A Distant Slumber

She woke up. It was late, and it was very dark in her room. Her eyes slowly focused as they adjusted to the lighting. She could see the brightness of the moonlight beaming through her new lace curtains. She could hear the clock ticking from the hallway. When she purchased the clock and set it up she remembered thinking that she would have trouble getting used to it. After a while she couldn't really hear the clock anymore. She had gotten used to the sound, and almost relied on it to fall asleep. Except for tonight. The clock seemed so very, very loud. "TICK, TOCK, TICK TOCK." The constant sound made her think of the crocodile from Peter Pan. She was completely exhausted. Another restless night began to creep upon her tired soul. "Damn it," she sighed, as her head hit the pillow.  It seemed as though it had been weeks since she had gotten a full nights sleep.

A Weary Dream

She had tried some herbal teas to help her fall back asleep, they just didn't work. Chamomile, lavender, mint, honey, all of them. At this point, she knew that no herbal tea or sleeping pill could help her. Falling asleep wasn't the problem, it was waking up in the middle of the night that was the issue. Her dreams horrified her. Sometimes she would wake up trembling, other times sobbing. They were the same dreams every night, and it seemed there would be no stop to them.
She lay back down on her pillow. Her pillowcase was soft, she felt its coolness on her cheek. Her eyelids felt heavy, she was drifting back to sleep.

"WAKE UP..... I said WAKE UP!" She was startled by the voice yelling at her. She opened her eyes and was completely terrified at what she saw.

A Lily To Save Us

She was no longer in her bed.  She was on a cold floor. Her head ached and pounded like nothing she had ever felt before. Her body felt so very sore. Pain shot up through her legs as she tried to sit up. She looked around and attempted to grasp everything that was happening. She was in a grey, brick room, and she was sitting on a concrete floor. It was filthy, and the stench was nauseating.

"Well, well. It looks as though the sleeping princess has finally come out of her slumber." The voice was deep, and intimidating. He stood in front of her. He was wearing very worn, high black leather boots. He had black pants and of course, a black shirt. His large hands sat on his hips. She noticed some sort of symbol on his left hand, but she did not recognize what it was.

As she looked up into his eyes she saw nothing but darkness. Where she would normally see an iris, there was nothing except big, black circles. She was very frightened. She had no idea where she was, nor how she had gotten there. She wanted desperately to speak. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was so absolutely terrified that she was unable to say a single word.

"Come now, nothing to say? No questions for me? You must be wondering where you are, or what you're doing here?" It was impossible to look at him when he spoke. She was afraid of the emptiness she saw in his eyes, yet somehow, she felt drawn to him.

"I....,"  her voice quivered. She did have a lot of questions. So many questions, but unable to speak. Her eyes began to swell. She was overcome with emotion and she was unable to control herself. She began to sob.

He looked at her. He looked around the room and said loudly, "This is supposed to be the girl.... the girl who saves us? This Lily seems to be nothing but a cry-baby," he said mockingly. Voices around her laughed hysterically. She suddenly realized that she was not alone with this dark stranger. There were others in the room. She looked around and noticed two guardsmen at a large, wooden door. They had silver cavalier suits on, and stood at the entrance of the room. The door was clearly the only way in or out of this concrete cell.

"How do you know my name?" she asked. She did not enjoy being made fun of, and she didn't understand how he knew who she was.