Sasha's Dream

"That's the same character. Do you like it that much?" Alice asked her looking at her drawing.

"I don't know... But, for some reason, I haven't been able to draw anything else but this character recently."

"I see. What's his name? He looks cool."

Sasha was about to answer her question. But, then... she asked herself.

"I don't know him, do I?"

After finishing the final touches, she looked up at her and finally replied, "I don't know..."

"Then let's give him a name! I would name him Kitty. What about you?"

Sasha started to think about it. But she couldn't concentrate at all. She opened her mouth to say a random name. But, instead...

"Doko?"

That came out without her realisation. She was surprised to hear herself.

"Doko...that sounds like the name of a toy car company. But, for some reason the name suites him. Let's go with that."

Suddenly, she noticed that Sasha was crying. She was startled.

"Sasha, what's wrong? Is it because of  what I said earlier?"

Sasha noticed too after she had asked her. She rubbed her eyes to confirm. She was indeed crying, yet again...

"I'm sorry. I just don't know why— I'm sorry..."

Right after saying that, more tears started to fill her eyes and she couldn't stop them no matter how hard she tried. Seeing her, Alice gave her a warm hug.

"It's okay. I don't mind. Let it all out."

After a while, she finally calmed down.

"Thank you, Alice. I'm alright now."

So, she let her go.

"You really are a strange one."

She blushed as she heard her.

"But, you are different from before." Alice continued. She was curious to know just how she was different so she kept quiet and listened.

"Before we became friends, you used to be a different person. I always had my eyes on you back then. Suddenly, one day... you became someone completely different. The glare of your eyes and your movements told me so. But, I'm glad for the way you are now. You seem more cheerful than ever."

She heard her out till the end. She was confused herself as she hadn't been able to understand her own feelings for the last few months since that morning.

"Actually, Alice, I've been feeling strange lately. But, I can't seem to get what it actually is."

"Really? In that case, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually, whatever it is. Everyone does including me."

"Hmm. Thank you."

Then, the bell rang and lunch time was over. Alice went back to her own desk taking her chair with her. They attended the class as usual. At the end of the class, the teacher announced an exam date which would be held next week. He gave away the syllabus, too. And, like that, the class finally ended.

Alice and Sasha said their goodbyes and headed for home.

Reaching home, Sasha did her usual chores and sat before her reading table to study a bit for the exam. She needed a particular book which was why she was searching for it in her bookshelf.

She came across a light book she couldn't recognise. So, she brought it out.

"The sacred land."

She read out the title. The cover of that book had a scenery of a place. It felt so nostalgic. But, she couldn't remember what it was. Being curious, she opened the book.

The first page had a picture of a light blue sky with fluffy clouds scattered around. At the end of the sky, started continuous light green fields with cl.u.s.ters of white trees. The next page had writings.

"Long ago, there was a world unlike this one. It was surrounded by beauties and wonders. The water there was as clear and sparkling as a crystal and the trees as pale as pearls. There were the White Forest, the unbounding falls and so on. The people there used to live in peace and harmony. Their leader was a fairy and their protector was a blue beast. There was also a being who could control nature. All of them lived very happily.

But, one day, misfortune fell upon the world. People became suspicious of each other. They started to fight among themselves. Consequently, various disasters occurred throughout the land. Darkness had surrounded the world.

Then, with the leadership of the fairy, the strongest three fought against the evils and restored peace in the world. After that, all of them lived happily ever after. The end."

She read out quietly. There seemed to be more pages left so she turned them. The rest of them were completely blank. She found it very  strange. But, she ignored the fact thinking that something might have gone wrong with the publication.

"I wish I were the fairy." She said to herself. But, just as she said that, she saw a fragment of a memory, perhaps.

"I wanna be the fairy when I go to that world!" She heard the faint noise in her head and shortly afterwards, the disturbing noise of continues laughter.

Soon she came to her senses and noticed that she was having a severe headache.

"What was that just now?" She thought to herself. Putting the book away quickly, she went to bed and lied down hoping to get rid of the headache.

Soon, she fell asleep.

She started to have a dream. It was the same dream she had back when she was in her dream world. It was the dream about meeting with Doko for the first time. It started to get bright at the end and she could hear a voice.

"Promise me! Promise me!"

It was as if that voice was calling out to her.

She opened her eyes that instant. She could hear the intense noise of her alarm clock. Getting up quickly, she turned it off and stood still all blank.

"Who was that?"

"Who... in the world was that? Who is he to me?"

"Why was I so friendly with him?"

"How did I know him?"

And many more questions filled her head soon afterwards. But, she didn't receive any answer. She slowly went towards her table and found the story book lying in front of her. She hesitated... but picked it up anyways and stared at it. She felt nostalgic like before and confused at the same time as she started to feel bitter for no reason.

"What is this book doing in my room in the first place?"