A Beautiful, Beautiful Dream

A dream I had once and decided to write down. Here is the product of a beautiful, beautiful dream.

     You are walking through an enchanted forest. Mist swirls in the air around you. The forest is silent except for the sound of running water in the distance and the occasional call of an exotic bird. The ferns, which border the winding path, shimmer with a constant layer of dew. You are wearing a white billowy shirt, much like a tunic. Along with your grey pants, you are almost invisible among the mist. You try to disapate it with a wave of your hand. It moves aside for a moment, only to flow back where it was to obscure your vision. The lack of dead leaves on the forest floor make for your quiet footsteps. As you walk, the sound of running water grows louder. Not until you get closer do you begin to actually hear the water splashing upon the rocks, and you realize that there must be a small waterfall. You stop for a moment, lightly placing a hand on a mossy tree. You hear a voice... someone is singing. It is a woman's voice. She sings of the forest around her and the beauty and peace it brings her. Had you been standing, you think to yourself, you probably would have fallen asleep to the beautiful voice filling your ears. You yearn to listen to it more but you want even more to see the woman... Or was it a woman? Your curiousity overcomes you and you continue to walk towards the singing. As you reach the water, the mist begins to disspate and you can now see the small lake in front of you. The water is so clear you can see the fish gracefully swimming in the deep shallow water. The surface is undisturbed. "But the waterfall...?" you whisper. You look to your left. The waterfall is smaller than you had anticipated. The water falls gently upon the clean rocks. Your wonderment about the waterfall had blocked out the singing. As your wonder dissapates, the voice fills your ears once more. And then... you see her. A girl, not a woman, stands beneath the flowing water. You quickly turn away in embarrassment. But she is still singing - she has not noticed you. You look back at her. Her back faces you, her long blonde hair covering anything you might have been ashamed to see. She is bathing, you conclude. The soap running down her legs confirms this. Overwhelmed by curiosity once again, you take a couple steps closer to her. Just then she turns towards you and you quickly duck behind a mossy rock. You peep up over the top. Her eyes are closed, the water running down her face. She seems familiar, you think... You don't notice her nakedness, you are too focused on her face, trying to figure out who she is... Then she opens her eyes. You gasp in suprise. It is me bathing in the waterfall....

     Everything then switches to my perspective. I gaze out to the forest, the cool water running down my back. I smile at the fact that I cannot hear my own voice. I raise my hands up into the water and stretch. All of a sudden I feel a hand upon my waist, then another on the other side. I stop stretching, holding my arms up in midair. I stop singing as well. I slowly bring my arms down and put my hands upon the ones on my waist. They are soft and wet like the rest of my body. I quickly turn around and face my... attacker. You are standing there, your wet hair plastered to your forehead. Your white shirt, which is now see-through, sticks to your skin as well. As I comprehend who you are, I begin to smile. You smile as well. Before I can say anything you lean forward and kiss me. I am taken aback at first and almost pull away. But then I run my hands up your chest and wrap my arms around your neck, pulling myself closer to you. You squeeze my sides and I yelp, pulling away with a giggle. "Ticklish as ever, I see," you say.

     I giggle. "So it seems."

     You gaze at me with loving eyes, wiping away a drop of water running down my cheek. "You haven't changed a bit..."

     I look down. "That's what you get for being immortal." I look back up at with a smile, pushing away the hair on your forhead. "Ah, but you have changed. Your voice is deeper. And your eyes... They have a sadness in them that was not there before."

     "My sister... She drinks."

     "So? Everyone must drink to stay alive."

     "Aye, that is true. But what she drinks is a terrible drink, a poison if you will. It changes the way she thinks. And the worst part... She can't control it."

     "Like a spell?" I say innocently.

     You smile. "Yes, like a spell." You pull me closer to you and put your forhead against mine. "Oh how I wish I could be like you, living here without a worry. Being at peace with nature and it's beauty."

     pull away and look into your eyes. "Why don't you? Stay here with me, live with me... Be with me!"
     "I wish it were that easy, my love..."

     "It is!" I exclaim pleadingly. "All you have to do is stay."

     "You will remain forever young and beautiful. But what of when I grow old and die? You will be left alone. Everything will be like it is now. You will gain nothing from me staying here with you."

     "But..." I look down.

     You pull my chin up and run your thumb over my lips. "Do not be blinded by what you want, Truth. Keep your eyes open to what is. I am only telling you the reality of everything. I know that it hurts. But it is necessary."

     "So... You will leave?"

     "Yes."

     I turn away from you and out from under the water, my head hung low. The water drips off my body and onto the ground creating a puddle of water beneath my feet. My long hair lays across my chest and back, dripping with water as well. I wipe away the water and tears from my eyes. You walk up behind me wrap your arms around me, resting your chin on my shoulder. I can sense your eyes look down at my chest. When you cannot see anything, you look forward at the forest. "But I will remain here with you for today."

     I turn towards you, your arms still around me. "You will? I have missed you so much..."

     "As have I, my love, more than you know. Are you cold?"

     "In your arms, I am always warm."

     "How very sweet of you. However, you are still cold."

     "Yes..." I then look up at you, kiss you quickly on the lips and run away into the forest. You laugh and chase after me. As you run, and as your clothes dry, you are able to run faster. But am I quicker than you and know the forest better, and you soon lose sight of me. You pause to catch your breath and look around for me. "Truth?" you call. Your voice sounds very loud in the quietness of the forest. You dare not call my name again, in fear of breaking the serene silence. Then you hear singing and smile as you know it's me. I sing for you to find me among the tall trees that shield me from the outside world.

     After minutes of searching you reach a clearing surrounded by the largest trees of the forest. Their roots intertwine to create a large bowl which is covered in leaves. You look up at the sky through the tree branches high above. It is getting dark now. You wonder if the days here are shorter. Or perhaps you have been here longer than you thought... Small lanterns dot the branches. You cannot tell what lights them, though, for you know fire would never be used in the forest. You look back down to the impression in the roots. I am laying there on my side facing you, my head propped up with my arm. A thin blue blanket is draped over my body, but you are still able to see every bulge of my body, every curve. As you walk into the bed with me, you look up and ask, "Those lanterns..."

     "Lanterns?" I look up and laugh. "Nay, those are where the fire elves sleep. This is the very center of the forest. Many creatures live here. I made their beds and in return they provide light for me."

    "Ahhh...." You lay down on the leafy bed next to me, gazing up at the canopy above. "This place is so beautiful. It makes sense that you chose here. Your beauty only adds..."

     I giggle, my eyes fixed on your rising and falling chest. I move towards you and lay on top of you, my head on your chest, my legs laying between yours. I fold my hands on your chest and rest my chin on them, still looking at you. You look down at me and smile, petting the top of my head. Your fingers follow a strand of my hair which winds down my back and under the blanket. I smile, lean forward, and kiss you. I scootch forward until my face is directly above yours. I place my hands on both sides of your face. As we continue to kiss your hand wanders up the top of my back and up to the back on my neck. I run my hands down your face, across your chest, and down to your pants. I begin to unlace them. You sit up in suprise. "Are you sure you want to do this?" you ask. "You are young."

     "I'm over fifty years old, my darling. And body wise, you aren't much older than me. And... I probably will never see you again."

     "True... But are you sure?"

     I look down at your chest and play with your shirt. "Yes, I am sure." I look at you. The passion and longing in my eyes suprises you. "Do you want to?"

     "Yes." You lay back down. I continue to unlace your pants. You suddenly sit back up. "Except let me do that. It's harder than it looks." I nod and get off you, wrapping the blanket around my shoulders and chest. One of the sides slips down and exposes my right side. As you unlace your pants, you glance over at me and smile. You stand up and pull them down and toss them to the side. "Do you want this off as well?" you ask, glancing down at your shirt. I smile and nod. I forget the blanket as I stand up and it hangs loosly on my shoulders, almost about to fall off. I grab the bottom of your shirt and pull it off, throwing it to the side with your pants. I place my hands on your chest and take a step closer to you, resting my cheek against it as well. You wrap your arms around me and we stand there for several minutes. Suddenly, you pick me up, twirl me, and lay me gently down on the leaves. You get onto your hands and knees and hover above me, looking into my eyes. Some of your hair falls in your face. I giggle and pull it back, pulling your head down towards mine. Our lips meet. As do our chests, our hearts...

     I am laying beside you, my head resting on your bare chest. The blue blanket covers us both. My eyes are closed in the serenity of it all, while yours remain open, gazing up at the fire elves' beds. Past those, even, past the hanging branches, and to the stars. You savor the quiet of the night and think about the life you will return to once you leave this sanctuary hidden in the trees. I sigh and you feel my side rise and fall and you look over at me. My eyes are still closed. You begin to play with a strand of my hair that found it's way to your chest. I smile as I feel this. "Are you sure you want to leave?" I whisper.

     "I must. I cannot forget the outside world, unlike you. I have a life there."

     "I understand..."

     "Do you?" You pull away from me and roll over on your side, facing me.

     "I understand, but I don't like it."

     "I don't exactly like it myself... So tell me something. Where did you get such a beautiful voice? Or does every immortal woman sing like you?"

     I laugh. "No... the Spirit of the Forest gave it to me... But on one condition. I cannot hear my own voice. I may sing for others, but never hear it for myself. I enjoy singing under the waterfall because the sound of the pounding water fills my ears and I cannot hear it. Which is probably why I didn't notice you."

     "What about earlier, when you were here?"

     "I asked the fire elves to buzz in my ears."

     "So what happens if you do hear it?"

     "I fall asleep almost instantly, into a dreamless sleep. I don't wake up for days."

     "Ah, I see... Darling... Sing for me."

     I sit up, not bothering to pick up the blanket with me. You smile and run a finger down the middle of my chest and down to my belly button, your eyes following your finger. "I may never hear it again."

     "But..."
     "We both need our rest," you say, looking back up at me. "Lay back with me and sing for me, my love."

     "... Very well..." I sense that something is not right. But I yearn to please you. I lay back down, resting my head on your outstretched arm. I begin to sing the song of sleep, the tune that lulls the other creatures of the forest to sleep.

My eyes close and my head falls lightly against your arm. You close your eyes as well and fall asleep, a lie heavy upon your mind.

     I slowly open my eyes and gaze up at the canopy. A cloud drifts over the trees and out of sight. I yawn and stretch my arms and legs. A shiver runs down my spine as the cool morning air floats over my bare skin. I grab the blanket and pull it up to my chin. I glance to my left, at you. But you are not there. I touch the leaves where you were. They have long been cold, your body absent to warm them. A pang of sadness hits me and a tear runs down my cheek. I look to where your head was. There lays a blood red rose. A fire elves flies down from her bed above and hovers in the air above the rose. "He left a few words for you to hear."

     "What... what are they?"

     "I'm sorry."

Author's Note

One of my earliest short stories, written about a year ago, so bear with any immaturity you may fine. If you don't like first person, well, don't read it. My first attempt at it, though I find I don't quite like it. Only one of it's kind with me.