"IF THIS ISN'T A DREAM, THEN…"
*****
"This…" The girl balanced herself on all fours atop the bed as she scanned the room. Aesthetically decorated with varnished wooden furnishing. The walls, while wooden, looked sturdy and were secured to the brick pillars supporting the house, giving off a sense of security and safety. The room was illuminated by the morning rays coming in through the window.
If the girl were a little more delusional than she already was, she would think that this is just another one of her dreams, in her opinion. But thankfully, she was not.
The dreams she enjoyed would always involve at least one of the people she loved and adored. There were never any exceptions to this. Additionally, her dreams are not as vivid and real as what she's currently experiencing.
Which brings the question…
"Where am I?"
And to answer such a question, she would need to explore this… wherever this is.
"Are the walls… wood? That's… the first time I'm seeing one." She's never seen a room like it, more used to the polished cement walls covered in paint that kept her safe from the world. Even before she was permanently admitted to the hospital, she could count on one hand how many times she left her room. That includes the times she had to go to the hospital, as her doctor would usually be the one coming over.
Gently, she allowed her feet to dangle down the side of the bed before setting them on the ground. She wrapped the blanket around her torso and secured it with a knot before she gently slid down the bed onto the smooth, wooden floor.
She let out a short sigh of relief before looking around the room once more, eyeing for something of interest that would help her understand her situation. Next to a wide dresser was a shelf full of thick books. Books that could give a clue or a hint regarding her curious situation.
With an objective in mind, the girl crawled on all fours toward the shelves, grateful that it had books even on the lowest shelves.
Upon reaching the shelves, she sat on the ground upright while leaving space in front of her.
She reached out for the thinnest book that she could reach and pulled on its thick and old leather cover, letting it fall onto the ground in front of her with a loud thud. She corrected its position, trying and failing to read its title. Not minding it, being already used to not understanding written language, the girl opened the book and, again, failed to understand anything.
Flipping through the pages, the girl hummed in confusion.
"Where are the pictures?" She couldn't help but mutter in annoyance.
She continued to flip through the ineligible words for a minute or two, only coming along strange circles and symbols that she failed to discern the use of.
Seeing no more purpose in looking at the book, the girl turned around and scanned the room once more. Looking for anything noteworthy. Her golden eyes landed their gaze on the wooden door decorated with multiple hanging trinkets and intricate swirling patterns.
Seeing no harm in leaving the room, since she could just come back in if she found nothing, the girl turns around and crawls once more. Abandoning the book without closing or returning it to the shelf.
With gentle and quiet steps, the girl approached the door.
Seeing that the door handle was too high up for her current posture, the girl raised herself with the wall's assistance, leaning against it so she could stand on her knees.
"Curse being short…" she muttered under her breath as she stretched her arm upward to reach the unusually high handle. With some effort and even more stretching, she managed to hook a finger over the handle before pulling it down with her weight. Thankfully, the handle wasn't so hard to turn or her finger would've lost its grip on it. She took ahold fully of the now lowered handle and pulled it backward, opening the door.
She took a peak through the small opening she made. Seeing just a normal hallway, she fully opened the door and crawled outside the room.
To her immediate front, parallel with the door behind her was a door with a similar design, with the exception of the trinkets. To the far left, at the end of the hallway, was another door with a much plainer design. On the walls were two paintings of flowers she couldn't recognize. She paid those no mind and focused more on the stairs to her right.
Not entirely sure of what should be done, the girl simply stopped thinking about it and crawled toward it. Thankfully, the steps were quite low and there were wooden railings, she could easily slide down each step. Similar to how she got off the bed earlier.
Having made some progress going down the stairs, the girl was given a view of the spacious lower floor. A part of it, at least. Much like the room she was in a minute earlier. She gazed upon a neatly decorated room that she could only describe as a living room based on the furnishing.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The girl stops examining the room and resumes her current task; going down the stairs. It wasn't easy, but exerting herself after so long was quite a fun challenge. She would need to take a rest now that she reached the end though, since she's already tired— wait.
"I did all that and yet…" The girl pressed her hand against her flat chest and observed her breathing or heartbeat. Finding both quite normal, the girl was in disbelief. "I don't feel tired?"
"Now that I've noticed, I don't think I should even be able to lift my own body to sit up, so how did I…?"
The girl gasped as a thought, a question, popped into her mind.
"Maybe…" The girl looked down at her bare legs, her lips shaking with excitement forming a smile. "Maybe I can walk?"
The girl's small hands immediately gripped the railings, using them to balance herself as she pushed herself up with her legs. To her surprise, it was an easy feat. Emboldened, the girl straightened her legs and finally stood straight.
The girl's smile widens, no longer shaking, reaching from ear to ear. Growing cheeky, the girl slowly unwrapped her fingers from the railings and balanced herself with no trouble. Filled with confidence, the girl took a step forward, now panting due to excitement rather than exhaustion. With great enthusiasm, the girl took another step, or at least, she attempted to, as she fell forward with a squeak. She barely managed to stop her fall with her arms and saved herself from a painful faceplant.
"Okay… maybe not so soon, it's been a literal decade since I last planted my feet on the floor. Even more for when I last walked." The girl recovered groggily, standing on both feet once more, arms stretched outward as she balanced herself. "I can stand, at least."
Now more secure and having calmed herself, she dived back into her thoughts.
"Could this really be a dream…?" The girl's gaze was drawn to her legs, hope returning to her eyes after its decade-long absence. "If it's not, then…"
The girl giggled to herself in happiness the thought brought to her.
"Ah, but I gotta know where I am, still." She perked up and carefully walked toward the window, almost falling before immediately recollecting and rebalancing herself.
Upon reaching the window, she leaned against the wall and looked outside. Immediately, her eyes widened at the sight. "Wait, is that snow!?"
Indeed, the ground, along with the trees, is partially covered in pure white snow.
"Ah." The girl looks down on herself and her pitiful state of dress. "I probably shouldn't get out there if I don't wanna get sick."
"Speaking of which, what happened to my disorder? If this is not some hyper-realistic dream, did that miserable thing just disappear?"
The girl hummed and turned around with a sweet smile to look at the interior of the house once more. "Well, I'll just enjoy the moment. It's what I do best before I inevitably return to reality, after all."
The girl discarded her objective of finding out where she had woken up and decided that her main task was to now explore this house to its fullest. After all, what's better to do than some adventure in an unknown place?
A lot of things, actually. But those are mostly under exploration. Probably.
With a goal set, the girl does her best to navigate through the room. Trying out how soft the sofas were, trying and failing to read the books on the nearby shelf, opening the empty drawers and cabinets in the hope of discovering something, throwing some firewood into the fireplace with great struggle. Why was that thing lit in the first place?
Having satisfied herself with the current room, the girl heads for the next room separated from the living room with a simple beaded curtain.
The next room was the kitchen, as obvious as it already was, she would be too much of an ignorant girl if she didn't know what a kitchen was. She has seen one, although that's the only time that she did, she could recognize a pot when she sees one.
Although…
"Why is this so huge?" She whispered in confusion as she carefully walked toward the so-called pot in the middle of the room. It was attached to the ceiling with chains on each side, hanging over what she assumed was a stove on the floor.
Having focused herself on the large pot in the room, she failed to notice the strange things inside of jars neatly organized on the shelves to her right. But that might be for the best, as some of those things were quite grotesque.
On closer inspection, this thing could probably fit five of her and still have room to move around by a bit. The hanging pot reached just below her nose, allowing her to tip-toe just enough to see its inside. Empty.
But that wasn't the point, it was to prove that she was tall enough to at least see what could be inside! Which, again, was nothing, but that's not the point. Good grief.
"Weird kitchen." Was her honest opinion. Having enough of looking at the pot, she decides that now is a good time to look to her right and see the shelves.
"Ew." She couldn't help but mumble as she approached the shelves, her walking becoming more and more steady as she progressed through the house.
Despite what she previously mumbled, her expression remained completely unbothered as she came near the shelves. They were attached to the wall beyond her reach, so she couldn't get a closer look at the contents of those jars despite her curiosity.
"Maybe they're condiments or spices." With one last comment, the girl went to the other side of the room, where planters were neatly placed next to each other while some were hanging from the ceiling, all varying in size.
Planted on them were colorful flowers and strange-looking herbs.
She did not dare touch any of them and stayed a meter away. She might be dumb and ignorant, but not to the point that she would approach unknown plants that should really not be in a kitchen.
Which makes her question if this is really a kitchen. What are the chances that it isn't? Maybe if she looked at the other room—the last room on this floor—then maybe she'd find the actual kitchen.
No longer comfortable with staying in this room, the girl walked through the beaded curtain and left. She went through the living room with steady and long strides and walked through another beaded curtain, entering the final room of the floor.
Lo and behold! An actual kitchen. She immediately recognized the utensils hanging on the wall, the stove, the furnace, and the fridge.
The first thing she approached was the table near her right. Thankfully, it was quite low, just above her collarbone. And this was enough to allow her to see the piece of paper sitting atop the clean kitchen table.
Picking it up showed that whatever was written on it was addressed to her.
"Dear Milya," was what was written at the top.
*****