Inside The Dream Catcher's Lair #1

         I did not know how I got there. I was still light-headed from the night before. All I knew was that I ... was in the home of the almighty Dream Catcher, the place where all dreams go after getting caught by a dream catcher. True that it was a very queer place, full of weird, but interesting bulbs and glasses of different colors and spectrums. I was afraid. It wasn’t only the chamber I was afraid about. It was the underlying fear of that of the unknown. I walked to the far corridor, still fearing what would happen next.
         I walked on, though I wasn’t as afraid as before. Maybe it was that the light was not as dim as the main room, or it could be that I was able to finally collect all my thoughts. Even if I felt a bit better, I couldn’t help but feel that someone was watching. Then again, I do have a few insecurities. I continued to walk through the quiet corridor, not knowing why I don’t stop.
         After walking for what felt like an hour, I found a single wooden door. I walked up to it and stared at it. There was a large sign on the door in bold red letters saying “The Dream Scheme”. I reluctantly opened the door. After I opened the door I peered into the dark room. The light from the hallway reflected on a few of the glass spheres and jars so the room had a bit of light in it. The room was fairly small, but it was fall of weird items. Although, the most interesting one was at the center of the whole room. It was a red, glowing orb. I was forcing myself to inch closer; the strong feeling of fear coming back to me again.
         I was drawing closer to the orb, but I didn’t know what was forcing me to go nearer. After a few minutes of trying to get through all the objects, I finally reached the glass ball. I felt my hand creeping up the stone pedestal. I touched the orb.
         Suddenly, I felt my feet leave the ground. I was swooped from below by a strong wind. All around me I could only see red, the same static red that filled the orb I touched. I was floating on thin air and spinning around so wildly. Luckily for me, I landed back on the ground. I looked around. What I saw was almost impossible to describe, but I will try to describe it the best way I can.
         I was on top of a mountain range... A mountain range that has it's colors inverted. All the trees were colored magenta and the shrubs were a bright shade of yellow. The sun was a weird shade of blue and the mountain I was standing on was white. There were furry, strange, out-of-the-ordinary critters prancing around the pink forest.
         I had to sit down. I couldn't grasp the fact that I've probably left Earth. It was like a child's dream where nothing was real. Then, a thought occurred to me. "What if I am in a dream?" It all made sense, the inverted colors, the strange animals, the swooping feeling when I was transported here. I was in the lair of the Dream Catcher, therefore I must've somehow managed to enter a person's dream. Judging by the look of the dream, I'd say it was a child's dream. I took a step back. I was feeling part of a large boulder, as if there was a small doorway back home. Part of me wanted to go back home, but part of me wanted to stay. I mean, an ordinary 13 yr. old boy doesn't usually get swept to other worlds like in the stories.
         I decided, after a long time of thinking hard, to stay and see why I was brought here. I took a stroll around the forest. My thoughts were racing around an old endless track in my mind. "Was I sent here, or was this all a coincidence." "What was in store for me?" "But most importantly, how would I be able to get back home?" As I was thinking, I saw a sign pointing northward. The sign stated that the kingdom of Sazar was a 1000 km up North. I walked up North, hoping that someone there would be able to help me find my way back to the Dream Catcher's lair.
         I found the kingdom of the Sazar. But I really wouldn’t call it a kingdom. It was more of a village rather than a realm. I walked up to the stone gate. As soon as I opened the gate, I was greeted with gasps of horror. I walked towards a wilted garden on the center of the town as the gasps of horror turned into sighs of relief. I continued to walk, but I was met by a boy.
         He was wearing a pair of brown pants, and green and blue, if I’m not mistaken, fur coat. The town looked gloomy everywhere I turned, but he seemed to be smiling rather than frowning or scowling at me like the rest of the villagers. I was kind of wary to speak to him; I was thinking that their language was different from mine. So I waited for him to speak.
         After a few minutes of awkward silence, he opened his mouth. He said “Can—you—speak—English.” slowly as if thinking that I could not understand what he was saying. I answered “Yes I can”. He took a deep breath then said “Good. Otherwise, it would’ve been hard to speak to you. By the way I’m Shastern. People here call me Shas. What’s your name.” I said in a voice that was, in a way, both filled with relief and fatigue. “My name is Gali.” “So Gali, what brings you here to the Kingdom of Sazar?”
         I sat down. How could I even start talking about what happened to me. But I should answer him. For all I know, he might be the only friend I would have in this whole journey of mine. I told him to sit down and started telling him what happened to me, the feelings I felt and the thoughts that ran up and down my mind. After I spoke, he stood up, scratching his head. He said in a voice both consoling and confused “So that’s the reason why you’re here. Well, since you’re not from around here, I could ask my mom if you can come over to eat with us tonight.” I was happy that I was able to acquire a friend at such a short time, and that I would not have to worry about a place to sleep tonight.
         I stood up and we made our way through the dusty road over to Shas’ house.
It took a while till we got to his house. It was a single floored house that was made of dull-grey blocks of stone. There were mainly two parts of the house, the main house and the metal shop. We entered the metal shop. There I saw the most unbelievable things. A sharp, green sword that could probably chop down a Narra tree in just one hit. A set of black horseshoes were laid down on a wooden table, as well as a suit of armor that was sturdier than the ones back at home.
         A women was pounding away on a piece of dented scrap metal. She took the mask she was wearing off and walked her way through all the steel objects towards us.
         "So Shastern, what have you been up to lately? And who is this?" She looked at me from head to toe. She had an awkward look on her tired face. It felt queer to have her look at me. But, what was their to feel strange about. A young boy from the twenty first century, wearing dark blue jeans and a white shirt with a hooked cross on it, was as strange as strange could get. After a while, she told Shas to come over to one side. There was a stern look on her face. They were talking so seriously that I decided to leave the metal shop a bit.
         I found myself walking down a barren road. Step-by-step, I strolled around the colorless town. I just continued to walk, until I reached a small building, flocked by tons of villagers. A thin man, who was either extremely sleepy or extremely agitated handed something over to me. " Here kid. I'm tired off spending so much money on games of chance. I hope lady lucks on your side today."said the man. He pushed through the crowd as he grumbled.
         I fixed my eyes on the weirdly decorated stage. A woman climbed up on stage and held up a piece of paper. "The grand prize goes to the one holding the numbers 5"-I looked on the ticket I was holding. The 1st number on the raffle was 5."8"-8,"3"-There was also a 3. A rush of excitement drowned all thoughts of fear, worry and confusion. "And finally ... 0" Zero! That was my number. All my numbers on the ticket were the same as what the woman said and arranged the same way too. "That's mine!!!" I ran towards the stage, bumping anyone that came in my away. The lady gave me a bunch of stone balls. "A hundred thousand Qus to this young man." As soon as she announced the winner, everyone started leaving. I pocketed my winnings and ran back to the house.
         It took me much longer than before to find the house. I think the reason why it took me a long time was not because I lost my way, but because of people trying to steal my prize. At some point, I even had to pick up a piece of metal on the floor and swing it wildly to drive a few muggers away. From outside, I saw Shas and his mom slouching on a chair. Shas' mom's face was buried deep in her hands. Shas was patting her back. I felt distressed. Something was wrong and I could feel it. But what was wrong. Should I try to comfort Shas and his mom or would it better to leave them. Anyway, I could find some other place to sleep. So what was the right choice. Help them or leave.
~TO BE CONTINUED~