𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫

Welcome to Somnium

 The dock was just as foggy and eerie as the last time I'd been here.

 There were no crazy boats and falling through the sky tonight though. The last thing I could remember was being tucked in, exhausted after a long day with my moms. Nadia had planted a soft kiss on my forehead, and then...

 I'd turned off the lights and closed my eyes-

 And now I was here again.

 Whispers had tickled the base of my neck, and the weird rustling that always seemed to accompany them was soft but persistent. The reassuring crunch of paper in my clenched fist was the only thing keeping me from losing myself completely in them.

 Still, I found it impossible to push them out of my head completely.

 They wanted me to go further. And, even without their nagging, I found that I quite liked that idea. My will to explore was a curse, and yet I couldn't bring myself to stop.

 I didn't waste time taking second thoughts before I stepped straight into the fog.

 It was blinding, suffocating, calming all at once. The only thing letting me know I was still even on the docks was the constant thump of the planks.

 The dock ended at the edge of a large field of dark, waist-high grass, swaying in the night breeze. The fog thinned, revealing a wooden structure. It stood alone in the distance, the same yellow light from the lampposts spilling from its tall windows.

 It rippled with a lulling energy, like everything else in this place, beckoning me forward.

 I took a step. Then another. My thoughts felt like they'd been liquified, sloshing around in my head and disappearing into the fog of my mind before I could decipher them.

 My hair drifted, gently rubbing my neck and cheeks. I'd been thinking about something... But now all I could see was that building.

 Calling me.

 The whispers on the wind became soothing, begging me to take another step. And I did. Again. And again. I frowned a bit...

 That yellow light... It seemed so warm, so solid. And I was so close-

 A hand clamped around my wrist and pulled me backward sharply, drawing a cry from my lips as the air was ripped away from my lungs and the world distorted, making my ears pop at the sudden floating, weightless feeling.

_____________

 The mossy ground rose to meet me so suddenly I fell to my knees, gasping for breath. I was on the ground in a large clearing of oak trees, and standing before me was a boy who looked around my age, with tan, sun-kissed skin and white hair that seemed to flutter on an invisible breeze.

 No, that couldn't be right.

 I rubbed my eyes, cracking them open again and-

 He was still there. The boy from the stone.

 His feet were bare, like mine, and he wore a white T-shirt and loose shorts. His warm brown eyes narrowed slightly, and his lips were pressed into a tight line.

 I didn't say anything, just stared at him with the same wary gaze he had currently fixed on me.

 An eternity seemed to pass, both of us waiting for the other to lose our silent staring contest and say something.

 I won.

 The strange boy pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "You shouldn't be here."

 And you should be a drawing on a rock, I thought.