Jude opened his mouth to respond, but the words didn't come immediately. Did it matter? If this was a dream, if none of this was real, what difference did it make?
And yet, the thought of waking up, of losing this moment, filled him with an inexplicable sense of unease.
"I don't know," he admitted.
The figure nodded as if they had expected his answer. "Then keep moving."
It was not a command, not an insistence, but an invitation.
Jude took another step, then another. The world around him continued to shift, forming shapes that dissolved as quickly as they appeared. Buildings rose from the ground, their structures fluid and ever-changing, as if they couldn't quite decide what they wanted to be. The sky above him was neither day nor night, holding an endless expanse of color that twisted in ways he couldn't comprehend.
He tried to focus on something—anything—that felt solid, but the more he searched, the more elusive it all became.
