Somnium Evigilantis

[Thalia]

Her attention tuned out. Focus on the river. Don't think of anything else. She was on the path back to, if not peace, then at least stillness, when the woman spoke again. Thalia's gaze slid up, confusion and hope battling control of her expression. Because those were impossible words. She grasped them like air to dying lungs. But it couldn't be what she meant, could it? How could she know? Had she been listening?

Thalia glanced at Calvin, uncertain. Disbelieving. And yet completely desperate to believe. Which was why she dived right in, filled up on trust. "You... could? You know what it is?"


There's more, her mind whispered, eager to unburden itself after so many years. The reality touched paintings. The frantic scribbles that scrawled hundreds of sketchbooks, and one day coalesced into a real breathing person. Impossible. More impossible. She had too much impossible! Her fingers clutched into the grass, but she held her tongue, eyes wide as she stared at the woman, and waited.