Trail of Dreams
Chapter one
The rain poured heavily
from the clouds. They struck the ground
around the tall old worn out building where dust had settled just inside the
windows. The trees were jagged at the
bottom of the building just outside, suffering from the long draught before the
storm. The rain beat down on the soil
around creating a thick mud puddle that blocked several parts of the dirt
road. The storm screamed with thunder
and lightning piercing the gravel.
Lori
Jackrabbit ran through the rain, covering her head with the small hood of the
cloak she wore. She looked up to see
the beach, a distant lighthouse, and a forest.
She began towards cover but the lightning struck again. A howling breeze came through and Lori
glanced up again to see the forest on fire.
The storm was too thick and the fire would surely kill her. She knelt to the ground and tried to keep
warm and whispered a prayer in search of protection.
She
glanced up again to see the old worn building.
It was large with two pillars beside the front door. A light could be seen inside several
windows. Knowing there was shelter;
Lori took a deep breath and hurried towards it. The rain pounded on her back as she ran.
Reaching
it, she clutched the handles of the door and began pulling for it to open. It was locked. She cried for help and pounded on the door but there was no
answer. Lori turned around to hear the
ghostly whispers that haunted her in her travels. As if they were warning her of a fate she would soon see. Ghostly arms seemed out of the darkness of
the night reached out of the shadows towards her. It was only and illusion of the storm though. She convinced herself that she was safe.
The
door opened and Lori hurried in.
Lori
fell to her knees shivering as the door closed behind her. An old paw was placed on her shoulder
showing her that she was safe. Looking
up, Lori could see a crooked old cat with a cane. He smiled a warm smile that made Lori feel welcome. His voice was coarse and rough as he spoke.
“I
say…” he began silently “are you alright?
“Yes.”
Replied Lori.
Lori
stood up and straightened out her cloak.
She removed the hood now that she was free of the storm.
“Thank
you, sir.” Said Lori “I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Think
nothing of it.” Said the old cat with a chuckle “Say, I wrote a book once about
a girl like you before. You match
almost the exact description.”
“I…
I see.” Stuttered Lori.
“What’s
your name, young lady?” he asked.
“Lori.”
Answered Lori.
“I
see…” he replied “My name is Gadien. I
own this place here.”
Lori
looked around to see several shelves aligned about with books filling
them. Several novels and fallen books
dotted the floors, each holding old stories that were never told or remembered. Lori could see the forgotten past of this
building.
“What
is this place?” asked Lori.
“A
library.” Said Gadien “Rarely anyone visits here since the books are too old
and many not know how to read them.”
“It’s
incredible.” Said Lori “So many books could lead back to our forgotten history.”
“Indeed.”
Said Gadien uncertain of something “If you need a place to stay for the night,
I have a spare room that you can use.”
“Thanks.”
Said Lori “Is it okay if I can explore this place a little?”
“Of
course it is.” Said Gadien smiling “If you need anything, I’ll be in my
chambers.”
The
old cat turned around and began to walk away.
Lori was more interested in what was further down the corridors. She began walking along the shelves while
looking at the titles of books as she passed by them. She could see what appeared to be the center of the library up
ahead. Before she reached it, a book
fell off a high shelf and landed in front of her on the floor.
Lori
knelt down to pick it up. It had a fine
pattern on the front of it with an emblem in the center. It held a strange symbol of some sort that
seemed to show a picture of a moon and several stars. Lori took a deep breath and blew the heavy coat of dust off the
book. She coughed as she tried to fan
away the cloud that it left. She lifted
the cover of the book to the first page.
Inside,
the writing was completely different.
All the letters were strange symbols that she couldn’t read. She turned a page back to see what was on
the back of the cover. The words were
in clear English.
Deep
within the heart of a hare
Lies a
wish or a prayer
The
words echoed in her mind. They seemed
to lead her thoughts into a story where she could wish for anything she
wanted. She stopped thinking about it
when she began to hear breathing nearby.
The feeling of sadness could be sensed further down the shelves.
When
Lori had reached the center of the library, she looked around to see the
surroundings. The center was a circular
clearing that branched out into seven corridors. Turning around, Lori forgot which one lead back to the
front. A circular glass window was in
the ceiling with several decorations.
One seemed to be the picture of a young green female rabbit about the same
age as Lori. Another was a blue-painted
picture of a knight.
Others
had decorated the ceiling but Lori drew her attention to the breathing
again. She looked around to see a
rabbit walking from around the corner.
He was bluish and wore light steel armor. However, all his colors including the armor were a transparent
teal color. He was a ghost.
Lori
stepped back as the ghost stepped closer.
He reached out his paw to Lori and began to speak.
“Kiro?”
he asked “ Is that you, my love?”
“Who
are you?” asked Lori with a voice of fear “What do you want?”
“Kiro?”
he asked again taking another step closer “Is that really you?”
“Who
is Kiro?” asked Lori “What are you talking about?”
“Kiro.”
He said again.
The
rabbit began walking faster towards Lori.
Afraid, Lori fell back and covered her eyes. Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps disappeared.
Looking
up, There was no one around. Lori stood
up and dusted herself off. She looked
down to see that she was still holding the book. She couldn’t seem to let it go.
She shrugged and continued to explore the library. However, she soon heard someone running
through the corridors. Turning around
she saw a female rabbit racing towards Lori as though she was being chased.
Stopping,
the rabbit fell to her knees in front of Lori and began crying for help.
“Please!”
she pleaded “Help me! I’m being hunted
by guards yet I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“W-what?”
exclaimed Lori “Who are you?”
“Please
help me!” she pleaded again.
“I
don’t know what your talking about!” said Lori “Leave me alone!”
Lori
jumped back against one of the pillars.
Suddenly, guards rushed by and grabbed hold of the girl. They soon began dragging her down another
corridor. When Lori looked down it,
they were gone as if they just vanished.
Lori began to breathe heavily as she wondered what was going on.
She
paused for a second to think. She
closed her eyes and rubbed her head.
She sat down beside the pillar and let her mind figure out what to do
next.
It
was as though these happenings were fiction.
Apart of a book or chapter.
However, they all began to frighten Lori for she had never encountered
anything this strange before. Not even
her brothers had seen something this strange.
Then
she remembered why she was here. She
was caught in the storm and needed to seek some sort of shelter from the cold
rain. When the heavy drops of rain wore
her down, she whispered a prayer for protection. She asked for courage.