3 The Black Swan

Anna opened her eyes after the fairy godmother transported her to the new world. She looked around and realized that it was midnight because the full moon was shining above the majestic palace quite far from her place.

She looked down and made a weird honking sound when she saw her reflection in the water below her. Because she was surprised, she didn't think that fairy grandmother would really turn her into a black swan.

'Oh my god, I really am a black swan!' Anna panicked. She wiggled her swan butt and pedalled to the lakeside. She was confused about what to do next. 'Oh god, oh god, I know this is just a dream, but it feels so real!'

She felt that everything was big in front of her. The trees, the lake, and the frogs were chilling on the lakeside.

"Honk! Honk, Honk!"

[Help! Anyone here? Help!]

Anna was frustrated with her own voice. She could only speak unintelligible goose sounds. Anna flapped her black wings as she got even more panicked until she saw a bird flew towards her.

Its wing fluttered as it glided towards Anna and landed on a stone slab in front of Anna. A raven tilted its head left and right. It had a pair of lustrous black with blue tint wings that shone under the moon. Its small black pupils seemed to observe Anna and curiously elongated its neck.

"Honk! Honk! Honk!"

[Help! How do I turn into a human?] Anna honked desperately. She knew that the raven could not understand her, but maybe she just wanted to show her frustration.

The raven seemed to stare at Anna curiously, and it made clicking sounds, "Cluck, cluck, cluck."

Anna did not understand what the raven meant, but she felt that the raven sounded friendly, so Anna replied with low honks.

'Ah, what a mess. I'm now starting to speak with a raven. Has the night shift made me too exhausted? This dream feels so wrong,' Anna thought.

The raven nodded few times and started doing a sequence in front of Anna.

The raven hopped once and paused, then it hopped twice, continued with a spin, and jumped to dive inside the lake before returning to Anna.

Anna tilted her long swan neck in confusion. Why did this raven doing a weird sequence continuously?

But after the raven did it three times and pecked Anna's wing, Anna finally realized that she was meant to follow the raven sequence. Though confused, Anna tried it in case if that actually did something for her.

'Okay then, I will try.'

One hop.

Two hops.

Spin.

And jump.

Anna dove inside the lake after she did the sequence. She felt that her body slowly getting bigger, and her skin was stung by the cold water. She emerged from the lake as a human once more.

She wiped her face, still looking confused, but she saw the raven was standing on the lakeside, waiting for her. She touched her body under the water and could feel her human skin again. "Ah, I am human again!" she yelled happily.

She swam to the lakeside, but she realized that she was naked before she left the water.

"Wait, clothes, where are my clothes?!" Anna remembered that she still wore her jeans and jacket when she fell asleep, but she was now butt naked.

The raven stared at Anna, who panicked, then it flew to the other part of the lakeside. The raven returned by dragging a shabby cream-coloured dress and then went again to drag a tower with its beak.

The raven placed the dress and the towel on the stone slab and then flew towards the wood, probably signalling that it wouldn't peek.

"Ah, what a strange raven," Anna pondered, she was still confused about that raven's behaviour, but it was not the time to think. She would die if she stayed inside the lake for too long. Thus, Anna covered her private parts and emerged from the water.

She was still wet from head to toe. She used the towel to dry herself before wearing a cream-coloured dress.

"I think this is used by maids in the medieval era…" Anna commented. But it was not exactly her main worry right now.

She looked around again and realized that she was in the middle of a forest. It was dark in the wood. Only the lake was bright enough for her to see because it was showered by the moonlight.

"Where am I, really…" Anna felt that the dream was too real. She suddenly met a fairy godmother, signed a contract, and jumped into this strange place.

"And that raven…" as she pondered about the raven, the raven returned with a long ivy on its mouth.

The raven perched on Anna's shoulder as it placed the ivy on Anna's hand. "crroakk…" the raven made a croaking sound to Anna.

"Is this for me?" Anna asked.

The raven nodded and rubbed its head on Anna's cheek. Anna smiled and carefully patted the raven. "Okay then, what do you want me to do with this? Do you want to show me something?"

The raven took off from Anna's shoulder and grabbed the end of the ivy with its feet. The raven flew slowly as it pulled the ivy towards a direction.

'Is this his way to show me a way out?'

Out of curiosity, Anna followed the raven's path inside the wood. The wood was scary, but the raven constantly made a clucking sound, trying to comfort Anna. They paced through the dark woods until Anna saw the light at the end of the woods.

When they were finally out of the woods, Anna saw a pathway leading to the palace. The palace was located on top of the hill, and the path seemed to be created when the guards and maids wanted to use a shortcut to leave the palace through the back of the hill.

The raven made a low croaking sound again and perched on Anna's shoulder.

"I should go there? Am I a palace maid or something?" Anna asked. The intelligent raven nodded again.

Thus, Anna walked on the pathway leading to the back of the palace. After she arrived at the back of the palace, she saw a girl who looked worried. When she saw Anna, she hurriedly came to her and yanked her in. "Anna, you spent way too long there! Let's go in before the guards catch us!"

Anna was surprised. She looked at the woman who was probably around her age, wearing the same maid dress. Anna looked to her left shoulder, but the raven had disappeared.

Out of confusion, she let the girl pulled her inside the palace, and they sneaked to their bedroom. They locked the door and sat on their beds.

"Anna, I know that you have to maintain your magic by going to the lake every now and then, but please make it quick! I don't want us to get in trouble!" the girl chided.

"Um… okay…" Anna nodded.

"Don't okay me!" the girl crossed her arms. "Your late mother asked me to take care of you, so your safety is also my concern!"

Anna didn't understand what happened, but she nodded anyway.

"Sigh, now go sleep. We will have a lot of work tomorrow!" the girl said. She took off her shoes and then laid on her bed.

Anna did the same thing, but she kept on thinking about what happened in this dream. It was so realistic and came straight out of a fairy tale book.

'Me as a black swan, the fairy godmother, the white swan and her happy ever after, the contract, and that friendly raven…'

'Maybe after I close my eyes, the dream will end. I have to work tomorrow morning.'

Anna closed her eyes as she fell into a deep slumber.

The following day, when she opened her eyes again, she was still on the same bed, the same ceiling, and the same girl from last night, tying her hair before readying herself for the day.

Anna finally realized that she was not dreaming.