A Winter Dream

Eye-to-eye from a distance, Lila and the gryphon, as she was calling it in her head, continued their stand off until Lila’s stomach growled again. Clearly the winged creature could have flown up to where she was and reached her if it had wanted to, but it didn’t. Instead, it turned away from her and ran into the forest.

While Lila was contemplating what do next, she listened to see if she could keep track of where the gryphon went as it was rustling around the forest a good distance away. Now was her chance to climb down and run, but if the creature could track her, it would be able to follow her anyway. If only she knew where there might be something like a stream or a river where she could dunk herself and rinse away as much of her scent as possible. She stilled herself for a good five minutes, just listening. She couldn’t hear anything that sounded like rushing water.

Just when she was about to make up her mind, a whooshing sounded to her right and a gentle breeze blew across her, blowing her hair to the side. She turned towards the sound and there, hovering nearby, was her gryphon, wings gently flapping in the wind, coming towards her giant branch. It landed gracefully in front of her, causing the heavy-duty branch to bend slightly under its weight.

When it landed, she noticed it put its weight on its back haunches because its front paws were curled around one another, palm to palm. After it steadied itself, it pulled the top paw away and extended the other towards Lila. There, in between the pads of its paws, were three pieces of vibrant purple fruit that looked like oranges. The gryphon was trying to feed her.

Lila sat frozen for some time, searching the creature’s radiant green-blue eyes. Finding the orbs human-like and possessing of intelligence, she believed the gryphon was trying to be kind and finally reached out to take the fruit from between the pads of its paw.

The gryphon mewed like a happy cat and laid down in front of her resting its head on its crossed paws.

Lila sniffed at the fruit. It smelled both sweet and tart, kind of like a sour jellybean. She dug her thumb nail beneath the part that had obviously been attached to a tree and ripped off the top. From there it was easy to peel the rest of the rind from the fruit. It was just as beautiful inside as outside and had the design and texture of a kiwi only instead of being green it was bright pink.

Once the fruit was peeled, instead of eating it right away, she picked up a second one and peeled that too. When two were rind free, she held one out to the gryphon, who sniffed it then put its nose under her hand to push it back towards her.

“Fine,” she mumbled and brought the fruit to her mouth and took a bite.

Tartness exploded in her mouth and just as she was about to pucker up, it suddenly turned sweet as she continued to chew. The first flavor was similar to a raspberry lemonade and transitioned into the sweetest berry flavor she’d ever tasted. It wasn’t like any berry she could name, but similar to a mix of all the berries she knew. It was delicious. She ate the whole thing quickly and offered the second one to her companion.

Gryphon declined and again used its nose to push her hand towards her own mouth. She gladly ate it.

Two of the fruits was enough to fill her belly and adequately hydrate her and so she offered the third piece unpeeled to Gryphon, who searched her face and then accepted, sticking out its long tongue to swipe it from her open palm before pulling it into its mouth and biting it in half. It only took the creature five chews to chomp it up and swallow.

Lila felt pleased and grateful and told her new companion so, “Thank you for finding food for me. I don’t know what I would have done without your help. I’m sorry I was so scared before. You were so loud and heavy shaking the ground that I thought you were going to eat me.”

Gryphon snorted at her, but it sounded like a laugh.

Lila grinned back and then wondered aloud, “What now? I don’t know where I am or how to get home. I’m not sure which home I’m supposed to be going to, either. Do you know about the dimensions? Is this your home?”

Gryphon slowly stood and stretched then raised its paw. It gently reached out and touched Lila on the forehead, then brought the paw back to its own forehead. After the motion, it stared pointedly at her.

Lila was surprised as she suddenly understood, “You want to bond with me?”

Gryphon nodded its head in an exaggerated manner.

Lila was torn. She didn’t understand enough about the parallel bond, but if she weren’t in her father’s dimension, could this be her true parallel? She didn’t know all the rules, but she did remember her dad saying that only his dimension had the parallel phenomena.

“Let me think a minute…” Lila said to Gryphon.

Gryphon huffed and sat down on the branch again seeming to glare at her.

“Wow, you’re impatient, aren’t you?” Lila threw back.

She crossed her arms over her chest, “Look…I’m new to all of this. My dad told me about parallels, and you’re sort of behaving like one, but I don’t know the rules. I don’t know what the right thing to do is. He said there weren’t any other dimensions with this magic, but you are here indicating a parallel bond is what you want, and this doesn’t look like dad’s dimension. How am I supposed to know what to do?”

Gryphon rolled its eyes then reached out its paw again. It touched Lila’s forehead then its own and stared intensely.

“I suppose you just want me to trust you?” Lila said sarcastically.

Gryphon nodded again.

Lila didn’t like beating around the bush, so she finally asked, “Are you my parallel?”

Gryphon nodded aggressively.

“Like…my one true parallel from my dad’s dimension?” she asked a second time.

Gryphon made a noise that sounded like a yap.

“But how did we get here? Where is here? How am I supposed to trust you?” Lila fired off the questions in rapid succession.

Gryphon closed its eyes and took a deep breath then opened them to stare at Lila as if they were determined to be patient. Gryphon reached out its paw again and ran it softly down over Lila’s eyes. When she closed them, Gryphon put its paw over Lila’s heart and pressed gently.

It was asking her to listen to her heart and feel the truth. Lila put her hand over the paw on her chest and suddenly she knew. This was her parallel.

Lila moved her hands to grip each side of Gryphon’s face and then pulled the giant head down to her own. She stared in its eyes briefly before closing her own and pressing their foreheads together.

Gryphon pressed back against her, and it was like a burst of light and information flooded Lila’s consciousness. Now she knew everything that Gryphon knew, had seen everything Gryphon had as they exchanged significant memories and fused them together.

The creature sighed in relief and then an amused feminine voice spoke into Lila’s thoughts,“I hope you don’t plan on calling me Gryphon forever.”

“No, I don’t. I didn’t know you were female. What do I call you?” Lila said aloud.

“You get to name me, and I choose a name for you,”the voice, which sounded remarkably like Nala from ‘Lion King’, replied.

Lila scratched her cheek and thought about it, “I can’t think of a single name that could be as glorious as your appearance.”

“Flattery is unnecessary, little flower. I’m already aware that you think me magnificent,”came the mock-haughty reply.

“Little flower, huh? Is that what you’re going to call me?” Lila sounded amused.

“Perhaps,”she said,“you smell like one of the flowers on our home world.”

“I’m not opposed to being called ‘little flower’ as a nickname, but if its all the same to you, I’d like to keep the name my mother gave me,” Lila replied.

After a pause Lila asked, “What were you called by your…parents?”

“I was called ‘cub’,”came the surprising reply.

“You don’t get a name from your parents?” Lila was curious.

“All creatures on our world know we will get a name from our parallel. It’s useless to take one before then. Only the name you give me matters,”she said matter-of-factly.

“Hmmm,” Lila began as she tapped her chin with her pointer finger, “I heard a name once in Spanish class that I really liked, and the meaning is appropriate for you. It means glorious and fierce. The name is Yarisel. I could call you Yari for short.”

“That is satisfactory. Thank you, Lila,”Yari seemed pleased.

“Next order of business,” Lila began, “where the heck are we and how did we get here?”

“I woke up here the same as you did. I’ve been searching for you for years and you weren’t to be found on our world. Wise One said you might have been pulled into another dimension and I should go look for you, but no one knew how I could do that. Then I went to sleep and woke up here. As soon as I woke up, I could smell you and I came to find you, but I scared you and you climbed the tree,”Yari said regretfully.

Lila nodded sympathetically, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. My mom is from another dimension, and I was bound to her there. But she’s dying, so I’ve been waking up in my dad’s dimension, which is your world, off and on. I’m not sure why we’re here in another. This definitely isn’t my world, and it isn’t yours, either is it?”

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry about your mother, little flower. I know humans are bonded to their parents their whole lives and this must be hard for you,”Yari sounded sad.

Yari perked up a bit,“There is good news. Now that we’re bonded, I can find you wherever you are.”

Lila felt an overwhelming sense of relief. She realized now how incredibly unsettling it was to be bounced around throughout the dimensions where there was no constant person to attach herself to. She’d felt split into pieces. But now with her parallel, with Yari, she had a steady bond no matter what, on which she could rely.

Yari seemed to understand her and nuzzled against her neck as if she were trying to hug her. Lila wrapped her arms around her bonded and hugged her back.

Yari gently explained,“I’m relieved, too. Your absence was difficult. I’m happy to be anywhere that you are.”

Lila pulled back from the hug to look at Yari, but instead found herself looking into her mom’s face. Dana was leaning over her on the sofa calling her name.

“Lila? Are you hungry, sweetie? You slept through the movie and its dinnertime,” Dana said gently and then suddenly she looked up and her face transformed to one of terror. She flung herself on top of Lila and began to tremble.

“Please, don’t hurt my daughter! Take what you want and go,” Dana called out.

Lila was confused and she shifted out from under her mom, which was difficult considering Dana was clinging to her and trying to shield her from whoever was in their house. Lila managed to escape her mom’s death grip only because Dana was weak from her illness.

She stood up and turned around to find herself face to face with an unusual looking woman. The woman was taller than Lila, over six feet tall, with shoulder length, incredibly soft looking, white hair. She was wearing white leathers like a futuristic biker chick and in her hair was a long and vibrant peacock feather.

Lila walked up to her and looked into her gorgeous green-blue eyes before questioning, “Yari? Is that you?”

“I’m…” she started speaking aloud and her eyes widened in surprise as she wrapped her hand around her throat, “I’m as confused as you are.”

ItwasYari. They were her eyes, her voice, and her coloring. But she was a human woman. This didn’t make any sense.

Yari was holding out her hands and wiggling her fingers about as if mesmerized by them.

“Whathappened?!” Lila practically yelled.

Yari winced and stuck her fingers in her ears, “Easy there, little flower, not so loud.”

Dana recovered her faculties and shuffled over to Lila, “I’m so sorry,” she said to Yari, “I didn’t realize you were a friend of my daughter’s. How did you get in here?”

Lila cleared her throat and turned to Dana, “Um, mom…err…this is Yari…my parallel.”

“What?!” Dana exclaimed, “A human parallel? That doesn’t seem possible.” She turned to Yari, “Shouldn’t you be a magical creature?”

Yari observed Dana in fascination. The woman was so familiar to her that it was as if she were Yari’s own mother, so she felt comfortably speaking freely.

“I’m not sure what happened. I don’t normally look like this...Iama magical creature,” Yari tried to explain.

Dana began coughing and she put her hand to her mouth. When she pulled it away again, it was full of blood.

“Mom!” Lila called anxiously, “you need to sit down and rest. Don’t get over excited. We’ll figure out what’s going on.”

Lila put her mom’s arm around her shoulder and attempted to help her back to the sofa, but Yari walked over to Dana and scooped her up in a princess carry then looked at Lila, waiting for instructions.

Lila was impressed by her parallel’s effortless strength and answered the unspoken question, “Her bedroom is down that hall, last door on the right. Put her in bed and I’ll get her some water.”

Yari nodded and carried Dana down the hall Lila indicated.

When Lila made it back to her mom’s doorway she heard Yari whispering, “You need to tell her the truth, Dana.Allof the truth.”

Dana whispered back, “How did you know?”

“Know what?” Lila asked nonchalantly, entering the room, and handing her mom the glass of water.

After taking a long drink of water, Dana put the glass down on the bedside table and took a deep breath before saying, “It’s about why you keep jumping dimensions, why you did it as a child and why you’re doing it now even though I’m not gone yet…” Dana began, “…and it’s the same reason I was able to meet your father in the first place.”

“Why?” Lila asked uncomfortably.

Dana cleared her throat and slumped against the headboard as if her energy were drained completely, “This isn’t my home dimension. This isn’t where I came from originally. My father’s people…they can travel between dimensions. My father came here and met my mom, your grandmother. They got together for a while, but she wasn’t his mate, so eventually he left. He didn’t know she was pregnant at the time, but he’d told my mother so many things.”

Lila and Yari sat quietly waiting for her to continue.

After a few deep breaths, Dana went on, “When I was a young child I started traveling to my father’s dimension in my sleep. He saw me there and realized that I was his daughter. But he’d found his mate there and had other children. My stepmother didn’t want me around. My dad let me come back and forth for a few years so he could teach me what I needed to know, but in the end, he bound me to my mother’s life force and trapped me here in this dimension. It was a betrayal to me. His world felt more like home to me than this one ever did. I loved my mother, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted to keep my birthright, my freedom to travel between the dimensions just as he did. He took that from me.

“But when I was twenty years old, I woke up in another place. My father’s world was beautiful. It was a place where the grass grew pink, and the trees had white bark and scarlet leaves…”

Yari and Lila exchanged glances but kept quiet, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

“…but this place was different. It had no grass, only sand that sparkled orange like gemstone dust. There were palm trees of sorts only they were purple and brown. The ocean was emerald green and the perfect temperature to swim in at any time. That’s where I found your dad. He’d woken up there, too, the same as me. We didn’t know how it happened, but weweremates. Somehow my abilities must have ignited and called to him. You know the rest.

“I’m dying and I think it’s because I’m trapped here. I don’t think my father just bound me to my mother’s lifeforce, but also to this dimension. He didn’t want me to ever be able to leave again.

“I think the doctors couldn’t figure out what kind of cancer I had, but they knew I was dying. I think when I die, you’ll have the ability to go anywhere because you won’t be tied to my lifeforce. Right now, you can only go to your dad’s dimension and to mine, but soon that won’t be the case. I’m hoping that having your dad and your mate on his side will call you to them, but we can’t be sure. I’m happy, though, now that you’ve found Yari. Wherever you go, she’ll be there with you. You won’t be alone.”

Yari cleared her throat and looked pointedly at Lila. She understood immediately.

“Mom, it’s all ok. I understand. Don’t worry about me, ok? I want you to rest now. We’ll be here when you wake up, ok?” Lila soothed as she helped Dana move down the bed to rest her head on the pillow.

Dana reached up to touch her daughter’s cheek with her palm, “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Lila. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you long ago. I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too, mom,” Lila responded and kissed her mom on the forehead, “sleep now.”

Dana closed her eyes and sighed. It only took a few minutes for her breathing to even out and when they were sure she was asleep, Lila led Yari out of the bedroom and closed the door behind them.

They walked back down the hallway and Lila flopped down on the couch before turning her head to look at Yari, “How did you know?”

Yari shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal, “I could smell it. She smells like that place…with the pink grass.”

“I’m glad you’re here. It seems like you’ll go wherever I go, but I can’t say I’m sorry about it,” Lila admitted.

“I’m pleased, as well. But Lila…” Yari looked hesitant to continue.

“What’s up?” she encouraged lightly.

“I think we can save your mom. I think we can take her away from here…” Yari revealed.

Lila sat up straight and searched Yari’s eyes before nodding, “Ok. What do we do?”