Harv sat in a small wooden chair, he glared at the small figure before him. He was trapped here, in an endless dimensional space. Blue stretched as far as the eye could see. It was neither warm nor hot, the light came from no source. Other than himself, the chair, and his reluctant company; there was nothing.
'Go away.' He glowered.
'I can't.' A small green duck quacked. 'You still haven't gone on your journey.' The duck had persistently appeared in his dreams for two years. When it had first arrived, he had been deeply concerned; now it was just annoying. He was perfectly content with the way things were in his life and even though it was his subconscious; he wouldn't give it the pleasure of watching him fold. But he couldn't make it go away until he went on A Magical Journey of Self Discovery. So he simply glared at it instead.
'Not going to happen.'
'But Harvey-'
'No.' He crossed his arms in defiance.
'You won't feel better until you do, Harvey.' The duck said sadly. 'It'll just get worse.'
Harv woke up with a start. He struggled to catch his breath, mostly because Big was asleep on his chest. Groaning, he fell back onto the bed, much to Rhodri's displeasure. The dreams had been more frequent in the last few months.
"Get off my arm!" Rhodri hissed. Harv rolled over to let his brother up. He allowed himself a minute to collect and bury his thoughts. This was simply a test of his will, all he had to do was try harder. Though the longer his predicament went on, the hollower his reasoning seemed. He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on it longer. It was time for school.
+ o +
Before he even reached the school, Harv's internal strife began to multiply. Like every day, Harv had to go out of his way to pick up his friend. Though he still wasn't sure why Finn was his friend, as this was the source of nearly every problem that had wormed its way into Harv's peaceful life. Finn was self centered, obnoxious, and today; cold.
"What took you so long? It's freezing outside!" Finn spat. He slid next to Harv and shivered. The November chill had come early this year, and swiftly as well. Finn had been unprepared for this sudden change in weather, he'd have to replan his entire wardrobe now. He received a muttered apology from Harv and the to proceed to school in the rickety cart. Harv was fine with this, until Finn scooted closer to him; only a fluctuating inch remained between them.
"F-Finn!" He exclaimed.
"What? I'm freezing. Do you want me to die?" Harv tried to scoot away, but the cart wouldn't allow him.
"If you're that cold, you should have worn a thicker jacket."
"With this tunic? It's pure angora Harv, I can't cover this up with one of my plain old jackets." Harv had to admit, the lavender tunic looked rather soft, regardless of its practicality. The stiff breeze ruffled the soft fur and Harv dared to wonder what the fabric would feel like under his bare hand. It was probably as soft as it looked, elastic too. Were he to touch Finn's shoulder, it wouldn't take much to slip his hand down the collar and warm the pale skin underneath. Harv immediately looked away and mentally berated himself. It wasn't right for him to think of his friend that way, yet he found himself doing it more and more. "-must be made for the sake of fashion, not that you'd know." The whole time Harv had been thinking, Finn hadn't stopped talking.
"We're here." Harv sighed. The sooner he could put distance between himself and Finn, the better off he'd be.
+ o +
"And so ended the Epic Quest for Sherber." The teacher bellowed. "Not all quests are quite as grand. Many of you may never go on quests at all. I, myself, ventured many times on a Quest for Water."
"BORING!" Finn groaned. "Seriously, what kind of fierce warrior would go on a stupid quest like that?" Finn 'whispered' to Harv.
"The kind that lived." However the teacher was too late. Finn's comment had set off a ripple of conversation through the room about quests and such. All except Harv, who buried his head in his arms. The teacher rubbed his temples. "SILENCE!" Now petrified, the student body settled back into frozen silence. "As I was saying-" Clayton noticed a calloused hand patiently raised. "Yes, Emet?"
"Aren't there any legendary whatevers in Cailburry to quest after? Cursed rivers, buried treasure, fountains of mystic... mysticalness?" Emet asked. It was only the beginning of the day and it had already started.
"Emet." Clayton said slowly for emphasis. "There's nothing like that here. The closest thing we have is the rumored wishing well in the forest, rumored. You-"
"That old thing?" Emet whined.
"What wishing well?" Harv asked, intrigued by the change in topic.
"Just some dirty, old well." Finn drawled.
"Students." Clayton moaned.
"Rumor says the water was purified by unicorn magic." Emet elaborated.
"Eww," Finn cringed, "who would want to drink from a well that a filthy beast dunked its head in?"
"STUDENTS!" Clayton cleared his throat. "Now that you're through." He turned to the board and continued his lecture.
"Doee it really work?" Harv whispered.
"No one knows," Emet smirked, "no one's found it... And lived."
"That's because it's stupid and doesn't exist." Finn argued. "Real magic is never as simple as tossing a coin-" A desk landed inches away from Finn. The three looked up to see the teacher innocently writing on the board, distinctly deskless. "...in a well." Finn finished and promptly ducked to avoid the chair that followed.
+ o +
"Do you think the wishing well grants any wish?" Harv asked.
"No, because it doesn't exist." Finn grunted.
"O-of course." Harv said sheepishly. "But if it did. Would it?" Finn sighed.
"I suppose, hypothetically speaking, it could. I mean that's what it's for. You know, granting wishes and all." He rubbed his arms in a vain attempt to shield them from the wind. Harv gleamed the general meaning from Finn's words as a yes and continued.
"And, if this nonexistent well was existent; how... would you make a wish?" Finn eyed him.
"You toss in a coin and make your wish in you head... Why?" Finn had finally taken notice of Harv's odd behavior. "You're not thinking of looking for it are you?"
"W-what? Me?" Harv laughed nervously. "No, I-I wouldn't do something like that."
"Good." Finn quipped, satisfied with the answer. "There's no point wasting your time and energy on children's stories. Speaking of children, mother's taking me to the palace again to visit the princess. I think it's just a ruse, because the other day-" Harv stopped listening at this point. In Cailburry, there's only one place where a unicorn would have touched anything. And he was determined to find it.
+ o +
This was stupid, completely and utterly stupid. Harv shook his head. Finn was right, there probably was noting there. Magic was a dangerous thing to tamper with. But if there was a chance, even a minute one, that he could fix everything. Then he was going to try, it was the least he could do. He cautiously ventured into the forest Finn charmingly named 'The Unicorn's Domain'. Dead leaves littered the forest floor and curled around the soles of his boots. With batted breath, Harv wandered toward a stone column a few paces from the lake. He was painfully conscious of the pence clenched in his hand; his pocket money for the month. If this didn't work, he'd be out a lot of money.
Finally the well came into focus. Despite the chilling wind, fresh green vines coiled around the well with soft blue buds. Desire was carved in the wooden rod that supported a torn rope. Harv peeked over the wall of the well into the penetrating darkness. The well seemed mystic enough, maybe this would work after all. He took a deep breath and tossed the penny into the well. When a splash echoed back up the well, Harv fell to his knees.
"I wish I didn't have these sinful thoughts." He begged in his mind. "Please, please banish this impurity from me. I don't know how much longer I can last."
"HEY!" And angry voice shouted. "What do you think you're doing?!" Harv jolted from his spot on the ground and ran. He was gone before a very angry, very human Hevvin managed to reach the well. He looked between Harv retreat and the well. "Stupid humans, tossing their crap in my sink." He eyed the well. "AND THESE FLOWERS ARE BACK!" He ripped the vines to revile a brass plaque. On it, the following was inscribed.
To all who have dreams that wouldn't come true,
Drop a coin in the water for hope to renew.
No reward will come from the wish your words host,
This well grants the desire you yearn for most.
Either way, Harv wouldn't have been able to read it.