Sounds of youthful laughter rang through her ears while the morning birds sang a nostalgic song. Noelle opened her eyes in a moment of consciousness, and saw what she assumed to be two boys and a young girl playing, running between rows and rows of flowers all organized into a perfectly aligned circle. She recognized it immediately, it was her mother’s garden, but why was she suddenly here? There was a scream following splashes of what sounded like water from a garden hose to interrupt her thoughts, causing her to turn promptly toward the sound.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” The little girl protested, her voice had a heavy accent and a slight stutter. “Thomas, you're not allowed to use me as a shield!” The girl’s hair was short with bangs, and freckles were peppered on her face. Her appearance was so uncannily familiar to Noelle, but Noelle didn’t want to remember the girl, biased by a resentment deep inside her. The youngest of the two boys took a step back and brushed off his shoulders, “George is a menace! I’m not trying to get soaked by my mother's dirty garden hose! That’s disgusting!” He had similar features to the girl, short brown hair and green eyes, but he was significantly cleaner than the other two. “You’re a wuss, you’d scream if dust got anywhere near you! Even Noelle is willing to get a little dirt on her clothes!” The eldest boy yelled back at him, a smug smile etched on his face. His hair was blonde, and his blue eyes complimented it charmingly. “How do you ever expect to become a Politician if the very thought of your clothes being dirty drives you mad?”
“Because George, details as such are a Politician’s job to pay attention to! I’d certainly fit the job nicely, wouldn’t you agree?” Thomas put his hands on his hips and gave George a prideful smile, George just rolled his eyes at him. “Sure sure, still dunno why you would wanna work in an office with piles of paperwork up to your shoulders. Those campaigns always seem to be an endless ‘pick-me’ display, I can’t stand two adults bickering over who’s the prettiest one in an overvalued contest.” He scoffs, sounding like the very idea brought him exhaustion and annoyance. Noelle was completely stunned, looking down with pining and resignation as she watched the children. “Maybe Noelle should be the politician, we both know she’s very good at arguing.” George interrupts, chuckling at his own sarcasm.
“Hey! I don’t argue with people!” Young Noelle scoffed and crossed her arms, “And I don’t want to be a politician, I’m around politics enough already.” The young girl shivers when a sudden hand is placed on her shoulder, instinctively looking upwards with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
“Look at you three… You’re all covered in dirt and water.” A royally low and feminine voice came from behind her, her tone flowing with a pattern of adoration and care. The woman leans down and wipes Noelle’s face with a loving attitude, looking down at the young children with a warm smile. “Hi Mama! We were just playing, but George sprayed me with water!”
Noelle’s gasp was caught in her throat as it tightened, the face of the woman bringing back waves of hurt, longing, need, and immense guilt that seemed to eat at her very soul.
The blonde boy dropped the hose immediately, fearfully hanging his head and tensing his shoulders. The mother turns to view his shame, her deep blue eyes calm as ever, yet there was a hint of empathy in her gaze. “Well that’s no good, you’ll all have to take a bath then and right away. Let’s keep this from your father, yes? He’s asleep at the moment, so hurry along.” The surprised boy puffed out a relieved sigh, and his tense shoulders relaxed to his sides. Noelle just stood and watched, the realization of the torturous dream making her feel like her feet have sunken into the ground.
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“Mother?..” She stares in disbelief as she watches, the woman who was once mourned by Noelle stood alive again. She felt like a helpless spectator in a game of mind control, and sorrow rashly turned to desperation in her aching heart. She jumped to her feet and reached out with a prayer to bind their vulnerable souls with safety and love once again, yet, her pleading desires struck cold when her dirty hand passed-through her mother’s shoulder. The woman turned to look at her daughter, displaying a pained smile to Noelle’s desperate eyes as she slowly began to drift away as nothing but petals of beautiful lilac. The loving family was replaced with a hazy corpulent figure, standing right before her.
The sight was… beyond horrific. The man with a pig’s head just stood there, greed was perfectly painted onto his persona with stained high end clothing and liquified gold dripping from the corners of his mouth. Noelle could feel the complete revulsion rise from her stomach to her mouth as the smell of gin utterly suffocated her, the taste only bringing pain and hatred to her. His roaring laughter filled with mercilessness grew louder as it watched her fearfully on her knees, staring up with distraught.
“You’ve always been too childish to do anything on your own, do you actually think your life would have any value if you weren’t born into Nobility? Be proud Noelle, you’re a rich girl! Everyone loves you!” Noelle stared at its eyes, frozen with sickness at its demeaning tone. Flee’s whisper tempted her desperately, yet the familiar voice of her father paralyzed her. The creature's eyes gleamed with the suffocating promise of love—a love that bound, not freed. And just as the weight of it settled on her, everything went dark, giving her a moment of peace in her desperate state.
“Vierrei! Christ almighty, wake up!” Noelle sat up swiftly, her eyes widened and her breathing unsteady. Cassie was looking at her with concern and worry written all over her face, only centimeters away from Noelle’s. “Finally, did you have a nightmare or something? You were tossing and turning like crazy.” She could feel Cassie’s warm breath on her skin as her voice wavered, and it was the only thing grounding her in the moment. Noelle just stared at her, wearing a blank expression on her face. “You okay there?” Cassie asks, still looking at her with concern. Noelle finally snapped out of her trance, she felt diseased from the disgraceful figure in her dream. “Yeah, I’m okay.” Acting oblivious of her current state, Noelle gets up from her bed and grabs some day clothes out of her suitcase. Cassie just looks at her, blinking rapidly in disbelief.
“Wh-hey hold on a minute! You can’t just pull the ‘I’m fine’ card after that!” Cassie tries to protest, but Noelle just waves her hand at her and changes the subject. “You’re still in your pajamas Cassandra, we have breakfast in fifteen minutes you know.” “Wait, is it already seven fifteen?- Shit, why didn’t you tell me sooner!” Cassandra debated pushing Noelle to tell her what happened against being on time for breakfast, but she had to take the fact that they didn’t know each other very well into consideration. With a heavy heart, Cassie temporarily gave up her task and rummaged through her luggage for a set of clean clothes. She’ll just have to ask her later tonight.
After Cassie retreats to her side of the room, Noelle lets out a shaky breath, her mind alarmed from the hellish nightmare she endured. What was the point of all that? Why would the world punish her by giving her a sense of peace, only to strip it away and have her stare in the face of slavery? Part of it was a blur, so she didn’t even have enough awareness to conclude any sort of answer. She just swallowed her worries and told herself that it was probably nothing. After all, dreams are just dreams, nothing more.
