1 Simple

That was what Lela Arch thought. Simple. As the sun shone down on her shoulders, burning her skin all she could think was about how simple things used to be. She looked down at the dull grey grave. the name' Clarissa Morre' barely shimmering in thin chipped golden letters. Simple. Back when friends had each others backs. Back when 'stupid' was the worst playground insult that you could get. Back when all her friends were, quite simply, alive. Back when sad was something you felt when you dropped your ice cream. But now it wasnt so simple.

To feel hurt. To be numb hurt. To smile hurt. To cry hurt. Right now the stinging in her heart was dull. How did that somehow make it worse? She couldn't bring herself to cry. It had been a little over a year. How empty that year had been.

Clarissa had lost her life in a car accident. Sometimes it still hadn't set in that she wouldn't see her friend for a long time. Lela was religious, of course she knew that shed see her in the next.. life so to say but how long would that be? Or worse yet, what if death truly is the end? Just darkness, and simple once more...

Her dreams had been getting worse too. She used to be able to lucid dream. Dreams used to be a place of refuge, a place where she could be free, and do what ever she wanted. Once Clarissa left, Her dreams almost became self aware. She knew how odd that sounded but she could have sworn the people in her dreams were real. From the demons in her dreams to the background characters. She had been trying to communicate with them in her dream but they all seemed to follow a.. script. She shook her head softly. she was probably just still grieving. she put no more thought into it as she got back into her fathers car.

Her father was supportive in his.. own ways. Lela appreciated it though. He tried to talk to her as they road home. Lela didn't feel like talking.

Talking hurt.

Everything hurt.

Once she got home she got on her phone. She couldn't wait till death to see Clarissa again. she had heard of these boards you could speak to the dead with, some rituals to summon the dead... both of seemed dangerous though. as she scrolled she found something interesting.

'Dreams are what connect us' It said ' connects us to other places, other time lines, other plains of existence. Join us as we attempt to open heaven to living man, As we progress in all forms in travel'

She kept reading, kept exploring. She felt a gravitating pull to this information. what if this was the way. She could live, and every night, see Clarissa again! She made an account on the obscure page. She trusted it oddly.

" Dinner!" her mother called. Lela went downstairs with the first real smile that had met her face in months.