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A long time ago, the people of the Valley by the Sea lived in harmony with the forest that bordered their land. During the day the Valley people hunted in the fields and fished in the sea. At night, the people drifted off to a dream world, full of peace, love, and pleasant memories. Never once did any of the people have a dream that was dark or frightening, that is, not until the actions of a man and his wife disrupted the village's peace by their disobedience. It is said that the people of the Valley by the Sea were to abide by one rule. That rule was that none are to enter the forest bordering the land. It was believed among the people that if any were to wander into the forest that they were doomed to die. It was also said that in the forest there lived a terrible evil. As a result of the man and his wife’s disobedience, nightmares were brought into the world and their people were cursed to have their dreams interrupted by the nightmares.
One day, a man named Oshar was hunting in the field and had been tracking his game for quite some time. What he sought was a beautiful elk that was not like any that he had seen before. It had a coat of pure white instead of brown and it was larger than any of the elk in the land. He had only seen this creature once before and was determined to find it. On this particular day he had come across it once more and was in pursuit. After a long chase, the creature then turned from the edge of the field and bound off into the forest. Oshar was aware of his people’s stories about the forest but did not truly believe them himself. Many times he had seen animals go into the forest, like the creature he sought, and come back unharmed. Believing the rare creature would give him much recognition in his village, Oshar decided to pursue his prize game into the forest.
Oshar was quickly closing in on the rare elk and thoughts of his villager’s praise for catching the creature were racing through his mind. The further Oshar went into the forest, the thicker the tree cover and brush became. Before long, he was barely able to see the creature through the darkness and eventually lost sight of it altogether. This greatly angered Oshar and even though he had continued searching in hopes of spotting it, he was unable to find it and was left to stand alone in the silent darkness. Seeing that it was hopeless to try and find the elk again, he decided to go back the way that he had come. In the darkness, Oshar stumbled on something in his path. On inspection, he found it to be a small stone table about waist height with engravings across the top. He was unable to see what it said in the darkness since he did not have the aid of a torch. Leaving the table behind he continued back the way he had come until he could finally see the field through the trees. Oshar had made it to the field, laughing that his people believed that one would die in the forest, for he himself had made it out unharmed. Little did Oshar know that things had already been set in motion the moment he entered the forest.
When he had returned home, Oshar told his wife Niyah of what he had just experienced. She was surprised when he had told her that he had gone in the forest and came back unharmed. Despite her husband’s safe return, she still worried for him. That night they both lay down and drifted off to sleep. For Oshar, that night did not bring any peaceful memories. Instead, Oshar’s dream world was tainted with darkness, frightening sounds and images, and an overwhelming feeling of fear. In the dream he was running through the darkness, being pursued by shadowy, unknown creatures which twisted around and snapped at his legs as he ran. At one point in the dream, a woman appears before him. The mysterious woman was pale and had long white hair, shining blue eyes, and wore a dress crafted from animal skin. Even though the woman before him was quite beautiful, looking at her brought fear to Oshar. When he had finally awoken from the dream he was greatly upset and full of fear.
Over the next eight days Oshar was plagued with terrifying dreams, in each, the strange woman appears to him. Even during the day Oshar was not safe from these terrible scenes. Throughout the day he would drift in and out of the dream, even though he was wide awake. After the eighth day of torment, he did not know what was part of the dream world and what was reality. Insanity soon set in.
Niyah had become increasingly worried about her husband’s distress and slow decline into insanity. Moreover, she had become concerned with the part of his delusions in which he describes the woman whom he called the Dreamweaver. Curious of what her husband may have seen in the forest to cause his insanity, she set off in the direction of the forest, taking along with her a small pack and a torch. Like Oshar, the further she traveled within the forest the darker it became. Before long she came across the site that Oshar had described stumbling across in the darkness. Despite the torch’s dim flame, Niyah was able to make out the shape of a stone table in the center of a small clearing. Remembering the words of her husband describing a form of engraved text on the table, she approached and lightly ran her hand across a few of the engraved letters. On top of the table Niyah found a small array of stone bowls of varying patterns and colors arranged in a circular pattern between the breaks in the engraved text. On further inspection she found that each bowl contained a different mixture of herbs, some of which she had never seen before, and in the center of the circle there was a large crystal. Picking up the large crystal, Niyah was amazed when upon holding it to the light, the crystal gave off a radiance of blue and green and that it felt warm in her hands. Drawn to its beauty, she placed it securely in her pack. Looking upon the table once more, she began to study the table’s engravings and soon found them to be foreign and was unable to decipher them. Even though the discovery of the table was exciting to Niyah, it did not answer the question of what had happened to her husband. Disappointed, she decided to return home, hoping the crystal may do something to help her husband. Upon turning around she had come face to face with the large white elk that her husband described, looking at her with its crystalline eyes. But, when she extended her hand to touch the creature, it let out a cry that put great fear into Niyah and bound off into the forest. Without looking back, Niyah raced through the forest until she had reached the field and continued to run until she arrived home.
Upon her return she described to Oshar what she had seen, to his discontent, and proceeded to remove the crystal from her bag. They were both mesmerized by its beauty. After hiding the crystal in a safe place, Oshar and Niyah retired for the night. Sharing the same fate, Niyah had begun to have the same terrifying dreams that plagued Oshar. Slowly, as the days wore on, Oshar and Niyah were in a constant state of fear and were becoming further detached from reality. In the middle of their delusion, they began to lose hope that they would ever be saved. The only thing that kept them from losing themselves completely was the crystal that Niyah had brought back from the forest. On the eighth night since Niyah had brought it home, the crystal began to glow, filling their house with a blue-green glow. Upon touching the crystal Oshar and Niyah’s dark dream changed to one of peace and happiness and they were glad. All around them stretched a vast field of springtime flowers. They could almost feel the lush grass under their feet and smell the sweet aroma of the flowers. In the midst of their joy they were approached by a small boy. The sight of the boy brought tears to their eyes, for this boy was the son that they lost years ago to illness.
"Do not cry, mother, father, for I am alive.” The boy said, “Follow me and I shall take you to a place where we can live together forever."
Listening to their son, they began to follow him, walking hand in hand, taking the crystal along with them. Further they walked until they had come to a beautiful woodland clearing that was encircled by magnificent cedars. In the center of the clearing there was a small pool with a large stone in the middle. Leaving the side of his parents, the boy continued forward and waded into the small pool until he was standing next to the large stone.
"Come forward,” he said, “wade into the pool and place the crystal on the stone and rest your hands upon it, for it will rid you of your miseries."
Doing as their son instructed, Oshar and Niyah waded into the pool opposite of their son at the stone. Oshar then took the crystal from his wife and placed it atop of the stone where they both placed their hands on it. As soon as all three of them had placed their hands on the crystal they were enveloped in darkness. By what light was coming from the crystal they realized that they had been tricked and were now standing at the stone table in the dark forest. The crystal, which had once shone a brilliant blue-green, was now burning with a red glow. Across the table, the person who had once been their son was now a pale figure of a woman with long white hair and a dress made of animal skin, blue eyes gazing at them from the opposite side of the table. They immediately recognized her as the woman who had been invading and manipulating their dreams, whom they had called the Dreamweaver. Fear had set in for the couple but they found they could not escape because they were surrounded by many strange, shadowy creatures that leaped and danced around the clearing, biting at their legs and ankles if they tried to flee. Circling around the table, the Dreamweaver took hold of Oshar and placed her hand on the middle of his chest. Chanting in a foreign tongue, she slowly removed her hand, taking with it a glowing white orb pulled from Oshar’s chest. As soon as the orb of light had exited his chest, Oshar fell to the ground, never to move again, for the Dreamweaver had pulled out his life energy and devoured it. Moving around the table once more, she took hold of Niyah and devoured her life energy like she had done to Oshar. The Dreamweaver’s ritual had been complete. Leaving the bodies of Oshar and Niyah at the base of the table, the Dreamweaver departed, transforming into a beautiful white elk as she ran off into the darkness.
One day, a man named Oshar was hunting in the field and had been tracking his game for quite some time. What he sought was a beautiful elk that was not like any that he had seen before. It had a coat of pure white instead of brown and it was larger than any of the elk in the land. He had only seen this creature once before and was determined to find it. On this particular day he had come across it once more and was in pursuit. After a long chase, the creature then turned from the edge of the field and bound off into the forest. Oshar was aware of his people’s stories about the forest but did not truly believe them himself. Many times he had seen animals go into the forest, like the creature he sought, and come back unharmed. Believing the rare creature would give him much recognition in his village, Oshar decided to pursue his prize game into the forest.
Oshar was quickly closing in on the rare elk and thoughts of his villager’s praise for catching the creature were racing through his mind. The further Oshar went into the forest, the thicker the tree cover and brush became. Before long, he was barely able to see the creature through the darkness and eventually lost sight of it altogether. This greatly angered Oshar and even though he had continued searching in hopes of spotting it, he was unable to find it and was left to stand alone in the silent darkness. Seeing that it was hopeless to try and find the elk again, he decided to go back the way that he had come. In the darkness, Oshar stumbled on something in his path. On inspection, he found it to be a small stone table about waist height with engravings across the top. He was unable to see what it said in the darkness since he did not have the aid of a torch. Leaving the table behind he continued back the way he had come until he could finally see the field through the trees. Oshar had made it to the field, laughing that his people believed that one would die in the forest, for he himself had made it out unharmed. Little did Oshar know that things had already been set in motion the moment he entered the forest.
When he had returned home, Oshar told his wife Niyah of what he had just experienced. She was surprised when he had told her that he had gone in the forest and came back unharmed. Despite her husband’s safe return, she still worried for him. That night they both lay down and drifted off to sleep. For Oshar, that night did not bring any peaceful memories. Instead, Oshar’s dream world was tainted with darkness, frightening sounds and images, and an overwhelming feeling of fear. In the dream he was running through the darkness, being pursued by shadowy, unknown creatures which twisted around and snapped at his legs as he ran. At one point in the dream, a woman appears before him. The mysterious woman was pale and had long white hair, shining blue eyes, and wore a dress crafted from animal skin. Even though the woman before him was quite beautiful, looking at her brought fear to Oshar. When he had finally awoken from the dream he was greatly upset and full of fear.
Over the next eight days Oshar was plagued with terrifying dreams, in each, the strange woman appears to him. Even during the day Oshar was not safe from these terrible scenes. Throughout the day he would drift in and out of the dream, even though he was wide awake. After the eighth day of torment, he did not know what was part of the dream world and what was reality. Insanity soon set in.
Niyah had become increasingly worried about her husband’s distress and slow decline into insanity. Moreover, she had become concerned with the part of his delusions in which he describes the woman whom he called the Dreamweaver. Curious of what her husband may have seen in the forest to cause his insanity, she set off in the direction of the forest, taking along with her a small pack and a torch. Like Oshar, the further she traveled within the forest the darker it became. Before long she came across the site that Oshar had described stumbling across in the darkness. Despite the torch’s dim flame, Niyah was able to make out the shape of a stone table in the center of a small clearing. Remembering the words of her husband describing a form of engraved text on the table, she approached and lightly ran her hand across a few of the engraved letters. On top of the table Niyah found a small array of stone bowls of varying patterns and colors arranged in a circular pattern between the breaks in the engraved text. On further inspection she found that each bowl contained a different mixture of herbs, some of which she had never seen before, and in the center of the circle there was a large crystal. Picking up the large crystal, Niyah was amazed when upon holding it to the light, the crystal gave off a radiance of blue and green and that it felt warm in her hands. Drawn to its beauty, she placed it securely in her pack. Looking upon the table once more, she began to study the table’s engravings and soon found them to be foreign and was unable to decipher them. Even though the discovery of the table was exciting to Niyah, it did not answer the question of what had happened to her husband. Disappointed, she decided to return home, hoping the crystal may do something to help her husband. Upon turning around she had come face to face with the large white elk that her husband described, looking at her with its crystalline eyes. But, when she extended her hand to touch the creature, it let out a cry that put great fear into Niyah and bound off into the forest. Without looking back, Niyah raced through the forest until she had reached the field and continued to run until she arrived home.
Upon her return she described to Oshar what she had seen, to his discontent, and proceeded to remove the crystal from her bag. They were both mesmerized by its beauty. After hiding the crystal in a safe place, Oshar and Niyah retired for the night. Sharing the same fate, Niyah had begun to have the same terrifying dreams that plagued Oshar. Slowly, as the days wore on, Oshar and Niyah were in a constant state of fear and were becoming further detached from reality. In the middle of their delusion, they began to lose hope that they would ever be saved. The only thing that kept them from losing themselves completely was the crystal that Niyah had brought back from the forest. On the eighth night since Niyah had brought it home, the crystal began to glow, filling their house with a blue-green glow. Upon touching the crystal Oshar and Niyah’s dark dream changed to one of peace and happiness and they were glad. All around them stretched a vast field of springtime flowers. They could almost feel the lush grass under their feet and smell the sweet aroma of the flowers. In the midst of their joy they were approached by a small boy. The sight of the boy brought tears to their eyes, for this boy was the son that they lost years ago to illness.
"Do not cry, mother, father, for I am alive.” The boy said, “Follow me and I shall take you to a place where we can live together forever."
Listening to their son, they began to follow him, walking hand in hand, taking the crystal along with them. Further they walked until they had come to a beautiful woodland clearing that was encircled by magnificent cedars. In the center of the clearing there was a small pool with a large stone in the middle. Leaving the side of his parents, the boy continued forward and waded into the small pool until he was standing next to the large stone.
"Come forward,” he said, “wade into the pool and place the crystal on the stone and rest your hands upon it, for it will rid you of your miseries."
Doing as their son instructed, Oshar and Niyah waded into the pool opposite of their son at the stone. Oshar then took the crystal from his wife and placed it atop of the stone where they both placed their hands on it. As soon as all three of them had placed their hands on the crystal they were enveloped in darkness. By what light was coming from the crystal they realized that they had been tricked and were now standing at the stone table in the dark forest. The crystal, which had once shone a brilliant blue-green, was now burning with a red glow. Across the table, the person who had once been their son was now a pale figure of a woman with long white hair and a dress made of animal skin, blue eyes gazing at them from the opposite side of the table. They immediately recognized her as the woman who had been invading and manipulating their dreams, whom they had called the Dreamweaver. Fear had set in for the couple but they found they could not escape because they were surrounded by many strange, shadowy creatures that leaped and danced around the clearing, biting at their legs and ankles if they tried to flee. Circling around the table, the Dreamweaver took hold of Oshar and placed her hand on the middle of his chest. Chanting in a foreign tongue, she slowly removed her hand, taking with it a glowing white orb pulled from Oshar’s chest. As soon as the orb of light had exited his chest, Oshar fell to the ground, never to move again, for the Dreamweaver had pulled out his life energy and devoured it. Moving around the table once more, she took hold of Niyah and devoured her life energy like she had done to Oshar. The Dreamweaver’s ritual had been complete. Leaving the bodies of Oshar and Niyah at the base of the table, the Dreamweaver departed, transforming into a beautiful white elk as she ran off into the darkness.
PLEASE DO NOT CLAIM MY WORK AS YOUR OWN OR USE IT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!I had written this short story in the fall of 2010 for my mythology class. We had to write it using certain myth styles so I chose dream cycles and the importance of reoccuring numbers. It is not written to the full extent that I would have liked but I was limited to the number of pages we could have. I didn't want to change it from the original story when posting it on here so here you go! Hope you enjoy it. I was listening to Gorillaz while writing it lol.
I'm not usually able to finish many stories and still have 2 that I started in 6th grade but never went back to finish (its been almost 9 years since I did anything with them). Plus I have the notes and ideas to their sequels written down for when I was to start them but never did. Unfortunately I kinda lost my inspiration to write along with my inspiration to draw. I have one story with idea and plot notes and a character list written down that is really good in my head but I don't know how to put into words to make it as great as I'm picturing it.
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Half way through the first paragraph I was wondering if you drew inspiration from 'Gorillaz - Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head'. Very similar word choices and imagery throughout. Though you obviously took the feeling in a different direction.
That song is very powerful and it made me happy to read a short story with similar thoughts and imagery. Keep up the good work!
There was a part that disconnected me from the story though. It is very hard to bring the reader to realization that a character is going insane or losing grip on reality without just saying so, but just being told a character is going/went insane is hard to connect with. It happened so abruptly too, being the shortest paragraph in your story.