Crossing the Gulf

[rajani_misra]

Rajani Misra stood upon the peaceful deck of the boat with the crescent shape of the moon glowing high above her. She had easily found a man willing to take her and all her things across the calm sea into the Gulf of Thailand. It was headed toward Bangkok. Firmly into the CCD, but that was hardly a problem. Half of Malaysia was already in the CCD, the richer half. But the eastern half that Rajani had grown up in was permitted some licenses because of this, dual citizenship without ever having been in the CCD government.

She hoped being a citizen already would make it more difficult for her to be tracked. Rajani did not plan on being caught up in whatever that foolish terrorist was doing. But, there was always a chance of some occurrence. The less they knew of her or where she came from, all the better. That was always an opinion she had. Even the british man, who had for all purposes given her his apartment, had never known her last name.

These thoughts were all distractions though. Rajani could sense the River of Magic as if it flowed and swirled around her at all times, waiting for her to embrace the river. And so she did. The euphoria of the River of Magic enveloping her brought a smile to her face as she watched over the railing. The gulf was peaceful this night, but Rajani would not pass up the chance to experiment. There were five currents within the River of Magic and she selected one of them. A somewhat, although to call it so would not be true, blue band of flowing current. Water.

Focusing on the current of water, Rajani swept the blue band out further from the ship but still easily within sight. Her ability did not expand too much further even with a full moon. This would be safe. The ship’s crew would not know it was her or anyone onboard. And so she began to create waves, rushing water upwards even, and then have bursts of water shoot up. All using the same band of current. It was like the River of Magic could run with the natural world or it could alter it. But the magnitude of the changes were greater than her limited tests in the Malaysian town had shown. The River of Magic was far greater than she had imagined.

In the distance, she could see the beginning flickers of light on the horizon. Recently, she had learned the moon still held some sway during the hours of dusk and dawn, but her ability was weakened. During the day, there was no ability at all until the moon rose again. With a sudden feeling of loss, Rajani released the River of Magic. It would be good for her to take advantage of this. The River of Magic was the not the only trait she had been gifted.

Going to her cabin below deck, Rajani sat with her legs crossed on her bed. The door was locked and barred. She meditated. Entering the Waking Dream when tired was possible, but not always a guarantee. Through meditation though, there was a more direct link to the Waking Dream. Even more, in her mind at least, meditation was a more accurate view of its effect on the body as the Waking Dream did little to restore the body or make her feel rested. In time, Rajani could feel herself slip from this physical world and entering the Waking Dream…

[rajani_misra]

<em>And then she was on a meadow. The location of this place in the physical world, if it existed in the physical world, was unknown to her. But it was a common spot starting location for her in a tranquil, peaceful location. Perhaps that was due to the peace of mind when meditating? A million possible answers always resulted with each question. But she had to learn all the answers. Needed to.

The most unique aspect of this Waking Dream World was that she could always find the River of Magic. Unlike in the physical world where it was gone during the daylight, here in the Waking Dream the River of Magic seemed ever present. Likely something to do with the moon, perhaps it had domain over this Waking Dream world? Although when she first came to this place, it was long before she could embrace the River of Magic.

Just to remind herself of it, Rajani embraced the River of Magic in the Waking Dream as a comfort. It wasn’t why she had come to this world, but the appeal of the river flowing through her and her holding onto it. At times, that appeal was too much. The exhilaration found her again as it had in the physical world as Rajani stood beneath the sun on the meadow with a butterfly fluttering around her. She could see the pattern on their wings in detail now.

Feeling as though she mine as well practice a bit while she was here, Rajani created three currents of wind. It was not possible to create different currents with each other, but multiple of the same was not much difficult. With the three currents, she sent one to boost the butterfly’s flying, another to rustle the grass in the meadow, and the last to whip the wind into a whirlwind. The currents followed through and Rajani was proud of this. Having the various currents go about different tasks showed growth, in the past she had only been able to send them on the same task.

She shook her head though. This was not her purpose here. Releasing the River of Magic, Rajani let out a sigh feeling the loss of it again. Clearing her mind though in the peaceful meadow, Rajani glanced at what she was wearing. When she had first came to the Waking Dream her wardrobe would change each time, like there was no control over it. But a force of will had altered that, now she always wore the same white silk dress cut to follow the curves of her body. It was not transparent yet offered the appearance that in certain lights it may be.

Rajani closed her eyes and thought of what she needed most. She uttered in her dulcet voice, “Show me where I need to go.”

Opening her eyes, she was in a different place. It was gritty and cool, colder than it should be, but she could not say how she knew. There were several light bulbs hanging from an unfinished ceiling, concrete walls that perhaps made the space seem colder than it was, and a dusty covering along the floor showed this was not a well traveled location. A sound of water dripping permeated in the seemingly empty place, but the shadows stretched and lingered here. Its emptiness could easily be a feint.

Her eyes, pools of midnight, glanced around the room trying to discern why it was she needed to go here. It seemed irrelevant. There was one window, high on the wall with its glass broken and a steady breeze flowing in. Stepping on the dirt covered floor, Rajani noticed a patch of earth having uprooted through crack in the flooring. Why would she ever come to a place like this? Let alone need to.

The drip was from a pipe with a crack in it running away from a water heater that surprisingly had a blue flame still burning beneath it. The place felt empty and Rajani wondered if it was the void she was sensing of some sort. There was a general lack of anything interesting there though. That was until she heard the growling.

It was coming from a corner, away from the light bulbs in the center of the room or the tiny window on the side. Rajani did not step close to it. She had enough experience against those nightmarish monsters to be prepared, but before she could prepare for a new place to move to. A blur of grey fur moved towards her from the corner and a wolf appeared just momentarily. Rajani flinched away from it and instantly she found…
</em>
She was awake.