Dreams Lie Beneath

by Rebecca Ross

One does not realize how powerful a dream is, in the sleeping world as well as the waking one, until it has been stolen from them.

“You know, it’s not a bad thing to be fearful every now and then. The fear reminds you of limits, of what lines you should not cross. Of the doors you shouldn’t open.”

I studied nightmares, and I confronted them every new moon in the streets of Hereswith, when the magic flowed freely from the mountain fortress and dreams were cursed to materialize. But I didn’t know what it was like to experience a nightmare. What it felt like to wake frightened from something that felt hauntingly real. As a magician, I chose to never dream.

“It will make you colder. But even the deepest of ice eventually gives way to fire, Clementine.”

“That night when you caught my reflection in the mirror,” I said. “When you said my name . . . the stone within me suffered a crack. And I don’t regret that it did, because I had forgotten how vital it is to be known for who you are, and not for who you pretend to be. I had forgotten how good it is to be seen, even with flaws and scars. I wanted you to see me. But I can’t risk it now. Not until the end comes. You are making it more difficult for me because I’ve grown fond of you, in the most impossible of ways.”

But fathers often underestimate their daughters, don’t they?”

But sometimes things must break before they can be made whole again, so that they can be forged into something stronger.