Regina Paul Author

I race into Barbara's shop after class. I need to learn how to turn a mirror into a portal now before the false face can put his plan into action.

He already has.

I look down to see Sam sitting in front of me his eyes worried.

"What do you mean?" I say sharper than I mean to.

He already has put his plan into action. He has her.

"What? What do you mean?"

He has your friend.

"Crap, crap, crap! Barbara!"

"Calm yourself, Leilani. Take a few deep breaths with me."

Barbara comes from the back and takes my hands. "You have to be calm to do this Leilani, opening a portal takes concentration and a centered mind. If you're frazzled, frantic and afraid, I cannot send you through a portal."

"But I need to go now!" I wail, my hands trembling in hers. I don't want Sarah to be harmed. Even though I only met her the one time, it was enough for me to become attached.

"Leilani, breath with me. You can't go in your current condition."

Even though my mind is racing and I'm terrified, I know that Barbara is right. If I can't calm down and concentrate I won't be able to do anything to help Sarah. Plus we were just planning on starting my lessons, it could be days or weeks before I can learn the magic to create and walk through a portal using a mirror.

"Remember, time doesn't work the same in the land of the Fae as it does here. What could be minutes for Sarah, could quite possible be weeks, months or even years here. So breathe."

What else can I do? I know she is right but I still don't like it. I take deep breaths with her until my hands stop shaking and my mind stops racing. I can do this. I know I can.

"Okay, I feel better." I say softly before disengaging our hands.

"Good. Now do you want to tell me about your dream?"

I'm not even surprised that she knows about my dream and I tell her what I can remember.

"He wants to turn both worlds into barren wastelands." I end my description of the dream.

Barbara nods. "Yes, he's quite capable of doing it too, if we don't stop him."

"So how do we do that?" I ask hoping she will say it's time to start my lessons, but she surprises me.

"We wait, and you learn as much as I can teach you about not just portals but your magic."

"But I don't have any magic. I told you this before, I'm nobody special, and I don't have any special powers."

Barbara shakes her head. "Girl, you have Fae blood, that means that while you may have had no real powers before, your gifts have now been woken up by meeting Sam and myself. Everything happens for a reason, Leilani. But don't worry, I won't leave you without proper training. You have no idea of the power you possess."

"So when can you teach me how to use a mirror to open a portal."

Barbara has been leading me towards the back of the bookstore and her break room during our conversation.

She sighs and then says, "Let's have some tea and chat. There is far more to learning what you want to learn than just opening a portal. Your energy is all over the place so the first thing we need to do is teach you how to properly center yourself."

I pull out a chair and sit down. I know I'm not going to be learning anything about mirrors or portals today. As much as I want to get to Sarah, it's not happening today and I don't have time to try and find another teacher. Honestly, I don't want another teacher. Even though I haven't known Barbara for long I trust her, and I definitely trust Sam as well.

I watch as she makes my tea the way I like it with a bit of honey. She sits the cup down in front of me before sitting down herself across from me.

"So, tell me Leilani, have you ever taken a yoga class?" She asks me.

I've thought about taking yoga in the past, but I'm always so busy that I never bothered. "No, I can't say that I have."

"Too bad," Barbara mutters, "that would make teaching you to center yourself much easier."

"Can I learn from an online video?" I ask. I know YouTube has a lot of yoga videos.

"I think starting a regular practice of yoga would be helpful. Yoga teaches you how to breath properly for centering and the asanas or movements teach you focus. Try to find a teacher who focuses on breathing and easy beginning asanas. You'll learn to get centered and calm much more quickly than if you try it without. After you've been practicing yoga for a bit, then I'd like you to have a few Reiki sessions with a friend of mine to get your energy aligned."

"Okay." Now it's my turn to sigh.

"I have something for you." Barbara says, getting up and pulling a book from a bookshelf I don't remember seeing the last time I was here.

"What is it?" I ask as I take the obviously ancient tome.

"A book on the history of the Fae. Humans think it's just a mythology book, but it's their actual history and this particular book was written by a sixth generation full-blooded Fae whose family lives in this realm rather than in the Fae realm. Of course no one knows that or knows that he's six hundred years old, but that doesn't matter. What's in this book will teach you the major players of the Fae world. This is your homework for the next two weeks, Leilani. Read the book, start practicing yoga and we'll meet again in two weeks."

"But I thought you were going to start teaching me about..." I'm not happy about this extra load of work on top of my normal school load, nor about having to wait. I had thought we were to begin today.

You are beginning today, Leilani. This is the start, you cannot just jump into learning magic, about your powers, and mirrors without the proper background training.

Sam's thoughts came to me and I looked down to see him cleaning himself at my feet.

"Okay, I guess there's nothing I can do to change your mind and do this faster?" I say, looking at Barbara hopefully.

"To send you into the Fae realm unprepared would be a death sentence, even with your new powers." Barbara said firmly. "Come back in to weeks and not before, and Leilani I will be testing you, so make sure you read the book and do your yoga because I will know if you haven't."

Not that I was really planning on not doing those things but she was making it clear that if I did not do them I would then be causing the delay in getting to Sarah myself. I wouldn't do that.

"I'll do them, Barbara. I'm just not sure how I'm going to handle this on top of everything else I have to do."

"Call me if you need more time, dear. I want you properly prepared before entering the world of the Fae. If you're not, you won't survive. Not all Fae are kind like my friend who wrote this book, many are deceptive, and cruel. They live a very long time and many think nothing of playing with humans, and I don't mean that in a good way. That's most likely how you came by your Fae blood, some Fae lord playing in the human realm. He probably doesn't even know or care he left a child behind."

I'd never thought of that before, who the one was who gave me my Fae blood, I mean. So far I'm not very impressed with what I know about the Fae, and I certainly don't want to be one of them. I just want to find and help Sarah and stop the False Face from putting his plan into motion.

"Put that book in your bag dear, and guard it well. There are not very many editions around anymore."

I lifted the heavy book and slid it down into my backpack. The thing weighed a ton, or so it felt like.

When I sat back up, I found myself with a lap full of cat. I stroked my hand down Sam's back.

Scratch behind my ears?

I laughed. "Sure, Sam" I scratched behind both ears and he began to purr.

Barbara smiled indulgently and then got up to go out front when we heard the bell ring.

I spent another thirty minutes petting Sam before I decided that Barbara not coming back into the little break room meant we were done for the day.

Time to go home and start reading the book she'd loaned me.

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I'm so excited to tell you about my newest release Their Omega! This is a story I've been working on for a while. If polyamory or the suggestion of mpreg isn't your thing than read no further. But if it is and I hope it is, here's a taste!

This book is the first book in Leap of Faith Publishing's Lite Delights series, hot, short stories that are only 99 cents! As such they are only available from the Leap of Faith Publishing e-book store. Just click the cover to be taken to the sales page.

Blurb:

Could the two sexy alpha wolves that have been checking him out be his mates?

Devon is young at eighteen, and an omega wolf. Born to two lone alphas he has never been part of a pack. However, that has not stopped him from watching two gay alpha lone wolves in his town and dreaming. They’ve been watching him too, and Devon can only hope now that he’s old enough, his romantic dreams are about to come true. Will Ben and Hal take him as their mate, or are they only looking for a good time with a hot young omega?

Excerpt:

I remember the first time I saw them out the window of our break room. They were walking into a bar across from the grocery store I worked in, and while they didn’t hold hands exactly I knew they were close, especially when one guy’s hand brushed the other guy’s ass. I popped wood seeing that and had to put a book in my lap so no one saw. A book I’d been reading while sitting with a few co-workers in the break room.

I watched until they disappeared inside the bar, but not before one of them turned around, grinned and winked at me. I felt my face heat before I dropped my eyes, and tipped my head to one side submissively. My parents always told me if I ever came into contact with alphas this was the way to show respect. Since these were the first two I’d ever seen let alone met, it was the first time I’d felt the instinct to do so. When I looked up again, they’d both disappeared inside the darkened bar.

That was three years ago when I was fifteen. I just turned eighteen last week and I'm still watching Hal and Ben walk into the same bar just like they do every Saturday afternoon. The same as they have every Saturday for the last three years. I've never had the nerve to go up and talk to them, but I’ve caught them watching me just as closely as I've watched them when I thought they didn’t know I was looking. I knew I was playing with fire, I know I’m still playing with fire. I want them, boy do I want them. They’re tall, dark and hairy, one of my kinks. I love bears, love the way they look, love to fantasize about their beards rubbing across my body, just the thought will make my nipples stand at attention. I love to dream about what their hot hairy bodies will feel like rubbing against mine, what it will feel like to be trapped between them, one with his cock in my ass, and one in front of me sucking my cock maybe, while he twists my nipples tight. I like the idea of a little pain, it gets me off. Nothing extreme mind you, but having my nipples clamped, or my ass spanked? Yeah, those kinds of fantasies are my favorite, and for the last three years, those two alphas have starred front and center in every single one.

Too bad it’s all just a dream. No alpha is ever going to be interested in me…

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I don't know where I am...I know I'm dreaming again but I don't recognize this landscape. Unlike the other dreams where I see Sarah, this landscape is barren and dead looking. There is nothing for as far as I can see but a flat brown landscape with black skeleton trees whose branches reach towards a black sky. I don't like this place and I want nothing more than to leave it, but there is a reason I'm here, there has to be. As with my other dreams, I am hyper aware.

I begin walking though I have no idea where I'm going. There is nothing I can see other than the black, dead trees that look as though a good stiff wind will uproot what little is left of them beneath the dusty brown ground, knocking them over to lie looking even more dead if that were possible.

There are no stars in the black sky, and I'm surprised I can see as there does not seem to be any light sources and yet I can see as though I were walking at home on a gray day with rain falling down. I would give anything to see a set of clouds heavy with rain. In my imagination it would wash the heavy, dusty brown earth away to reveal soil live with the richness of the possibilities of growing things. The rain would decompose the dead black trees returning them to the soil buried beneath the ugly dead looking brown earth. In my mind's eye I can see the live soil beneath it, rich with small lights that I somehow know are very small crystals. This soil speaks to me, singing a song only I can hear. How can I hear it?

You have always been able to hear the song of the true earth.

The voice is soft, but it isn't Sarah's voice, this is someone else.

Who are you? I think, somehow knowing she will hear me.

I hear tinkling laughter.

It is not yet time for you to know me. Just know that this place is what the dark fae would create for himself and those like him in both my world and yours if he is not stopped.

Do you mean the false face? I think to the invisible presence.

There is a pause, a deep breath which I can hear before an answer comes. Yes.

Who is this new person entering my dream universe and why will she not identify herself? I don't like it. Too much has been happening to me lately for me to trust anything or really anyone. Except maybe Sarah, Pokey and Darius. For some reason I know I can trust them.

Is Sarah okay? I mean I may as well ask her since she's revealed herself.

Suddenly into the dead brown land a heavy wind rolls through the landscape pushing what looks like tumbleweeds that are four times the size as those I could find in the waking world, more brown dust, and what looks like trash. Wrappers, old papers, empty pop cans and more. And it's heading right towards me!

Sarah is mine! The same sinister voice I'd heard before, ominous, filled with gravel and hostile answers, as though to shout over any answers the other voice might give me.

Anger surges through me. No she's not! She's mine! I open my mouth to yell the words when I begin to hear a sound off in the distance.

It's my alarm clock in the waking world. My eyes pop open and then close again as glaring daylight nearly blinds me. I reach over and slap the snooze button on my clock. I crack one eyelid slightly open and look at the clock. It's six am and I'm going to be late not only for class, but for my first lesson in how to turn any mirror into a portal.

Do I have a new ally or is this just a trick of the false face? But then why would he tell me what his plans are to make both the fae world and my world a barren dust bowl where nothing can live?

With more questions than answers I throw back the covers and head for the shower. It's time to begin another day...

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I just spent weeks staring into mirrors including the ones in my apartment. So far nothing so I'm beginning to think it has to do with particular mirrors and not just any mirror, or maybe there's something I'm supposed to do to activate a mirror.

Today I'm skipping class and going to one of those New Age bookstores downtown. Maybe I can find a spell or something that will help me turn one of my mirrors into a portal.

I've never been to one of these shops before, truthfully I've always avoided them. I have enough paranormal in my life without reading about it. But then I didn't know what the dreams meant or that I was traveling to the world of the fae. Now I've got this whole puzzle to figure out and apparently if I want to save Sarah and break her curse I need to find a damned mirror or figure out how to bespell one so it will open a portal. I think I'm about to lose my mind!

The shop is called BeSpelled New Age Book Shoppe and sits on a corner by itself. There's a broom over the doorway so I suspect that though it's called a New Age store, the owner must be a witch. The door is painted a deep purple and outside walls are painted black. As I cross the street and walk to the front door my eyes are drawn to a set of beautiful golden eyes starting from a cute black face. Apparently the shop has a resident cat.

I've been waiting for you.

I look around, expecting to see someone, but there's no one but the cat in the window whose eyes meet mine.

"No freakin' way!" I whisper beneath my breath.

Stop dilly dallying Leilani, I need to show you something, hurry up and come inside.

With those words the cat jumps down from the window and disappears. As I reach out grab the handle and holding down the old fashioned button on top, I push. Bells tinkle merrily. The door is heavier than I expected and I shut it carefully once I'm inside. I can't believe I'm doing this, or that a black cat is talking to me.

I feel something brush up against me and when I look down, the black cat is winding around and around my feet, rubbing up against my legs the entire time. Then it stops and sits in front of me.

I'm Sam, Barbara's familiar. I can help you with your quest.

I crouch down still staring into the cat's beautiful golden eyes. "Hello Sam. I can use the help, thank you." I mean what else am I going to say to a telepathic sentient cat?

Sam's fur looks so soft I reach out and begin petting him. A low rumbling purr rolls out of him and his eyes close in ecstasy. Mmmmm...that's wonderful. Don't stop!

I giggle at his words then a shadow falls across us.

"I see you found Leilani, Sam." A woman's amused voice breaks into Sam and I's getting to know each other petting.

I look up and find a smiling red haired woman with bright kelly green eyes. She's wearing a beautiful forest green long sleeved velvet blouse with a long black broomstick skirt and black fringed ankle boots. Pentagram earrings and necklace are her only adornments.

"I"m Barbara, and I see you've already met Sam, Leilani."

I give Sam one more pet and quick rub under his chin for good measure and then I stand up. "Hello Barbara. Well clearly you know who I am, though I have no idea how that's the case."

"Why don't you come in the back for a cup of tea and I'll explain. Come along, Sam, I have some tuna for you. You were right about Leilani coming today, and you deserve a reward."

Yum! Tuna!

I laugh at Sam's thoughts and watch as Barbara turns her sign from Open to Closed. That might have made me nervous with other people, but there is something about Barbara's energy that puts me at ease. This woman means me no harm.

I follow her to a doorway towards the back that has filmy curtains covering it in shades of purple and indigo with small silver dots all over reminding me of a midnight sky that I saw once when visiting the desert.

Behind the curtains was a small kitchen with a table and chairs. The whole set up was magical and someone had painted the table and chairs to match the midnight sky of the curtains covering the doorway. The walls had fairy, elf and forest murals reminding me of some of the fantasy art I'd seen online.

The small stove was a mellow yellow color and above it was a microwave on a shelf. Next to the stove was a small refrigerator and to the right was a sink with a cupboard above and below.

"I like to do a little baking in here sometimes." Barbara said as she filled two coffee mugs with water and put them in the microwave to heat. "What kind of tea do you like? I have just about every flavor."

"Do you have peppermint?"

"Of course. Do you take any sweetner?"

"A little honey." I answered.

Barbara put out a ceramic container with tea bags in it and a small pot of honey and two teaspoons before she turned and went to the small refrigerator and took out a pouch of Bumblebee Tuna. "Do you want me to warm this up, Sam?"

Sam tilted his head to one side as though thinking. Cold is fine.

"Very well then." Barbara emptied the pouch of tuna onto a small plate and set it on the floor for Sam. I watch as he runs across the floor and begins daintily eating the tuna. Mmmmm....mmmmmm....tuna!

"He really loves tuna, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yes. Sam is a rescue. I found him when he was a kitten at the local shelter. No one else realized he was telepathic because they didn't know how to listen for him. Most people don't, but you do, don't you?"

"I guess. I didn't know I knew how to listen for him until he first talked to me."

"Ah, a latent sensitive. That's not unusual. Animals have a way of waking latents up to their gifts."

"What's a latent?" As I speak, the microwave dings and Barbara goes to retrieve the two mugs of hot water.

"A latent is someone with powers who doesn't know they have powers or how to use them."

"I don't have any powers." I deny what she's saying. If I had powers, I'd use them to rescue Sarah and break her curse. I'm just me, and it's a fluke that I can hear Sam.

Barbara sets a mug down in front of me and gestures to the tea bags, pointing to one that has a green wrapper that says Peppermint on the front. I reach forward and grab it,easily tearing the top off and pulling out the teabag. I drop it into the water and watch as the light brown color swirls through the water slowly.

"Yes, you do. You may not know how to use them yet, but you do have them. Sam and I can help you hone them so you can help Sarah."

How does she know about Sarah? "How do you.." But Barbara cuts me off. "I'm a generational witch and a seer. I saw Sarah and know that she has been cursed by the false face."

"What's a seer?"

"A seer is someone who gets glimpses of other places, events, times, the future and other things. It's complicated." Barbara tore open her own teabag, Jasmine, and dumped the teabag in her water.

My mind swirls with ideas and thoughts. Is that why I can see Sarah and the fae realm in my dreams, am I also a seer?

"No dear, you're not a seer. You only see Sarah and her surroundings in your dreams."

"How?"

"How did I know what you were thinking?" I nod. "Well, you were broadcasting your thoughts rather loudly, and the look on your face kind of said it all."

"So, how come I can see her and her realm?"

"You have Fae blood."

My mind goes blank for a minute. There's no way that's possible. My dad is Native Hawaiian, and my mom's family is originally from Ireland. I mean I know fairies and fae stories are from Ireland, but...that's just not possible.

"How is that possible?"

"The same way it's possible for you to hear Sam, and see the fae realm and talk to Sarah. You believe that what you're seeing in your dreams is real, right?"

"Well, yeah, I think so. I mean it has to be, right?"

"You're not sure, are you?"

I shrug. "I don't know, sometimes I'm absolutely certain, and others I think I'm losing my mind. I've had the dreams about Sarah my entire life. I didn't know what they meant, and then I had a dream where I was able to interact with her, and talk to her. That changed everything." I shake my head.

I feel something touch my leg and look down to find Sam with his paw on my leg. It is all real, Leilani, don't doubt yourself.

"Sam, you have no idea how out there this is for me."

Sam starts grooming himself now that he has my attention. It's the so-called real world that is unreal, Leilani. What you perceive as the real world is the illusion.

"That doesn't make sense." I say.

"Actually, Sam is right. Most of us go about our daily lives ignoring or not seeing because we don't want to, what is actually there. I saw you in visions visiting this shop for the last year, and a year before that, Sam told me that a young woman named Leilani was going to need our help. Drink your tea Leilani, before it gets cold." Barbara nodded to my cup.

I remove my tea bag and set it on a plate Barbara had set next to my cup when I wasn't paying attention. Then I take the little pitcher of honey and pour some into my cup, then stir it with my teaspoon before taking a sip. It was actually just right, not too hot, and not lukewarm. I take another sip or two thinking.

"So, how do I help her, how I do break the curse?"

I watch as Barbara drinks her tea and thinks. "I can't do it for you." She says finally.

Sure, of course she can't do it for me, that would be too easy, wouldn't it? I sigh, and put my cup down. "That figures. Can you teach me what I need to do and know to help her?"

Barbara looks thoughtful. "I believe so. I don't know fae magic, but I believe I can show you the witch way and the magic in your bloodline will do the rest. Who knows we may even alert one of your relatives and he or she can help you the rest of the way."

Now that really boggles my mind. Fae relatives? I don't even know if I believe her that I have fae blood, let alone the ability to contact relatives in the fae realm.

"Well, we won't know until we try. I think all of this is enough of a shock for one day. Why don't you finish your tea and then go to class. I know you have one this afternoon, though you skipped your morning class to come here."

I stare at her. Apparently there will be no secrets. I shrug, finish my tea in a few quick gulps and stand. "When can I come back?"

"Tomorrow is fine, dear, but don't skip your classes. Those lessons are just as important as what I will teach you. I know tomorrow is a light day for you, so come in the early afternoon and we'll begin your lessons in turning mirrors into portals."

"Any mirror?"

"Yes, the old immortal woman failed to tell you or learn herself for that matter, that any mirror can be turned into a portal. Being able to turn any mirror into a portal and being able to direct where that portal goes makes it easy to return home if things become too dangerous."

"You know about her too, huh?"

"Yes." Barbara said gently. "She didn't tell you her whole story. Her curse is easily solved but she is afraid of the solution and so instead refuses to do what must be done."

I open my mouth to ask more questions, but the older woman shakes her head. "Tomorrow, Leilani, tomorrow. You need to go or you'll miss your afternoon class. Sam and I will be here tomorrow."

She surprises me by giving me a quick gentle hug. I find I don't want to leave but clearly it's time to. I reach down and rub Sam under his chin and then leave following the path I used to come into the store earlier. Tomorrow is another day.

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I can't leave Sarah to her fate, and I believe deep down that she doesn't want me to. But how do I really enter the realm of the Fae? I have always been interested in the paranormal, kind of hard not to be when something paranormal has been happening to me all my life. I mean what would you do, if you knew that someone from some place else needed help? Would you just throw up your hands and say, "I can't do it, it's too hard?" Me either.

The first place I can think to go is the library on campus. I don't have internet in my tiny apartment, I can't afford it, and though I could get online on my phone, I don't have one of those fancy smart phones, mine is purely bare bones basic. It's a pre-paid cell phone and I'm only allowed 250 MB of data each month on my plan, and you can imagine how quickly you can eat that up. Struggling college student, remember?

Honestly, I'm not even sure where to start, but maybe I can research fairy tales and portals to begin with. Then maybe curses and how to reverse them. God, I sound like someone from one of those paranormal shows like Grimm or Once Upon a Time where a human finds out the fairy tale world is real.

I find a single computer off in the corner, thank god, all I need is one of my classmates seeing this research. I sit down and go to google and begin the research. As soon as I type in the question, "What is a portal?" I get all kinds of information on computer portals, or websites that have links to other websites. Not what I'm looking for. But then I find a definition that says a portal is a gate, or doorway. But I'm not thinking about just any old portal, I need to find out how to access a portal to the Fae world. Fat chance it would be this easy.

I find another website that references going to a fairy mound and saying something along the lines of,

"Let me in, let me in." or "Open the door, open the door." But I'm in America, where am I going to find a fairy mound? I mean maybe they're here, but I wouldn't know how to find one. Another site talks about creating a garden that's inviting to the fairy folk, but I live in an apartment building so that's out.

Hours later I am still unclear as to how to get myself over to the Fae realm from my own very ordinary human world.

"Och, dearie, are ya trying ta go to the fae realm?"

I think I jump about a foot before I turn and see a wizened old lady behind me adjusting her glasses. The lenses make her eyes look very big. She is wearing a dress with a flowered pattern and has wiry white hair.

"Um, no I'm just doing research for a paper." I lie. Something about the old woman makes me nervous though I cannot put my finger on it.

"Ya must be verra careful if ya go ta the land of the Fae." She admonishes. "Tis not a safe place for humans."

Then she leans toward me. "But if yer set on goin', a mirror is the best way." She nods sagely. "Tis also the safest, and will make returning easier."

I cannot help myself. "A mirror?" I whisper. Enthralled despite myself.

"Aye, just be sure ya know where ya come out on the other side, otherwise ya could be trapped and never get back home. Unless tis what you want?" She shrugged again. "Some humans choose ta go ta the Fae realm and stay, but I dinna recommend it, no I dinna."

"Why?"

The old woman seemed to realize she may have said too much and looked around nervously. "Because dearie, time passes much differently in the Fae realm. What ya think are days, could be years, and all ya love could be gone or aged decades while ya remain young and beautiful. The realm of the Fae be nothin' to mess with, be verra verra sure this what ya want and know where ya came in so ya can get back out."

"How do you know all this?" I ask, for I have the feeling she speaks from experience.

Her eyes cloud with memories. Then she said, "How old do ya think I be?"

Is this a trick question? "I don't know, eighty, maybe?" I guess.

She straightens her shoulders. "I be three hundred and fifty-five tomorra."

I gasp. "But...that's not possible!" I declare, sure now the old woman is messing with me.

She shakes her head sadly. "It be true, dearie. A side effect of living in the realm of the Fae for years and eating their food, taking their medicines. An evil sorcerer killed my Fae lover, and cursed me to live forever. When he returned me ta the human realm, the weight of the years I'd been gone aged me me, but still I cannot die." A tear slipped down her cheek. "Do not make the same mistake I did." She whispers, before shuffling away, a cane in one hand I had not seen before.

Before I could process what she said, she disappeared into the crowd. I look for her, but it is as though she was never here..

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I slump back down on my bed and watch the clock as it goes from 3:00 am to 3:01 am. What is happening to me, what are these strange dreams because now I'm not just dreaming of the girl and her wolves, but terrifying creatures that remind me of Iroquois false face masks come to life. Something is changing in my dreamscape, the current dream was not just a nightmare, and I know this deep down inside. But how is this even possible? Dreams are just that dreams, aren't they?

I throw one arm over my closed eyes. Thank God, it's early on a Saturday morning, and I have no work and no classes. I can sleep in, get up when I want and study when I want. Heck, I might even go and see a movie, no horror though!

I turn over and reaching out I make sure the alarm isn't set, I don't want to wake up at 5:00 am later on. Then I cuddle back down into my warm blankets and fortunately I easily fall back asleep.

***

What feels like seconds later, my eyes pop open. Bright sunlight nearly blinds me, as my senses are assaulted by the scents of hundreds of wild flowers. When my eyes finally adjust to the bright light I see that I am sitting in a field full of wild flowers, some of whose stalks are as tall as the top of my head.

"I've been waiting for you."

My head whips around so fast I can hear the bones in my neck crack and whiplash pain shoots down one side.

"Fuck that hurts!" I groan, my attention has been taken off the soulful voice. That is until gentle fingers pluck the muscles on the side with whiplash, and the pain begins to subside.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

I still can't see her, but I'm pretty sure who it is, especially when two wolves come romping into the wild flower field. Strangely I am not afraid of them. One of them plops down and puts his head in my lap, at least I think it's a him, before the other swipes one side of my face with his rough tongue before sitting down and cocking his head to one side as if to say, "Well aren't you going to pet me?"

I laugh, while they may be wolves, they're acting like great big puppies.

A slender hand reaches over my shoulder and begins scratching behind the ear of the wolf who is sitting in front of me. The wolf lets out a low whine of pleasure. "This is Pokey."

"Pokey?" I ask, I think that is a pretty ridiculous name for a wild wolf, but maybe she knows something I don't.

"Yes. She is always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, hence the name Pokey."

"Ah." I say, as if it makes perfect sense.

"And this is my Darius, he's the Alpha wolf." She says, and I guess that explains why the wolf whose head is in my lap, and who has the most beautiful gold eyes I've ever seen has the majestic name of Darius.

I smile down at the wolf in my lap, "Hello, Darius." I say, gently scratching the top of his head and around his ears. He sighs, and closes his eyes.

Just so Pokey won't feel slighted I lean forward holding my hand out so she can smell it. She licks my fingers and taking that as a sign that we are friends, I rub my hand under her chin and along her chest. She lifts her head back and gives what I can only surmise is a little happy doggy groan.

The girl with me, laughs. "You keep doing that, and they're going to leave me for you." She teases.

"I very much doubt that." I smile. She is still behind me and I cannot see her face, but her voice calms me.

"There, your neck should be better now." She removes her hand from where she continued to massage the pain away.

"It is, thank you."

"You're welcome." I feel her move around me until she is sitting in front of me next to Pokey. "And I am Sarah." She holds out one hand to me and I take it, squeezing it gently. She is even more beautiful in person than in my dreams. Raven hair cascading over her shoulders and down her arms, silver eyes and blood red lips. She is like something out of my most erotic fantasies. She is wearing a black and white corset dress that pushes up her breasts and creates some of the most wonderful cleavage I've ever seen. To top it off, she has a red cape over the ensemble. On her legs are white stockings and finally black flats with some kind of small silver buckles that have beautiful round filigree carved into them.

"It was very brave of you to confront him, but I want you to promise me you will never do so again."

I laugh nervously, I didn't confront him the first time. "Are you talking about the false face man in the dark forest?"

"Yes. He's dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt. Promise me you won't confront him again."

"Sarah, I didn't confront him the first time. I'm not sure why you think that." As much as I wanted to keep touching her, I drop her hand, slightly irritated she would think I would put myself into what had clearly been great danger if her demeanor was anything to go by.

"You didn't?" She seems surprised. "But I thought..." She shakes her head.

"You thought what?" I ask belligerently.

"That you were the one. Well, damn. That is that then." She moves as though she is going to stand. Not having any idea what is going on I grab her hand again.

"Hey wait a minute. Sarah, what do you mean the one? What are you talking about?"

"There's just no help for it then." She tries to shake my hand off, but though I'm small, I'm stronger than I look.

"Uh, uh. I want some answers Sarah." I looked deeply into her eyes and I can see she is wavering. "Listen, I've dreamed of you and your wolves every day of my life for the last twenty years, there has to be a reason, so tell me."

"You have?" Her eyes blaze with the fires of hope.

"Yes, nearly every night. Last night was the first time the dream was different. I didn't consciously seek out the false face. I just found myself there. Who is he, and why did I dream of him?"

"His name is Ciprian, and he's evil as they come." She said in a voice devoid of emotion though she held my hand so tightly I heard one knuckle crack. "I don't know why you would dream of him, but you wouldn't be the first person he used dreams to trap. You need to guard your dreams better."

I could scarcely believe I was talking to the girl from my dreams in a dream as though I were not dreaming right now this very second. "How do I guard my dreams?"

"You don't know how?"

"Not really no. You see where I come from dreams aren't real, and while some people believe dreams have meaning, most do not believe they are anything more than the subconscious hashing out the problems of the day while we sleep."

"Oh, that is a very dangerous belief to have. Dreams are real, Leilani, and they are often doorways to other realms."

"I believe you, I'm dreaming right now you know."

"You believe this is a dream?"

"I know it is, though it's very real."

Sarah shook her head. "Dear, dear Leilani, this is much more than a dream. You have traveled into another realm and become caught up in a spider web of lies created by Ciprian. He is toying with you and me."

"Stop speaking in riddles, what do you mean?"

Sarah took a deep breath. "I am cursed." She whispered.

"Cursed like in the fairytales?"

"Goddess, you're from the human world, you're human!" Sarah sounds utterly shocked.

"Well, yeah. What's so bad about that?"

Sarah frames my face with soft hands. She brings her face even closer to mine. "Dear, dear Leilani, this realm is not safe for humans.You have been dreaming and visiting the realm of the Fae your entire life if you what you tell me is true, and I have no reason not to believe you. Why Ciprian would involve a human in our battle I do not know, but you must return to your world now. You cannot dream of me anymore beautiful Leilani." She leans into me and puts her soft lips against mine, "Sweet Leilani." She whispers against my lips.

I crave to taste her breath and as though she hears my thoughts she opens her lips slightly and I swipe just inside with my tongue. She is the one who is sweet. I don't want to leave her. She pulls back from me.

"Dear one, if only we had time for more. I would do such wicked lovely things to you were I not cursed. If only you were not human. I believed you were Fae, or maybe Elven, but that was one of Ciprian's tricks. I have watched you as you have watched me. If you do not heed my words, he will trap you in this realm forever, and you will share my curse. You must wake up now, Leilani, and never return to this place. Wake dear one, wake never to dream of me again. Be safe, love." The words whisper against my lips.

I try to hold onto her, the wolves, a wild flower stem, anything, but it all becomes as smoke and as I begin to wake I hear an angry growl. Then I open my eyes to the plain cream of the walls of my bedroom. I know I will not take Sarah's advice. I cannot leave her to her curse as she wishes. I will have to find some way to go to the realm of the Fae for real, but I'm scared. What if I can't find a way to help her though?

No one will believe me if I ask for help. Humans no longer believe in fairytales, or the Fae.

A tear tracks down my face to fall on my pillow.

How am I going to help Sarah? Because I know I have to try.

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I'm dreaming again, I can always tell by the way I'm hyperaware of my surroundings. The forest around me is dark and quiet. Unlike a real forest, there are no sounds of animals rustling in the grasses or leaves, no hoot owls or scurrying of squirrels or chipmunks. The dark light is shading everything in blue and black. There are shadows everywhere I look, and I've never been so needy to hear even a hoot owl, or any form of life for that matter. But this forest is unlike any forest I've ever seen before, it's supernatural, maybe even preternatural, and alive in a way I can feel but can't quite explain.

Just yesterday I was waking up from my usual dream about the girl and her wolf friends, going to my classes, and my work study job and just trying to forget about it all by living my very mundane life. I should have known better, because the dreams never leave me for long.

This dream is different though. I've never been in this forest before, and I have no idea what is in store for me here. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye a shadow slips from behind a tree that is just a few feet from me. A very large tree and a very large shadow. The shadow is over six feet tall and has the shape of a man.

"You cannot have her, human."

On some level I know he is talking about the girl, the one who I've been dreaming about for as long as I can remember and whose name I don't even know.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I say flatly.

The shadow moves closer and I take another step back in self preservation.

"Oh, but I think you do, my pretty."

As I watch, the shadow hunches over, nearly in half, and the voice which has been smooth and beautiful albiet sinister turns to a harsh gravel sound. I take another step back because I have no idea at this point what I'm dealing with. Usually at this juncture in a nightmare I wake up before I can see whatever it is. Not so this night. Instead the shadow lifts a hand, and speaks a word in a language I've never heard before. A round ball of light appears above what I can now see is a brown palm. The palm lifts towards the creature's face.

I want to run, wake up, something but it's as though my feet have grown roots deep into the forest floor and I cannot move.

Run, it's not safe for you here! A soft female voice says in my mind.

The creature before me snarls as though he too hears the whispering voice.

"I knew if I brought you here, she'd come."

I stare as the ball of light reaches the creature's face and something from a horror film is revealed. The skin of it's face is twisted up in a caricature of a smiling snarl, long black matted hair frames the nightmare vision.

I am beginning to get an idea of who he is talking about. Does he mean the girl and her wolves? And what does he mean by saying he brought me here?

Do not engage him, do not speak, it is a trap, you must wake up now Leilani! The same soft, strong voice whispers in my mind.

How? I'm stuck.

No, I've freed you, wake up now, Leilani, before he traps us both!

My eyes fly open and I sit up with a gasp. When I turn my head to look at the clock it says 3:00 am.

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I've been seeing her in my dreams for years, a beautiful girl with coal black hair and silver eyes. She always has two wolves with her. Are they guarding her? I don't know. Those eyes make me think she may be the more dangerous of the three. After all, who has silver eyes? Not any human I've ever met.Who is she? Again, I don't know. The dreams have been plaguing me for so long now that I don't know what to make of them. And the dreams are always the same. I'm walking in the woods, and in the distance I see her and her wolves. In the dreams they aren't walking, it's more like they suddenly take off and are in front of me. Her mercurial eyes look deeply into mine before she pulls one hand from behind her back and offers me an apple. The apple isn't a deep red color like most apples, it's almost like there's a milky white film covering the normal deep red of a red delicious apple.

She never speaks, never says anything just holds the apple out to me while her wolves look at something she is not paying attention to, and I cannot see. It's almost like a sadness enters her eyes when I don't immediately reach for the apple. Then I wake up, I always wake up.

Sweat coats my skin causing my t-shirt to stick to me in a sticky and uncomfortable fashion. The dream is always the same, and I've never been able to change it. I thought you were supposed to be able to change a lucid dream, and as aware as I always am in this dream I can never change it. Never move, never take the apple, never touch one of the wolves, never speak. I used to try and tell my parents about her, but they always said it was just a dream. But even now twenty years later I know it's not just a dream. I just don't know who she is and why she keeps appearing to me.

I push back the covers just wanting the stickiness off my skin and then I see the clock. Five am, the same damned time the damned dream wakes me up every morning. What is it about 5:00 am and this girl and her wolves. The funny thing is she always appears to be same age, early twenties, the same as me now. I wonder if she will always be that age. I wonder how I can change the dream, take the apple, pet the wolves, talk to her?

I groan as my alarm shrills ten minutes later. There's no help for it, I need to get up, shower and go to class. There are days that I hate the fact I decided to take classes in the Summer when all my friends are out partying and playing in the sun. Instead, I get to get up early go to class, go to my part-time job and then study. Ugh!

I pull myself into a sitting position and then walk into my tiny bathroom with it's tiny shower stall to turn on the water and give it a chance to heat. I chuck my t-shirt and panties and climb into the now hot shower. When I look to my little shower rack, I notice I'm nearly out of shower gel. One more thing to put on the list to buy. I sigh, sometimes being a grown up sucks. I liked it better when I could just add what I needed to my mom's grocery list and she'd buy it and I didn't have to worry about having enough money to make it through to my next work study paycheck or my next grocery clerk paycheck.

I squeeze a small amount of the gel onto my shower pouf, the strawberry scent mixing with the steam and engulfing me in the shower, sending me back to picking strawberries with my grandmother in her garden. Some days I miss Grams the most. I love my parents, but they don't understand me, not like Grams did.

I look at the clock high on the wall above the door and see that I've managed to spend fifteen minutes musing about shower gel, and Grams. I need to hurry up or I'm going to miss the bus that comes at and then where will I be? Late for my work study shift that's where. I scrub and rinse my body and hair in a hurry, and then shut off the blessed hot water and grab my favorite blue over-sized towel. I'd lucked out finding that one in a discount store. I hate small towels that barely cover you, and I really hate towels that don't wick the water off you. But that's a story for another day. Right now? Right now I need to get my shit together and get to the bus stop.

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I've been a little absentee lately from my blog, mainly because I've been dealing with life and I've had a lot of it to deal with lately. One of the ways though that I've been relaxing is taking online art classes. "What you're not writing?" You're thinking...LOL Yes, I'm still writing and yes that's relaxing too, but I've always wanted to be able to draw and create art and quite frankly I didn't think I had it in me. So, I've always wanted to draw, so one day when I was putzing around online I came across this delightful lady Tamara Laporte who had a few free art classes. I checked out her work, loved what I saw, the playfulness and comfort of her art I mean and thought, "I want to learn how to do that!" So, I took her free 4 week course Art, Heart and Healing and loved it. Suddenly I found that yes, I could draw, how about that! And now I'm working my way through some of her other free Life Book offerings that she has on her website and some lessons I purchased as well. What I love about Tam is that she believes anyone can learn to draw, and there's a lot of self-care information mixed in with her lessons. They frequently include meditations and other stuff that makes you feel really good about yourself. Can you tell I think she's awesome?! LOL

Okay, so before I share some of the art I've created based on her lessons and one that just sort of came to me while I was working on a piece, here's the free lessons she's offering now:

Art Heart and Healing This is the free 4 week art course that I took initially.

Layers of You This is a full blown art lesson that is from a year long course that Tam teaches along with other mixed media artists every year called Life Book. And she's the founder and creator of Life Book as well. I loved this lesson and the fact that she offers it completely free to anyone who visits her blog, you can even download the videos to your computer just makes it that much better.

The Happy Traveler This is another Life Book lesson taster and one that I haven't taken yet. It will only be available until November 7, 2016, so if you like what you see I'd suggest downloading the videos and materials to your computer before the 7th so you can do the lesson when you're ready.

What can I say, Tam's lessons make me happy, doing art makes me happy, and I wanted to share the love! Want to learn even more about Tam and her art? Check out her website/blog at www.willowing.org

Okay, rather than post all the art at the bottom here, I'm going to insert it to the right and left of different paragraphs. If you'd like to use any of these pieces as desktop backgrounds, please feel free to do so. I don't mind sharing as long as you don't claim them as your own.

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