Air. Entrapped – water swirling, choking – reality shaping into-

         Water – taking control –

          can’t –

          where is light –

          help – please –

          I want my mommy –

          I’m breaking ripping apart blood blood everywhere no no I don’t –

          I’m scared I’m scared please make it stop –

          I'M GOING TO BREAK IN TWO AND SPLIT OPEN AND POUR OUT-

~

Lily opened her eyes.

           Above her, the sky swirled into tight coils of purple and blue like a sketched painting. The grass tickled her skin as she lay within the silky strands, listening to the sound of what must be the sea. She sat up. Around her, were fields and smooth hills. In the distance, was the milky white sea and tall buildings that rose from the waters, slowly bobbing with the waves. Above the sea, a ripe full moon dipped in purple tint overwhelmed the sky. Lily stood up, dressed in her winter nightgown, a dress of stripes that fell to her shins. Despite the cold air, she was warm in her oversized and fluffy gown.

She felt so small, standing in that vast field, all alone. Where am I, she thought. She felt the same pressure on her, like being underwater but able to breathe. That pressure always was there in her dreams, and so she assumed this was a dream. However, there was something crisp about her surroundings that felt like reality.

           Was it Moon?

            It felt like Moon, yet there was no one around and she wasn’t in the usual spawn area. Had she found a new area of Moon without realizing it? Lily couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there though.

“Hello!” Lily called out. Her voice echoed across the expanse. It made her jump. She took a deep breath, starting to feel wary of moving from her established safety spot. Lily started down the hill, toward the sea. As she drew closer she could see more and more what was in the waters. It wasn’t the moonlight that made the sea look white, but the water itself. It was a white smooth cream that splashed and foamed with the wind. Little yellow sparks jumped up from the crashed waves that slid along the sand, like popping candy.

Lily arrived at the beach and dug little holes into the sand with her toes. The sand was also a brilliant white and seemed finely sieved. She looked along the length of the beach, as far as her eyes could. There was still nothing but blinding white on white. The waves came in, gently sliding across the sand and onto Lily’s toes. The water was warm and made Lily sigh in relief. The water hugged her ankles, sent warmth through her body. Getting a closer look, the yellow sparks were tiny stars and they jumped up popping on Lily’s legs. It was an abrupt heat, a nice contrast to the warm coziness of the water.

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“Where is everybody...” Lily mumbled. Despite the beauty, the warmth surrounding her, she couldn’t feel safe with no one around. Along the beach, there were no signs of other kids being there. No blankets or picnic baskets or floaties in the water. The buildings that bobbed in the water seemed huge now that she was on the beach. They were crumbling from the top; large and small chunks of concrete fell into the sea with a faraway splash.

Lily had been walking a long time before she saw a shadow, or a figure, in the distance, standing and facing the sea. She started to run, waving her hand at the stranger and calling out. Lily was almost to the person when her head hit something and she fell hard, bewildered. When she looked up after shaking off the dizziness there was some type of murky wall in front of her. It was like a wall of water that bubbled and moved around. It stretched up high into the sky and then curved, shaping a large dome. Lily was outside this dome. Eventually, the dome’s walls disappeared, until she put her hands on it and the water swished around agitated.

“Hey! Hey, please! Can you hear me?” Lily yelled. The stranger was a girl, long dark hair that flew wildly in the wind that had picked up. She seemed so familiar to Lily. Something about the way she stood – it wasn’t something Lily could really explain, she just knew. “Please! Please help me - I’m stuck!”

The stranger turned to Lily, hair flying away to reveal her face. Lily stopped yelling – words struggled in her throat.

“Riley?” she called.

Riley Abbot was Lily’s best friend. They attended the same school and lived in the same neighborhood. Riley was the fire that burned bright in the night. She was so expressive, so lively when it came to the imagination. It was only Riley who brought out the mystical beings and brand-new worlds that Lily was otherwise too shy to share.

“Riley! Riley, it’s me, Lily!”

Riley stared back at Lily, not moving from her spot. Her brown eyes were dark like burnt wood. She was wearing her favorite pajama set, the ones with stars on them. Her loose pajama pants flapped against her legs. Lily was breathing hard from yelling, her hands planted on the dome wall. Riley wasn’t going to help her.

Riley’s lips parted, she was saying something, but the wind was so strong and Lily could barely keep her eyes on Riley’s lips to read them.

Don’t....It’s.......Bye......

From the corner of her eye, Lily saw something speeding toward Riley from the hills. It was big, but fast, running on all fours. It was covered in black smoke, the trails of it whisked into the air. Lily started to bang on the dome walls, sending pulses of water shooting outward along the dome wall. She screamed and yelled at Riley, to move, to look, to do something anything. Riley just looked back at Lily, her eyes dull, her lips set straight, unfazed by the strong wind.

           She was so relaxed, despite the beast charging for her. It had formed the head of a wolf covered in dark smoke with just the teeth and yellow eyes stood out. Riley was like a rag doll as the beast clamped down on her neck. Her arms flung up lifelessly as she and the beast plunged into the sea. A large cloud of smoke puffed up and shot out like a big bomb.

            Lily was wracked with sobs, wailing and pressing her face against the dome. She clenched her eyes shut, afraid to see her best friend suffer before her. Lily doubled over with the pain of heavy sobs, clutching at her stomach. When she looked up again, her eyes wet and her nose dripping, she didn’t see Riley anymore. The waves were as calm as they had been. The sand was undisturbed. Lily gasped for air, unable to move from where she was, fresh tears came down again. She wanted to go home. Why was she there? Why was Riley there? She wanted to be in her bed, and not dream, not be so alone. Her chest felt so much pain.

            And then, from the sea, where Riley had sunk into, she rose up.

            She was cloaked in black and her eyes were the wolf.

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