The Dream Journal.

The surrounding forest was unreal, like the saturation on everything was turned up, the trees too green and glossy, the flowers exotic like nothing i'd ever seen. There was something strange about the people as well, other than the pointed ears and tinted skin of all colours. It was like everyone was walking around with 'rose tinted glasses' so to speak. No arguments, no sadness, no unease, except that was exactly what made me uneasy. Everything was just too peaceful.

The apparent 'higher ups' all gathered in the building i was currently in, with walls of glass and floors of marble, white and gold spires and spiraling staircases. The floor in this room seemed off center, the floor sloped down to the right, and i was having to make noticeable effort not to fall over. On the lower end of the sloped floor, there was some sort of staged area, curving up from the ground to form a small marble bridge, with a crystal encrusted wall at the front. A head of silvery blonde hair turned to smile impishly at the elf-like creatures floating gracefully through the room. She had an air of authority about her, and the way all the subjects swayed their path respectfully around her suggested that she was someone of importance. Though this was so, she lounged lazily on the bridge wall like she had no worries in the world.

I seemed to know her, but not as a friend, perhaps someone of mutual respect. Everyone was so elegant here in white, flowing dresses and the men in tunics. I had no memories to suggest that i had lived any other way, just the nagging feeling that it was too clean, too simple, weirdly harmonious. I took a walk through the halls of the place, and leaning against a pillar at the end of the hall was a man just sitting, with his eyes closed. He wasn't graceful like the others, or other-worldly beautiful. He was attractive, in a slightly disheveled way…the beginnings of dark brown stubble grazed his face.

A nagging feeling again, told me that i knew him, even though he seemingly didn't belong here. He wore tight jeans, and a shirt depicting all manor of gore. It was amazing that he hadn't been found and 'gotten rid of' yet. Every so often a stranger would walk through the walls, tainting the angelic atmosphere with 'rags' and dirt. These people were taken care of, though no one knew what happened to them. I walked over to the man, i realised with a start that his eyes were open now, they were large and dark, so dark that you'd almost believe that he wasn't completely human either. Without a word, he took my hand to help him up and we wondered into the woods together.

Out on the other side of the foliage, there was a gate of water, walking through it would land you in the red desolate cliffs of the uncharted territory. No one back at the marble buildings understood why anyone would want to go through the gate, but i knew i liked to explore there sometimes for the quiet. Outside the gate, a lot of mangled, sick people lingered, after eating the flowers of the cliffs, it was like a disease. Beautiful, little white flowers, brightening up the rock edge, addictive, but if you consumed one, it would eat you up from the outside in.

The man looked around at the sickness, he didn't seem frightened, or even disgusted, just examined them with a cool curiosity. He let me lead him through the gate of water onto the other side. Maybe if i could keep him here for a while, it'd save him disappearing. We explored the deserted land for some time, i explained briefly, not to eat the flowers, he listened to me all the while in a calm silence.

Weeks went by, going to and from the red cliffs together. Only sneaking back through the marble halls for water and food. He was getting more comfortable with the routine and even opened up a bit about how he came to be there. He didn't have many memories to go on, but he knew that there was a group of them before, though he didn't know how he came to be alone. I noticed the skin on his hand flaking slightly like dry parchment. He saw me glance, but mentioned nothing of it.

After laying half the night flat on the floor, watching the strange coloured clouds drift on by. He stood up and i saw he left something laying on the ground, something fleshy and odd. I realised to my horror that it was a finger. I looked at him wide eyed and scared, to see him already staring back at me with a sad certainty.

"You ate the flowers."

………………………………………………………….

I spent a lot of time after that, going to and from the marble halls, by myself. Pilfering herbs and tonics and potions. Anything that might prolong the process. I walked back through the gate with another batch of various items bundled into the torso of my dress. I sat with him for a while, as had become the new routine, mixing concoctions and making him drink them, and eat spoonfuls of ground leaves. The skin on his face was flaking now, peeling off the way dead petals fell off of flowers.

It was that day that we lay together for the first time, and not just side by side. It was a cold night and i curled up under his arm as he just lay on his back looking at the sky. I watched his face for a while, wondering on his thoughts noticing hairline cracks appear across his temple, gliding down towards his jaw, i let out a squeak as i saw his ear slowly sliding away from his head. He turned around to me and sat up just as his ear fell towards the ground and just looked at it blankly for a second before making light of it and commenting about losing his head. I just stared at him, mouth slightly agape, horrified. His expression darkened before taking me into his arms, "it's okay".

I went on visiting everyday, like normal, watching him slowly crumbling in on himself. He joked about it often, which was the closest thing to an emotion that he'd shown since i met him, but i knew this was him at his weakest. People show fear in funny ways. I watched him piecing part of his left ear back onto his head "see? i'm fine…how does it look?". He grinned at me, but i couldn't joke, it was breaking me along with him, having to see this young man fall apart.

Around a week later, i went back to the gate, i'd missed the previous day, due to being dragged into doing errands around the marble halls. I ran up to the entrance, a croaky voice stopped me in my tracks. One of the mangled, rotting men of the gate addicts was speaking to me. He struggled, coughing out, not-quite words. He held a hand up, and i peered at it dubiously, then he slowly opened it to reveal an eye, an eye so dark… it nearly didn't look human…nearly.

I sat on the floor, with the addicts rotting and writhing around me. The sick people that could still make noise, wept guttural, raw sound with me. I lay in the dirt and i cried…for hours i cried, and then i stopped.