A story.
Last night was the Sheffield Changeling game. As per usual, the game spawns many stories.
Here's one I'm going to share with you...
Land of Mirrors and Deals
The woman sits in a dark corner. Terrified. This is the third time she's tried this, but it's the only way she can think of to do this. She has to take control of her dreams... nightmares... and force them to be the stage for a conversation she needs to have with dreams themselves.
Always nightmares. Recurring visions of memories, of that time where she forced her way through a maze within the Hedge to find her daughter, taken to an Arcadian stronghold. Always starting the same. Always with the loss of her daughter.
She's stood in the hallway of her old family home. Looking into her daughters room. The room is pitch black, she can't make any details out within. She steps inside and calls out to her daughter. She's not there. She doesn't answer. Panicked she calls again, but there's no response. She turns to leave the room but the door is gone. The room is still pitch black and shifts, throwing the woman off balance, throwing her face down through a bush.
She wants to wake up, but she forces herself to endure the dream. She needs to take control.
She falls through several bushes, and lands bruised and cut all about her body several minutes later. Standing she gets a glimpse of undergrowth. It is the middle of the night. A rose coloured moon sits in the sky, giving the landscape a reddish hue. All around are bushes covered in thorns. Vines twisting all around, leaving no path in any direction.
A cloud blocks sight of the rose moon. The cloud fills the sky in the immediate area, and there is a faint noise of hail falling nearby, getting closer like a wave, which eventually begins to pelt down on the woman. She crashes through the undergrowth, gaining more scratches and cuts. The hail doesn't feel cold. It hits much harder than hail. She falls under a tree, partially sheltered from the falling hail. Except it's not hail. The small grey objects falling from the sky are a mix of round pieces and flat pieces. The recognition kicks in quickly when one falls directly in her lap. A small molar comes to rest on her, after falling through the tree. The clouds are raining teeth on her.
She wants to wake up. She screams at the dream. For a moment it freezes.
Teeth suspended in midair.
Enough.
This is... my dream... I... I... I want this to stop...
Stop... I... the teeth disappear... the undergrowth go... the tree vanish... the moon fade. I... Surrounded by black void.
Walls... I want... there... no infinite void... Walls. Floor. Ceiling.
Lights, dim...
Chairs... Two... a table... a desk... a... mirror? A mirror. Why?
A mirror. Reflection. Can make a deal with mirrors. Don't want. Look.
Pale. Ghostly. Sad. Scared. Tired. Not human. She said I wasn't human. Not human like her. Not human like the others. Not human. What am I? Who am I? Humans see me as human. Magic. Magic made me like this. Magic of the hedge.
Naked. Completely white. Some grey and some black. Nails are black. Eyes are black. Grey in other places. Lighter hair. Wild. Not dark any more. Don't look like I used to. My body is not human. Alien. Ghost. How? Why?
Don't want... Don't want to be naked.
Long black dress. Pretty. Restrained hair. Presentable. No mirror. No shoes.
Sit. Wait...
Wait?
Why?
I need to talk to dreams.
A person in the other chair. Hazy. Undefined. Male. Tall. Light hair. Human...
Matthew? Matthew. Died. Alone. Not here. Gone.
A person in the other chair. Hazy. Undefined. Female. Short. Light hair. Hu... no... Fetch...
The fake... the fake... not my Rebecca. Desk flies across the room. Smashes into her and the other chair. The wall opens and the desk carries it out. She falls into... void...
Close the wall.
Behind... child... child...
Stare. Rebecca...
Rebecca... No. Rebecca's lost. Need to find Rebecca.
Dream. Child is dream. Talk to child. Cry.
Help me find my child...
.nwod tiS
I don't...
.nwod tiS
Sit down... no other chair. Child. We need a deal.
?em htiW ?laed A
A deal. Help me.
?od I nac tahw ,maerD tsuj ma I
You can... can tell... the Hedge... tell me about.
.maerD ekil hcuM .seY ?egdeH ehT
Help me? Help... I have... Rebecca.
?accebeR
Tears... can't stop them. Can't talk.
?dlihc ruoY
Yes.
?dlihc sihT
Yes.
?reh tsol uoY
She was taken. Can't stop crying.
.laed a ruonoh lliw I
You'll... help?
.seY
Dream goes to the desk. Against a wall. Paper on the desk. The child folds it three times. Dream unfolds the paper seven times.
A doorway. On the floor. A door.
.edam si laeD ehT .edisni petS
Look. Is just paper. Paper on the floor... no sense... this is a dream.
Thank you. Confused. Jumping. Fall through... I'll find you...
The woman wakes up with a start. The dark corner as dark as it was before. This is the third time she's tried this. She's still terrified. She remembers. Dream said yes. She can feel it. She spoke to Dream. It spoke to her. It made the deal.
Exhausted. The woman still needs to sleep. If the nightmares will let her.
Here's one I'm going to share with you...
Land of Mirrors and Deals
The woman sits in a dark corner. Terrified. This is the third time she's tried this, but it's the only way she can think of to do this. She has to take control of her dreams... nightmares... and force them to be the stage for a conversation she needs to have with dreams themselves.
Always nightmares. Recurring visions of memories, of that time where she forced her way through a maze within the Hedge to find her daughter, taken to an Arcadian stronghold. Always starting the same. Always with the loss of her daughter.
She's stood in the hallway of her old family home. Looking into her daughters room. The room is pitch black, she can't make any details out within. She steps inside and calls out to her daughter. She's not there. She doesn't answer. Panicked she calls again, but there's no response. She turns to leave the room but the door is gone. The room is still pitch black and shifts, throwing the woman off balance, throwing her face down through a bush.
She wants to wake up, but she forces herself to endure the dream. She needs to take control.
She falls through several bushes, and lands bruised and cut all about her body several minutes later. Standing she gets a glimpse of undergrowth. It is the middle of the night. A rose coloured moon sits in the sky, giving the landscape a reddish hue. All around are bushes covered in thorns. Vines twisting all around, leaving no path in any direction.
A cloud blocks sight of the rose moon. The cloud fills the sky in the immediate area, and there is a faint noise of hail falling nearby, getting closer like a wave, which eventually begins to pelt down on the woman. She crashes through the undergrowth, gaining more scratches and cuts. The hail doesn't feel cold. It hits much harder than hail. She falls under a tree, partially sheltered from the falling hail. Except it's not hail. The small grey objects falling from the sky are a mix of round pieces and flat pieces. The recognition kicks in quickly when one falls directly in her lap. A small molar comes to rest on her, after falling through the tree. The clouds are raining teeth on her.
She wants to wake up. She screams at the dream. For a moment it freezes.
Teeth suspended in midair.
Enough.
This is... my dream... I... I... I want this to stop...
Stop... I... the teeth disappear... the undergrowth go... the tree vanish... the moon fade. I... Surrounded by black void.
Walls... I want... there... no infinite void... Walls. Floor. Ceiling.
Lights, dim...
Chairs... Two... a table... a desk... a... mirror? A mirror. Why?
A mirror. Reflection. Can make a deal with mirrors. Don't want. Look.
Pale. Ghostly. Sad. Scared. Tired. Not human. She said I wasn't human. Not human like her. Not human like the others. Not human. What am I? Who am I? Humans see me as human. Magic. Magic made me like this. Magic of the hedge.
Naked. Completely white. Some grey and some black. Nails are black. Eyes are black. Grey in other places. Lighter hair. Wild. Not dark any more. Don't look like I used to. My body is not human. Alien. Ghost. How? Why?
Don't want... Don't want to be naked.
Long black dress. Pretty. Restrained hair. Presentable. No mirror. No shoes.
Sit. Wait...
Wait?
Why?
I need to talk to dreams.
A person in the other chair. Hazy. Undefined. Male. Tall. Light hair. Human...
Matthew? Matthew. Died. Alone. Not here. Gone.
A person in the other chair. Hazy. Undefined. Female. Short. Light hair. Hu... no... Fetch...
The fake... the fake... not my Rebecca. Desk flies across the room. Smashes into her and the other chair. The wall opens and the desk carries it out. She falls into... void...
Close the wall.
Behind... child... child...
Stare. Rebecca...
Rebecca... No. Rebecca's lost. Need to find Rebecca.
Dream. Child is dream. Talk to child. Cry.
Help me find my child...
.nwod tiS
I don't...
.nwod tiS
Sit down... no other chair. Child. We need a deal.
?em htiW ?laed A
A deal. Help me.
?od I nac tahw ,maerD tsuj ma I
You can... can tell... the Hedge... tell me about.
.maerD ekil hcuM .seY ?egdeH ehT
Help me? Help... I have... Rebecca.
?accebeR
Tears... can't stop them. Can't talk.
?dlihc ruoY
Yes.
?dlihc sihT
Yes.
?reh tsol uoY
She was taken. Can't stop crying.
.laed a ruonoh lliw I
You'll... help?
.seY
Dream goes to the desk. Against a wall. Paper on the desk. The child folds it three times. Dream unfolds the paper seven times.
A doorway. On the floor. A door.
.edam si laeD ehT .edisni petS
Look. Is just paper. Paper on the floor... no sense... this is a dream.
Thank you. Confused. Jumping. Fall through... I'll find you...
The woman wakes up with a start. The dark corner as dark as it was before. This is the third time she's tried this. She's still terrified. She remembers. Dream said yes. She can feel it. She spoke to Dream. It spoke to her. It made the deal.
Exhausted. The woman still needs to sleep. If the nightmares will let her.