Seng (星).
Star, planet, spark. "Where am I?”
Deep orange, dappled light streamed through a dense canopy of broad leaves and twisted boughs, the rustling of which could hardly be heard over the cacophony of chirps and howls emanating from every direction. Yet, despite all such noise, not one voice returned an answer to Seng’s dazed inquiry.
“How… did I get here?”
Unfortunately, Seng’s attire was rather ill-suited for the setting she hAd awoken to, a mess of thick ruffles and large swaths of heavy fabric now deeply entangled in a bed of shrubs. Each observation of her surroundings only added to a rapidly expanding list of questions, a predicament Seng responded to by jolting to her feet with a thousand delicately woven fibers tearing free from thorn-studded branches. What was originally an impressively ornate gown fit for a noblewoman during the reign of Queen Victoria had been reduced to tatters befitting the wearer whose sanity was now held only by the thinnest, darkest thread.
“Who am I?”
Those brooches and tAssels forged with gold would certainly be of no use to her in this vast expanse of jungle even no seasoned pathfinder would dare explore. That is, to say, she was completely and utterly lost.
“Hey! This is a really random place for you to be. You alright, lady?” Seng whirled around to meet a heavyset face dusted with the suggestion of a Beard emerging through the thicket. Tools clanking against the belt of his rugged adventurer’s garb, he looked the part of a stereotypical safari advertisement as he reached out to offer a hand to the visibly shaken and unsteady woman before him. Seng wearily retreated, stammering out the first of her many conundrums.
“What is going on? Who-”
“Shhh, I’m on the run. We have to be careful. You don’t look like you’re one of them, so stick with me,” he interrupted, lowering his voice to a volume barely discernible amidst the din of the jungle. Seng squinted at the man, mouth agape, distrust and disbelief written in bold across her face. While she knew nothing about her own situation, she still possessed the wherewithal to observe the foolishness of Blundering about with a raucous toolbelt and calling out to unknown individuals while allegedly being pursued. Surely this strange man was joking.
“Are you kidding? Get away from me!”
“No, no, I swear I mean no harm! Please, we have to go,” an urgency crept into his voice.
“Why? Ugh, get off me!”
Rough, calloused hands wrenched at Seng’s ragged sleeves, silencing her protest and galvanizing her to action. The pair dashed through a hAze of whipping branches and rapidly dimming daylight. Seng gritted her teeth as thorns and serrated leaves pulled through her skin, the pain a whetstone that, with each step, sharpened her intuition.
I don’t belong here. Seng’s mouth held the shape of each word between heaving breaths. As her eyes widened, masked figures seemed to materialize upon the maze of branches surrounding the two intruders, Arrowheads fashioned from ivory glinting in the rippling sunlight.
“Hey now, wait, we can negoti-” The adventurer recoiled, hands raised in a futile attempt to reason with the consequences of his own actions.
They shot without hesitation. Feathers, sleek wood, and a swift end whistled through the air, finding their target like a compass pointing north. A sodden thud and the swirl of hot crimson mixing with muddy water around her feet were all proof of what had just transpired, but she simply stood, transfixed in horror. She was easy pickings for the next flurry. Her breath hitched deep within her chest as bone slid against cartilage, her face turning with infuriating slowness to meet the gaze of an arrow’s point.
I don’t belong in this world.
No pain followed.
A sharp gust of wind had brought a thick, starry mist with it, engulfing Seng before death could find her. The wisps of inky smoke clung to her body, lifting her effortlessly off the ground. Seng’s throat began to close as the stifling smog clawed at the inside of her trachea. Just as quickly as it came, the mist vanished, sending Seng crashing to a brittle floor in a fit of wheezes and spasms. Disoriented, her gaze rolled from a soft blue sky down to the coarse sand pooling between her fingers. In the absurdity of this situation, she couldn't help but snort at the Seng-shaped imprint in the ground, soon speckled with the ichor that dripped from numerous cuts along her arms. Her vision swirled and dimmed, but sleep refused her, body battered, mind racing, and heart aching for a stranger she’d met for mere moments.
Why did he dIe? Could she have done anything differently to save him? Was his demise inevitable? What danger will await her here this time? Will she find her end just as quickly? She can only run so far. She doesn’t belong here. She will die. She was afraid.
The rising tide approached, lapping at her wrists and knees as soft waves rippled in the distance. This world brought a serene hush that blanketed Seng, holding her steady and brushing her hair with a gentle wind to soothe her whimpers and hiccups.
What a useless thing to do, to cry.
The stillness of this beach filled her lungs with new breath and washed her wounds of grit and grief until the soft pitter patter of a child's playful footfalls brought Seng’s solitude to a close.
“Who are you, lady? Your clothes are weird, but they look kinda cool! I’ve never met you before, I wonder why you’re in my dream…” A girl no older than 8 scuFfled in a circle around Seng, excavating a trench in her wake.
“Dream…? What do you mean?”
“I’m dreaming right now! It’s called lucid dreaming! My best friend taught me how to do it, hmm… about a year ago! All the grown-ups say they wish they could lucid dream. I bet they’re sooo jealous of me!” The young girl smirked with satisfaction and hummed, hands on her hips. “Look at me! I’m gonna fly!”
A flurry of feathers burst from the back of the girl’s brilliant white overalls, and with a running start, she leapt into the clouds, skybound. The girl hollered with blissful excitement, watching her shadow dance along the ground below, mimicking her dives and pirouettes. The strange woman she encountered quickly disappeared from her view and, thus, her memory. However, there was no doubt that the words this child had spoken were now burned into Seng's conscience.
“I’m in someone else’s dream? How is this possible-” Seng’s voice caught as the mist took her once more.