Asleep

As he climbed the steps up to the temple, he realized that he didn’t know what to ask for. After all, he had a pretty good life. He liked his school, his friends, his family… ok, so maybe he didn’t like his family, but he tolerated them, which was as much as could be expected when you were eighteen.

And yet whenever he paused in his day, particularly when he was trying to fall asleep, he felt a growing sense of panic. But why? Absolutely nothing was wrong. He didn’t want to tell anyone, because what could he say? “I’m terrified of something, but I have no idea what or why I’m afraid of it?” Yeah. That would go over well.

His feet carried him to the foot of the temple, but he didn’t have any clearer an idea of what to ask for than he had on the way up. He stood there for a good ten minutes, desperately trying to come up with something — anything — he could point to and ask for help with. But there was nothing.

Finally admitting defeat, he turned around — only to find a girl standing a few feet away, regarding him with open curiosity.

“Come with me,” she said simply.

He took a step away from her, looking around warily. He hadn’t heard her coming up the steps. The temple was far enough away from the rest of the town that no one would hear him scream, so if she was hiding a weapon or was here with other people, he was as good as dead.

All these thoughts flashed through his mind in the space of a second, but on closer inspection, it was clear that the girl meant no harm. Or at least she was very good at pretending that she meant no harm. But still, what kind of way was that to greet someone?

She tilted her head, waiting for his answer.

He cleared his throat. “Where?”

She shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters!”

She shrugged again and turned away from him, as if he’d failed some test. And as she started to walk away, he got the feeling that it’d been important. That he was supposed to have said yes, even if it was crazy.

“Wait!” he called out, and the girl looked back over her shoulder. “Why?”

“Because you feel like you’re sleeping, don’t you?” she said, turning back to face him. “You feel like you’re in a dream that’s about to turn into a nightmare. You know it’s going to turn into one, but you can’t wake up.”

He was nodding before he realized what he was doing.

“So I thought I’d help you wake up. Take you somewhere new. Girls aren’t the only ones who can get spirited away, you know.”

“I know, but… who are you? Why would you help me?”

“I’m this temple’s deity. It’s my job to help you, believe it or not. So are you coming, or are you just going to keep asking questions?”

He hesitated, a thousand more questions on his tongue. Where were they actually going? For how long? When would he get back? What would his family and friends think if he disappeared?

She — was she really a god? — made as if to leave again.

“I’m coming.”