Read Online We Awaken by Calista Lynne - Free Book Online Page A

anything.”
    “You better be right. Would you mind getting me some clothes?”
    She was gazing down at my green sheets as if they held an explanation for her nudity. My mouth was complying in about the same fashion as my arms. Both were just hanging there unable to address the situation. She turned her eyes up toward me and stared heatedly until my brain began to work again.
    “Yeah… um, I’ll just grab you a robe.”
    I tumbled off the bed and toward my closet, feeling my way in the dark. This couldn’t be real; there was no way. A creator of dreams was sitting in my bed, with skin and hair and an angry demeanor. Trying not to dwell on the insanity of the situation, I focused on the task at hand and began pushing aside the parade of sundresses behind my closet doors until I saw a pink terrycloth robe, which I presented to her from the side of the bed. Tears were starting to build up in my eyes.
    She didn’t thank me, and I made a show of turning around as she got dressed. After putting on my robe— the color’s all wrong; she doesn’t wear pink, she wears midnights —she inched over to where I stood and grabbed my arm to pull me back onto the bed. The contact was far too solid, and I convulsed a bit. She was warm and real, and I was hungry for more proof of her existence but was too scared to seek it. Our legs were dangling over the edge like when we sat together on the stage.
    There was very little holding me together at that point. When she looked over at me with her still expression and said “Hello” so gently the words were hardly more than air, I began sobbing instantly. Thankfully, there was no hyperventilation as was my normal routine. This situation overwhelmed me, and my life was getting to be too much. She squeaked worriedly when the tears started falling and shimmied closer, grabbing my head and leaning it onto her shoulder.
    I was chanting “you’re real” over and over, which earned me a mouthful of bathrobe. It smelled of my detergent, but beneath that was the scent of rainy summer evenings. Her shoulder moved slightly with every breath, and I counted each one.
    When I finished this well-earned emotional breakdown and gazed up at her, I must have looked like an absolute crime scene, but there was a sort of suppressed wonder in her eyes.
    “Sorry about that.”
    “I had no idea my appearance would affect you like that. Not that you don’t deserve it. I am absolutely furious with you.”
    “Understood. Stay pissed at me, but stay real. I can’t believe I can actually touch you. Can I please touch you?” I reached out to stroke her arm but waited until I felt her give an almost imperceptible nod before laying my hand on her.
    “How is any of this possible?”
    “You should know by now that things from the world of my creation can easily enter yours. Look at the carnation drying up over there.”
    There was no need to lift my head and look at Reeves’s flower to know it still sat on my bedside table.
    “I hadn’t ever allowed myself to exit before, but it wasn’t difficult. Although I must admit I hadn’t been expecting my clothes to vanish, not that you gave me enough time to expect anything.”
    “Why didn’t your clothes come along?”
    “They were created from whispers of creativity and illusions. Such fabric isn’t exactly compatible with the waking world, or at least that’s what I’m assuming.”
    “Great. Making clothes out of ideas. I may need a bit of time to process that on top of everything else. If you’ve always had the power to turn real, why didn’t you do it sooner? I can’t believe you’re here. It’s the most wonderful thing that could’ve happened.”
    A furious spark returned to her eyes, and she nudged me off her shoulder so we were level with each other. She moved farther back onto the bed and crossed her legs, so I mirrored her position and prepared myself for what was coming. It didn’t seem like it would be pretty. Ashlinn took a breath.
    “This