Feathers of a dream

Chapter 3

Lythia headed down the same beaten dirt road she always did. A smile crossed her face seeing the house at the end. It held such a special place in her heart she couldn’t help but smile every time she saw it. Pulling up the drive way a big beautiful brick house came into view.

            The two story house sitting in front of her was built by her great-grandparents as a wedding gift for her grandparents. Bricks of multiple shades of orange and red were encased by white. White shutters clanged to the windows accenting the square frames. Blooming flower beds lined the side walk. They were a little early this year, but she knew her grandmother could make anything grow no matter what season it was.

            Parking the car, she walked towards the front door. Before she got there she saw someone was sitting in a rocking chair off to the corner of the porch. Having a book in hand the women didn’t lower it as Lythia approached. A small smile spread across her aunt’s face.   

Tammera still staring at her book spoke softly. “What are you up to little bit?”

            “Nothing special, I figured I would stop by before class and see what you were doing.” Lythia stood on the bottom step smiling at her great aunt.

Tammera smoothed her long white hair back. “Well little bit, I’m happy you did. Your grandmother just made salsa, and jam. We canned a few jars, so if you don’t mind would you take a few to your papa?” Closing her book, she stood up.

Lythia followed her inside. “Definitely.” She couldn’t help but tease. “Getting to old to drive?”

Tammera smiled, “Watch your mouth little one. I can still whip you!”

She started giggling. “Yeah I know, by the way where is Nana?”

“In the garden like always.” Her great aunt headed toward the kitchen. “We haven’t eaten breakfast yet. Are you hungry?”

“I ate some cereal before leaving so I’m not too hungry, but I’ll eat whatever you’re cooking.” She followed right behind.

Sliding on oven mittens Tammera pulled out a baking dish full of quiche. Carefully she placed it on the stove and pulled the next tray out of warm, fluffy, golden biscuits. Keeping her mittens on she grabbed the quiche and headed to the dinning room table, and placed it on a hot pad. Lythia grabbed a bowl and put the fluffy biscuits into it before joining her aunt.

Tammera slid open the sliding glass doors and hollered for her sister. Once Nana appeared, the three of them finally took a seat at the table. They all kept light conversation while enjoying breakfast. Lythia tried to answer all the questions about school, her brothers, and her parents. Nana talked about the garden and all the delicious vegetables and fruit that were going to come out this year for harvest. Tammera talked about the books she bought.

This house was always Lythia’s favorite place to go. It was about a twenty minute drive from her own so she came by every few days to see the two women. She loved being around them. During the summer as a child her parent had a hard time getting her to come home. From working in the garden, to playing by the woods, to swimming in the pond she loved this place. It also helped that she loved spending time with the people in it too.

 Finishing up her second breakfast Lythia glanced at her phone. Class would be starting soon. Giving her grandmother and great aunt a kiss on the cheek she picked up the box with all the canning jars. Placing it in the back seat she waved again to them and took off toward campus.

Once there she parked in the shade and walked quickly toward class. The lecture hall was full of students. Finding a seat closest to the window she sat in the back. Glancing at the time on her cell phone she sighed. Barely making it in time she started pulling her stuff out. As the teacher walked through the class doors he jumped straight into his lecture without missing a beat. He turned off the lights just as soon as the overhead projector came to life. A new series of slides were flashing quickly as he rattled off names and dates of each thing that appeared.

 Lythia started taking notes. Knowing everything he was rattling off would be on the final exam, which was seventy percent of their grade. After taking a few pages of notes, she couldn’t help but yawn. His voice always made her sleepy. Being in a dark room with his monotone voice was a bad combination to anyone, even if they got a good night sleep or not. Yawning again, she watched the professor walk back and forth while talking as her eye lids started to feel heavy. Since she went to bed late from studying, and got up so early because of the dream Lythia couldn’t fight it any longer. Propping her head up with one arm she slowly drifted off to sleep.

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            Slowly Lythia opened her eyes. Grass brushed against her face as a gentle breeze blew. The scent of warm grass, mixed with flowers filled her nose. Blinking a few times a bright sky with fluffy clouds filled her vision. It was a beautiful spring day.

     Wrinkling her nose confusion swept across her face. The last thing she remembered was listening to the professor rattled off names and dates. She couldn’t recall leaving the class room at all. Gently propping her arms she sat up to take a familiar sight in. It was the same as all the other times she had come here. Green lush grass enveloped the same hills and meadows.

     Months had past since she started visiting this place, and nothing seemed to change. Lythia didn’t visit this place every time she dreamed. Most nights she didn’t dream at all, but on the ones she did this never changing place appeared. Except for one thing. The little blonde boy standing next to her. Until last night she hadn’t seen him before, but yet he seemed so familiar and she couldn’t figure out why.

     Looking into a pair of sparkling blue eyes, while he stared back. The little boy smiled down at her with his hand out stretched. Debating amongst herself if she should accept it,  Lythia hesitantly held her hand over top of his. His smile didn’t falter nor did he retract his hand. Instead he waited patiently for her to make a decision.

    Dropping her gaze while different emotions fled across her face. Caution, excitement, sadness, and curiosity danced on ever muscle before curiosity finally won. She had no idea what he wanted but a apart of her knew she had to go with him. He was so familiar and a total stranger at the same time she wasn’t sure she could trust him. Biting her bottom lip she met his gaze once again. The smile never faltered, while the blue in his eyes danced happily. Cautiously she dropped her hand into his.

 The little boys smile brighten as he tighten his grip around her hand. Feeling the force of his little body trying to pull her forward Lythia stood up. He was pulling them both toward the dirt path.

She looked from side to side on the path while walking forward. Bones popped out beneath the grass of decayed hands, arms, feet, legs and skulls. Some had fabric from clothing still draped around them. Others were tightly gripping swords or shields, while a few helmets were tossed to the sides.. What was sticking out looked to be sun bleached. It was obvious they had been there for years upon years. Different thoughts crossed her mind on why there were so many. Could it be war? Famine? An illness? Some were big like men, while others were small like children. Only a few held weapons, and others had baskets.

Chills started to run up and down her spine as she looked forward to the boy. His short bleach blond hair swayed in the light spring breeze. As if feeling her eyes on him he glanced back. A bright smile lit up his face while his eyes sparkled with happiness. He seemed cheerful and happy to be walking hand and hand to where ever they were headed.

They continued to walk in silence along the winding path. She couldn’t help but to stare at him while being lost in thought. His bright blue eyes and adorable smile pulled at something in the back of her head. She knew she had seen them all before, but as to when or how the memory aviated her.

Sighing heavily to herself, Lythia look away from him and toward the sky. The bright blues were giving away to a soft shade of purple. Almost as if the sun was setting. Streaks of yellow and orange blended with the white clouds. It was beautiful just like everything else in this place.

 Tall trees tops sat just below the the white clouds. The hills and meadows were opening up to a forest. Trees towered over each other into a canopy blocking the sky. Lythia had seen many forests in her life, especially the one behind her house. She often used to go hiking in it and explore for new places. However this forest was bigger, and grander than anything she had ever seen. The size of the trees made her feel like a ant in comparison. Letting out the breathe she didn’t realize she had been holding an aww sound escaped her lips. As if feeling her excitement the little boy squeeze her hand and kept moving forward. Leaves and flowers fell around them covering the trail and sticking to her hair. Birds hummed loudly as sounds of streams trickled in the distance. So many sights and sounds she couldn’t help from looking all around her.

After walking what seemed like a few hours the trees started to thin out. A new hilly meadow greeted them at the tree line. It was different from the one they started at. The grass seemed to be replaced with tall flowers that swayed in the breeze. There was no sign of decay or death in this meadow. It seemed as if whatever tragedy happened didn’t make it here. Taking in the new sight she didn’t feel boy stop as she continued past the tree line. A small tug on her hand made Lythia trip backwards.  The little boy gripped tightly on her hand pulling her toward him to stop her from falling.

 Looking over at him she couldn’t help but be surprised. He was so small but had tremendous strength. As if reading her thoughts the boy smiled brightly giving her hand a tight squeeze before letting it go. A loud cawing noise made Lythia jump. She looked around and then back at the boy. His smile was gone and he was no longer looking at her.

The boys face was void of emotions as he looked directly in front of them. Glancing to where he was looking there was nothing. Confused she looked between the boy and the empty spot. He couldn’t help but smirk while holding out his hand as he pointed past the small hill in front of them.

Lythia kept her eyes fixed on the spot his small hand pointed at and took a few steps forward. She still didn’t see nothing. Frustrated she spun around toward the little boy to say something but he was gone.

Confused she turned to all sides trying to find him but he wasn’t there. A chill ran down her spine. She was completely alone again in this strange place. Slowly spinning back toward the direction he pointed Lythia let out another sigh. Trying to shake the eerie feeling that surrounded her, she started walking forward.

As she stepped on top of the small hill leaving the tree line far behind Lythia scanned her surroundings. Everything was covered in grass and flowers. Feeling confused a silhouette came in to view at the bottom of the hill. It was small, and hard to make out. Hope ran through her, even though she couldn’t see who it was clearly. It was small enough to be the little boy who disappeared.

Taking a few steps forward Lythia couldn’t contain her excitement. She had no idea who the little boy was but his presents had been a comfort walking through these unfamiliar lands. Quickening her pace she raced as fast as she could to the silhouette.

As the figure came into complete view Lythia stopped a few feet away from him. This wasn’t the boy she saw moments ago. Even though they were similar in size, he was completely different. Dark brown hair hung across his face. Eyes as black as coal sparkled at her. He was a little taller than the other boy, and his skin was tanner as well. Looking at him she noticed something sliver sparkle in the sunlight. A small dagger hung loosely on his waist.

“So you’re finally here again?” He looked her up and down. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, making another chill run down her spine.

 This boy seemed dangerous. His demeanor and expression were polar opposite of the blonde haired boy.. Looking back into his black eyes a sense of familiarity ran through her. Those eyes she knew she had seen before, but was unsure of when or where. Everything in this place from the boys to the lands felt familiar, but yet it was all strange.

As these different thoughts raced through her a small pain rang through her head. It was loud and painful as a few images fleeted quickly across her mind. Biting her bottom lip and closing her eyes Lythia tried to concentrate on just one image. However it wasn’t working. If anything she had caused the pain to get worse. Putting her hand to the side of her head she focuon just her breathing hoping to make the pain stop.

The little boy couldn’t help but wince while watching her. Anyone could see she was in pain, but he knew only she could make it stop. Hearing her deep breathes the little boy returned the smirk to his face.  “Trust me.” He command, while reaching his hand out toward her.

Opening her eyes she looked from his hand to his eyes. The gaze he had was confident and intimidating. As she studied his face, the pain started to vanished and his words rang through instead. She couldn’t explain it but she trusted him. Putting her hand in his, he tightened his grip. The intense gaze didn’t falter, but she could see relief wash through his eyes quickly. Feeling something tightly grab her other hand she looked to her side.

It was the blond haired boy again. Curiosity pulled at her eyebrows as she tired to figure out where he came from. Just a few moments ago he was completely gone and now he appeared at her side just as quickly. So many questions washed over her, but Lythia bit them back. She wrapped her hand tightly around his and looked back to the dark haired boy. Another smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he pulled her forward. Silently the three of them started walking forward. She wasn’t sure where they were going but having them both by her side gave her confidence.

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