Land of dreams

My eyes get wet and the temptation to just walk in that door to hug her is very great. But I pull myself together because they are right. If it's true, and it's not just some stupid dream of mine, then I might really die. So I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and turn away from them. I stand in front of the locked door and look at the handle. For the last time I turn to my parents and memorize the picture exactly.

"I'll see you," I say resolutely.

I try to smile strongly, turn the handle and go blind by the bright, white light. Shortly after that, I lose consciousness.

It seems to me that I am asleep. As if my body was sleeping, but my mind was wide awake. I can't open my eyes, but my other senses work great. Immediately I know that I am outdoors, as the air smells very fresh and sweet. Since the rustling of leaves can be heard, I can imagine I am in a forest or something like that. I can feel fresh, wet grass under my fingers. The earth still feels damp, means that it must have rained.

Suddenly I feel that a pressure is being released from me. I can move my toes just like my fingers. Finally I open my eyes and sit up in shock. The grass I'm lying on is blood red. The trees are so tall I can't see the sky! When I look around, I see a man a few meters away from me. Fear rises in me. He is tall and strong looking and has a sword in his hand. I quickly crawl away from him until I feel a tree trunk on my back.

Will he harm me? Is he dangerous? What should I do? Get up and run away? What if there is more of his kind? When I notice that he's looking at me curiously and still hasn't moved, I take all my courage and try to sound as brave as possible.

“Who are you?” I ask in a panic and can't stop the stuttering.

My whole body is shaking, be it because of the cold, since I'm only wearing one dress, or because of the fear of the man.

“Mehmet is my name and who are you?” He asks me, looking at me curiously.

His voice is deep, but it is reassuring to hear. His name sounds strange, I've never heard one of those around me. He has auburn eyes, bushy eyebrows and dark blonde, slightly longer hair. His cheeks are unshaven and his gaze does not suggest that he is going to kill me. Should i trust him? Give my name away? I am not sure what to do. I can't run away either way. First of all, I don't know where I am. Second, I don't even know where to run and third, this man named Mehmet would surely catch up with me quickly!

“Solveig” is how I finally tell him my name.

He seems to think for a moment. When he tries to approach me, I flinch. He immediately stops and apologizes, then I watch him sit down on the floor. His behavior calms me down a lot. When he's sitting, he can't do much to me.

"Where are you Solveig from?" He asks me calmly, cross-legged.

I pull my knees to my body and lean my head on them, as the cold wind gives me goose bumps on my neck. I tell him my city, but he draws his eyebrows together and looks at me questioningly. So I have to be somewhere else, as I suspected. I prefer not to even ask him where he's from. I wouldn't know the area anyway.

"How did you do that with the light earlier?" He asked me and looks like he had waited a long time for this answer.

Which light does he mean? I also look at him questioningly.

“How did you get here?” He asks, slowly looking impatient.

Again I look at him in silence. I decide not to reveal the story with the picture, otherwise he would think I was crazy. Confused, he looks at the floor and seems to be thinking.

"Do you want to tell me where you are going?" He asks me, looking desperate.

Maybe he actually wants to help me. And if he leaves me alone now, I won't survive here long. So, for better or worse, I have to trust him in the hope that he's a nice person.

“I don't know how I got here or where I'm headed,” I answer honestly.

For a long time he looks at me thoughtfully. I can only hope this man won't let me down. Sighing loudly, he gets up and takes off his black cloak. When he throws it at me and I catch him perplexed, he looks at me seriously.

“I have a path that I want to go. I can take you with me for as long as possible. If you get me into any trouble, we will part ways very quickly, ”he explains to me and looks at me seriously.

What trouble could I get him into? Except that I don't know my way around here and have no idea what to do with me.

"Put the cloak on, I can hear your teeth chattering right up to me," he orders me as he turns around and disappears into the forest.

His request sounded a little rough, I realize. Still, I'm grateful to him for the cloak. He doesn't seem dangerous in and of itself and it's kind of him to take me with him even though he doesn't know me. He's most definitely struggling with doubts about me, as I couldn't give a satisfactory answer to any of his questions. Just as I worry my head about whether I can trust this strange man, he's probably also wondering whether he can trust me. 

As I wait more than five minutes for him because he disappeared in the forest, I start to worry. Worry that he may have left me alone after all, or that he's just waiting for me to face the fear. Maybe he's standing somewhere between the trees and watching me, maybe he's testing me out. It may well be that he wants to see if I suddenly mutate into a monster or cast any spells. I would probably have done the same. But when he finally returns with branches in my arms, I bite my tongue in shame.

He carefully puts all the branches in a pile, takes two stones in his hand and thus makes a fire. One thing is clear, I am in a time when there are no matches. Probably no cars, televisions, cell phones and much more either, but I get along well with that. Before, I would have died without my cell phone, without my Facebook or Instagram. But after my parents died, I threw everything away. I broke off all contact with the outside world. My parents ... Was that a dream before? Or was that the way from the picture to this world? And if that wasn't a dream, then I actually saw my parents again. Dream or not dream, I've been warm in my stomach ever since I woke up. I've seen them, I've got confirmation that they're fine, that they still love me and haven't forgotten me. I have to admit that I haven't been as satisfied as I am now in a very long time.

"Do you want to sit there for a long time and get sick or are you afraid I might throw myself on you?" I hear and look up.

I am completely lost in thought that I have almost forgotten him.

"I think the second is closer to my fear," I say quietly to myself and run to him over the fire, he hadn't heard my comment.

I sit down carefully across from him, not losing his watchful eyes. If he gets the wrong idea and wants to attack me, the fire is still between us. When he lies down after a while and closes his eyes, I admire him for his courage. How can he sleep so calmly while I'm still awake? Isn't he afraid that I might attack him? So he probably trusts me, or he just hopes I'm a good person. Maybe I should do the exact same thing, if he trusts me, should I trust him too, shouldn't I? What else can I do? I can't stay up all night, especially because I'm so tired. The warmth of the fire is pleasant, so I decide to just lie down, but still keep my eyes open.

What can I expect here? Is it getting dangerous? Do I still have a chance to come back? I suppress doubts as to whether I acted wrong when I decided to step into the picture. Doubt creates worry and I just can't stand it, so I decide to go to sleep. And after just a few minutes, I'm trapped in the land of dreams.