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Amari lifted a finger and popped one of the stars that looked like floating snowflakes. She squinted as she gently opened her eyes. She could see that she was no longer dreaming but the objects that danced around her face were reflections coming from outside her window.
She looked at the round gold-plated alarm clock on her bedside. “It is only 3 am but the sun is almost setting.” Amari dashed to her window and she saw what resembled floating stars being carried away by a gentle wind. Amari quickly opened her window to touch one star and it popped.
Her eyes lit. The glistening sun just below the horizon, the moving stars, and the melodious wind that gave the air a panoramic feeling made Amari feel as though she was reliving her dream from moments ago again.
Amari felt pulled in by the magic of the moment but she knew that the charm was too strange even for Athralis. As the porter of Athralis, she had news to report and she needed something authentic other than mere convincing words on paper.
“Perhaps, Beau knows something!” Amari blinked. She quickly got dressed, tied her black hair in a bun hurried down the alley that separated her home from Beau’s.
On her way, Amari noticed that stars began to dissipate very slowly, changing into brown dust that evaporated. She also saw that a few of the black bats that usually hovered around the dark alley now had shimmering light blue wings. She stopped to peer closer. Amari had only seen that happen in her dreams. One bat began to flutter and squeak aggressively at her. “Feisty little creature. Still nothing cute about you.” She hissed as she ducked.
As Amari sauntered down the alley, she was now sure that something strange was happening in Athralis. The inhabitants of this little mystery town came to know Athralis as a place long lost and forgotten in the folds of time. An old tale had it that centuries ago, Time was a huge mass of black dust. A sorcerer named Aegon made a pact with Time. Aegon agreed that he and his kind would let Time access their dreams in exchange for Athralis. Ever since, the town had become a home to everyone and everything magical.
Amari reached Beau’s front door and paused when the smell of strong frankincense hit her. “Typical Beau,” she muttered beneath her breath. She let herself in after two knocks at the door. “Beau?” Amari followed an illuminating blue light that emanated from Beau’s living room.
“Amari, do you own a clock?” Beau blurted as he quickly shoved something silver into a drawer behind him.
“What are you doing Beau?” Amari looked confused. She began to Marvel at little discs of moving pictures that formed a mirage in the air. “Are these memories or imaginations?” Amari followed the discs with her eyes. “Wait, Beau. Do you have anything to do with the madness going on right now?” Amari raised an eyebrow.
“Amari, what are you even doing in my dream? I never dream about you.” Beau came closer to Amari. He also raised an eyebrow and sniffed her.
“Cut it out B. Something crazy is going on can't you see? First, it looked like I was in my dream and now I'm in your dream. Everything has gone higgledy-piggledy and I think it is going to get messier if we don't find out what's going on.”
Amari and Beau were childhood friends who had always been there for each other in times of need. Amari became the town’s news porter because she loved to write and investigate. She was always abreast of all the happenings in Athralis. Beau loved to play with the idea of creating worlds out of sheer imagination. He would often create little mystical towns and creatures with the magic of his hands. His biggest wish was to control his creations.
“Well, I have nothing to do with dreams and you know it.” Beau sighed.
“What do we do now?” Amari relaxed into a chair.
“I have an idea.” Beau’s eyes twitched like a light bulb. “You know that vault of dreams. The one from the tale? We can start there. If dreams are saved there, perhaps we can find some leads.”
“Do you really believe that our dreams are saved?” Amari creased her brows.
“Of course. How do you think we got here?”
“So how do we get in? They say that it is a secret chamber in the city’s library.”
“Tada!” Beau waved a bunch of keys at Amari. “Admit it. You love an adventure. Let’s go.”
Amani smiled and the two friends ventured into the unknown. In no time, they had found their way through the dark corners and crevices of the library to a hidden room that reeked of abandonment. The walls of the room towered without an end and it contained thousands of vaults.
“Wow. It is real.” Amari blurted. She moved closer to find that each of the vaults had names on them and most of them were empty. It was now clear that someone had been tampering with the dreams in Athralis.
Suddenly, a vault opened, like wafting smoke, the duo watched as scenes from dreams began to materialize from the vault straight to another secret doorway.
Amari and Beau looked at each other before tagging along the direction of the smoke. They came to the opened door which an endless mass of black dust occupied.
Amari swallowed hard and backed away. “Time?” she was terrified but she mustered a little courage.
“Let's get out of here Amari.” Beau held her hand but she pulled away.
“Time. You've been stealing our dreams. But I don't understand. If the tale is true, you own these dreams. Why are you stealing them?”
“I'm no longer infinite.” An intimidating bassy voice thundered. “One of you made your way through my crevices and stole my yarn. Without it, I cannot weave into the fabric of space, without my yarn, there is no future.”
“And now you steal our dreams to weave into the future. It is the reason we are now experiencing our dreams.” Amari was now deciphering the mystery. “But it is all a mess now. You have got to stop. We will do everything we can to find your yarn. I promise.”
The voice went silent and the black dust began dissipating.
“Why did you make such a promise? How are we going to find Time’s yarn?” Beau quizzed Amari.
Amari pondered for a couple of seconds. She looked into Beau’s eyes. “I get your obsession with worlds and creations but you've got to return the yarn.”
“What? I didn't take the yarn.”
“Yes, you did. I should have known right there when you shoved something silver into your drawer. That was Time’s yarn, wasn't it?”
“Well technically, I didn't steal it. I'm still dreaming, remember? You are in my dream. Besides, I had no idea that Time would come and start stealing dreams.”
“This is no joke B. The consequences could be dire. How long before we can't tell dreams from reality? How long before we become mere scenes saved in vaults? It isn't just our world being affected. Even the nonmagical world would be in chaos.” Amari charged.
“I guess you are right.” Beau lowered his gaze. “I'm sorry I messed up big time. I’ll give the yarn back I promise.”
Amari looked at Beau and her expression softened. “Let's get out of here.” She shook her head.
