"Y-Yeah don't worry. It's me. Hey, I wanted to ask, how old are you?" I curiously ask the gentle woman.
"Oh me? I'm 15. How about yourself?" She replies. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"15? Me... too. You sound so mature, I wouldn't expect it." I laugh nervously. (｡◝‿◜｡)
There's no way she is my age... she acts as though she's at least five years older than me, if not more...
We wander down the winding corridor more, it feels so endless, like we're walking between two whole worlds or dimensions. Although the lighting is almost pitch-black, you could just about make out which objects are which through their unsettling silhouettes. Coat racks placed along the corridor stare at us with their draping items of clothing hanging from them, items of clothing that probably have not been worn for years. To my delight, our trek finally ended after what felt like an eternity of walking.
The gentle woman and I found ourselves at a tightly shut door with what seemed like a door sign hanging from it, although the lighting is way too poor to make out what the contents of the sign says.
"Hmm..." the woman ponders. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"What's the matter? Do you know anything about our situation?" I ask eagerly, still terrified from the whole dream world. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"It's not that as such... but... the layout of this building is strangely similar to my house in the real world..." she trails off in deep thought. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"It would seem the dream world takes place in locations that exist in the real world." She concludes. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"N-Now that you mention it, one of the dreams I had took place in my school in the real world... and another dream took place in the political building..." I add hesitantly. (｡◝‿◜｡)
The woman places her hand on the door handle, struggling to force it open but eventually succeeds. We enter the room.
"Political building? What were you doing there?" She giggles. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"In the real world, I have a strange interest in things like politics, religion, worldly matters... I'm not sure why I just think it's important for us to know about this stuff. What about you?" I explain. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"Well- must admit... I never really looked into that kind of stuff, always had the mentality that it's unnecessary for children of our age to be concerning ourselves with those matters. Leave it to the adults- is what I'd say." She replies. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
Leave it to the adults... but one day we will be those adults.
"Anyway, which room do you think we're in, if this is your house?" I question her. (｡◝‿◜｡)
She investigates the space we're in, looking for familiar pieces of furniture that could help her determine the location.
"A dresser... wardrobe and... the bed must be over here then..." she lists. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"Is this your room?" (｡◝‿◜｡)
"It would seem so, by that logic, there should be a stuffed animal on the bed and a light switch adjacent to the bed." She concludes. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
I make an advancement to the bed to investigate this stuffed animal. Surprisingly, the object on the bed isn't a stuffed animal but what seems to be a doll, and a doll that is similar to my... wait.
"It's not a stuffed animal, but it's a doll..." I tell her. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"A doll? What's that doing here? It's kind of creepy..." she trails off. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"So... I had a doll before when I had the dream about school, but it's not with me now. If this doll is similar then..." I begin to poke the doll's cheek.
"O-Ouch... w-w-what was that..." she stutters out of fear. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"I'm correct. It's similar to a doll I had before, but I lost it. Basically you're connected to this doll and probably shouldn't lose it like I did." I explain to her. (｡◝‿◜｡)
I haven't seen me-doll since I was in school with Shiro... to get it back, do I have to somehow go to school in the dream world again? But how do I even control this? Can I even control this? The questions begin to clog my mind as the gentle woman is clearly trying to gain my attention.
"Hello? Stranger? What do I call you anyway? Hello?" The lady calls out to me. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
Unbeknownst to her, I'm trying to figure out the mechanics of this strange world as I'm supposedly spaced out. I'm deep in thought and focused... focused on the answers...
"Also, technically speaking, if we're in my house that means the lights switch is here..." ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
She presses the light switch. The room we're in is nicely illuminated by a yellow-white light, the light is dim and blinks sometimes, but it works. the furniture here is broken and covered in dust. Her bed is large, something you'd find in a fairytale book. The mirror on the back wall is huge also; covering almost an entire wall with its gaze. The wardrobe itself could easily be a room altogether, enveloping anyone who dares to step foot in it. Her desk is grand, like something made lovingly in the eighteenth century by a carpenter. Carved with all sorts of flowers and nature, encompassing the world around us. Ironic that nature doesn't even exist in this dream world. The walls are tall, looking down on us, the ceiling holding glistening jewels; screaming with beauty and wealth. This whole building tells you it's owned by somebody who's done well for themselves.
"Anyway so what do I cal-" she begins to ask. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
"It's you." Her smile fades away like the sun on a rainy day. ( ᓀ ‿ ᓂ )
I stop my little brain-storm and turn around to face her. She quite clearly knows me, and by the sound of her voice, it's someone who doesn't like me. Someone who talks to me on a daily basis. None other than Naomi.
"Ah, hello Naomi..." I trail off. (｡◝‿◜｡)
She takes a deep sigh and smiles again. So strange for Naomi, but for some reason, I don't feel any animosity towards her. I would even go as far to say that seeing her here in this crazy dream world feels like I'm seeing an old friend.
Her hair is clean, brushed and tied into two low brunette twin tails. Different to her typical hairstyle, which is usually let down with just a hairband. It looks pretty like this. She's wearing a simple white T-shirt and pink skirt combo with socks and slip-on shoes. Her face is softer than usual, with a more tranquil facial expression, contrasting her usual angry or devious expression. Most importantly, her face isn't dominated by make-up and beauty products, she looks innocent here, like she's not trying to appeal to the oh-so-great beauty standards of our generations like usual.
"You look different, you should wear your hair like this more often!" I sweetly exclaim with a smile. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"I could say the same to you, you're not usually complimenting me like this either." She giggles back at me. ( ᓀ ‸ ᓂ )
It must be the work of the dream world... if horrible people turn into nice people, confident people turn into timid people and nice people turn into awful people, these feelings of peace are surely just a result of the dream world. When we return to the real world I'm sure we'll be at each other's throats again.
"Say, why are we against each other so much in the real world?" I ask her innocently. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"Well... I'm going to be truthful with you but most of all I'm being truthful with myself, but I put a facade on. I pretend to be confident, daring, outgoing... but really I just want peace and I want to do things." She shyly admits. ( ᓀ ‸ ᓂ )
"And I wanted to be your friend in reality-" Naomi adds on. ( ᓀ ‸ ᓂ )
"You know... I may not seem like it, because, well, I also put a tough facade on but if you want to be friends with me just say so!" I confess. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"Alright! I'll keep that in mind!" She replies with excitement. ( ᓀ ‸ ᓂ )
"So anyway, were you always this rich?" I curiously ask. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"Err... yeah... well my dad is probably what you would say is the top 1 per-cent... so... I guess?" She replies trying not to sound arrogant. ( ᓀ ‸ ᓂ )
"Ah okay, it's a nice house and a nice room... even despite all the dirt and dust." I lightly laugh. (｡◝‿◜｡)
"Yeah, well, it's not usually like this of course," she giggles in reply. ( ᓀ ‸ ᓂ )