A Winter Dream
Chapter 8

Lila opened her eyes to replace herself lying in a field of pink that felt like grass. She felt disoriented and like something had gone wrong. Her body felt sore all over and her head ached terribly.

Groaning, she got to her feet and tried to look around, but it was so bright her eyes needed time to adjust. After several minutes of blinking and rubbing her eyes periodically, everything slowly came into focus.

Beneath her feetwasgrass and it was definitely a pastel pink color. She crouched down and ran her hands over the tops of the blades and marveled at its similarity to the grass in her own dimension. She knew she wasn’t in her own world anymore and she didn’t think she was in her dad’s either. Something in her gut told her that, but where was she? Why was she here?

Glancing up at the horizon she found herself a field away from scarlet red trees with white trunks. The shades of red varied from tree to tree, but they were all red.

Turning in a circle she realized she was in a clearing inside of a forest. Trees, trees, as far as her eyes could see.

What should she do now? Should she call out and wait for someone to replace her? Should she pick a direction and walk? It wasn’t like in her dad’s realm where she got a gut feeling about the correct way to go…no…she had no urges to go anywhere. Instead, she was encompassed by a feeling of wrongness.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling cry sounded from one side of the forest and a flock of some kind of bird burst forth from the tops of the trees in the direction of the noise. They were a bit far away, but Lila could tell that they were large birds in hues of mahogany and white. The birds flew in the direction opposite of where Lila was standing.

Soon the ground beneath her boomed and bounced like she was standing on an amplifier turned up to ten. Whatever the beast was, it was headed her way, and it was big. Panic overtook her and she ran in the opposite direction, hoping to gain cover in the trees.

The woods were farther away than she initially thought, and she pushed herself hard, running faster than she’d ever run before. The adrenaline heightened her eyes and sensitivity to the sounds around her.

Before long, she pushed through between two large trees and kept running, jumping over brush, and dodging branches. She ran until her lungs felt near bursting and she stopped to bend over and rest her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

The ground still shook with the beast’s steps, and she looked around, her eyes finally settling on a large red tree with a few low hanging branches. She pulled herself up, branch after branch, until she was so high she thought nothing from the ground would be able to see her.

As the booming footsteps neared, she scrambled to a thicker branch near the trunk where she could easily balance while squeezing herself up into fetal position. She wasn’t sure how well she could camouflage her brown hair, charcoal-colored sweatpants, and white T-shirt. Fortunately, she was wearing her sneakers and so her feet hadn’t suffered…much…with the run through the underbrush. Lila was immensely thankful she hadn’t been wearing shorts.

The foot thuds grew nearer and slower and she heard a new sound. The snorting and sniffing of heavy breathing. The creature could smell her! It was after her, specifically.

Lila pulverized the fear and panic down into her belly and sat perfectly still. She crushed her folded legs to her chest in an attempt to quell the trembling.

The creature was directly beneath her now and sniffing at the very tree she was perched upon. A peculiar sound resonated up the hardwood and it took her a few seconds to realize the creature was rubbing itself against the trunk.

There was a thud on the forest floor and Lila assumed the creature had lain down beneath her. She was trapped.

Relaxing her arms and lifting her head she searched the nearby area. Maybe there were other trees nearby that she could climb onto until she was far enough from the beast to lower herself down and run away. Unfortunately, all of the branches in her sight were too thin to hold her weight. For now, she waited.

What felt like hours passed for Lila. She’d stretched out her legs along the branch and shifted periodically as much as she could, but the discomfort was increasing rapidly. All she heard beneath her was the rhythmic sound of the beast’s regular breathing.

Unfortunately, her attempt at hiding was abruptly ended by the loud growl of her stomach. The creature below rustled, as if it were standing up, and whimpered like a sad puppy. The sound did not at all match Lila’s imagination in regard to the creature and she couldn’t help herself. She peered over the edge of the thick limb she was seated upon and snuck a glance at the animal below.

It wasn’t as sneaky as she thought it would be, since the amazing being was already staring straight up at her. Lila marveled at what she saw. This creature looked nothing like what she’d thought. She’d imagined a giant alligator-lizard-dinosaur beast with scaly skin and a thick tail of destruction.Instead, it was a beautiful lion-like creature much like Ransom in that its fur was fluffy and snow white. However, there was one major difference. Upon the lion’s back was a large, tucked-in, magnificent set of wings. And the wings weren’t white, no, the feathers were vibrant blues and greens with patterns like a peacock’s tail.

Her brain could not register how an awe-inspiring creature such as this could have made those loud crashing footsteps as it moved across the ground giving chase to her scent. Lila’s brain was all muddled and churning as she and the animal stared at one another, each uncertain how to proceed.