Shatter

Chapter 28: The Orphanage

Luna

Sunshine flew through the glass windows, blinding my eyes with warmth. I rolled over. Everyone was still asleep. 

I was sure it wasn't a dream, however. It had seemed so real. My fear still had to be there. The man in the mirror. He couldn't be gone, could he?

But I was here. 

Solid. 

Alive. 

In the orphanage, perfectly fine. 

Yet, I was sure a dream couldn't be this... real. There was a clear vision of destroying the man in the mirror that sat in my mind, him screaming in agony and disappearing into the air; and all that was left of him was his echo in the room of Zephyr. 

What had I gone through, if this was all just a dream?

Meeting all those people?

Meeting the oracles? Gaining information that really didn't help me in the end? 

Even if it was a dream, I was still grateful for it. 

I got to see Zephyr again. 

Destroying a Fear... what an accomplishment. It was simple, yes, to just stare into the depths of its eyes, shrunken and disgusting. But it was harder than that. To be able to accept all the things that you're afraid of, all playing like a movie inside the Fear's eyes. It was different.

But, what had I come this far for? Assuming it all wasn't a dream for me, why did I come this far? If it was a dream for everyone else, it meant nothing.

Did I even destroy the man in the mirror in the first place? I don't remember.

Journeys are journeys. Even if they last in a dream. I got to feel the great weight of modeling how to destroy a Fear. I still remembered in Aeluin, where I hated to go first in a presentation. But in this case, I was chosen to be first.

And so I was.

I don't care if it was a dream, I thought. I was back in Aeluin. I may never go back there again. I stared at my hands, the blue-tinted skin the mark of where I came from. I didn't live there anymore, but it was in my blood. My last words to Zephyr were a lie.

Aeluin was still my home.

And so was the orphanage.