Sleepwalker

I was in a beautiful castle, and the cool night air was crisp. There was a monstrous courtyard in front of me, and a door immediately behind me. The courtyard was perfectly circular, and looked very similar to the cake that John had made for me. There were lots of flowers, from orchids to sunflowers, and then a single oak tree in the center. There was no bench underneath, like John’s cake had depicted.

I looked up at the sky, seeing that it was a perfectly clear night, and the moon was entirely full. Then I looked down, and noticed what I was wearing. I was no longer wearing the fuscia pink tank top and the bright yellow SpongeBob sweats I had worn to bed, but instead an emerald green dress that reached the ground. The sleeves were long, reaching all the way to a little bit past my wrists. From the waist up, the dress was very form fitting, the sides being held together with string in the middle. It was laced up, like a sneaker would be. The rest (from the waist down) was loose, flowing down to the ground gently. The fabric felt like velvet, but also like something that I couldn’t quite place.

Strangely, my hair was still pulled back in the messy bun that I had put in on my way home from the mall, and I must have fallen asleep with it in, because I hadn’t recalled taking it out. I shook the hair tie loose, and my hair fell down. I lightly brushed my fingers through the tangles, slightly wincing when I came across a rather nasty knot.

I heard a steady pounding behind me, the pounding seeming to echo. I guessed that the corridors of the castle were entirely made of stone. I started panicking, not wanting get caught, even though this WAS a dream. I darted to the center of the courtyard, and hid behind the oak tree.

I heard the door that I had been in front of not even ten seconds ago creak open, and then quietly shut. I peered around the tree, seeing a black silhouette of a person, walking slowly and quietly towards the very tree that I was hidden behind.

As the person got closer, I continued to watch from around the tree. As they got close to the tree, I moved my way around to avoid detection. I had made it halfway around the tree, safe from detection at last.

“Who are you?” a masculine voice behind me asked. It had a British accent.

I spun around, stunned. “I…uh…”

“Outsiders art not permitted to enter these walls,” the man said harshly. He grabbed my wrist and began dragging me back to the door that he had just come through.

“Wait! Please! I didn’t do anything!” I begged. Panic began overwhelming me all over again.

“Marcus!” another male voice barked. He also had a British accent. “What is this nonsense?”

I noticed both men for the first time. The man holding me, Marcus, was rather large. He was very tall and very muscular, so I immediately realized that he was a guard. He was wearing a straight-edged collared shirt, bordered with gold. He had those weird pants-with-tights on, ones that you only saw in medieval plays nowadays. The other man was dressed the same way.

“I have just captured this intruder. Is that not our job, Damon?” Marcus replied sarcastically.

“Has she committed any—” Damon began.

“No! I haven’t! I was invited here!” I interrupted, inventing wildly. Hopefully they would believe me.

“Invited?” Marcus questioned. “By whom, I must ask.”

“The—the prince! He invited me here!” Please let him believe me! I thought desperately.

“Prince Timothy Randalph III invited a peasant girl like you into the castle?” Damon spat. He was really beginning to annoy me.

I nodded and swallowed. “Yes, yes he did.”

“Well. We shall have to see about that now, shall we, Damon?” Marcus suggested slyly. I just wanted to smack him upside the head and knock some real sense into him.

“Yes, I believe we shall, Marcus.” Both men seemed to give me twin looks of cockiness.

I glared at them, and they began dragging me down the castle corridor.

“Shall we not let her go? What if the girl WAS invited into the walls by Prince Timothy?” Marcus asked, looking around with a slightly worried expression upon his face.

“Let her go? Are you joking? I do not believe that this peasant was invited into these walls by the prince,” Damon nearly shouted.

I rolled my eyes. It was getting old being called ‘her’ and ‘peasant’ and ‘the girl.’ “Hey, hey. Look, I have a name.”

The men paused. “Excuse me?” Damon asked, seeming enraged that I would even dare to talk.

I pointed to myself. “I have a name.” I exaggerated each word so they would get the point.

“Peasants are not referred to with their real names, girl. But, in case you WERE invited in, tell us your name.” Wow. Not a request, NOOO, they were far beyond that in their stupid superiority. It was a demand.

I stifled a roll of the eyes. “MiraBella.”

WHOA!! Did I SERIOUSLY just say my real name?!

“MiraBella WHAT?” Damon demanded yet again.

“Voigt.”

“Voigt? What kind of name is that? Voigt?” His British accent twisted my last name so that it sounded pretty funny. I stifled a laugh, afraid of what would happen if I showed any sign of joy.

“Okay, look. I was invited here, and I know it. So if you two don’t mind, I’m going to go my own way now. Okay? Yeah. See ya.” I jerked my hand out of Marcus’s grasp and ran.

My dress kept wrapping itself around my legs, just threatening to trip me. I bundled up the hem in my hands, and that DID help a little bit. I hated dresses… Oh, how I hated dresses…

I looked around at my surroundings as I ran, noticing that the interior of the castle was indeed made entirely out of some sort of stone. The corridors were insanely tall, probably at least 40 feet. I had been right when I had guessed that the corridors were made entirely of stone. The walls and ceiling were a light stone, but I had no idea what it was. There were archways every dozen or so yards, and they were ornately carved. I was so busy looking at the amazing architecture that I nearly ran into a wall.

“Yeesh…” I muttered, quickly backing away from the solid stone wall. I turned to the left and started running again.

The only thing in that hall was a door that was directly across from me. I ran up to it and wrenched it open. I was immediately hit with a burst of cool air, and I shut the heavy door behind me. I had to have been made of solid wood…possibly oak.

I looked in front of me. I was in a smaller courtyard than the main one, and it was probably about a fourth of the size of it. There was only one other door, and it was directly to the right. As in the other courtyard, there was a giant tree in the center—a weeping willow. There was a bench underneath this tree, on the side facing away from the other door.

And there was someone there.

“Oh, come on…” I muttered. Why did there always have to be people around?

I saw the figure move slightly, but it still caused me great alarm. I edged my way closer to the other door, and when I got to it I wrenched it open and ran inside.

It was another corridor. I was actually getting REALLY ticked off with these corridors…there were so many of them!!!

I saw it for a split second, and then everything was black. It lasted for about five seconds until I was wrenched back into the real world.

I sat up, groggy, but awake. “Whoa.”

What had just happened?