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As night began to fall, Hope began seeking shelter. She was footsore, hungry, and in desperate need of a toilet, but she feared there'd be no resources of which she could partake. She feared being on the streets after dark even more, however, and, finally, she found an abandoned swimming pool. Leaves and other debris littered the tiled bottom, and the place as a whole was in a dreadful state of disrepair. Bats chittered as she stepped inside and she stiffened, her heart hammering. But they soon died down, and she let out a sigh of relief as she picked her way across the floor, holding her breath lest she waken more apparitions like the one that had accosted her in the street.
Between one step and another, the scenery changed, and Hope's eyes widened as she saw the pool come to life. Families played and swam in the crystalline waters, while swimmers did laps, or dived from the board at the deep end. Lifeguards kept a watchful eye on the scene, making sure no one was in distress, and Hope's hand went to her heart. When two children walked right through her, she bit down a scream of terror, but then the people fled, and she beheld the pool as it was; empty, derelict, and dirty.
Hope swallowed. This was worse than the legion of little girls outside, and for a moment, she preferred them to the eerie scene she'd just witnessed. But then she recalled how they'd almost stolen the life from her with their greedy hands, and she decided she was much better off in here. But first, she had to find a toilet, and pray that it was in working order. She doubted that was the case, but something had to be better than nothing.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqcedMHoUy
Miraculously, she did find a toilet, and even more surprising, it was clean and flushed properly. Hope washed her hands in record time, however, fearing that this was another illusion, solid as everything felt, and she hurried back out to the pool. It remained as deserted as it had when she'd first walked in, but she didn't dare try and curl up in the shallow end to get some sleep, lest she find herself underwater and drowning. Then again, she told herself, since the illusion she'd seen before had been just an illusion, she probably wouldn't drown if she chanced to go into another vision, since it wouldn't affect her any more than the children running through her had.
Even so, she gingerly stepped down into the shallow end, holding her breath just in case. When nothing happened, she sat, resting her back against the chill marble. At least down here, she was a bit more sheltered, but even so, she didn't feel ready to lower her guard for a moment. There was no telling what might happen if she closed her eyes, even for a few seconds. But the need for sleep overrode the need for caution, and soon, Hope's eyes grew heavy, and her head started to nod despite her best efforts to keep awake. Sleep won, however, and her last thought was a desperate prayer that she might wake up on Pandora - that all that had happened to her today had been no more than a horrible nightmare. 87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJHppIXEst
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvDz8tqsoI
