Underwater Calls

Laura felt herself drifting into a world she didn’t know. Her mind was floating somewhere between the words of the novel she held, and somewhere where the water was so blue it was transparent. She was on a sleek, simple white boat, a white Grecian dress draped on her body, her hair loose and the curls tumbling down her shoulders and dancing with the wind around her. Her eyes looked up to the sky, where there wasn’t a cloud in sight.
Her eyes roamed the boat, and she saw the white wool that laid in a pile, shining like diamonds. She bent down and let her fingers wove into the soft cotton. Picking it up, she realised that it was longer than she had anticipated, yet seemed shorter than she thought.
“It’s so fascinating, isn’t it, watching the beginning of something, come from such simplicity?” a voice said, and she turned around, looking behind her. When she saw no one was there, she looked back in front of her.
A woman, graced in a dress that swung around her feet, seemed to be walking – or floating – on top of the water. But Laura wasn’t scared. No, she wasn’t at all; she was mildly moved.
“Life begins from this?” she asked, looking down at the soft material in her hand, so delicate and easy to break apart.
“No – life is decided from me. I decide if I want to spin a new thread to make a new life, a new creation. Me, Clotho, has to make that joyful decision for every being that graces or dooms the Earth.”
“And you, my dear child, you have been created for a reason so deep you haven’t discovered it yet. Your life was spun my hands, decided long before your mother discovered the tiny joy within her, you. And the purpose of your life is why your life hasn’t been measured yet. But I shall say no more, and leave you with this.”
Laura’s head began to consume the words even after the beautiful woman had left her, disappearing into the wind. She sat down on the bench on the boat, and let her hand gently sway into the water.
“Don't forget that, to find the purpose, you have to accept the purpose of others too.”
She started with a jolt, and blinked, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the Common room. Being underground, it was completely dark, the only light being the moon that poured through the slanted roof windows. She rubbed a hand over her face, trying to rationalise with her beating heart and her terrified thoughts.
It was just a dream. Not even a nightmare. Just some stupid dream, probably rooting from that novel she was reading. Getting up, she pulled her robe closer around her, her skin cold. Deciding that there was no point of going back up to her dorm room to get to sleep, she headed over to the fireplace, to light a fire to keep her warm.
And nearly screamed when a hand closed over her wrist.