"Goodnight"
"Yea goodnight"
I closed my eyes.
Darkness swallowed me.
"Boo."
"A-ACK!?" I straightened myself, or at least tried to, since I was stuck in a dark void.
"Who— who are you?! Where the hell are we?!"
"Good evening, young man," said by the floating woman with long dark hair, her voice calm and faintly echoing.
"It appears we find ourselves within the realm of your dreams."
"Dream?"
"Most certainly."
She glided closer. The whole thing felt like someone mixed horror, fantasy, and a Victorian drama into one cursed drinksy.
I looked around. Nothing but pitch-black VOID "is… is this some kind of prank?"
"Mark me well, young man I do not speak in mirth," she said, tone suddenly heavy "I warn you misfortune shall befall ere long"
"Wow… dramatic." I crossed my arms.
"So I'm trapped here with a Victorian naked ghost girl warning me about tragedy?"
"S-SILENCE!" she snapped. "F-for your information, I am not a ghost! And I did not come here for your… mockery!"
Oh I'm getting used to this place.
"Oh my bad," I said, bowing playfully.
"Terribly sorry, Flustered Dream Ghostly Miss."
She froze, cheeks puffing adorably.
"Y-you! If you tease me one more time, I'll leave— and you'll be without warning! A-and how dare you mimic my tone?" Her voice trembled with anger.
I couldn't help it; her puffed cheeks and trembling glare were just too much.
"Pfft" a laugh slip out.
"You! You're laughing again!" she cried, stomping her foot. And ripples spread across the void like she just stepped on invisible water.
"Sorry, sorry," I said, wiping a tear. "You're just… you're just really bad at being scary."
Her eyes widened, then softened with irritation. "You are insufferable," she muttered, crossing her arms as her form began to flicker faintly.
"Wait hey— don't vanish on me now!"
"Perhaps next time you'll learn to listen," she whispered.
Her voice grew faint, before she faded completely leaving me alone in the endless dark.
"...Okay. Guess she's gone," I muttered, sitting down in the endless dark.
A long silence.
"You're supposed to wake up now, idiot."
"Wha?!" I spun around. There she was floating upside down, arms crossed, glaring at me with that same pouty face.
"You're still here?!"
"Obviously. You didn't even try to wake up!" she huffed. "Do you think dream portals close themselves?"
"I… don't know? I don't even know what a dream portal is. And I don't usually get tutorials from angry dream ladies"
She sighed dramatically, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Mortals."
"Ghosts," I muttered back
"I HEARD THAT!" she snapped, flipping upright in midair with an indignant glare.
"Now listen. This realm operates under the LAW OF EMOTION."
"Wait, wait, wait. There are laws in dreams?"
"If you interrupt me one more time, I swear I'll-"
"Sorry, sorry! Continue, Your Royal Ghostliness."
She froze mid-sentence."I-I am not royal, and I told you I Am not a ghost!"
"Right, right. Of course."
"You're impossible!" She cried, throwing her hands up. "As I was saying, this realm operates under the law of emotion."
"So… if I imagine, a pizza…"
POOF.
A hot pepperoni pizza appeared between us.
She blinked. "You must be—"
"POOF!"
The sleeping kid appeared… then disappeared.
"WHAT WAS THAT!?" she shouted.
"The law of emotion likes pizza." I said, already reaching for a slice. "Ignore the kid one."
"Unbelievable… The fate of your reality may depend on this dream, and you summon food."
"At least I didn't summon you."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST—!?"
"You know what? Just forget about it." I grabbed the floating slice, steam fogging in the blackness, and took a bite. "See?"
Before I could continue, the pizza began to vibrate.
The pepperoni slid off like tiny moons and began to circle in my head. And the crust curled into a ribbon and tightened into a loop that looked suspiciously like a crown.
"Oh no," she whispered, eyes wide.
The void glitched violently.
Laughter echoed.
The air smelled like oregano and old paper.
"You did this," she accused, pointing one finger at me. "Your levity is destabilizing the realm!"
"Wait what wdym uh? Me? I just ate a slice." I shrugged, mouth full.
I pointed at the pizza. "Blame the dramatic pepperoni."
The orbiting pepperoni's aligned and, to my surprise, they arranged themselves into letters. And spelled.
W-A-K-E U-P.
Her face went pale. "I did not intend this— this is impossible—"
"Okay, okay," I said, standing and trying to look suitably heroic. The crown-crust fell from my head and flopped.
"How… do we fix a dream?"
"Concentrate. Breathe. And for heaven's sake— stop being amused."
"Stop being amused?" I stared at her, offended. "That's the cruelest sentence anyone's ever given to me."
"Just— be serious for once!" she begged, cheeks flushing.
I tried.
Really…
It lasted three seconds before a tiny smile escaped.
She threw up her hands in exasperation and then, the crumbs gathered into a neat little broom and swept themselves toward me.
"Fine," she said through clenched teeth, "then sweep."
"Sweep?" I held up the broom. "I'm a terrible cleaner."
"Do it, or I shall."
"Or you'll what? Turn into a pizza-shaped prophecy?"
Her eye twitched so hard it could slice a steel.
Her reply was a half laugh, half growl. "I will haunt you properly later."
I sighed and swept.
As I swept, slowly the chaos unwound. and the orbiting pepperonis politely fell back into their place on the crust.
The darkness smoothed out like a freshly cleaned room.
And oddly the room look satisfied. like a room that had just been tidied by two very unwilling roommates.
Even thugh it's like I did all the work.
"Okay… crisis averted," I muttered. "One less cosmic pizza problem. Shit that sounded cringe."
She blinked. "Cosmic… pizza?"
"Yeah y'know like— wait, oh." I squinted at her.
"What?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Why do you talk like you stepped out of a Shakespeare play, and I sound like I came from a group chat?"
She frowned. "...A what chat?"
"Exactly!" I said, gesturing aggressively. "That's what I mean! I'm speaking normal, and you're over here saying things like 'I do not speak in mirth!'"
She blinked again, utterly lost. "I simply speak as I always have. Perhaps it is you whose tongue is strange."
"So what, this dream's got subtitles or something?" I muttered. "Is there like… a translation patch I missed?"
She sighed. "You truly are a confounding creature."
"Thanks" I said, smirking. "I get that a lot."
And maybe that's why she found me first.
(Thank you guys for reading once again!!! And I love U teacher rex for teaching me)