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Dream World Mirau by Josephina Mari
Day Nine of NaNoWriMo

I woke up in my bed back in the real world, my body was stiff, and I felt like I was asleep for days instead of hours. Thankfully today was Saturday so it meant no school for me. I walked over to the door of my room and turned the handle to open it then I slowly walked downstairs in my pajamas. I said a quick “good morning” to my mom, dad, and younger sister who were sitting down at the kitchen table eating breakfast then I walked over to the counter near by and took out two slices of bread from the bag. I walked over to the toaster and dropped in the two slices into the slots and pushed the lever down. While I waited for my toast I opened the refrigerator and took out a small jar of strawberry jam and a butter knife from the utensil drawer near by. Once the toast popped up I carefully took it out of the toaster and placed it on a plate then I opened the jar of jam and scooped out a little and spread it on the top side of each of the slices. I put the butter knife into the dishwasher and put the lid back on the jam before returning it to the refrigerator then I sat down at the empty spot of the table with my family. “So many things I had here that I took for granted, like a refrigerator and dishwasher that the people of Mirau didn’t have but still got by fine without. The company of my family was something I couldn’t do without so it must be hard for Karou and Claria to be all alone in that house. They have each other, but life must be hard for them.” I thought to myself as I quietly ate my toast while I listened to my family talk amongst themselves trying to decide what to do today.

My father had to go to work in about an hour, my sister had to go to the local library to do some research for her English paper due on Monday, and my mom was planning on doing some cleaning around the house, leaving me with nothing to do but finish my homework and start on my essay over the story I was reading for English class. Romeo and Juliet is such a sad story, but there are so many lessons to be learned from it that it’s a class story required by all students to read before they graduate. “I’m going to go work on my homework. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” I said as I excused myself from the table, then I put my plate into the dishwasher before I walked up stairs to my room again. My backpack was sitting on the floor next to my computer desk as if it was waiting for me to get to work on that essay. “Time to hit the books...wait why does it seem like dejavu right now? Oh well. Better get reading the last forty pages even though I already know what happens...You would have to live under a rock to not know the end after all. Hmm where is that English book?” I thought to myself as I dug through my backpack for my text book of stories that we needed to read. Once I found it I brought it up to my computer desk and placed it to the left of my keyboard in the empty space I had reserved just for homework. I opened the text book to the page containing Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare...A tragic tale of star crossed lovers and then I noticed right underneath the title was a small bracelet made of colored strings weaved together with various colored gemstones. I didn’t remember ever buying a bracelet like that before, but then again my backpack was kind of like a black hole...what went in rarely didn’t come back out again without a great deal of searching. I tied the bracelet on my left wrist and then I looked at my watch on my right. “7:30 Am already huh? I really should go back to sleep for a few hours, but homework comes first.” I told myself trying to remain focused on the task at hand and then I turned to the final chapter and started to read.

Time flew by quickly as I finished the last few pages of Romeo and Juliet. By the time I reached the end tears were rolling down my face as I muttered “Why did it have to end like that...it’s not fair.” Even though I knew it wouldn’t do any good towards changing the story that had already been written. The only story you have the ability to change is your own. Your past and present determine how the pages of your future will be written. I moved my chair over to the right a little bit so that I could reach the power button to turn on my computer. I watched as the various startup screens displayed on the monitor until finally my purple colored background displayed. I opened up a blank word document to begin typing up my essay. Better to get it done and over with now while the story was still fresh in my mind, after all tomorrow I might not feel up to doing it. Around noon time I decided to take a break from my homework and made a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I ate my lunch slowly trying to rest my mind a little bit before I returned to finish what I had started. The essay took up most of my afternoon to finish, but after it was all said and done I felt relieved. I printed out the final copy to be turned in on Monday and then I turned my computer off. I placed the essay papers inside my English textbook and then closed it before I stuck it back into my backpack hoping I’d be able to find it quick enough to turn in the fruit of my hard work.

I was glad I got something done today that I set out to do, so I had no regrets as I climbed into bed to put an end to my long day. The sun had already risen by the time I woke up in Mirau. I was a little upset that Karou and Claria didn’t get me up sooner, but the time for that was already past so I quickly got up out of Karou’s bed and picked up my backpack before I ran out into the living room area preparing a thousand apologies in my head for oversleeping. When I arrived into the living room I noticed Karou casually lying across the couch in his human form reading a book while I could hear noises coming from the kitchen suggesting that Claria was probably cooking breakfast. I decided to leave Karou alone for now and walked over to the entryway for the kitchen. “Good morning Claria. Sorry I overslept and didn’t get to help you this time.” I said at first only noticing her as she was flipping over some strips of bacon in a frying pan, and then I saw a boy with dark hair step out from beside her to say “Good mornin’ My name is Ben. You’re Karou’s friend Maria right? I heard a lot about you from Claria. Nice to finally meet you. Oh the eggs will be done in a bit so you can have a seat at the table and I’ll bring some over to you shortly.” Ben said smiling at me before he returned to cooking the eggs for some bacon and cheese omelets he was making for everyone. “I’m Mari actually and it’s nice to meet you too.” I said to him although I couldn’t recall Claria or Karou mention anything about him before and yet he seemed somewhat familiar. “How odd...I wonder who he is. He must be good friends with Claria since they seem to work so well together, or maybe he is Claria’s boyfriend perhaps? That would explain why Karou won’t step a foot near the kitchen.” I thought to myself as I quietly took a seat at the table and waited for the food to finish cooking.

Ben took some of the bacon and set it on top the right half of the eggs then he put some shredded cheese on the left side, once the cheese was melted he flipped the left side of the eggs onto the right side completing the omelet. He then divided it into four equal parts and brought the finished product to the table. “Claria could you please ask Karou to join us for breakfast?” Ben said in a very polite sounding manner. Claria nodded to him then she walked over to Karou and gently took the book away from him before she said “Please Karou, we probably won’t see you for awhile.” Claria looked a little surprised and then relieved as Karou stood up and smiled at her before he made his way over to the table to sit down next to me across from where Claria would sit next to Ben. Claria put the book down to a small table near the couch before she walked over and sat down next to Ben. The four of us sat quietly over the breakfast table unsure of what to say. I could tell that the goodbyes would be hard to say, but I had to remember it wasn’t goodbye forever, only goodbye for some time. Eventually we would come back so that was comforting in itself. The feeling of having somewhere to go back to with caring people waiting for you was always a good one. “We should get going to Aloen soon Mari. It is a long trip, so the sooner we head out the better.” Karou said as he stood up from the table with an unreadable look on his face.

“Be careful out there man. Take down a few Akuen for me will ya?” Benjamin said grinning wide while he put a hand on Claria’s shoulder trying to reassure her that he was there for her. I thought I saw Karou smile as he walked outside to check and make sure all preparations had been made for departure. All of the supplies had been loaded into the saddle bags of a brown and white shire stallion Karou planned to use for transportation so he climbed up into the horses saddle and then waited for Mari to come when she was ready to leave. “Take care of yourselves Claria and Ben. We will be back before you know it. I’m a fast learner in school so this training will be a breeze you wait and see. Well I better get going now, thanks again for everything. See you soon.” I said after I rose up from my seat at the table then I waved before I ran over to my shoes and put them on. I put my backpack on and then went outside to where I saw Karou ready to go. “Let’s go Karou, before I start to cry and Claria convinces me to stay.” I told him and then he offered his hand down to me to help me into the horse. Once I was settled into the saddle behind Karou I wrapped my arms around his waist afraid I might fall off even before we started going. “Iko naan, maye sen. Let’s go and don’t look back.” Karou said in both his native language and mine then he snapped the reins once and the horse took off into a dead run through the village. As we ran by I noticed people standing outside their houses cheering for us and then as we reached the edge of town it felt like time stood still as I heard Angela say “Please be safe.” And then we took off into the hot desert to begin our journey to Aloen.

The journey took us through the Carson Desert into a prairie with tall grass and clear blue skies for miles around. The sun was touching the horizon in the distance before Karou brought the horse to a stop and then he decided it was best to take a break for a few hours. Karou got off the horse then he took out the short sword from it’s sheath that was attached to his belt and then he started to cut down some of the grass that was almost talker then he was. After he cleared out enough of the grass to make a comfortable campsite he helped me down off the horse then he reached into one of the saddle bags to retrieve some food for the three traveling companions. Karou handed me a couple of odd looking fruits and then he turned and offered one to the horse who I watched devour it in one bite. “If he likes it then it must taste good. It will not compare with Claria’s home cooked meals though.” I thought to myself as I took a bit of the red colored fruit. It was soft on the inside and tasted sweet to my surprise. “That’s my favorite kind of food. Claria know how to cook a pie made out of those fruits, but I like them just as they are. If you pick them right after they turn red then you get the best flavor.” Karou said then he took another bite of his fruit. “You mean they are not always red colored? I can see why you like them, they taste very good. If only they could make vegetables taste like this then I’d have no problem eating them.” I muttered the last part more to myself and then Karou looked at me curiously before he said “They start out green like the leaves and are very bitter at first, but a month before winter comes the fruits change color and become very sweet tasting. I guess they change color to try and hide from people or animal that will eat them. You see around the time we harvest them the leaves turn all shades of red, orange, and yellow so the fruits blend in just like they blend in with the green leaves during the spring time.

“It’s like a chameleon. It changes color to hide from predators. I’m going to call this the chameleon fruit.” I said as I took one last bite of the fruit and then I gave the rest of it to our horse. “Hey Karou does this horse have a name? If he doesn’t can I give him one?” I said curiously as a rubbed the brown nose of the stallion. “I never named him, but if you want to give him one then feel free since you came up with a good name for my favorite food. I’m sure you’ll think of a good name for him as well.” Karou said smiling and at the same time I say curiosity in his eyes as he waited to see what name I could come up with. “I got it. I’m going to call him Nodin, which means wind, since he is swift like a blowing wind through the grass. What do you think Karou?” I said wondering if Karou heard me while he was looking through the saddle bag again for something. “Sounds good to me. Looks like I left my book back home. I was at a really good part too. Oh well, I guess it will be there for me when we get back. Are you ready to go? We are about halfway to Aloen now so I want to make the rest of the trip in one shot without stopping otherwise we won’t get there until morning.” Karou said sounding a little uneasy about camping over night. I remembered how I felt back in the woods when I decided to follow Karou, that bigger creatures were probably lurking all around us so staying idle for too long probably wasn’t a good idea. “I’m ready now.” I said putting my backpack on my shoulders again before I climbed back into the saddle with Karou’s help. “Well Nodin like’s get a move on.” Karou said once he was settled into the saddle in front of me again then he snapped the reins once again like before and Nodin took off into the tall prairie grass again.