"Legend says, when you can't sleep at night, it's because you're awake in someone else's dream." -Anonymous.
I slept with the wolves in my mind. They sang out a humble hunter's song from their perch on the hill, and as I looked out, I saw something that rivaled the night in its brilliance.
A simple, distant glow of a carnival.
I puzzled as to how something so trivial could challenge the heavenly bodies of the night, so I closed my eyes and wondered over. When I opened my eyes, I was facing my own reflection, the glow of unseen candles lighting my surroundings. I was in a tent of red and gold stripes. The mirror that housed my sister was framed with golden branches of flowers. There. In the corner of the room, somewhere behind me, is where I saw him for the first time.
I whipped around and scanned the tent, but I couldn't see him anymore. Facing the mirror again, I tried to focus on looking distracted and uncertain. Again! This time I didn't move, I just searched for him in the reflection. He stood just behind the reach of the light, or perhaps he stood in the reaches of the darkness.
"Who are you?" I inquired slowly, unsure if it would scare him off.
"Someone like you." He said in return.
"And what am I?"
"Now that," He raised an amused brow, "is the question we all live and die solving."
"What is this place?"
"I'll let you decide that for yourself."
"Do you always speak so vaguely?"
"Maybe."
I felt intrigued. "If I turn around, will I be able to see you?"
"If I want you to."
I gave it a try, and faced away from the mirror; at the edge of the shadows, stood a slim figure, almost a shadow itself. I stepped forward softly, and when he didn't move, I took another step. I stood just a breath away from the line of shadow when I stopped. I could just barely see his face; the edge of his jawline, a flicker of light from his silvery, light blue eyes.
Thoughtfully, he asked, "Are you afraid?"
There was nothing to think about, it was as if my mind and body already knew. "No. I am not afraid."
When his lips curved up in a smooth smile, I understood that what my words had chosen was something riddled in unwavering uncertainty. And when he held out his hand to me, I recognized that something inside of myself was ready for whatever was to come.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
