The Girl In My Dream Is Real

Sample · Chapter 1 — The Burning Palace

By the time I got home, I was exhausted.Not the dramatic kind of exhausted where you collapse onto the floor and question every decision you've ever made.Just tired.The kind where even taking off your shoes felt like unnecessary work.I pushed open the apartment door and dropped my bag beside it."I'm home."No answer.I frowned. "Wow. Wonderful welcome."I looked toward the living room.Daniel was stretched across the couch with a book in his hands.He didn't even look up. "You're alive," he said.  "Unfortunately."That got a small laugh from him.I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "Did you eat?"  "Yeah." he said  "Anything left for me?"  "There's cake." he saidI immediately turned around. "Why didn't you lead with that?"Daniel finally looked up from his book. "Because I knew you'd find it."I stared at him. "Sometimes I think you underestimate how important cake is."  "I think you overestimate it." he said  "I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive."He shook his head and returned to his book.I took the cake and sat at the kitchen counter.For a while, neither of us said anything.The apartment was quiet except for the occasional sound of a page turning.It was an ordinary evening.And I liked ordinary.University had been exhausting that day. Two lectures, an assignment I had almost forgotten about, and a professor who apparently believed sleep was an optional activity.I finished the cake, washed the plate, and headed toward my room.  "Goodnight," Daniel called.  "Goodnight."I closed my bedroom door.The room was dark except for the faint light coming through the curtains.I changed, climbed into bed, and stared at the ceiling.My mind wandered through everything I'd done that day.Nothing particularly interesting.Nothing worth remembering.Eventually, my eyes became heavy.I fell asleep.The first thing I noticed was the heat.It pressed against my skin like I was standing too close to an enormous fire.I opened my eyes.I was standing in the middle of a palace.Or what remained of one.Flames climbed the walls.Smoke filled the enormous hall, twisting toward the ceiling.Long curtains burned beside shattered windows.Somewhere in the distance, something crashed.I looked around."Where am I?"My voice disappeared into the noise.Then I heard footsteps.Someone was running.I turned.A girl came rushing through the smoke.She looked about eighteen.Her long hair was disheveled, and the elegant dress she wore was torn at the sleeve. She kept looking behind herself as she ran.She wasn't running toward me.She didn't even seem to know I was there.I stepped aside as she passed.She went straight through the place where I had been standing.I froze.  "...Okay."I turned around slowly.The ...

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