"Joshweiyn!" She called, racing through the field of lavender and lilacs. "Joshweiyn!"

He ran on, as though he hadn't heard her--ran on through the tall stalks of weeds and grass that formed a forest around their hips. The grass tickled her bare legs and feet, swaying aganist her white dress as it billowed around her due to the prairie breeze. "Joshweiyn!" She cried again. "Wait for me!"

He didn't stop, didn't even turn to look at her. She continued pumping her arms, crying out his name as tears began trickling down her face. Why didn't he stop? Why was he running away from her? He was moving farther and farther away from her, his legs taking him a greater distance than her own could ever make. But she did not stop, although all her muscles and lungs were screaming "Enough, enough! We cannot take it any longer!", telling her unless she didn't want to collapse and die from the lack of oxygen, she must.

But Joshweiyn.

Through the field of flowers and weeds, of grass and thorns, they ran. Above them, large white sails soared through the air, their mass encroaching closer to obscuring the golden lantern shining down at them. Around them, mountains of all shapes seemed to fade and grow in the distance. Where were they going? Where were they headed?

How long they ran, she did not know. All she knew was that Joshweiyn was still running, and she must too, to be by his side. "Joshweiyn," she called again, but her voice was swept away by the howling of the wind.

A storm was coming.

And then the voices began to creep around her. She first thought she was merely imaging the sounds, but soon the incoherent whispers formed words. She did not know where they came from, but she could hear them, from every direction she turned.

Singing, she decided after a moment of thought--it was a soft singing. A hum of a melody, a sorrowful cry of warning. Suddenly, the darkness of the clouds and storm seemed to engulf the world in night. She was about to call to Joshweiyn again, but when she looked forward to him, he was far far away, crossing a bridge.

She screamed his name, and pumped her arms and legs harder and harder, begging for them to take her to him, save him....

Save him? Save him from what?

Over the bridge she went, but by then he had already disappeared. Before her stood a little hut--a red roof downed the creamy white walls, and the grass was a brilliant shade of green. She stopped a good distance away from a door inscribed with symbols she could not read yet still could understand...

There is Another Sky

The hut stood at the corner of a road that seemed to lead to high golden walls, so high they seemed to reach into the sky. She looked left, she looked right, but all she could see was the golden wall, the green grass, and the hut.

It seemed to be calling her, bidding her to cross and step beyond it's closed door, promising to help her find the answers to all her problems...

...if only she took a step beyond...

Another Sky. What lay beyond?

Joshweiyn, she thought, and took a step forward.


***


The beep of her alarm awoke her, and with a sharp inhale she snapped open her eyes. She sat up quickly, and swiveled her head about her.

Same room. Same life. She let go of the breath she had not realized she had been holding, and with a shaky sigh, she closed her eyes and fell back onto her pillow.

Another dream, she thought to herself. Just a dream, nothing to panic about. Just a dream. No reality within it. Yet what an absurd dream it was--a blue sky, and green fields. And the golden ball in the sky, what had that been? The white bundles that seemed to float--float, like the airships that sailed the skies--through that stretch of clear blue.

For as long as she knew the sky had always been a dark brown, even a murky purple, if she was lucky. All of Copper was brown, and she had never seen anything different. And the dream had been very different. The ball in the sky that was as bright and warm as a fireglobe, with the capability to hang itself in the sky amongst those white sails that flew without the control of men. And the sticks that were green--so soft, she could almost feel it still...

Yet it was not this odd appearance of the place she had been in that nagged at her, but more of the person she had been chasing. What had his name been? J...Jo...

Oh, she couldn't remember. Did it matter? She was going to be late. With a grunt, she pulled her legs and heaved them over the side of her bed, pulling herself into an upright position. It was another busy day in the streets of Ba'laan.