Lights are all out. It's through midnight and there it is again destabing my peaceful sleep. And I've always wondered why I always had to dream of the same thing over and over again and why this particular place. There it went again. I'm drowning in water. I can't reach the surface. I'm being deprived of oxygen as I struggle to breath nor could I swim. My body's fighting for the last bit of air. I'm desperate to get out. My feets were paddling and my hands were up in the air. I try to paddle harder and swim my way out but as I paddle it the more I sink. The waters filled with blood. I don't know who it was but I was running away from something. I had this fear in me. My heart kept beating so fast. I kept on looking down for that something. Few moments later I found myself down to the bottom again. I think it got me. I remember something pulling me down again. It was some kind of a force. I felt tired but I tried to swim up again. A shadow looms over the water. I think it was a bird. It got inside swimming straight to me and I held onto its wings. It swims me up to the surface. I can't see its face nor its entire body. I think my eyes were blinded by the water. But the thing is the whole dream was just so blurry. It got me to the surface and swam out of the water. I was soaking wet. It gave me clothes and I wore them. It later gave me this necklace, the one I'm wearing. It tells me they were looking for me, I looked at it confused. Surprised it could talk or perhaps it was just in my head. It threw me on its back and flew away with me. I looked behind me. Damn, I was in a sea drowning in it. The water dries out behind us. I'm confused, is the world ending? It was just that there was nothing left in it. It was bareless. The plants, flowers, trees were all drying out and even the water in the sea dried out. Many people were dead, it was just so quiet. Perhaps it was the same reason I was drowning. I turned back and put my focus back. It flew me for a long distance and so fast. I tried to hold on tight. After a few minutes it landed down to the ground somewhere in a cave. It got some kind of a bag out. It opened and closed it. I peeked in. It had guns inside. It flew up again to a forest. This same particular place I always find myself at when I always dream. I don't know how but now I was surrounded by a lot of people fighting. It is blurry but I can still see. A girl had laid on the ground, down and defeated. I think she was dead or perhaps was weak. I can't see the others but they were the same age as me. Two birds stood in front of me, the one that rescued me and another one. Big as hell. I'm more confused now. How did I get here? I was down on the ground defeated, injured and was bleeding. I had this connection with these birds. They were kind of fighting me. But I kept on trying to get through them. I've seen these birds multiplied many times in my dreams. I just don't know why, it always ends here. The birds would fight me and I would drown back into the water. I was later awakened by my fathers loud sound.
Chapter 2: The Solace Of Change
" As the morning sunlight peeked through the blinds, the ringing of his cellphone pierced the calm, shrill and insistent: 'Ring, Ring, Ring'." The call was unexpected and had unusual numbers. Elaine's father woke up and answered it. His eyes glinted with happiness when he found out that he got the job after searching for so many years, finally he found one. The job was actually far away from home and he had to work for a company called "A.C construction" in Mexico. He was told he would get the job description at work and may start two days after. He had to leave the next day. He couldn't wait to tell everyone the exciting news so he woke everyone by ringing a bell. The bell sound was so deafening that everyone woke up complaining but he managed to calm them down. He told them the exciting news and that he would have to leave tomorrow to work, and that the job was far away in Mexico. Elaine and her grandfather were so delighted to hear the news, and as for Elaine's mother she wasn't that happy because now her husband had left town to a place so far away from home but had to let him go for the sake of their financial well being and suffering. What troubled her the most was that he would be gone for such a long time but she decided to let him go. As for Elaine, she couldn't believe it, everything seemed like a great solace to her. She went back to sleep dreaming of all the things she would like to have and what she wanted for her birthday this year. She even forgot to switch off the light when she immediately zonked out. Grandfather went to his bedroom thinking about his wife's tombstone that wasn't built yet, whereas his horses were finally getting a new stable and him getting a new couch because the one he had was torned on ends. As for Elaine's mother, she was thinking of renovating the house. Then her father thought of buying a new car as that one he has is old and rusty, and his back always ached from pushing it to start. He also thought of buying new shoes because that one pair he wears had a big hole and clopped too. Again something disturbed their peaceful sleep which was the alarm. Elaine woke up and bathed for school. She had no breakfast to eat but promised herself it was for the last time. She then went to her bedroom again and that's when she noticed she hadn't switched off the light. She switched it off, took her bag and said goodbye to everyone and off she left to school. On the way to school she saw the four she admired the most. She wished she could be friends with them but they were poles apart and her standard of living wouldn't let her. The first girl was Suzette, daughter to Mr Mackenzie who was the Magistrate in Greenland. She was very beautiful with blonde hair and was wholly apart from her. She had the look of etheriallity but she was astute. Second was Alice, one of the prettiest girls, daughter to mayor of greenland and her mother a well known business woman. She had a lovely smile and teeth but was superb. Lastly were the twins namely Alexa and Alexis. They were also captivating, beautiful and you couldn't tell who was who. They had long black hair with black eyes with pale and clear faces. They were said to be colonists and both their parents working so well and their father a traveler. The two twins differed. Alexa was often quiet, scrupulous and never gloated but Alexis was talkative, never paid attention to things or even cared and was haughty. The twins were the same in that they didn't want to see anyone succeed and were rude. There were also stories of the past that their parents in the modern days used to massacre people for power and their mother was an evil fairy that got kicked out from the fairy kingdom. Elaine didn't care about all these rumors, she just wanted to be friends with them. While she was busy looking at the girls, Mrs Barker called for her. Mrs Barker lived across the road to school. No news or gossip would pass her without her knowing first. She knew everyone in Greenland and their deepest secrets, and was older than everyone in the farm but a peer to Elaine's grandfather. Elaine had the greatest affection towards Mrs Barker, she was her Dutch uncle, so she quickly rode to her. The old lady had baked scones for her to school in a lunchbox full of delicious treats. She gave it to her with a little pocket money to buy at school. Mrs Barker as a news lover she then congratulated Elaine's father for getting the job and waved at Elaine. Elaine rode her bike to school wondering how Mrs Barker knew about his father finally getting a job, she just smiled to herself and rode faster to school. She arrived at school in thirty minutes and parked her bike by her class and went inside. She obviously sat alone in her corner like always. She felt so lonely, alienated and sad because she had no one to share her stories with even if they made her happy. She looked around at her classmates with their friends laughing, chatting and telling jokes. She looked at her mysterious friends busy listening to music, laughing and dancing. Her eyes just watered to why would the universe neglect her like this (just leave her all alone, what hurt her the most was that it neglected her when it was all hard for her and even when it was starting to be better). Mrs Smith, her class teacher interrupted her thoughts when she entered the class and with the school bell ringing. Mrs Smith was kind, beautiful, cared and loved her students equally and taught them english. The learners all evacuated to their seats when they saw her coming. Mrs Smith introduced a new topic and told them they were going to do it in groups of five, where each group had to present a speech in front of the class but one by one they were going to do it and each group had to have a group leader. She then handed out papers to them. Elaine looked at it excitedly because she already knew what to do. All learners stood up and went to their groups, and soon all groups were all filled except for Suzette's group. They were shot with one member, but they didn't bother, they didn't care and as for Elaine, she had no group and didn't bother reporting it to the teacher. The school bell rang and they went to a lunch break. Elaine was always the last one to go out for lunch break because she had no friends. She waited for all the learners to walk out of class and she would come out. She took her lunch box that Mrs Barker gave to her and went to the same spot she always sat on. She loved this spot because it had this fresh air, the sun was warm, the trees provided a wonderful shade and had a lovely view of the school. She saw everything from there. She was about to open her lunchbox when she saw Suzette looking at her. She felt embarrassed and didn't look up for the longest time until she saw Suzette and her friends moving away from where they were. She then opened her lunch box and ate. She enjoyed it whilst busy laughing at the other kids in school. The bell rang and they all went back to class for the last two periods. The Second last period was for music class. It was so humdrum. During the lesson Elaine was busy day dreaming. Mr Ames kind of noticed that and asked her to play the high notes. Elaine wasn't concentrating nor was in class when they were busy rehearsing the high notes. She tried playing the high notes but she couldn't play them and to add an insult her violin just screeched, making a high loud sound. Mr Ames just closed his ears and looked at Elaine disappointed. He was just at a loss for words and the whole class burst with laughter. Elaine felt embarrassed and she couldn't wait for the period to end. The lesson took so long and when the bell rang she was the first one to walk out. In the last period they were free. Elaine just sat alone in her corner feeling down in the dumps. Matilda, whose eyes were wandering around, kind of noticed her and decided to join her. Matilda was all sweetness and light. She too had no friends and the whole class saw her weird and often felt lonely. She sat next to Elaine and for a moment they sat quietly without saying anything. Matilda then offered to start the conversation and they found out that they both loved horses, and Matilda was related to Mrs Barker. They were both very happy to have met one another and this was just the start of their new friendship. The after school bell rang and all children evacuated out of school. The two new friends decided to walk together riding their bikes home. Still on the way home Suzette and their friends passed them in a very expensive driven Mercedes benz. This was such an embarrassment to them as they were riding bikes. The car passed leaving dust behind them. It kind of made them sneeze and Elaine's eyes watered, making them cough all the way. They decided to pass by Mrs Barker's house. Elaine took off the lunch box and gave it to Mrs Barker and thanked her once again. She had really enjoyed the scones. They then sat and ate the scones as Matilda Hadn't had them. Mrs Barker then asked Matilda whether she still turned the bottle and Matilda answered without hesitation that she did. She knew exactly what would happen if she didn't. Elaine looked at themb psyched out but no one bothered with explaining to her what they were talking about. The girls then left after eating, riding their bikes home. Elaine tried to ask Matilda about the bottle but she just ignored her instead asked if she would love to ride horses with her in the afternoon. Elaine couldn't agree more, it was what she loved the most and forgot about the matter. They both agreed to meet at the nearby forest so they could both ride their horses. They then reached a path where they had to separate and each took a path home. They waved goodbye and off they went. Elaine's mother was busy cleaning the dilapidated house with the thought of renovating it with the money Elaine's father is going to send. Father and son were in the ramshackled stable, busy discussing how it was going to be built to a new one. Elaine arrived at that instance and greeted everyone. She went to her room and changed her school uniform and wore other clothes. She then went to the kitchen and found out that her mother hadn't cooked yet but luckily she ate at Mrs Barker's. She quickly then wrote her homeworks. As she was writing she couldn't stop thinking about not having a group in the english assignment but she kept easing the pain that she would find a group and that her teacher would find her one. Immediately when the clock striked 16:00, she closed her books and went to the horses stable. She took a horse. That horse was given to her by her garandfather because it resembled her beauty. Her horse's name was Dapper. She then rode the horse and took off to meet Matilda. She found her already waiting for her. They then rode the bikes to the nearby forest. They were both having fun competing on whose horse was faster. They, after so tired of competing, took the horses to drink water. Elaine somehow noticed a place in the forest from far away, where it was so beautiful. It somehow grabbed her attention. She showed it to Matilda and told her they should ride to it. Matilda agreed and they rode to it. They then rode the horses to that place and time they were not competing. But somehow along the way Matilda saw something which took her back to the olden days and for that she no longer wanted to continue walking. What she saw was a sapling of a boomslang tree that made her see red. Eliane tried to calm her down and tried to incite her to continue walking, telling her to let go of whatever it was and kept asking what it was. When Elaine said those words, Matilda just steamed up and turned her horse back home. Matilda just didn't want Elaine to find out about her sordid past. Elaine also decided to turn her horse back and followed her. She tried asking her what made her so angry that she didn't want to continue and was it something from the past. Matilda became more steamed up with tbos pestering that when she got to the lake she veered to a different path that led away from Elaine and that tree. Benevolent Elaine felt sorry for her friend and decided to run after her. She did this surreptitiously so that Matilda couldn't see or notice her. She was feeling a little bit scared. She could feel that there was something wrong. On the way Matilda felt vengeance and bloodthirsty. She couldn't help feeling this way until she felt legarthy and could no longer ride the horse. Elaine was busy following her when suddenly a moon broke from the cloud cover and shone with a lightning striking onto the ground causing the dust to rise into the sky. Elaine fell off her horse. It then became misty. Then within the moon a glare appeared from it which made Elaine's eyes hurt causing her not see anything but brightness. Just after the glare's occurrence a storm formed, causing the lake's water to rise into the sky. Somehow this caused cold air, followed by wind cycles. This wind was very strong and made the lake's water look as big as houses. So in the sky there was a big revolution of water, wind and the clare at the center of everything. While this was happening Matilda fell onto the ground and the water made a big bubble onto the sky, and busted with a loud sound of plop, and the wind with storm just stopped, with the moon and the glare suddenly vanishing from the sky. Elaine slowly came out from where she was. She looked like she was at sea. For the first time she didn't know what to do because she was between the devil and the deep blue sea. She kept thinking of going to her friend but on the other hand she thought of going home. While on her thought, she heard the horse crying shame. She then nimbly followed the horse's crying. She found the horse kneeling down at Matilda as if it was saying something or perhaps understood what was going on. Elaine then also kneeled down next to it looking at her friend who lied hopelessly and deadly on the ground. She then tried to touch Matilda but to her surprise she couldn't feel Matilda's body. It was like she was vanishing from it. This caused her eyebrows to raise more. For the second time it was smoke and mirrors for her again. She then decided once more to go back home and to get help because her friend was not well and had magically fainted after such a terrible experience. She nimbly rode her horse and ran back home. She found her mother cooking and her father reading a newspaper. She had no time to explain anything to them but told them to follow her to the forest.Her parents just stood there and stared at her but she couldn't wait any longer, she decided to fetch them their horses from the stable. Her parents refused to leave but demanded answers. She then had no choice but to explain. She just told them half of the story that Matilda had fainted and she had left her lying helplessly on the ground with her horse. After that Elaine just rode her horse and told to follow her so they could see for themselves. Her parents had no choice but rode their horses and followed their daughter who looked like a horse with blinders. They set off to the same spot where Elaine left Matilda. When they got there, they found the horse eating grass and there was no sign of any Matilda. Elaine just couldn't believe it. She kept on this absurd and hopeless search, calling for Matilda but still there was no sign of her coming out or answering her. Elaine hopelessly sat down and her parents looked at her provocative because there was no way that they were hastily taken out of the house for nothing, just to view the forest and to see a horse eating grass. His father couldn't help himself but asked Elaine where was this Matilda or was there never any Matilda, she was just hallucinating. Elaine spoke adamantly that Matilda was there when she left but was also delirious. His father couldn't stand this nonsense but decided to return home. He held his horse whereas her mother followed as he bellowed angrily at Elaine to get so they could leave. Elaine shyly stood up ready to leave. She rode her horse with her eyes full of tears, disappointment and with curiosity. His father took Matilda's horse so he could be able to control it. They were about to leave their house when Elaine's father tried to pull Matilda's horse to leave with them but the horse stood still from where it was without moving. Elaine's father tried with all his effort with the help of Elaine's mother but the horse just didn't bother to move. They kept on trying and trying until it just dissipated in front of them. Their eyes popped out, they all looked at one another. Elaine's father bellowed at them once to leave and Elaine's mother to agree with him. They then left the forest at once. Elianes father aired out his grievances out of Elaine to why she came to this forest with this so-called Matilda. Elaine just turned a blind eye on his father. She felt bereaved and felt the death of her friend. She kept crying in silence until she reached home. She just couldn't believe Matilda had been there when she left, had she disappeared like her horse, what was that, she asked herself. When they got home Elaine's father had already cooked and dished out for them. They just went to the dinner table and ate. At the dinner table it was so tense, no one would talk. Elaine's grandfather just kept looking at them with his face mixed up. He then asked them what was wrong. Then Elaine's mother and father started to argue about what happened at the forest, not knowing this was the start of their problems and that Matilda was the one they saved years ago. Elaine tried not to belabor the point but needed to explain things in detail for everyone to understand but only giving them a few details. She didn't tell them about the storm. This conversation ended up getting to a point where Elaine couldn't take it any more so she decided to leave the table and go take a nap because this day was just so exhausting. It was a bad hair day indeed for her. She was about to catch some Z's when her grandfather entered her room. He was too concerned about her, he always was. He asked her what actually happened to Matilda. But Elaine was also just so lost. She just told him that Matilda got taken by wild animals, whereas the horse aliens, if there were any. His grandfather just told her that she was overthinking things. He told her that maybe Matilda decided to run away because she felt embarrassed maybe by her behavior whereas with the horse itay be magic and her not be able to feel Matilda body, it was probably her being imaginative. He told her that Matilda would come back home when she was feeling much better and to be happy because tomorrow was the day his father would leave for work. Elaine just masqueraded with a smile and immediately zonked out. Before his grandfather left he told her, she will find answers that she seeks for.