Chapter 1: The Wilted Beginning 2
862 Words
The soft sheen on her lips felt like a reminder of the success she’d carved out, despite everything. As she slipped into her shoes, her phone buzzed. It was a message from her boyfriend, Ethan.
"Good luck at work today, babe. Can’t wait to see you later. Love you!"
She smiled, replying quickly. Ethan was a constant in her life—a steady force she could rely on. He knew about her past, the hurt, the struggles, but he didn’t judge her for it. He just loved her, and that meant everything.
With a deep breath, Jenna headed out the door, trying to shake off the fog that still clouded her thoughts. It was time to face the day. No more dreams. No more distractions.
Jenna stepped out of the taxi and into the university campus, the weight of the dream still lingering in the back of her mind like a shadow she couldn’t shake off. The day was just beginning, and she had no time to dwell on things she couldn’t control.
She walked briskly through the familiar paths, past the tall buildings where students hurried between classes, each of them lost in their own worlds. Jenna’s world, however, always felt a bit out of focus, like she was just passing through, waiting for something to click. Her thoughts drifted to her friends—Ella and Sophia, the constants in her otherwise chaotic life.
As Jenna made her way toward the student union, she spotted them sitting together on the worn benches, laughing about something Jenna couldn’t quite hear. Ella, with her confident, slightly rebellious demeanor, was always the louder of the two, while Sophia, the dreamer, looked serene, as though she lived in a world of her own.
“Hey, you!” Ella called out as she saw Jenna approaching. “Did you get lost in that dream world of yours again?”
Jenna smiled, though her heart wasn’t entirely in it. She had shared the dream with them before, but they never took it seriously. Not like she did. They weren’t bothered by it. Not in the way Jenna was.
“Not this time,” she replied, sitting down beside Sophia. “Just had another one of those weird dreams.”
Sophia looked up from her book, her eyes sparkling with the same curiosity that always made her seem like she was searching for something beyond the surface of the world. “What kind of weird dream?” she asked, her voice soft but eager.
“You know, the same one,” Jenna replied, trying to downplay it. “The garden, the flower, the woman.”
Ella rolled her eyes. “Here we go again with the ghost stories.” She leaned back against the bench, crossing her arms with a playful grin. “You really should stop watching those horror movies, Jen. They’re messing with your head.”
But Jenna could see the small glint of amusement in Ella’s eyes. Ella was practical, grounded—too much so sometimes. She didn’t believe in ghosts or any of the strange, otherworldly things that Sophia was always fascinated by.
Sophia, on the other hand, was entirely different. “It’s fascinating,” she said, her voice dreamy. “Maybe the dream is a sign. A message from someone or something. Sometimes, dreams have meanings, you know.”
Jenna’s heart skipped a beat at her words, but she quickly brushed it off. “I’m just tired. No deep meanings. It’s just... a dream.”
Sophia nodded slowly, her gaze distant, as if lost in her own thoughts. “Sometimes, I wonder if there’s a world between dreams and reality. A place where things are connected, but we can’t quite see it.”
Jenna gave her a look, the edges of her lips turning up in a faint smile. “You and your fantasy worlds, Soph.”
Ella, sensing the tension, leaned forward and nudged Jenna. “We need to focus, okay? Finals are coming up, and you’ve been zoning out in class enough to know you need to catch up.”
Jenna groaned. “I know, I know. I just keep thinking about... everything.”
Sophia’s voice softened. “What everything?”
Jenna paused, her heart fluttering slightly. She wasn’t sure how to explain it—how to talk about the strange dreams or the sense of foreboding that had been hanging over her since that first vision. Instead, she shrugged, forcing a smile. “Just... life.”
Ella smirked, as if sensing Jenna’s unwillingness to share. “Ah, so the mystery continues,” she teased.
“Always,” Jenna muttered, grateful for the distraction.
They spent the next few minutes chatting, the casual banter helping Jenna to forget, even if just for a moment, the nagging feeling that something was off. She loved her friends dearly, but there were some things they wouldn’t understand, some things that were too complicated to explain.
Sophia believed in the strange, the fantastical, and would likely embrace the idea that Jenna’s dreams held some deeper truth. Ella, however, would just chalk it up to stress or overactive imagination.
Jenna envied the simplicity of their perspectives.
- Writer
