Nola:
My eyes are stuck shut. I must be waking from a deep sleep and I am definitely going to need a warm wash cloth to get going today. I'm super weak and my arms definitely don't want to move. It's going to be one of those days, huh? A thud and swish of clothing startle me. Am I losing my mind or is someone in my room? I attempt to open my eyes and wiggle free from my covers.
"Hush child, I know what to do, but you must leave her to me." My right eye cracks open just enough to see a beautiful woman was speaking to a young man, but my eyes must be deceiving me, because I swear their skin is tinted green. I must still be asleep.
"Mother, I need to know what is happening, our people will be asking! Who is she? Her skin is so beautiful, it almost looks like yours…" the young man asked.
IVORY. The color of this mysterious girl.
"Let your mother handle it and we will talk soon. For now, let the women be tended by Awanasa" A man's voice spoke from somewhere out of reach and the young man walked off to join him.
As the two males disappeared, my vision started clearing and the woman realized I had opened my eyes. "You must be very confused child. Allow me to clear your eyes, and possibly your mind, for you." She reached down with a cleansing rag to wipe my face. A brief breeze tossed my slick, wet hair gently, my skin raised with goosebumps. I was suddenly becoming very aware of one small fact: I was naked.
"Where are my clothes!?" I exclaimed. "Am I wearing a leaf!? I really must be dreaming!"
The woman chuckled for a moment before speaking, "Don't mind that child, my attendant will bring you proper clothing shortly. I need to speak with you first. This is most definitely not a dream. I am sorry."
"Those could be ominous words, should I be scared? Why are you saying sorry? Where am I? I don't know how I came to be here or why the building we are in looks like a tree? Or why I'm NAKED?" The words came out so quickly I ran out of breath. As I gasped for air, the woman gently touched my shoulder.
"What is your name?"
"Nola. What is yours?"
"Here I am known as Queen, or Your Majesty, but you may call me Lascella. Quickly though, before anyone comes in, what year are you from?"
I stared blankly at her, knowing her name sounded familiar, but this peculiar question left me baffled. What year am I from? Why would she ask me this? I wake up naked, covered in a large leaf, in a tree, and the last thing I remember was being at the botanical gardens with my classmates… wait…
"I was at the botanical gardens, the ones Lascella disappeared from, right? That was maybe three or four years or so ago, tops. Are you her mom? And I mean the year? Have you not left this bark cabin in ages or something? Oh… this must be an exhibit. Is it a decorated medical ward perhaps? I must have fainted after I knocked that plant over. Did it let off some poisonous fume and knock me out, or I had an allergic reaction, or... CRUD, I am in so much trouble. I really need to apologize to Dr. Green."
She cut me off suddenly and in a hushed tone said, "I am not her mother, I AM Lascella. You are in the future and I have grown to an old age. Listen closely, I will protect you. Only my husband knows about the lilies, only he knows where I came from, the origin of my existence. You are from near my timeline then?"
I shivered in unbelief. "There's no way, I mean I know you just disappeared only a couple years ago and you look like you're in your forties, fifties at the absolute oldest and it would be a super young fifty if that. There is no way in any world you were an 18 year old college freshman three years ago. And what about lilies is such a huge secret? I mean, I saw the exhibits and there is nothing that should be that top secret. I knocked a plant over but that's the last thing I remember."
She smiled softy, almost as if she pitied me, "All will make sense in time, but for now, rest." She opened her hand and blew a mist of fragrance in to my face like she was blowing a kiss. I drifted off in to a deep slumber.
Lascella:
"Awanassa, you may allow the attendants in to dress her in a moment. I want her to be as comfortable as possible when she wakes. She has no friends or family left alive and I remember the harsh awakening when I myself came to realize this. Oh, my dear Nola how I pity you. I remember what happened to me like it was yesterday. Things are different now, but you need to know the truth." Awanassa reaches out to me to make the connection between us.
Nola:
I really wish I would stop waking up like this, in the dark, eyes barely opening. This is getting old. Yet again I hear a voice above me, calling out.
"Look here! It's a girl, a human girl! There's no way! There's only a few human males left, there's no way one slipped by them!" A male said.
"It's been more than 20 years since a human female has been seen." A second voice said.
Ok I get it, oooh I'm some new thing never before seen and everyone in every dimension has to have me wake up in their reality before I can wake up from this dream inside a dream huh? I was trying to speak this out loud but nothing would come out. I felt like I was two seconds from a severe panic attack when I feel a hand brushing my forehead.
The first voice again began speaking, this time in awe, "I've never seen someone so beautiful in all of my life. May we keep her?"
"I think we should hurry and bring her home to the castle. Awanassa will guide us. I don't know what the humans will do if they realize she is here. Quickly now, let us hurry and get her to safety." The second male said in response
"I have two feet to walk with ya know." I found myself speaking, but it wasn't my voice that spoke. I tried to wipe my eyes clean and stand, but my body felt weak and useless, "ok, perhaps I may need a LITTLE help. It seems my legs are fast asleep." I chuckled a little to myself.
The second male picked me up, "I hope this is ok, your skin seems very thin and I don't want to hurt a frail human girl." There it is again, why is everyone acting like a human is such weird thing? And sheesh this guy is hard as a rock, has he never heard of lotion? I'm pretty sure his skin care routine include rubbing tree bark across himself. I imagined myself rolling my eyes.
I felt nauseous as time seemed to fly by me. Thirty minutes seem to pass in less than a second's time. My eyes were opening slowly as I wiped a wet rag across my face. The voice belonging to the man who picked me up was deep and strong, but the body that belonged to him was nothing like I could have imagined. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I cried out with a blood curdling scream. Time flew by again.
Now I am sitting at what appears to be a wooden table drinking juice from a cup. The man across from me leans back in his chair, basking in the sun. My body is speaking again without my permission, "So how does a simple human girl studying plants end up sitting across from a handsome, green man I could only imagine came from a storybook? I have to admit I was terrified when I woke up, but knowing you as I do now, I can't imagine waking up to anyone else. Ash, will I ever see my family again?" I feel in my heart this is someone I love and trust. I am processing why I am falling in love with a talking plant, and also melancholic because I miss my home and family. Then, he leans in for a kiss. As our lips are about to brush in this romantic setting, I am lurching forward again.
I'm now on top of a tree higher than a sky scraper. The wind blows through my hair as I look at the world below in awe and wonder. The moon is full above us and the stars are brighter than I thought possible. My knees are shaking internally as my green plant friend reaches out, caressing my cheek as he did the first time we met. He leans in, looking me in the eyes, our foreheads touching. I look down blushing from his expression. My heart palpitates as he pulls me down to the bed of leaves below our feet. We stare at the night sky, laying next to each other, holding hands.
Ash leans up on his elbow, staring at me. He brushes a stray hair out of my face, "I love you."
My mouth starts forming the words before I can process what he said, "I love you, too."
A warmth flows from deep within me, heating me from the inside out. Ash leans further over me, pulling me under him and in to his arms. He leans in to kiss me as a leafy covering hides us from the night sky. I never want this moment to end.
I am no longer nauseous as time flies by me yet again. Still heated from my last encounter, blushing softly, my eyes are filled with flames. This time I am surrounded by fire, screaming voices, and I am being thrown in a large container by these creepy humans. Ash is nowhere to be found. I throw myself violently against the ones tossing me as my cage is closed and a clean breeze blows against me. Fresh oxygen fills my smokey lungs as I pass out.
IVORY. The color of my cage.