Chapter 3: The Girl on the Swing

The sky in front of me is dark, a black cloudy sky without a sun. The smell of cool grass and mildew is heavy in the air, the cold sensation on my back making it evident to me that I'm outside somewhere. There is a blowing wind that passes by, rustling the grass that surrounds me. I sit up, looking around a world that isn't my own.

I'm in a plain of black grass, each blade varying in shade, some dark grey while others reaching levels of vantablack almost. It seems as if it goes on for forever. It's dark, but somehow, I can make out just about everything in my surroundings. There isn't a single tree or building for miles to come, everywhere I look portraying the same scene of blackness. The entire place looks like a rip off of somebody's aesthetically pleasing wet dream.

I'm barefoot and naked, my white skin contrasting against the dark grass. I heard a voice when I came here, but there's nobody around at all. Weird, but then again, me being here by itself is already weird enough. I pinch myself on the arm, the fact that I don't feel any pain confirming to me that I'm still in a dream. Even so, this dream feels different from the other ones I've had.

"Hello there!"

I look up at the direction the voice comes from, and all that's above me is a wooden panel that's slowly getting lower and lower. There's a pair of pale, slender legs dangling from the panel, the complexion of them the same as mine, if not more pale. I back up to get a better view of the person, the panel reaching just above ground level.

Seated on it cross legged is a slender woman. Her skin is smooth like white porcelain, and her hair is matching in color, flowing down her ample breasts like fine silk. Her naked, slender body is luminous in the middle of this dark, gloomy plain. Age wise, she looks like she's in her late 20's, but something in my gut tells me she's older than that, and not by just a couple of years either. From here, you can also see the two ropes holding up the panel, the ropes coming down from what appears to be the heavens with how high they go up.

"You're a colored blood?" she asks, visibly confused as if I wasn't what she was expecting. She jumps up from her seated position to stand on the panel, the panel and ropes stuck in place. She leans her body forward by holding on to the ropes to get a better look at me and gazes me down with a curious eye.

"Hmmm... You're a bit skinny for a colored blood, but you definitely are one. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be here. Still, there's something odd about you-"

Her face slowly lights up as she's discovered something I'm not aware of. Without warning, she pulls me towards her and begins to violently sniff my hair. She works her way down to my neck and shoulders, holding me with a strength that I have no chance resisting. She turns me around, smelling my back, her nose getting lower and lower until it finally starts reaching down towards my-

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" I blurt out, trying to pry her off me. Dream or not, I'm not exactly fond of the idea of someone sniffing my ass like a dog.

I move forward, yanking her off the panel. Instinctively, she wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, clinging on tightly to my body. She squirms her body around trying to get a better grip on me, leaving my back nothing to the imagination.

"Awwww, why so coy~? I just want to know better is all," she whispers into my ear with a seductive tone.

Before I can react, she propels herself up on my shoulders in a handstand, twisting her body in the air and clinging herself to my front.

"I have to make sure of something first though..." She presses her ear against my chest, humming to herself a playful tune with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. "Badump, badump. Badump, badump... I hear heartbeats! Seems like my little messenger has done quite well on her task."

For somebody who has such a mature and refined look to her, she's very eccentric. Everything here feels so real too. I can feel every touch that she gave me and every gentle breeze that passes by my skin. If I didn't know this wasn't a dream, I would've thought that I've been sent to another world or something. Wouldn't that be convenient?

"Can you get off me now? Not tryna be mean or anything, but you're kinda heavy."

I'm not lying about this, but that's not the sole reason why I want her off. I don't think there'd be a man on Earth who would feel comfortable in this situation, and I don't want to take this dream into "that" direction. That's another mess I definitely don't want to have to clean up.

"Ah, I apologize," she says as she gets off me. "I got a little bit carried away there. I take it you want something to wear, right? You're accustomed to the ways of man, so I'm sure my sudden naked appearance caused you shock. What is the term they use for the displaying of ones naked body to others?"

"Exhibitionism?"

"Yes! Exhibitionism!... Though, I don't believe that word is applicable to my situation since I'm mostly alone. I'd say it's more of a preference of mine."

She bends down and plucks a singular blade of grade from the ground.

"As for why you are naked, that is my fault to blame. It seems as though I am incapable of transferring objects of the human world to Doremi. It's truly a shame. I would've loved to bring some of those fabled 'snacks' into our world."

She holds the tip of the blade of grass between her right index finger and her right thumb, pulling on the other end so it runs through her fingers. Like a magician pulling a bouquet of flowers out of thin air, she flicks her wrist and suddenly, the piece of grass has turned into a pair of black pants made of some form of cheap cloth.

"Is there some sort of theme you're going for here or...?" I ask as she hands me the pants. I turn around facing away from her, putting on the rough feeling pants. They make the underpart of my body itch, but it's better than nothing.

"No, my eyes are just sensitive to bright objects. I'm sure you deal with the same problem, right?"

Walking past me, she sits back down on the swing and tapping the rope to her right, the swing raises slight so that her feet are just above the ground.

"Not really, no."

Most of Cielos is dark and gloomy, so I'd say it's almost the same deal as being here. Monse Circle on the other hand... Now that was a pain in the ass that I had to deal with. I can still remember the constant eye strain I had everyday going to school.

"Really? Well, no matter. I guess I should explain why I brought you here."

"That'd be nice to know, yeah."

Reality is, all that she's about to say is some plot I came up with subconsciously, but I'll indulge for a bit. This dream seems interesting.

"You keep mentioning the word 'dream.' Is that really what they seemed like to you?" She crosses her legs, leaning forward to tell me she's all ears.

"Huh? When did I say anything about dreams?"

I haven't been thinking out loud this entire time, have I? No, there's no way I'd be airheaded enough to not realize I've been talking. Don't tell me...

Can this bitch read my thoughts?

"How rude! That's no way to address a lady!"

"Yup... She can."

"It's not like I can help it. Trust me, I'd be better off not knowing majority of the information that's relayed to me," she says grimacing. "Disgusting, disgusting thoughts...

"But back to what I was saying. I'm only going to tell you this once and one time only. Whether you believe the words that come out of my mouth is up to you, but I shall warn you in advance- to pass off what I'm about to say as some measly 'dream' wouldn't be the wisest choice to make."

The sudden serious tone in her voice catches me off guard a bit. There's an odd feeling in my gut as well, but that's really more because of the major fourth wall break she just did.

"Alright, so in the off chance that this really isn't a dream and everything that you're going to say somehow impacts my life, what happens if I don't take you seriously?"

She pauses for a moment to think, but that pause only lasts about a second.

"Death."

"Is that it? Really? If that's all, then there really isn't any incentive to make me wanna listen to you. Been there, done that, y'know?"

"Yes, I am aware that you have died once. You have me to thank for your very life, actually. And the one who's been taking care of you ever since, whoever she is."

"Sayuri?"

"Is that what she goes by? I told her to choose her own name once she made it to the human realm, so I never got to know what it is that she calls herself. Interesting... Oh well, that's not of importance right now. We don't have much time, and I have to explain a myriad of things to you."

She whispers to herself something in an unknown language, a strong breeze passing by as a result. I don't know what she's saying, but it feels as if I've heard it somewhere before. It sounds oddly familiar. The blowing wind starts to pick up in speed, my hair starting to fly all over the place. Her hair and the ropes on the swing are still stuck in place however, not a single strand of her hair moving. It gets to a point where I can barely keep myself on the ground, only one lapse in focus being needed for me to fly off into the sky. Then, in one brief moment quicker than the blink of the eye, the wind stops and a white cloud in floating in front of me.

"I'll have to be brief, so pay attention." Waving her hands in front of the cloud, an image appears on the cloud of the man in the alleyway, only this time he's standing up with the knife sticking out of chest. "Before I go on, may I ask that you pinch yourself?"

"You act like if I haven't been doing that since the beg-"

Huh...? It... it hurts.

"I have your attention now?"

I'm still stuck in disbelief, pinching myself in places other than my arm. It hurts everywhere...

"Hellooooo? I know it's a shocking revelation for you and all, but I don't have your time. I really need to-"

A loud church bell cuts her off, the noise reverberating throughout the skies. With each clang, it almost shakes the clouds, making the floor underneath me shake a bit as well. The ropes and the girl on the swing remain as motionless as ever, being unaffected by the bell's pounding ringing.

"Oh! My! Goooood! Why, why, why, why, why! Why now! Arrrrrgh!"

The girl scratches her head in anger, grunting and writhing her body as the bell gets loud.

"My connection to Sayuri is getting weaker so..."

She's yelling, but only her first words were audible. My vision is getting darker, and my legs are starting to feel weak. I fall down to my knees, and my legs seem to get sucked in from the ground under me. I'm sinking deeper, my entire body wrapped by cold, cold grass that peacefully suffocates me until I wake up.

I jump up from the couch, clutching my chest as I gasp for air. Recollecting my thoughts, I pinch myself, feeling the same pain that I felt inside there. Sayuri's already awake, staring at me with a frightening glare from the entrance of the hallway.

I never wanted to admit it. I already knew that doing so would lead me down a steep rabbit hole that I wasn't sure if I could come out of the same. Today confirms it. I can't deny it anymore, even if I'd like to live my life without facing this unknown and foreign reality.

Those dreams weren't dreams.

As to what that means in the long run, how the fuck should I know?

I'll have to find out everything eventually, but for now, I'm going back to sleep. Perhaps it'll all go back to normal in the morning... I hope.