#omal

There at the centre of the tower, I found my lost ember, and I cradled it against myself for warmth against the bite of the wind. It guttered in my hands and glowed brighter when I approached the stairwell again, which seemed to be the only way out. This time, the stairs clearly went down, and so I followed them, and soon found myself in a massive, empty ballroom. The sweetest music was floating through the air, and my dream faded out into nothingness as I tried to follow it to the source.

I comb my hair at my vanity as I struggle to make sense of the dream, and then I consult my Oracle, which tells me the following three words: grasping, newborn, and churning. I wonder what it will bring while I make breakfast, and then I get dressed and head out into the forest.

Midway through the morning, I stumble upon an enormous creature nestled into its lair. I don't know how I didn't see it before I almost fell on top of it, but it hisses at me from deep in its throat, tail lashing as it nurses half a dozen whimpering whelps kneading at its belly. I do my best to back away from the mother as I keep my eyes on her without making eye contact, and when I'm far enough away that she stops hissing, I turn and march further into the forest.

The deeper I walk, the more I feel the sensation that I'm being watched. Every time I look over my shoulder, I can swear that I see a shadow shrink away from me. At times, I feel something tug at my cloak in ways that remind me of the fabric catching on nettles and brambles, but when I look down, I see nothing of the sort. At one point, something pulls at my satchel, and I grab it before it gets taken off of me, whirling around to see a pair of glowing white eyes in a shadow clinging to a tree.

"Now, now," I chide. "What is it that you want? Ask, and I might give it to you."

The spirit willows and sighs. "Pretty," they say, soft as a psalm.

"Thank you," I say, smiling my encouragement. "What is it that you want?"

"Apple," it whispers. "Sweet. Smell."

I reach into my satchel and pull out the apple I was planning on having along with my lunch. "This?"

"Yes," they breathe, detaching a hand from the tree to reach out and touch the apple with one wispy fingertip. "Please?"

"Of course," I reply, and I carefully hand the apple over to the spirit, making sure not to touch it directly.

"Thank you," they murmur, and I watch their eyes crease in an unseen smile before they disappear into the forest with their treat.

"You're welcome," I say into the nothing, shaking my head and turning around to continue on my way.

As I walk through the forest, I poke my head around trees and under bushes, searching for things I can forage to bring to my dinner table. All at once, I hear a great big roar from directly behind me and I nearly jump out of my skin, whirling around with my heart in my throat.

"Excuse me," says the creature who was behind me, smoothing one of their paws down their chest. "I was hoping to hear your thoughts."

"You could have asked me more nicely than that," I waspishly reply.

The creature blinks back at me in befuddlement. "But, then, how would I garner your honest opinion on my roar? I want to know if it's suitably frightening."

I roll my eyes. "Terrifying, yes, thank you for asking."

The creature grins—an impressive display of teeth. "Splendid!" they enthuse, and stretch out a pair of leathery wings. "I simply must tell my cohorts of this immediately. Have a wonderful day." Before I can respond, they take off and fly to parts unknown, leaving me to calm my poor heart by lonesome. I shake my head and continue on my way.

Eventually, I come across a tangle of mushrooms as big as my torso, petal-soft and in all sorts of lurid colours. At a glance, I know them to be poisonous, but I can't help but stray a little closer to admire them, crouching to find that they've grown on a big, ancient log that seems to have been split open from the inside. Their stems seem to writhe around one another, like so many grasping fingers holding fast to one another. It's romantic, in a way, even though I know they could kill me.

The sun begins to set, and so I make my way home. I wash up, make dinner, and get ready for bed. This time, I want to go back to that castle, so I focus on the image of that little moth that lead me through the dark, and I follow it into my dreams.