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 Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:16 am
There are those who believe
That there is the Real, and then there is Dream,
The Unreal.
But they are mistaken.
For Dream is as real as anything that can be called real.
A place, outside of any place.
A time, outside of time.
Whose borders are defined only
By the imaginations of the Dreamers.  ☽ℛℰⲀ♏ ✧ ₩ℰⲀ♈ℰℛ.a roleplay.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:22 am
 ☾☆ Rules ☆ ☾ Gaia and guild rules apply. I am the final word on everything in this roleplay.
Please remember this is a literate RP. I expect a minimum post length of three, six-sentence paragraphs in every post. Even when the person you are currently with gives you nothing to work with, that much is not hard to manage (and if the person you are currently with keeps giving you nothing to work with, why not leave them and move on to someone who will?). Be descriptive, be insightful, be thought-provoking, be literate.
Post profiles in the OOC thread. When they are approved, I shall link to them.
I will allow characters who, in the Real, come from mythological places like Atlantis or Uttarakuru – in fact, I encourage it! – but if you come from Atlantis in 9500 BCE, then you come from 9500 BCE in the real world. In other words, you come from a Neolithic culture, not an Atomic Age culture that was lost in time. Similarly, if you come from the lands of Arthurian legends, Merlin will not be a real magician, but merely an alchemist and mystic who made prophecies and performed rituals. I will allow some leeway for mythological cultures (Atlantis’ technology may have been Bronze Age, not Neolithic, similar to Ancient Greece, because Atlantis was supposed to have been an advanced civilization), but they will still be based in reality. For places like Mount Olympus, there may have been a real Zeus, but he would have been a person, not a god – Heracles may have been a really strong man, but not superhuman. Stretch reality, play with it, but do not break it. (Of course, that only applies to the Real – in Dream, you can break reality any which way you want.)
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:34 am
 ☾☆ Dream is Real ☆ ☾ When you go to sleep, your being – your thoughts, feelings, that which is you – leaves the world you inhabit and travels to another world. That world is Dream.
When you come to Dream, you find yourself in one of an infinite number of Dreamspheres – bubbles of reality that define the borders of one dream. The Dreamsphere you normally find yourself in is one you create, based on your imagination and your world, and is usually a newly created one every time to go to sleep, unless you keep having the same dream over and over. (On rare occasions people find themselves in someone else’s Dreamsphere – sometimes even while they are still in it. This usually happens only when the two people have a very strong connection to each other.)
Each Dreamsphere is unique, created by a Dreamer according to the boundaries of his or her imagination. It can be anything the Dreamer imagines, from a normal day at school, to an adventure in the Wild West, to a raid on a pirate ship, to something completely surreal.
Dreamsperes may be populated with Shadows – dream characters created by the Dreamer in their dream. Shadows are not people, they are hollow caricatures, shallow copies of real people as the Dreamer imagines them. Depending on how well a Dreamer shapes a Shadow, it can be as lifeless as a robot repeating the same thing over and over, or it can be so complete it almost seems alive. There are rumours… only rumours, mind you… told in hushed whispers – like legends of outlaws that infuriate Kings, and so must never be spoken of where they might hear – rumours of Shadows shaped so completely that they take on a life of their own, become indistinguishable from Dreamers, and escape the bondage of the Dreamsphere they were born in, and roam freely in Dream. If such so-called “Living Shadows” existed, they would be considered Abominations, and hunted down like animals by the Dream Guardians.
Dreamspheres are connected by Vortices – points in a Dreamsphere invisible to most Dreamers and all Shadows, that a select few can see and move freely through, allowing them to travel between Dreamspheres. Regular Dreamers and all Shadows cannot see a Vortex, only Lucid Dreamers can see them and control them to travel through – although, there are stories of regular Dreamers and Shadows that fell through Vortices accidentally… but these are probably only rumours. Only two creatures in Dream can create or destroy Vortices: Dream Guardians, and the Night Mare.
Dream is a place outside of the normal flow of space and time. That means that the Dreamers that you meet may have died a thousand years before you were born, or their bed may even now be on ground above where your long-forgotten bones rest. They may be from lands whose names have been lost in the shadows of history, or from lands that your great-great-grand-children have yet to discover and name.
Most Dreamers do not realize, when they are in Dream, that they are actually in another world. They think they are just asleep, imagining things within their own head. When they wake up, they only remember a tiny percentage of what they saw in Dream, and even that fades quickly. But there are a small group of Dreamers different from the rest: Lucid Dreamers. Lucid Dreamers are aware of what Dream is, and even have limited control over reality in Dreamspheres, and can sense and travel through Vortices to other Dreamspheres. Most Dreamers are helpless… slaves to whatever Dream they happen to be in. But Lucid Dreamers can will things to appear or disappear, stop time, and do many other things to the fabric of reality in a Dreamsphere, provided the Dreamer that created it is not there to override them.
The Dream Guardians are a small group of very powerful Lucid Dreamers that maintain the Law in Dream. In Dream, they are like gods. The only thing they fear is the Night Mare.
The Night Mare is a race of formless beasts – darknesses that move, and consume with an endless hunger. When a Night Mare comes to a Dreamsphere, it consumes everything within it – Dreamers, Shadows and the Dreamsphere itself – feeding on the imagination and life force of everything within. They cannot be reasoned with, and they cannot be stopped. Very, very few that have seen a Night Mare live to tell the tale. It is best, then, to avoid attracting one. Shaping Dream attracts Night Mare, so if a Lucid Dreamer controls Dream too much, a Night Mare is sure to come. Thus, Lucid Dreamers must take caution not to use their power too much. ☾☆ The Law of Dream ☆ ☾ In Dream, there is only one law, but it is absolute. Violate it, and you will be targeted for execution by the Dream Guardians.
The reason for the law is simple. Because Dream spans space and time, it is possible – even common – for a Dreamer from the past to encounter a Dreamer from their future. If the Dreamer from the future tells the past Dreamer of future events, it creates a Paradox, which shakes the foundation of Dream and Real. Thus far, there has been no permanent damage, but the Dream Guardians fear that it might be possible to create a Paradox so big, it will destroy all of space and time, including both the Real, and Dream.
Thus, the Dream Guardians enforce the Law, the one and only law in Dream: “No Dreamer in Dream may speak with another Dreamer of the Real, under Penalty of Death.” According to the Law, it is forbidden even to give your real name. Of course, as in the Real, most people do not follow the Law so strictly, and do give their real names – the Dream Guardians frown on this, but do not enforce it. However, if you give anything more, especially if you give details of the future that may be of use to a Dreamer from the past, and if they discover that you did it, you will be targeted for execution.
Other than that, Dream Guardians track the movements of the Night Mare, and try to evacuate Dreamers in a Dreamsphere in the path of a Night Mare. They also hunt down and punish criminals, such as those who kill others in Dream, or deliberately summon Night Mare, or otherwise disturb the peace. Punishment ranges from confinement in an empty Dreamsphere – like solitary confinement in a cell with no doors or windows, or any features at all, just an empty, featureless grey room – to execution.
And in Dream, if you die…
… you die in the Real.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:37 am
 ☾☆ A Glossary of Dream ☆ ☾ Dream:
A world that exists separate from the Real, outside of space and time, where our being – our thoughts and feelings, which make up who we are – travels when we sleep. If you were able to look at the shape of Dream from the outside, it would look like an infinite number of bubbles interconnected with lines. The bubbles are Dreamspheres, and the interconnecting lines are Vortex pathways.
The Real:
The waking world, the world we are in when we are awake.
Dreamer:
One of the three types of creature in Dream. A person in Dream who still lives in the Real, who is asleep in the Real and dreaming. When a Dreamer comes to Dream, they automatically know the Law (although, they may choose to ignore it, at their own risk), and they automatically gain the ability to understand the speech of everyone else in Dream, no matter what language they speak in the Real. Most Dreamers do not remember their Dream when they wake in the Real – only Lucid Dreamers do. Most Dreamers also have no control over Dream once they enter it. When a Dreamer dies in Dream, they die in the Real as well; when a Dreamer dies in the Real, they fade away to vapours in Dream. When a Dreamer wakes in the Real, they fade away to vapours in the Dream… but there are a small number of Dreamers that never awake… which may happen if something happened to the Dreamer in the Real that has put them in a deep sleep they cannot wake from.
Shadow:
One of the three types of creature in Dream. A being created by a Dreamer in their dream for some reason or another. Depending on how much thought the Dreamer put into creating the Shadow, it may be as simple as a one-dimensional caricature that always says the same thing over and over, or it may be as complex and textured as a real person. Shadows are not really alive, they are like fictional characters.
Living Shadow:
A Shadow created so complete that it is indistinguishable from a Dreamer. One cannot tell them apart from regular Dreamers (unless they tell you, or you realize they never leave Dream and go back to the Real when they wake up). Hunted down as Abominations by Dream Guardians, Living Shadows are mostly rumours. If they exist, they are in hiding. If a Dream Guardian suspects a person of being a Living Shadow, they first see if they can control Dream – if they can, they are Lucid Dreamers, not Shadows – then they ask them questions about the Real – if they give bad answers, they are caught. Smart Living Shadows therefore try really hard to learn all about the Real so they can answer questions well… but of course, since it is against the Law to talk about the Real, this can be quite hard.
Night Mare:
One of the three types of creature in Dream. Night Mare are formless entities of great power that consume Dream. Merely seeing one is enough to send most Dreamers insane. When they come to a Dreamsphere, they eat the sphere’s world, and anything within: Shadows, Dreamers, everything. They are nearly invincible, like a force of nature, and cannot be stopped or reasoned with. They are attracted to Dreamspheres by the use of a Lucid Dreamer’s power to reshape the reality of Dream. When a Night Mare comes to your Dreamsphere… run, run away as fast as you can… if you can.
Dreamsphere:
A bubble world created in Dream by a Dreamer’s imagination when they go to sleep. Each Dreamsphere is a dream world, shaped according to whatever the Dreamer was Dreaming about: if the Dreamer was dreaming about knights and castles, the Dreamsphere will be a world of knights and castles. Dreamspheres are being created all the time – every time a Dreamer goes to sleep, they usually create a new Dreamsphere, unless they keep going back to the same dream, and the Dreamsphere stays after the Dreamer leaves it forever (until it is destroyed by either a Night Mare or a Dream Guardian). When a Dreamsphere is created, it automatically forms links to other Dreamspheres, called Vortices.
Vortex/Vortices:
Connections between Dreamspheres. They can be seen by Lucid Dreamers, but not Shadows or regular Dreamers – and they look like rippling disturbances in the air – and they can be used by Lucid Dreamers to travel between Dreamspheres. Only Dream Guardians and Night Mare can create or destroy Vortices.
Lucid Dreamer:
A Dreamer with the power to control the world of Dream. They can make things appear by wishing for them, or give themselves super powers – but the more they use these powers, the greater the chance of attracting Night Mare. Lucid Dreamers also have the ability to remember their dreams in the Real. They can also see and use Vortices to travel freely in Dream.
Dream Guardian:
A group of very powerful Lucid Dreamers who protect Dream and the Real by making sure everyone follows the Law. Dream Guardians can do everything Lucid Dreamers can do, but they can also create and destroy Vortices.
The Law:
The only real law in Dream is to never talk about the Real. Everyone knows this rule – it pops into their head whenever they enter Dream. Not everyone follows it – and when someone breaks the Law, the Dream Guardians act to destroy them before it causes harm.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:41 am
 ☾☆ Roles in Dream ☆ ☾ Dreamer:
You have a real life and body in the Real.
You cannot control Dream.
You cannot see or use Vortices.
You must obey the Law.
Lucid Dreamer:
You have a real life and body in the Real.
You can control Dream.
You can see and use Vortices.
You cannot create or destroy Vortices.
You must obey the Law.
Dream Guardian:
You have a real life and body in the Real.
You can control Dream.
You can see and use Vortices.
You can create and destroy Vortices.
You are sworn to uphold the Law (if you hear anyone talking about the Real, you must punish them and the person they were talking to).
You are sworn to destroy Living Shadows (if they are allowed to live, Dream may be destroyed).
Living Shadow:
You do not have a real life or body in the Real.
You cannot control Dream.
You cannot see or use Vortices.
The Law does not matter to you (you do not know the Real exists, and could not harm it if you wanted to).
You do not know anything about the Real – probably including even things like that there are no Vortices or people who can control the Real like Lucid Dreamers can control Dream.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:58 am
 ☾☆ Profile Forms ☆ ☾ If you wish to join us in our Dream, please fill out the following character application form, and post it in the OOC thread. When your character is accepted, it shall be linked to from the "Cast of Characters" post.
You are welcome and encouraged to beautify your profile in any way that you like – colours, graphics, styles – whatever you feel would reflect your character best. All I ask is that you keep all of the important information in the same order as in the form, and mark it clearly. The following section is for every character… Share with us…
☾☆ … the name you go by in Dream…
☾☆ … your appearance in Dream (picture is optional, but a description of at least four paragraphs of four sentences each is required)…
☾☆ … your role in Dream (Dreamer, Lucid Dreamer, Dream Guardian or Living Shadow)… The following section is only for characters who have a life in Dream (Lucid Dreamers, Dream Guardians and Living Shadows)… What is your dream?…
☾☆ … your biography in Dream (at least four paragraphs of four sentences each is required)… The following section is only for characters who have a life in the Real (Dreamers, Lucid Dreamers and Dream Guardians)… Does your dream ever end?…
☾☆ … your name in the Real…
☾☆ … your age in the Real…
☾☆ … your location in the Real…
☾☆ … your time period in the Real (past/present/future date - as specific or vague as you like)…
☾☆ … your biography in the Real (may be short)…
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:03 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:10 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:12 am
 ☾☆ Phoenix ☆ ☾
.a story of dream. The world of Dream is new to all of you, so to help explain it a little better, I thought it might help to give you a story of Dream. The events in this story are unrelated to the roleplay…. “This land would do better without your likes, monster,” Karish the wizard cried, raising his arms in warning, “Do not test my power, or my patience. Leave this place at once, and you will be spared.”
He knew even as he spoke that his words would have no effect on the orcs. They had been preying on this village for months, and had no intention of losing their feeding ground. Raiding the village was much easier than hunting or foraging. So much easier, in fact, that it was even worth the risk of fighting a mage as powerful as Karish. Or so they thought.
They charged Karish with their hammers and axes raised, howling with mad rage.
“As you wish!” Lightning sprang from Karish’s fingertips, arcing toward the rampaging orcs, “LIGHTNING!” The orcs howled in pain as the powerful bolts of lighting tore through them, and then burned them to cinders.
As the ashes fell, Karish turned to face the village, his eyes scanning over the faces peering cautiously out of windows and through cracks in partially opened doors. “It is over,” he said loudly, waving an arm over the smoldering remains, “You are free again.”
Slowly the grateful villagers emerged from their houses, some crying with joy. They congregated around Karish and offered him rewards – nothing of great value in coin, but nevertheless more than they could afford to give without bringing hardship on themselves. Karish waved them off, shaking his head, “I need no rewards. It was enough to help. But now, I must be off.” The villagers begged him to stay, at least for a while, but Karish declined with a smile, “There may be others in need. I have been blessed with great power. I must use it to save anyone that needs rescuing. It is my calling.”
But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one villager behaving differently to the rest, a pretty brunette with narrow eyes and a playful smile. Instead of joining the crowd surrounding him, she stood back, watching with amusement from an alleyway between the houses. He did not recall dreaming her, but sometimes, despite his control over this world, sometimes his subconscious automatically dreamed up things surprised him.
The crowd distracted him from paying her too much attention, and at any rate there was no way he could approach her or talk to her with the villagers present. So, true to his word, he bade the villagers farewell, and set off…. ☾☆ ☾ She was waiting for him on the path leading away from the town, sitting on a bench with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap, watching him calmly as he approached.
“You’re not of my dream,” he said, as he came near. He did not recall creating her, or moving her from the village to appear here ahead of him. She did not respond to his attempts at shaping, either, which meant she was alive; another Dreamer – or possibly a Living Shadow, if the rumours of such things were true.
“I am not,” she said simply, her voice as soft as leaves rustling in the wind. She smiled with a curious mixture of amusement and admiration, and her lovely amber eyes traced the lines of his face very carefully.
“You should know that I have shaped this Sphere extensively,” he said, walking up to her, “The Night Mare will likely come before too long. You should leave this Sphere.”
“I will,” was all she replied. She seemed to be measuring Karish with her eyes, sizing him up in some way.
It was difficult to talk to someone who spoke in such simple sentences as she, and Karish felt a little awkward. It did not help that he was always uncomfortable around (real) girls, or that she seemed to be scrutinizing him so intently. “If you cannot leave this Sphere by your own means,” he offered, “I can take you away to somewhere safe.”
The girl tilted her head to one side. “You like doing that, don’t you,” she spoke, but not as if she were asking a question, “Rescuing people.”
“I… I suppose,” he said, with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck, “Doesn’t everybody?”
She looked off into the distance. “I have seen many people’s dreams,” she said, speaking calmly, “Many do dream of rescuing people, but only for the sake of the reward afterwards. The power. Or just the girl. Whatever it is, they dream of earning it. But you are different. You don’t claim the reward. You don’t rescue the princess and then enjoy her. You just rescue. And rescue. And rescue. Each time, you save people in need, then move on, never stopping for anything. Rescue. Rescue. Rescue,” she turned a penetrating stare on Karish, “Why is that, Karish?”
“Uh…,” Karish was flustered. To hear such a speech come from her after she had spoken only in clipped sentences unbalanced him, but even more disconcerting was how well she seemed to know him, “You’ve been watching me?”
“I was curious about you,” she said, flatly.
“Well… uh… what did you find out?” he asked, unsure of what else he could ask.
“When a Dreamer that can Shape forms their own Sphere when they think no one is watching,” she said, staring off into the distance again, “It speaks about their innermost desires, their deepest fantasies. For some people, those fantasies are very dark and twisted. For others, they are very shallow and silly. But yours are… strange. You don’t desire wealth, or acclaim, or anything that I can tell. Your only desire seems to be to help people. I’ve been watching you for some time now. You keep creating dreams where you save people, but you never create dreams where you reap the rewards of saving people. Why is that? What do you want?”
Finally frustration broke through Karish’s surprise and confusion. “Who are you?” he asked, frowning.
“My name?” she said, surprised by the question, then thought for a second. After a moment, she smiled in delight, “Phoenix. Call me Phoenix.”
“Phoenix?” he repeated, scratching his head, “Like the mythical bird?”
“Rising up from flames, a new life out of the fire,” she said, dreamily, “Phoenix. Something about the phoenix was very important to someone in my life, but I never figured out what. It was the last thing he spoke about.” She turned her brilliant amber eyes on him again, “Call me Phoenix.”
“All right,” he said, with a shrug, his annoyance growing with her evasiveness, “Phoenix. Now why have you been stalking me?”
“Because I wanted to find out about you,” she repeated.
“Why?” he asked raising his voice, “What’s so special about me?”
“That is what I wanted to find out.”
Karish sighed in frustration and rubbed his brow.
“Is that so strange?” Phoenix asked, curiously.
Karish looked her over cautiously. Her large, amber eyes were very expressive, and he did not believe she could easily hide any deception with them. Her curiosity and admiration seemed to be genuine. But on the other hand, no one had ever shown any interest in Karish before in his life. His parents had never cared what he did, so long as he stayed out of trouble; he had no real friends to speak of; he had never been close with anyone. It was strange and uncomfortable to have someone actually interested in him, and it made him nervous.
“Yeah,” he said, softly, “Maybe a little.”
He looked at her, and she looked back with open curiosity, and compassion. She indicated the spot on the bench next to her, offering him a seat, and after a moment’s hesitation, he took it. She said nothing more, and simply sat there, looking over the dreamscape he had created.
After a long silence, that was not completely uncomfortable, Karish spoke. “Do you like it? The Sphere I shaped?”
“I do,” she said simply, still examining the scenery, “It is very lush and green. It seems vast, but at the same time it is inviting.”
“Really?” he asked, looking over the view again to see if he could see what she had.
“Yes, really,” she said, then smiled slightly, “But it needs a woman’s touch.”
A patch on grass on a hill face before them suddenly sprang into vibrant colour. A small garden of flowers bloomed right before Karish’s eyes.
He chuckled in amusement. “I’m allergic to flowers,” he said ruefully.
“In the real,” Phoenix pointed out.
“Yes,” he agreed, nodding thoughtfully, “I suppose that’s true. I don’t need to be allergic here.”
“No,” Phoenix agreed, “Here you can be anything you want.” She turned to look at him, “Is this what you want?”
“What? To be a travelling wizard in a medieval world?”
She laughed for the first time, a very soft laugh, almost a whisper. “No, to be an anonymous hero. To help people without them ever knowing your name, and without reaping the rewards. To be unknown, except by the fruits of your deeds.”
“Ah,” he nodded. He thought about it for a while, and then answered carefully, “Yes. Yes, I think I would like that. I’m… shy. Like… very shy. I have a… problem… with people.”
“Agoraphobia,” she said. It was not a question.
“Er… yes, exactly,” he said, a little flustered, “Or, well, probably. I mean, it’s not like I’ve been professionally diagnosed or anything. But… I always run away from people. And sometimes, that hurts them. I don’t mean to hurt them. But I can’t help it. I can’t help running away. I have to be… very antisocial… and cold… to avoid making attachments that I just can’t maintain. I don’t want to be mean… or antisocial….”
“But you have to,” Phoenix whispered, with understanding in her voice, “Because if you don’t, you will make friends, who will expect to get close to you. But you can’t handle that – you can’t handle intimacy with people – so you would end up pushing those friends away, which would cause them hurt. I see. So you’re not antisocial because you hate people. You’re simply unable to handle being close, and you are antisocial to prevent people from getting close, so they don’t get hurt.”
“Yeah,” Karish chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah, it’s like that. I don’t hate people. In fact, I love them. I just… freak… when they get too close. I can’t help it. I can’t control it. It just happens, no matter how hard I try to fight it. But I do like people, and I care about them a lot.”
“Which is why you like to rescue them,” Phoenix nodded, “And then run away before they can form any attachments.”
“I never thought about it myself before,” Karish admitted, “But that sounds right.” He laughed ruefully, “Sad, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she whispered, “It is.”
Karish shifted nervously, feeling self-conscious, “It is?”
“I’m sorry,” Phoenix smiled warmly, “I don’t mean to criticize. It’s just that I have some personal experience about this kind of thing.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” Phoenix said, turning to stare off into the distance again, “I was rescued by that kind of ‘mysterious stranger’ when I was very young. He gave his life to save me. My whole life… I wondered who he was, and why he sacrificed his life to save mine. I tried to find out everything I could about him, and… and there was no reason for it! He had never done anything for anyone in his life, so far as I could tell. He had no friends, no one that cared about him. It made no sense for him to do what he did, and my whole life, that tortured me. I owe my life to him, and I could never understand why he gave it to me, and at such a cost.”
“But…,” Karish spoke cautiously, unfamiliar with how to speak to someone on this intimate a level, “… couldn’t you have just… said thanks and lived your life well? Wasn’t it enough to have your life, without worrying about the whys?”
“No, Karish, it was not,” she said softly, shaking her head, “I have lived my life well. But it’s not enough.” Tears formed in her eyes. “My whole life was bought with his. I had to understand what that cost was. And by giving his life to save mine, I felt I had an obligation to find out who he was, and what his dreams were… to finish whatever it is that he wanted to finish… and never got the chance to.”
“I see,” Karish whispered, “You never found out?”
“I did,” she smiled, turning her amber eyes to meet his, and now they shone with tears, “I did find out about him. He was a wonderful, wonderful person. A caring person, even though no one knew it. Knowing that so special a person gave his life so that I could have one makes me want to try even harder to live a good life. For him, for both of us.” Without warning, her composure broke, and she fell against Karish’s shoulder, sobbing.
“Hey, uh,” Karish was flustered, never having had to deal with this sort of thing before in his life. He awkwardly tried to put his arms around hers shoulders, and held her gently, “Uh, please… please don’t cry. Please.” She lifted her head to look up at him, with tears still streaming from her amber eyes. “Please. Your eyes … your eyes look so much prettier when you smile. I… I’d rather seem them like that, always.”
Phoenix hugged him tightly, sobbing more, but this time with laughter mixed in. After a moment, she leaned back, wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, smiling and sniffling, “I’m so sorry. That was… that was a lot of issues… that I carried for a long time.”
“I hope I didn’t do anything wrong,” Karish said, embarrassed.
“No!” she said emphatically, “No, you didn’t. You did everything right. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help it.”
He smiled knowingly. “I know how that feels,” he said, softly.
She smiled back, and her eyes practically shone with joy and admiration. “Morning comes, Karish,” she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, it’s OK,” he shrugged, awkwardly, “Thanks for finally saying hi and not just watching from the sidelines.”
She chuckled. “I’m sorry about that,” she said.
“Nah, it’s fine,” he waved his hand, dismissively, “I don’t really mind. I’m just glad that I got to meet you.”
“Yes,” she whispered, “So am I.”
“Maybe we’ll run into each other tomorrow night?” he asked, a note of hopefulness in his voice.
A shadow passed across Phoenix’s face. “Maybe…,” she whispered, guiltily.
“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want t—”
“I do,” she said quickly, “I mean… I would like it very much.”
“Well… if I don’t see you, then, I’ll just assume you’re busy,” he grinned.
“I will be here,” she promised, but there was sadness in her voice.
“Alright!” he said, with exaggerated cheerfulness to try to brighten her up, “I’ll see you then!”
Phoenix smiled sadly, and her kept her large, amber eyes focused fixedly on his for a long time. Then, without warning, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. “Goodbye, Calvin Cook. And, thank you.” And then she dissolved into a wisps of light, and faded away.
Karish sat on the bench for several minutes, frozen in place, still feeling the echoes of her lips on his. When he finally did move, to relax and sit back, it was reluctantly; he did not want to surrender that moment to time, he wanted to hold on to it. He had early classes, so he should be waking up soon, himself, but something nagged at his mind….
“My name,” he whispered, “How did she know my real name?” ☾☆ ☾ Dr. Nellie DeGrasse stepped out of the emergency room, frazzled and with a defeated expression on her face. Paramedic John Renish had been sitting outside on a bench, waiting for word, but one look at her eyes, and his shoulders fell.
“I’m sorry,” she said, leaning against the wall and rubbing her temples, “He had no chance.”
“So sad,” John said, shaking his head.
“He was young,” Nellie agreed.
“More than that, Nel,” John said, sadly, “Kid was a god-damned hero.”
“What happened?” Nellie asked, curiously, “He was burnt, but not just burnt. It looked like he’d been hit by a truck.”
“Near as we can tell so far,” John said, “Lady was outside doing gardening with baby asleep upstairs. All of a sudden, she notices smoke – the whole basement and first floor of her house is already ablaze. She can’t even get in cause of the flames, and there’s no way she can get to the stairs and get the baby out. We showed up in the ambulance before the fire crew, but there was nothing we could do either. And… this kid… probably just coming home from classes… just… drops his god-damned book bag and… just charges in. Right into the god-damned flames. Without a word to anyone. Just… charges out of the god-damned crowd… and right into the fire.”
“Holy s**t,” Nellie breathed.
“He just… runs in,” John repeated, shaking his head in disbelief, “Runs right in, and up the stairs. And while he’s on fire… he wraps the baby in blankets… picks it up… and then takes a god-damned running jump out of a second-storey window! He uses his own body to cushion the fall, and protect the baby.”
“Oh my god….”
“I saw the whole thing, Nel. It happened so fast. They had to use the garden hose to put the kid out. But the baby… the baby was fine! It wasn’t even warm! In fact, it wasn’t even fully awake when the mother got it! The kid … the kid was a god-damned hero.”
Dr. DeGrasse was silent for a long time. “Did you get his name? His wallet was melted. We couldn’t get an ID from it.”
“We checked his bag on the way here,” John said, holding his head in his hands, “Calvin Cook.”
“He wasn’t lucid on the ride here?”
“No,” John shook his head, “He just kept babbling about phoenixes.”
“Phoenixes,” Nellie nodded, “Yes, he was muttering about them in the ER, too. ‘Rising up from flames, a new life out of the fire.’ He kept saying that, and, ‘I see now.’ I wonder what he was thinking about.” She sighed heavily, “I’m going to have to notify his next of kin.”
“We got his university student number from his books,” John muttered, “We can get a next of kin from the school records.”
“I think he had a girlfriend, too,” Nellie said, sadly, “Or at least, someone he liked. He talked about her, too. In fact, the last thing he said was, ‘Her eyes were amber.’ He repeated it a few times, smiling like he was on cloud nine.”
“Oh,” John nodded, “I don’t think that was about a girlfriend.”
“No?”
“No,” John shook his head, “The baby. The baby he rescued. It was a girl. She had the most beautiful amber eyes.”
“Oh,” Nellie said, nodding in understanding, “Well, that I guess that explains the other thing he said just before he died.”
“What was that?”
“‘You’re welcome.’” ☾☆ ☾
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:14 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:16 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:19 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:20 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:22 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:23 am
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