Typically when one wakes up from a nightmare they panic quietly.
They react this way due to the body sending signals to the brain because of the stress. That's the normal response. Sadly, I'm not normal
The sound of my terrified screams reverberated throughout the walls of the room. I sat up in my bed hoping to regain my bearings as sweat poured down my pale face. I couldn't stop myself from lurching forward, doing everything in my power to keep the contents of my stomach..
'Wha… What the hell?' I questioned internally.
I could feel my muscles tighten in horror at some unknown factor. I had been sleeping fine and then, suddenly, my body writhed in pain.
A feeling of panic overtook my body again. This wasn't an anxiety attack was it?
I continued to take deep breaths hoping that this abnormal panic attack would subside. When I felt like I was calm enough I set my feet over the edge of the bed. I sat there for a good minute gazing blankly into the floorboards.
Brushing some of my hair out of the way, I noted that the usual sheen my blonde hair showed had disappeared. I was worried about it but for now all I could do was leave it be.
There was no way for me to explain why such a reaction had occurred.
A knock on the door interrupted my thought process. Jerking up slightly from where I sat, I gave the door an empty glance. It felt like an eternity before I realized I had been staring at the door before in silence.
"It's open!" I announced.
The door opened to reveal a mature woman with greying hairs. Her mouth was set into a smile that seemed to light up the room. Although, that was my bias shining through. This is my grandmother, Ruth, but I call her "Mama". She had raised me since I was a baby. My mother had dropped me into her lap and left.
"Esther," She began softly. "are you okay? I heard screaming."
My grandmother was always quick to worry. She had a good reason to. We lived near the border. Emperias was the neighbor to three countries. Perete, Unu, and Junas. We were nere the border between Perete and Emperias.
This was a terrible time to be living here. The queen had waged war against Perete for some unknown reason. I didn't need to add anymore worries onto my grandmother by waking up like this.
Forcing a smile, I nodded my head.
"I'm fine Mama. Just a bad dream."
She stares at me for a good few minutes. It's almost as if she's searching for something. Before I can ask her anything, she nods her head and turns to leave.
"Be ready for breakfast, we're eating Rurkan toast and sausage." She informs me on her way out.
A breath I didn't know I was holding escaped my lungs as the door closed.
Pushing myself off of my bed, I decided to go through the typical routine of showering and getting dressed. I made sure to check my appearance in the mirror attached to my dresser.
My hair was styled into a layered medium length, my bangs covered my crimson eyes to the point I had to move them apart. Looking into my eyes, I noticed strange lines in both but I couldn't worry about that right now. I need to make sure I look as if nothing spooked me.
I can't have myself looking like a savage from Unu.
I made my way down the stairs and entered the kitchen. A pleasant aroma filled my nostrils as soon as I passed through the open doorway to the kitchen. Rurkan toast was a unique type of toast due to the bread's natural sweet taste. It's usually eaten for dessert but can also be eaten for breakfast if you know how to cook it properly. I took my place at the table with excitement. Forgoing any of the normal table manners and behaviors, I was about to dig in. I felt extremely hungry. It was strange, I didn't usually have this big of an appetite.
"Hold it, mister." Mama's voice rang out, her tone stern.
I could feel her piercing a hole through my skull with just her stare. Hiding my face, I tried to shove down the feeling of embarrassment. I place my hands flat against each other.
"Through the grace of the sun we grow, by the mercy of the moon we become nourished." After finishing my prayer, I finally began to devour my meal.
I watched with a mouth full of food as my grandmother shook her head in exasperation. I often forgot to pray before eating. It wasn't for any malicious reason. I just wasn't that devoted to the religion my grandparents followed. Some of the other elders in town called that demonic…
I didn't like remembering the reason why some of my town didn't exactly like me. Blinking, I realized I had finished everything on my plate.
"Mama, I'm headed into town." I intoned before hiding my face. My voice sounded way too excited!
I rushed out of the door so that I wouldn't have to deal with her teasing. Waving to the guards, I entered through the town gates in a rush. My destination was around the corner and up the stairs before me.
Stopping before the door, my hand hovered over the rough wood. I don't know why this always happens. Whenever visiting her I would always panic.
"What are we waiting for?" A melodious voice rang out from behind me.
I couldn't stop the scream that followed.
Behind me was the reason I had rushed into town towards this specific door. My childhood friend, Cecilia Hagenrader. She and I were as thick as thieves. I remember how we first met. I had been getting bullied by some of the other children for having such strange eyes, but she wasn't having any of it. She scared off all of them by threatening to get a guard before coming up to me and introducing herself.
She was my reason for fighting. I wanted to be strong enough to protect her. No matter the choice, I would always make sure she was my priority.
"Cecilia, you almost gave me a heart attack. Give me a warning next time." I begged.
She let out a giggle while hiding her mouth behind her hand before turning her back to me.
"We both agreed to meet at the fountain. I saw you rushing here and couldn't resist."
Turning on her heels, she motioned for me to follow. I had forgotten we were supposed to meet at the fountain… I really felt like an idiot now. My feet moved quickly to catch up with her before I slowed my pace to walk beside her.
"Now that we've met anyway, what do you want to do today?" I questioned
We hadn't exactly planned out the day, so it would probably just be us winging it today. I did have enough money to buy us lunch later if she got hungry. The perks of having a farm was that my family made plenty.
"I don't really care what we do today. You choose!" That was Celia-speak.
Whenever she said she wasn't sure and offered me a choice, it was because she had two ideas and expected me to figure them out and pick one.
"How about we check on our savings for leaving town in the future?" I suggested.
When it came to savings, no did it better than Cecilia. So far we've saved over thirty thousand Nokt. Our plans involved leaving the town to complete a promise we made with a friend. Lorna had lived in Kenith for about nine years, until she had to leave with her mother who was related to a minister in the queens court. All three of us had made a promise to meet again when we were older. Cecelia and I were just trying to fulfill that promise.
"Hm… No, we checked yesterday." She responded while waving away the idea.
"Then what do you want to do?"
She was always indecisive but I found it cute. The way her face would scrunch up in concentration whilst trying to figure out what there was to do. She'd grab a lock of her brown hair and twirl it to help her in the thinking process before her emerald eyes would light up with an idea. She had done just that, after all.
"I have an idea! Help me pick out a dress-"
"No way!" I interjected quickly, stopping my stride.
When it came to shopping, the woman before me was a demon. She had no mercy on her wallet and my wallet received the same treatment. There was no way I'd allow her to bleed me dry.
Turning my back to Cecilia with my arms crossed, I shut my eyes in frustration. No matter how you looked at it, this town didn't have much going for it. It's in the middle of nowhere and all of the citizens were mundane. There was only one thing that I found fun. I guess something in my face had given me away because Cecilia was looking at me in disappointment.
"Fine. Fine. I already know what you're going to do." She started. "I'm going to head back home before my mother notices I didn't finish my chores."
Without another word, she turned and began to make her way home.
I stood there for a bit to make sure she made it down the street before rushing in another direction. This path led to a special area in the woods that was my special getaway.
'It's been a couple of days since I've done this.'