1 The Dream

The girl watched her feet move as if they belonged to someone else. She was running towards something with despair, without knowing why. When she was finally able to look up, all she could see was a man lighting a beautiful black-haired woman on fire. Suddenly sounds began hammering her eardrums with screams of "witch!" and "burn in hell!". She felt warm tears streaming down her cheeks as she ran closer towards the warmth of the fire, where the woman waited for the fire to reach her feet. The flames were hungry and quickly rose to devour her legs. The girl could see the pain on her face, but the woman's dignity forbade her from screaming. With her eyes, she cursed all those who came to see her burn, but when she met the girl's eyes, her face softened like there was no pain at all. The mob started throwing rocks at the woman as the girl reached the edge of the fire. The woman smiled and reached out her hand through the flaming ropes that bound her. The girl felt her tears evaporating when she took the woman's hand and jumped into the fire. The starved flames ate away at her flesh and she felt her bones twisting in pain while she held her mother's lifeless body in an embrace.

Mara sat down in bed feeling her nightgown stick to her body. Sweat fell like rain on her forehead and into her eyes. She could still feel the lingering heat from the flames. She looked around and confirmed that she was in her bedroom. A cool breeze informed her that a window was ajar, which she finds strange as she doesn't remember opening it. As she got up to close the window, she notices that it's still the middle of the night and the moon is high in the sky. As she returns to bed, Mara notices that there's a faint column of smoke coming from where she was sleeping, but the sheets are perfectly intact. She tried to look back on her dream and fails, all she can remember is the sadness and anger she felt. She cursed at people she didn't recall and went back to sleep.