Xena's dark light

It was just another typical day for Xena, a 14-year-old dreamy girl with short dark hair and her signature big glasses. She did everything she would always do - attend school, come home, play with her cat, do some chores, and go to bed. She never did much outside her usual schedule, she was a bit of a freak when it comes to routine. Xena never liked the adventure, the change, the unknown. Not one of those people cheering for getting out of one's comfort zone. And although her amazing organizational skills and glasses might suggest that to someone easily lured into stereotypical ways of thinking, Xena was far away from being geeky. She did what she had to in attempt to finish school, just like any other kid would. Honestly, Xena didn’t really have a passion of her own. Other than following her routine, nothing else made this girl glow.

Maybe that is what kept her so invincible, the lack of fire in her eyes. The only thing that could ever get her worked up really was the willingness to remember her dreams. See, for Xena, dreaming is part of everyone’s routine. Value found in focusing on the daily tasks, being present in every moment of it was the sole purpose of Xena’s great appreciation for this routine life. And what stroke her to her core every time was not being able to remember one of the fewer things everyone is really sharing with her - dreaming. She loved the whole idea of dreams, but she was never fortunate enough to remember any of those. The only thing she knew was that she had them, hence the emptiness she felt when she tried to remember them the next morning.

Xena lived in a small town, too small for anyone to even acknowledge. The only thing cool about her place was a legend of an old town that existed many years ago. Supposedly, ruins were never found but it is believed they are deep below the surface of the one they live in. As you are already guessing, Xena did not really pay any thoughts to something like that - it was too vague, too unknown for her to want to have that thought as a part of her life. And it would have probably been this way still if it were not for the day Xena had a dream, woke up and actually - remembered.

On this day, just like any other, she did her usual Xena’s thing. Just her old, well known, comforting routine. She went to her room to prepare for sleep and, as she usually does, she expressed to her cat Bingo how this was just one of the nights she will not remember her dreams. Other than Bingo, she never really confined in anyone about this wish. If only she knew, not only will she remember the dream, but it will take her way out of her comfort zone. Well away from her well known and highly appreciated routine life.

Upon waking up, Xena almost jumped out of bed. Bingo gave her an extremely judgmental look as it was probably the first time something like this ever happened. Without even acknowledging him, she went straight to her pile of empty paper she kept for her math classes. She never liked messy writing in her notebook, so she would often write on those papers and rewrite everything in her notebook upon returning home. But this time she was not writing anything connected to math problems on those papers. She was writing words, hysterically.

After a few minutes, she looked at the paper and nodded while smiling. She then started reading it, and as the consciousness slowly began to come back to her, she started panicking. All these things she has written… It sounded like something she has heard already. While she was in her new headspace, someone knocked on her doors. It was her mother as Xena was never late for her breakfast before. Even when she was sick, she would come down to at least let her mum know. She realized what the time was, slipped the paper under the laptop and started running around trying to get ready for school.

Bingo kept looking at her from the corner where the window was. She realized she has not paid him any attention and tried to come closer to give him a kiss, but Bingo ran away downstairs faster than ever. She just laughed and went downstairs too. Mum gave her a kiss and gave her the breakfast in a small container as they had to leave for school. Xena was still smiling but deep down inside, she was somewhere else. Where has she heard this before? That question stayed on her mind for a while after her mum dropped her off at school. Seems like her personality came in handy this time as no one mentioned nor asked why she was not mentally present in her classes.

For the first time in her life, her heart was burning, and she was excited. That feeling made her very uncomfortable as she never felt this way. What was this feeling she had? Does she have to go deep within what just happened or drop it completely? As soon as she got home, she gave her mum a kiss and ran straight to her room. Bingo heard her open the doors and immediately jumped on her desk and sat on the laptop. She knew straight away he was asking for her attention as she completely ignored him that morning. She hugged him and put him in her lap. With one hand on Bingo’s head and other on the paper, she started reading what she wrote that morning.

“As I was sitting on my chair, trying to write my homework, I saw a small dog walking outside. Without a leash, the cutest dog I ever saw was walking all alone through the street. I opened the window and as soon as he heard me, he looked straight back at me. He started walking slowly towards my lawn and I ran outside to pet him. By the time I opened my doors, the was standing on the sidewalk, looking in the direction of where the road led to the next street. I laughed because the first thing that popped to my mind was if the dog was trying to tell me something.

The dog started coming closer. He put his paw on my foot and just stood like that while I sat back on the lawn, petting him. After a while, the dog got up and did the exact same thing. Just stood on the sidewalk and faced the street. I started walking towards him and he started walking up the street. I was not sure if I should follow him, I did not even have my shoes on. I decided to go back in and waved the dog. I walked back to my room and looked through the window, and saw the dog standing on the lawn, looking up. As if he knew I was going to look for him.

For once, I stopped thinking, took my phone, and stormed out. Bingo gave me the strangest look and I smiled back at him. When I came out, he was already doing his thing. Standing on that sidewalk looking forward. As soon as I stepped on the sidewalk, he started walking. We walked like this, like the strangest beings. Dog walking a girl. To the unknown. That thought made me a bit unsettling but as soon as I looked down again the dog was walking with his head facing me. For a second I felt like he was smiling at me. With that silly thought, the dog suddenly stopped.

I don’t know how long we walked but we were suddenly standing in the field full of sunflowers. That was the most beautiful scene I have ever seen. In front of us, there was a tree, just a lonesome old, big tree. The dog started running towards it while barking loudly. I got this feeling, this unsteady, tingling feeling. So, I followed the dog towards the tree. But when I got there, the dog was gone. It was just the tree and me, standing in the middle of the sunflower field. As I looked down thinking how crazy I was to do all that, I saw a wooden door.

On top of the wooden door, there was a small patch of grass that did not fit with the rest of the grass. Just a small space, smaller than a book. I started wondering what this all was but…” As she was reading it, she remembered.

“And when you walk through those doors Xena, you will find the legendary city under ours. You will hear great deal of stories about it. And guess what, I went there once. The ruins were still in a perfect shape, as if nothing ever happened. Your grandpa found it when he was digging the ground and he ended up making a tunnel and built these small doors.

He told me about it and made me swear I would never walk through those doors. Because after making a tunnel, he decided to visit the city. He regretted it as soon as he did. See, the city looks completely untouched. And it’s meant to stay like that. I thought he was being silly. As it turns out, I was the silly one. I regretted visiting it too. I knew, if I ever told anyone, that city would be ruined. You are too young to ever remember our conversation. Which is why I am telling you about it because I want the memory of that adventure to live on with someone other than me. Even if you won’t remember it.”

She started crying heavily. It was her dad who said these words when she was younger. It looks like he was being silly because she did remember. But now she remembered his story, and not only that, but she was also literally standing on his secret in my dream. She had to keep reading it.

“…suddenly, I felt the need to find out what is beneath that patch of grass. I knew I could not go inside the tunnel, but I felt like I had to do it. As I was digging, I stumbled upon something black, like a book with hard covers. I took it out and there it was, a small black notebook titled “My light. Was this my father’s notebook?

As I pursued to open it, I got a call from my mother. I told her I was on my way back and as soon as I said that the dog came back barking. Mum asked me whose dog that was, and I told her I found him outside. Before I ended the conversation, the dog was already laying across my foot. I smiled at the dog and got up on my feet. I didn’t even know why, but I referred to him as “Faro”. It came out of nowhere. But as I learnt a bit of Italian; I knew it meant “lighthouse”. That sounded about right. He started barking happily, as if he agreed on the name. We started walking back, like the strangest but happiest beings. Only this time, I carried a black notebook in my hands.”

What a dream, she thought to herself. She started wondering if the dream meant anything and if she had to try to identify where that field and the tree were. Was the dog representing her father? Is there really a notebook waiting for her there? Is it even possible this all was something she had to follow up with? But the biggest question she had was about her readiness to do all these adventuristic things that are way out of the line her life has been following. What will Xena do with all this?