The Secrets of Agata

Chapter 2

Sleep welcomed me into my wonderful dream world. If I could live here I would. This place has green meadows and a beautiful forest where the animals graze and bounce around with no troubles at all. Its about dusk here, the stars will be out soon. I decided to search for Azela, I know I will find her down by the pool that the creek fills, that's her favorite spot. I start walking down my beaten path I've taken all these years, off in the distance I hear the wolves howl, wrapping me in comfort. I've always felt the safest here, no matter what creatures meet me. I follow the stream down the way.

Azela greets me with open arms. "Tora, tell me, what troubles you?"

"Azela, I'm just ready to venture out. I'm ready to move on to bigger things in my life. I just want to be free, free from safety, free from their rules, and free to do what I want." I said on the verge of tears.

Azela just hugged me tighter, sqeezing my shoulders as she begins to talk softly in my ear, "my dear child, you know I've always told you, the world has bigger plans for you. One day you will understand what I mean. I just pray you are ready when it is your time."

"I'm ready now! I'm ready to be on my own though, why can't now be the time!" I cried, tears rushing down my face.

"Come, I want to show you

something." as she grabbed my hand pulling me to follow her. "This life that you have lived so far, my love, is not the only life you will live. It is only the first chapter to the true beginning."

"Azela, that makes no sense, the first chapter and true beginning. I wish you would stop speaking in riddles. You make my brain hurt and my shoulders feel heavy."

"Ah, well that is good then. It keeps your brain smart and your shoulders strong. You will one day need wisdom and strength to complete your tasks assigned to you."

"What on earth are you talking about Azela! What assigned tasks! I just want to be free and be able to make my own choices. I don't understand what is with everyone today!" I huff.

It's best if I walk away, I decide to wander into my forest a bit. What has gotten into her today, I wonder. Everyone has lost their minds today. Wanting me to stay home, wanting me to know about tasks and purposes. I just want to live my life, the way I want to live. Not how everyone else wants me to. I feel like I've been walking for miles when I come across my meadow, its a huge circle in the middle of the trees, hidden deep with the roots of this place. The birds always sing to me, the butterflies dance around me, and the other tiny creatures perch high on the rocks round me to watch. I always feel at peace here and wish I had a place like this in the real world, not just my dreams. The sun has set and the stars are shining brighter than ever before. I decided to lie on my back to gaze at the stars and take in the beauty of the full moon tonight. The moon is so full, it has lit up the entire field. I can see everything under its beauty. All of the animals have disappeared into their homes, the birds have stopped singing but the crickets and frogs have taken over. It's so peaceful out here nothing could go wrong.

I hear a few twigs break to my right, usually nothing out here bothers me, but today already being on edge I begin to feel a bit anxious. Another twig breaks and my heart starts to flutter, out of the corner of my eye I see something shift to my right. What is going on! "Azela! You better not be playing games with me" I shout. "Come on out! I'm not in the mood!"

Just as the word leaves my lips out steps a gigantic dark brown wolf. My knees begin to shake and my heart is pounding. I've never come this close to a wolf, especially not one this big. It stops in its tracks and just stares at me. "Is this thing going to eat me." I think to myself, just as I finish the thought the wolf shakes it's head as if it was saying no. If I had a mirror I know my eyes would be as big as saucers right now.

"D-did you just shake your head no?" I shakingly ask, the wolf nods it's head once more to say yes.

I think I might faint, this wolf is talking to me. It understands me! I'm hyperventilating and pacing back and forth, I keep looking to the wolf and it just stand there staring. Growls. I heard it growl. I stop dead in my tracks and look right at it. "Did you just growl at me?!" The wolf takes a few strides over and is now face to face with me, well sorta, the wolf towers over me by a foot or so. I'm five foot four, so surely this thing has to be at least six foot, maybe more.

We haven't broken eye contact yet, when it decides to bow to me. "Are you bowing now!" I yell, just then the wolf stands back up and licks me right in the face. I'm taken aback and immediately jump out of reach. The wolf just keeps moving forward as if I'm not already losing my mind, trying to get away before I realize, "Wait, did you hear my thought earlier?" The wolf nodded. I think I'm going to faint, "can this day get any weirder?" I must have stopped paying attention because now I'm falling, I guess I must have lost my footing as I was trying to get away.

If this was the real world I'd be dead. This wolf would have killed me in a heart beat, but this is my head, my dream world. Why haven't I ever seen this wolf before. The wolf just sits in front of me, as a normal dog would, I sit up, crossing my legs to take the wolf in. Neither one of us doing anything other than looking at each other. I start to notice little details, for one it's a girl, and two she has these big beautiful green eyes! These eyes are the prettiest I've ever seen, but they look familiar, I just can't place where I've seen them before.

After a few minutes of taking each other in, she lies down and curls up enjoying the stars above. I take notice of her peacefully drifting off to sleep, I watch her breathing get deeper, just as I was about to get the nerve to touch her, I'm abruptly awoken back to the real world again.

I open my eyes and that heavy feeling is back, something isn't right. I look at the window and notice the sun is about to set. Mother hasn't woken me up, I don't smell dinner either. I decide to go look to see if she home yet, the she wolf still glued to the front of my mind.

I get to the kitchen when I notice the door is open to the back yard, I continue to shut it after not seeing anyone there and turn around to venture through the rest of the house. Walking down the hall to the front room I start to swell with anxiety, my whole body is trembling and I can't seem to shake this bad feeling. The smell of copper hit me before my eyes could even process what I was seeing. Blood. There is Blood everywhere. On the walls, on the couch, on the curtains, all over the floor, and I'm pretty sure there some is on the ceiling.

Now the screams. All I can hear are screams. I cant begin to process what is happening. I don't understand, when did this happen and where is the screaming coming from.

I see someone come in, it's the neighbor, he's in the house, he looks right at me with a puzzling distraught look on his face, that's when I realize it's me, I'm the one screaming.