Chapter 1: Dusk and Distraught I longed for just another second of her presence, it’s been some time since I last faced the outside world. I needed to borrow some of that hope, that maternal comfort she provided her people with. Eventually courage loaded me up from toe to head and I left my glossy bubble of safety, and as I strode the forest of the naked trees my head started to expand like a water balloon with joyful thoughts about our soon to be reunion. I couldn’t wait to give her my mind, so she could detangle the knots making a nest out of my thoughts. I loved how she spent her days painting on an eternal canvas with her aquamarine watercolors. She was the only one I confided in, the one keeping this innocent little town together. And as I walked through this forest and up the plastic grassed hills, I was too wrapped up to notice what was happening around me. It was a horrifying sight. Everything around me morphed into a dark nightmare. The sky’s virgin blue color was wounded and bleeding a citrus orange, the neighborhoods were shedding their color coordinated pastels exposing a new monochromatic sienna colored flesh, and the mountains began to fade away with the skyline. No one understood what was happening, all the bright rose-cheeked, pearly-toothed people began to break down their everlasting smiles into frowns that reached their knees and the 2 ENAMORADO/WAKE ME AFTER MOURNING roses in their cheeks began to spread over their entire veneer like weeds. They never cried before, neither did I. Together we flood our land with diamond tears, and the air with our shrieks. After two hours of endless aching we all went numb. The citrus blood from the sky had dried and turned into a charcoal black plaster. It became clear to us what had happened as we sat in the dark. Our beloved queen was gone. We were now alone for the first time in an eternity. I couldn’t help but relive those two hours over and over again and ask myself the same questions. Where was she going? What came after the sun saturated days? Why, why was she leaving us, why would she do this? Were we not good enough, loyal enough? After the cycle of questions I just stared. I stared into these lack lustered smoky clouds but that only brought more questions. Who will fill these hollow clouds and revive them with an old vibrancy the way she did? I read about clouds like these before, clouds that “rain” but I could never imagine what something like that would look like. How will this land look when the rain begins? Could it be worse than this? I can’t understand what has happened but one thing is clear; I can’t stay here. I have to get away from this chaotic crowd before their madness consumes me. Somehow I managed to make myself forget that something like this could happen, I knew this could come, but I don’t want to live without the light, without her light. Chapter 2: Runaway When I arrived, my parakeet yellow cottage was now a grimy mustard color and my sunflower garden had turned into a patch of crumpled brown papers. This just confirmed my new reality; everything in Terra Somnium was truly ruined. I couldn’t stand to see anymore of these new transformation, so I quickly ran into my house to avoid looking anywhere else. I immediately went to what I needed to do. I grabbed anything that seemed important to me and threw it into a suitcase. Pictures of better times along with my nicest clothes, except for my favorite coat; that cotton candy blue coat with four pockets stayed on me. I put one foot in the doorway before seeing the lackluster garden in the front yard, then I remembered I’ll be needing food, who knows how long I’ll be away. Then I ended up in the kitchen crying one more time as I threw some fruits and bread into a bag. Before putting it all away and throwing the case in my trunk, I stood at the gate of my home and took one last good look, as if I was taking it all in like a big breath and letting it out. After that small moment of nostalgia there was no time to waste. I got into my lilac bug of a car and drove full speed in the opposite direction of the corrupted city, I watched from my rear view mirror as my beloved home became smaller and darker until my only sights were the dim lights of the lost blue neighborhoods. It wasn’t long until I arrived at the biome borderlines. It seems the plague hasn’t the other worlds as badly as it did in Terra Somnium, some of these places still had luster. The nearest world seemed to be Bruma. Never in my life have I left my land but now there is no choice but to pray and hope it’s better over there, there has to be something for me. Again I reminded myself there was no time to waste. I reluctantly drove through the breach and into Bruma. This place was so alien, so plain, and it all reminded me of how alone I was. It was a duochromatic landscape. Nothing but sickly pale blues and variations of white. I think what I’m seeing is snow. It’s just strange grainy mush for miles and coating the mountains and deceased trees. And the climate! It was so cold, the air prick at my skin and flush my face with roseblood. My hands-well I couldn't even feel them anymore, they were hard and stiff ironically just like the blocks of ice near me. The snow seemed to form a gradient to cut off the road, I had to stop the car in the middle of lifeless territory. I didn’t know what else to do, I just locked myself in the car and prayed it was warmer in there than it was outside. As I clasped my hands together and brought them towards my lips like a prayer for warmth, I saw something in the distance. The mountains split down the middle with a perfect line and opened up like a celestial gate. It appears the people here live hidden. I slowly stepped out of the car to get a clearer view and I stole a glimpse of the incognito city living behind these mysterious mountains before they closed again. It baffled me to think so, but it was actually beautiful in a way. It seemed I was too lost in the wonder because by the time I looked away there were two people staring at me. They even called me out but I didn’t even hear them. The two seemed to be twins. They both had the same icy eyes and white hair, except for the girl her hair was much longer, all the way to her her waist. “I’ve never seen you before, where are you coming from?” she said. Her brother observed me with a perplexed face while she spoke, until he finally spoke up. “What are you wearing? You’re going to freeze to death with those on.” “I-I came from Terra Somnium, I-I don’t-did you not see what happened? It’s terrifying, it’s apocalyptic, my home has transformed into some new dark dimension.” I stuttered. “It’s so cold here, how do you live with this?” I sighed. “Terra Somnium? Well that explains it all!” she said almost laughing. “We have no clue what you’re talking about but it sure looks like you’ve gone through hell. Why don’t-” he added. “Wait what do you mean by “transformed into some new dark dimension” everything looks the same from here.” she interrupted. “Don’t you see it? The sky, the valleys, the buildings, everything! It’s a monochromatic horror! Everything is ruined, all the colors, the light, the warmth, it’s all been replaced with black and gray.” I say as if stating the obvious. She turned to her brother and they both mumbled to each other. They made some strange faces, I’m sure they were talking about me, they probably think I’m odd and out of my mind. But this was the first interaction I’ve had in awhile so in a way it was a bit nice, even if it was a situation like this. Again I began to get a bit lost in my mind until I saw that the siblings had finished their little private discussion. They turned to me and said, “Ok first things first. What is your name? I’m Auden and this is my brother Rydi.” “I’m Erro.”