1.6 The End of the Dream

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Santa’s voice hit my brain like a meteor, shattering it into a billion little pieces that flew out and away as my consciousness was kicked into a wholly different plane of being. I’m not joking, I could feel it spread out, taking in… experiences.

Most of the pieces were too small, moving too quickly to pick up anything I could process, but a few I could actually focus on.

I saw an ugly, sickly rat and an old, ragged sack doll with red buttons for its eyes, sitting on a broken altar in a dark cave, watching shadows dance on the floor and the walls, moving to a tune I could not hear.

Another shard saw a scarlet septagram, with six naked women standing at six of its seven points, wearing elaborate masks made of bone, silk and feathers. They were facing outward, searching for something… someone… as a rift formed over the center of the septagram, and six gem-like, green eyes looked possessively at the six women, with a seventh one looking through the gap of the formation, searching for another.

A greater shard flew by a twisted, blackened cross that looked the very opposite of holy. A corpse was nailed to it, an old, twisted, blackened thing that oozed a tar-like substance out of countless wounds. Just looking at it made me sick, just seeing the way the fluid moved made me shiver – it even looked cold, as it ran down the sexless corpse and down the pole and seeped into the ground. The cross stood on a dead hill, the ground choked by the liquid, surrounded by a lush forest, separated from the living things by eight pillars of blue light that encircled it.

Many shards flew by many… people. Or at least images of people. I tried to commit them to memory, as they flew by me, but there were too many, all at once.

One shard crashed into a church, with no light inside but for that which fell in through twelve huge stained glass windows, depicting eight people in battle gear, ready to face… something, I couldn’t tell what. The church itself, though dark, looked desolate, unused. As if no one had tended to it in a long, long time.

Near a tree by a river, there was a hole in the ground, where a wise boy made of old, dented iron rested, holding a blazing star in one hand, its brilliant light making it impossible to see his face.

Next, I saw a dark forest, drowned in perpetual night, still and silent save for a cold, sharp wind that sang through the branches and leaves. There was no sky above, only more trees and branches, forming a twisted maze lit by stars that weren’t there, the corridors all leading into each other, a maze with no beginning and no end. A giant wearing the clothes of a dwarf and the weapons of a hunter stalked these forlorn ways, its many eyes always open, looking for new prey.

My focus shifted, my attention drawn away from all that to a singular vision – a beggar, clad in the pelts of vermin, walked across a vast wasteland choked in grey ash. He was alone, lacking even a shadow for company. As I approached him, I could see what he was walking away from, while refusing to look back at it – a colossal castle in the distance, spires that reached above the heavens, all made of white marble and pure gold and more gemstones than I could count, in more colours than I’d known existed. But as I came closer, I saw that the beggar was no beggar – he was a prince, a king almost, and a titan besides, running away from his birthright into a badland of his own making. His every step distorted the space around him, shaking the earth.

Finally, there was a shard that flew across the world… and across time. Cities shrank and vanished, forests shrunk and grew, the whole world shifted in time and space as I rapidly approached a large plain, somewhere, sometime. A man was there, short and stocky, wearing a long leather skirt, dancing amidst a circle of other people in similar clothing. The wide, starry sky stretched above them, providing the only illumination as he jumped and twirled and sang and cried and laughed, telling tale after tale…

Something pulled on me, drawing me back, all the scattered pieces moving back together. There was a sensation like… like… like shards of a crystal slamming back together, their broken edges just… fitting back together, the whole thing stronger and clearer for the short-lived seperation.

I saw the stars blaze bright in the sky, below as above, as I pulled myself back together… and for just a moment, I flew in the limitless expanse of the stars all around me, before I fell… fading…

* * *

I came to, lying on the soft red blanket Santa had given me earlier. I was on my back, looking up at the overcast sky as snow drifted down from above, melting away before it reached my body. I didn’t need to look around to know that I was alone.

Drowsily, I sat up and cast a quick look around. Whatever had kept the snow out of my circle didn’t work anymore, and there was already a thin sheet of snow everywhere but on me and the blanket. Even though it didn’t cover me, it still kept me warm and dry, and I was just incredibly grateful that Santa had left it behind. I would’ve loved to say goodbye, though. But I guess a schedule like his was tight enough without hanging around an overbearing teenager.

I took a deep breath, and looked around again, looking for… anything. Any change. But there was nothing different, as far as I could tell. I didn’t feel any different, save for the new memories I’d made. Really weird things that nonetheless felt quite a bit more real than they would’ve before.

For just a moment, I asked myself whether it had all really happened, but then I mentally kicked myself. Of course it had. My memory was flawless! Perhaps I could be prevented from perceiving something in the first place, but so far, I’d always retained my memories once I’d made them…

Though, then again, how would I know if I didn’t? I shook my head, banishing that thought. There is a very simple test I can undertake. I just have to try and read the book again!

Resolved on that course of action, I stood up, though I immediately bent down again to pull the blanket up and around my shoulders. No reason to freeze, when I had a perfectly viable magic blanket at hand.

I stopped mid-stride, slapping my forehead with the palm of my right hand. “Duh! The blanket is already proof enough, dummy!” I looked down at my toes – they didn’t feel cold, at all, even though they were touching the snow-covered ground now – and laughed quietly. “It’s really real, huh?” I sniffed. If only you could’ve been here, I thought. We could’ve done this together. I’m sure you would’ve loved being a witch as much as I do, Mama.

A few minutes later, I walked over to where I’d stashed my clothes and took a few more minutes to dress again without taking the blanket off (I’d already gotten dangerously close to some serious freezing earlier, and I wasn’t going to risk it again). It felt good, being dressed again. I even put on my socks and shoes, just in case the magic of the blanket wore off. Even if my gut told me that Santa’s blanket was made to last.

Besides, how’d I explain it to Papa, if he saw me walking through three feet of snow with bare feet?

Speaking of Papa, he should be back around two… I checked my watch – and my eyes popped wide open. It was just ten to two – I had to hurry back home, before Papa realised I was outside on Christmas Eve! I immediately set off at a fast clip – the last thing I wanted was to slip on the steps and break something – and made my way out of the small circle of woods, and then slowly down the steps onto the lawn. The blanket kept me warm, and though it was heavy, it didn’t hinder my movements at all. I wonder if and when I’ll be able to make something like this myself. Having a coat like this would be really nifty.

Suddenly, the blanket began to move, pulling together around me. I jumped and, I admit it, screamed a high-pitched little-girl scream as the blanket tightened around my body and my arms, over my coat.

“What was that!?” I shouted as I put a hand to my heart, trying to calm myself.

That’s how I saw the red sleeve. I followed it, up my arm, to my shoulder, and then I spread my arms, looking down myself. I was wearing a tight, simple but pretty stylish coat, with a red colour that was both festive and subtle at the same time, neither dark nor bright, really, but just… perfect. It reached down just above my knees, and though it looked bulky, I was pretty sure that was just because of the other coat I was wearing underneath.

I reached up with my hands, and found a hood that fit just right over my head, snug enough to stay in place, wide enough to let me hear properly and have room for my hair. Oh wow, this is so awesome. I wondered if it could also be a really oldschool hood and cape.

The coat turned into an ankle-length cape with a hood as soon as I finished that thought.

Alright, one more…

And then it turned into an ankle-length robe with wide sleeves and a deep cowl. Yeah, mysterious wizard-style!

I spent the rest of the way to my room happily humming and trying out different ‘settings’ for my new toy.

Magic and a magic shapeshifting coat. Best. Christmas. Ever.

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