She was floating in the water again, breathing fine without assistance from any scuba gear or the like. Livvy looked around her and wondered what she was doing here, because this was a familiar place near home, and she was in Easthaven, Massachusetts and not home at all.
She was so still, just hanging there, limbs moving infinitesimally, that fish emerged and swam near her after a while. She loved to see them. A water elemental she had met years before approached, all bubbles and refracting light, an expression of concern on what would pass for a face. Livvy didn't understand. She looked up at the surface of the water, at the sun shining through, then back to the fish and the elemental.
This is a dream, isn't it? she managed to thinksay to the elemental, who nodded in response. There was a man on fire, she continued, a creature controlling fire. The elemental nodded again.
Feeling a surge of urgency, Livvy kicked for the surface, but it was farther away than it appeared. Frantic now, she kicked and stretched until her fingers were almost piercing through the membrane of water, like pressing against plastic wrap, waiting for it to break -
She was lying on her side. People were talking around her, but she couldn't process what was being said. She would be able to recall it all later, of course, as things were recorded regardless of her level of understanding. There was this faint, wet, mewling sound. It took a moment to realize it came from her.
She was so still, just hanging there, limbs moving infinitesimally, that fish emerged and swam near her after a while. She loved to see them. A water elemental she had met years before approached, all bubbles and refracting light, an expression of concern on what would pass for a face. Livvy didn't understand. She looked up at the surface of the water, at the sun shining through, then back to the fish and the elemental.
This is a dream, isn't it? she managed to thinksay to the elemental, who nodded in response. There was a man on fire, she continued, a creature controlling fire. The elemental nodded again.
Feeling a surge of urgency, Livvy kicked for the surface, but it was farther away than it appeared. Frantic now, she kicked and stretched until her fingers were almost piercing through the membrane of water, like pressing against plastic wrap, waiting for it to break -
She was lying on her side. People were talking around her, but she couldn't process what was being said. She would be able to recall it all later, of course, as things were recorded regardless of her level of understanding. There was this faint, wet, mewling sound. It took a moment to realize it came from her.