Land of Lucid Dreams

[Baker]

The rope aimlessly hung, swinging from side to side in the easy breeze of the salty air. The noose on the end was swaying ominously, and the breeze slowly blowing the naval flag in the distance. On the left there were three men, one with a black cover over his head and his hands tied, and two naval officers with loaded muskets in their hands.

Slowly, a man was making his way through the crowd of people. He was dressed in a long coat with a red bandana around his head, brown bangs made their way down his forehead, and a cigarette hung from his mouth. He looked up on the platform, waiting for his moment.

The guards shoved the covered man forward to in front of the rope, slowly putting the noose over his head. A priest was standing on the right, slowly. “On the charge of Piracy, you have been sentenced to death…” The executioner waited for the guards to put the noose around the neck of the prisoner before beginning to pull the lever, which would drop the man and leave him to hang.

The man in the crowd ripped off his coat, revealing two pistols and taking fire at the rope. The bullet cut near the top and letting the convict fall to the ground with a thud. The guards recognized the man with the pistols as one of the most notorious pirates ever to sail the ocean, TNT. They all immediately loaded their muskets and fired. TNT immediately ran to under the gallows and uncovered his fellow pirate, running him back through the crowd or screaming people, hoping the guards wouldn’t shoot in fear of hitting civilians.

The two made it towards the docks, guards chasing in full force. A ship was waiting for them, masts drawn and slowly flowing into the harbor with the wind. TNT ran down the dock, grabbing a loose rope on the side of the ship and climbing onto the deck. His colleague did the same. A small man with a bushy beard limped up to where the two climbed aboard. “Afternoon Captain, I see ye got out wee friend back from the gallows, shall we quicken our pace?”

“Aye” TNT said with a scowl, not too impressed with the way his crew had been working. “Get our asses out of this landlubber town.”

The ship gradually quickened as the sails were fully open. The cracks of gunfire were still being heard from the shore as the bullets pinged off the hull. TNT slowly made his way across the deck to his cabin. The waves rocked the ship a bit as the sky was blackening. The weather wasn’t a huge issue to him as he shrugged it off, going to take a deserved rest.

He ripped open his door just in time to hear the screams of crewman. TNT closed the door without entering and went back across the deck quickly to see what was going on. He looked over the starboard bow to see that the blackness was not only in the sky, but it was spreading in the water and up the hull of the ship.

There was no longer any light and the blackness reached the deck with ease, slowly gulping up various crew members until TNT was the only one left, slowly being eaten up by the darkness…

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Thomas smacked his alarm to stop the insatiable sound that had awakened him from his slumber. Slowly he raised his head and looked at the clock, 5:31. Time to get up and head over to the dealership, and also time to put on his suit and the trademark fake smile even a decent salesman needed. He threw off his sheets, grabbed his towel and suit, slumping his way to the shower.

Twenty minutes later, Thomas was out and dressing into his suit, making his way to the small kitchen/living room combo that usually consisted in such a small apartment. He opened his fridge, grabbed the milk, pouring himself a glass before shoving the bread into the toaster and pushing the tab down.

He slowly sipped the milk and waited for the toast to pop, wasn’t much of a breakfast, but he was out of Cocoa Puffs and needed to hit the grocery store. The toast nearly flew out of the toaster as it popped up, Thomas grabbed it, quickly buttering it and rushing out the door and down the flights of stairs leading to the street where his car, a 1997 VW Beetle, was parked. He ran into it, started it, and was off to work.

The clock read 6:52 as Thomas finally pulled into the lot, taking his signified parking space, going inside to start another day of pretending to enjoy selling cars that people didn’t want any more to people who really would rather be being a brand new car anyway.

[Guest]

The clang of metal against metal rang loudly in the air. Heavy breathing and the pounding of feet tried to overcome, but the striking of metal made Alexa's ears ring softly. She watched the squires mock battling. Dust from the ground swirled up into the combatants' eyes and swearing ensued.

Alexa's lips twitched into a smile. They were training hard, getting better for every time she saw them, but then the Training Master was a good teacher. She leaned her elbows against the fence and turned her head to the Training Master, Saunder, beside her.

"They are good."

"Yes, but then they are eager," Saunder said.

Alexa agreed. She could smell the squires' sweat even from twenty feet away. It could be that the ground in the training yard had soaked up so much sweat over the years that the smell always perfumed the air. She didn't mind.

Straightening from the fence she walked forward with Saunder at her side. She stopped right beside a pair of fighters and they halted their combat. Soon all of them were still and watching her.

"Your Training Master says you are soon ready for the trials," she paused to let the cheers die down. "I couldn't be more pleased with your progress. You've been working hard for several years now and are ready as far as I have seen. The trials will be the day of the next full moon. But before then there will be smaller tests. From this day until the trials a knight will visit any part of your training and he or she will change it. We need to know if you can adapt for the circumstances. If you prove yourself worthy the trials await you, if not it's time to figure out what you are best suited for."

The squires looked at each other, unsure if what she had said was good or bad for them. They were young men and women, almost adults and getting ready for their role in their society. For almost one decade they had trained and learned everything a knight needed to do. If they got through the trials they would have one more year as the personal squire of a knight before knighthood.

"Lady Knight Alexa?" a grinning man asked.

"Yes, young man."

He looked back at his friends and grinned.

"Will you be one of those knights, my lady?"

Alexa grinned and raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't I start now?"

She held out her hand and Saunder put a training sword in her hand. Without saying anything more, she attacked the grinning youth. He barely had time to parry her, before she turned to his friend beside him. She went from squire to squire, without a pattern and attacking some twice or more. The first few were surprised but soon got in the game. When several of them tried to attack Alexa back, Saunder joined her and together they mock battled the squires.

Time went by without Alexa really paying attention until a loud shriek was heard from the edges of the battle. She immediately fought her way out of the crowd and stared.

An inky cloud was slowly edging over the lawn towards the training grounds. The cloud grew bigger and bigger, slowly blanketing the ground.

"Saunder! Run! This is not something we can fight. Call the witch maiden!" Alexa called over her shoulder as she moved to the fence around the training ground, on the side where the darkness was getting closer.

Behind her she heard running feet, and shouts of terror. Saunder was yelling at them and probably dragging the ones not running fast enough. He was an obedient man when he knew the orders were right.

Alexa swallowed tightly and backed away when the black cloud oozed over the fence and hungrily reached for her. She kept the same speed as the cloud when it suddenly flowed forward faster. Darkness climbed up her legs, cold and numbing. She couldn't breathe, her chest desperately trying to move in the crushing hold of the dark cloud. Dark spots filled her sight and she could feel her slip away.

A melodic voice started singing. Was it the witch maiden? Had she finally arrived? Alexa renewed her struggle against the cloud, trying to move her trapped body. No. Wait, wasn't that Cher?

Gasping for breath Alexandra Treemont sat up in her bed. It took her minutes to regain her breath and even longer for the fear to die down. That had never happened in any of her dreams.

She rubbed her forehead and looked to the radio clock that had waked her up with Cher. Well, she was reasonably sure it was Cher, not that she remembered which song it was anymore. The radio had already gone on to other songs. She took a few deep breaths and then got out of bed.

A fast shower, healthy breakfast and her morning yoga calmed Alexandra. She packed her backpack and went out of her small house. Her house was small, but big enough for her and a partner whenever she'd find someone she could love. She went into the garage and got her bicycle. After locking the house she peddled to the school she worked at.

Alexandra prepared for her first lesson, but couldn't stop thinking about the dream. Since she needed to concentrate to teach her students about history, she decided with herself to think about solutions to prevent such strange dream endings later. She was a lucid dreamer after all, which gave her a measure of control over her dreams. Alexandra had never wished for something like that to happen. It had been terrifying.

[HappyMedian]

"It's okay, you can come with me"A soft voice whispered in Doves direction. Her skin, tinged in brown as though she had bathed in the dirt seemed to cringe, though the voice sweet. As she looked up, She was in a tunnel with the voice echoing around her. She dropped to her knees almost in pain.
The girl crawled on her limbs like a confined animal when the tunnel started to collapse around her. Dove knew the only way to go was forward. She stumbled up to her feet and began to run rather crookedly. Running as though her legs were mere twigs. A laugh bounced through her ear canals and tears started streaming down her face. The tunnel was just about to collapse on her when she used the last of her effort to jump and she just made it out of the small opening.
When she opened the eyes she hadn't realized she'd shut, and let the breath out she didn't realize she'd been holding in, Dove realized she was in a field of small purple flowers. She plucked one and realized, "This is the type of flower that's really a weed...but it's still so beautiful." She looked up and standing by a tree made of the small purple flowers, was a boy. Immedietly her tears returned. With a few short, hyper-ventilating breaths she tried to run away, pry the tunnel back open when she felt the skin on her neck get goosebumps. Reluctantly she turned around to face the boy. He cocked his head and put a half smile on his face. He let out a small purr. Dove's tears were wiped from her cheeks with his thumb and then it traced it's way down her neck. She shuddered, not from pleasure, from fear. His dark hair swooped over his face covering his eyes that seeped hate. The thumb on her neck became hands and Dove found herself not breathing. The humming birds that once rested in the trees turning to crows, the flowers turning into weeds, the boy, never losing his beauty. "Make it easy, just kill me now.' She pleaded in short gasps of air. " He looked into her eyes and grinned a grin so cold her eyes had to avert. "What would the fun in that be Bird? What would the fun in that be. Now we wait until we meet.' The last thing Dove saw was a crow fly past the full moon. Then darkness.
Dove woke up surprisingly calm from her dream. She stood up from the fire escape she had found refuge in the night before. She pulled her hand up to her face and twisted the snake bites in her chin that she had acquired the previous night. Dove stood up on wobbly legs and stretched. She wrote her dream in her journal and rummaged through her bag to see what clothes she could wear. As she stripped down in the alleys fire escape she caught a glimpse of her body in the cracked window next to her. Every one of her ribs poked out from her skin and her double zero jeans failed to fit her anymore. She glanced at the clock past the window in the persons home after she had gotten dressed and saw she was going to be late for school. She ran through the alleys and streets of the town she barley knew as fast as her stick legs could carry her. She kept seeing the boy from her dreams out of the corner of her eyes and at one point it stopped her in her tracks. And it almost got her hit by a VW bug. She jumped out of the way and started running again to school. In through the doors, Dove pulled up her jeans and opened the gate to the classroom. Everyone turned to look at her. "I'm sorry Ms. Treemont. My parents forgot to wake me up before they left for work, I missed my bus and had to run all the way here." She went to take her seat and dropped a pencil. One of the boys in class cat called her another made a pass at her. She ignored both the boys and the lesson as her thoughts drifted back to the boy from her dream.

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