly anger answered, low but threatening as the growl of a rabid wolf. 

The melody jumped an octave, confusion giving way to fear.

Harsh chords cut it off, furious, shouting.

The melody reeled in panic, each shrill note a shriek of terror.

Rath crashed over it in a savage attack, bow striking the string with bone-cracking force. The violence and volume of the music stabbed into Carter’s ears. A shudder of horror ran through his electrified body as he stared into the girl’s eyes, unable to look away. Despite the ferocity of her playing, those eyes shone with the terror of a little girl whose entire world had warped into a brutal monstrosity of a nightmare.

That fear in her eyes jumped like wildfire to her fingers. They skittered across the strings in desperate flight, running for their lives. Up they climbed and down they tumbled. On and on they went until at last they could go no more, heaving long sighing weary notes. They no longer sang of fear or heartache or confusion, just a quiet resignation to defeat, all was lost, all was abandoned, nothing could ever be found again.

The girl sank to her knees trembling from exhaustion. Her instrument slipping out of her sweaty hands and clattering on the floor like a death rattle as she crumpled to the ground. All her life and soul had poured into that piece of music. What little that was left of her seeped out in exhausted tears. 

Carter crawled across the floor to her side. She shivered when he put an arm around her but he cradled her to himself and absorbed her silent sobs. With all the gentleness in his newly healed hand, he brushed the tears from her face. Looking into her eyes he saw a swirling storm. She was trapped in the past and it was tearing her to shreds. He took her fragile fingers in his own and squeezed them gently, willing her to come back to reality, reminding her she wasn’t alone. A shuddering sigh issued from her lips as she leaned into his embrace, holding onto his hand like a lifeline. 

There they sat under the pale light of the moon, two broken children lost in the wilderness. Yet at that moment neither was truly lost anymore. They had been found. With that one sole comfort in their dark world, both slipped off into the innocence of sleep.

Carter awoke to a whirring in his ears. All around him the old boards of the barn creaked and groaned under the assault of gale force winds. Thunder rumbled and lightning cracked as ashen clouds rolled, threatening to crash down at any moment. Every hair stood on end as he looked around the empty floor. Where was the girl?

An open door banged behind him in the wind. The gale flicked his hair around his face as he peered outside. Swarms of leaves shot through the air like hornets between the barn and the entrance to the main building. Shadows twisted through the open hallway as writhing tree limbs blocked the grey light from the windows. The fury of the storm reverberated down the stone corridor, morphing into ghostly howls. 

Rain pelted down on glass past the next doorway. Trickling water over the roof of the greenhouse cast all the flowers in a strange flickering light like static in a tv screen. In the center of the eerie garden grew a tree with fragrant blossoms, each lilting limb a welcoming arm. In the heart of the tree nestled a bird with white feathers and opal eyes. Branches wove around its little hollow, sheltering it from the storm, blocking out the rest of the world. 

A faint flash of the storm revealed creeping tendrils woven amidst the wood, stems twisting tighter and tighter, trapping the bird in its warm little hole. A shiver of horror racked down Carter’s spine as he watched a vine gently caress the bird’s delicate wings before winding around its fragile neck. At that moment he realized how his own limbs were now twined in the deceptively forceful pull of the tree. His vision blurred from the intoxicating scent of the flowers as he began to suffocate in its avaricious embrace.

With the last gasp of air in his strangled lungs, he whispered a desperate plea. At that moment the glass overhead shattered from the strike of lightning. Rain crashed down, pelting through the dense foliage. Carter gasped as the frigid rain and fiery electricity both struck him at once. 

Wrenching his arms free of their bonds, he bashed his fists through the worm-ridden wood with the power of the lightning surging through his veins. The bars of the bird’s cage splintered beneath his attack. Reaching down into that dark writhing place, he clawed away at the strangling vines until he could grasp the limp feathery body. Clutching the creature to his chest, he slammed his shoulder through the outer branches and tumbled back into the stark reality of the storm.

Opening his hands, he stared down at the stiff figure of the bird. The beak no longer cheaped, the wings no longer fluttered, but he held it up to the light, air, wind, and rain with another silent prayer. The tips of his fingers sparked. One tiny jolt of lightning jumped to the bird. With a thrill of hope, Carter lowered it till he looked into its little face.

With a crack of thunder, opal eyes shot open, clearer than they had ever been before.

Carter and the girl simultaneously jolted upright with a sharp intake of breath. Both stared wide eyed at the other in the gold glimmer of dawn. The air glowed with steam from a recent storm where light splintered through the cracks of the old barn walls. Not a move or sound was made as each searched the other, neither knowing what the other had seen or what they themselves had experienced.

Eventually, the girl broke eye contact and turned her gaze upon the barn, examining the wooden beams in a whole new way. She sat there for a while, no longer physically looking at her surroundings but for the first time truly seeing where she was.

At last, she gave a firm nod and stood with a determined confidence Carter had never seen in her before. None of her former timidness or dazed euphoria hindered her steps as she strode over to her violin and tied it back up securely in its cloths. She left the cold leftovers and empty tray to sit forgotten there on the floor and set her sights on the open doorway.

Turning her head to face him again, she extended one strong, unwavering hand. Carter stared up in wonder at the change that had been wrought within her. The fragile porcelain doll had shattered, but out of the crucible had emerged a figure of gleaming granite. 

Emboldened by her newfound strength, he reached up and grasped her hand. His legs burned with cold fire at their first use in so long but the girl held him steady and he managed to support most of his weight. Arms wrapped around each other for support, the two children abandoned their shelter for the freshly cleansed world beyond.

Cool grass met their feet as they stepped off the well-worn path back to the mansion. At the edge of the clearing the girl looked back, a flash of her old self visible in those haunted eyes. For a moment her grip slackened. 

“You don’t belong there,” Carter spoke into her ear. Perhaps he didn’t know where she did belong, but he could be certain it wasn’t in those abandoned halls, trapped in a world of her own, with nothing but ghosts to keep her company. 

With a nod, she wrenched her eyes away from her old life. With a final breath, they entered the forest.

The storm had blown a lot of the leaves and some of the branches out of the trees, leaving what once appeared a dark enchanted wood now brightly illumined. They trekked through the wilderness for over an hour but all the while they held to one straight course. Carter’s head swam at the exertion but his legs kept moving almost as if in a trance. Everything looked strange and dreamish with mist spiraling off of it and dewdrops sparkling like gemstones on the edges. 

They finally emerged from the woods to find a crossroad. Railroad tracks went one direction and asphalt went another, back into the woods. A rhythmic rumbling noise was growing in the distance. Carter let go of the girl and looked down the road. 

“Vacation Cabins,” read a sign by the side, “take a break and get away from it all.”

His heart pumped faster as the rumbling grew louder. That was it. The road back to the cabin, where things were warm, dry, and comfortable, his life where everything was familiar and safe, where he could just go along for the ride and not care whether they slid off the road because he never had to be at the wheel.

Whirling around he saw the girl tightening the straps on her instrument and digging her feet into the ground like a runner waiting for the whistle to blow. The rumble was deafening at this point, vibrating his skull. 

Turning again he spotted a train coming around the bend. Steam billowed and engines roared as the wheels chugged down the track. Just as the front came to the crossroads a whistle blew and the girl took off running. 

“What are you doing?!” shouted the boy over the tumult. 

In a sudden panic, he found himself chasing after her. Just as he caught up she jumped and grabbed onto one of the cargo doors, wrenching it open and tumbling inside. Holding onto the inside of the compartment she leaned out and extended her arm to him.

Carter stared at her in confusion. What was happening? Where was she going? Was this just another dream?

“This is real.”

The girl’s words struck him like a title wave. All the fog was suddenly gone from his mind. Whatever he did now mattered. There would be no going back, his choice would be final. If he got on that train he was permanently abandoning all that he knew. If he let her slip away he was resigning himself to his old half-life where things were all a game and nothing really mattered. If he took her hand he had no idea where they were going but he knew it wouldn’t be easy or comfortable or safe. 

It was a choice between dream and reality and for the first time in his life, he knew what he really wanted. 

With one final bound he took a leap of faith and grabbed the outstretched hand.