So I'm back with another chapter! I've pretty much got it figured out where this is going, and hopefully I'll be able to articulate my thoughts well enough to get my point across. I don't often get my thoughts untangled enough to get them into any semblance of a cohearant story, but I like to think that when I do it's semi-readable xD.
Alfred finally shows up! (sort of) Enjoy!
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Ivan stares up at blue sky, as vast and endless as the ocean. How long he's been here, staring up at the same patch of sky and lying in the same patch of grass, he does not know. Perhaps he was born here, except he doesn't remember being born. Perhaps he just appeared here by chance long ago when the world was new and has been here ever since, staring up at his patch of sky and lying in his patch of grass.
He decides that it is high time to go against the norm, and hauls himself up out of the grass. Looking around, he's glad he did. Vast, rolling hills stretch out into the distance, a copse of trees situated nearby. The sky looks even more strikingly blue against the landscape and it reminds him of something he can't quite place. Whatever it is, he knows he has to find it. So after a quick stretch to ease his unused muscles into activity, he sets off towards the horizon and over a hill.
The sight that greets him there is probably one of the most beautiful he's ever seen. A field full of nothing but sunflowers stretching as far into the distance as he can see in all directions. And in the dead center, someone standing. Without knowing why, he's pulled towards the figure, wading through the tall flowers that bring him so much joy just to see them.
As he draws closer, he realizes that the figure is a boy. About 19 or so with blonde hair. His back is to the Russian, seeming not to notice him. Ivan stood patiently, not wanting to interrupt whatever the boy was thinking about. When the blonde finally turned toward him with a gentle smile on his face, Ivan was floored. The color of his eyes...it was the same as the sky he'd just been staring up at. Deep and striking, they pulled him in.
He was so caught up into staring into the boy's eyes that he almost missed the fact that he was mouthing something Ivan couldn't hear. It was odd, he should have been close enough to hear him. It wasn't until that moment that he realised that there was no sound at all. The world was utterly silent. He tried to speak, to tell the boy that he couldn't hear him. But no sound came out of his mouth, either.
He stepped closer to the boy, trying to read his lips. But as soon as he did the world faded to darkness and he was all alone in the abyss. He tried to call out, but the silence still pervaded his senses. There was nothing. No sound, no light, he was all alone. His heart began to race and panic set in. He didn't want to be alone! He cried out for Natalia, for Katyusha, even for the blonde boy who had vanished. But no one came to save him, no one was there when he began to shake, no one was there to dry the panicked tears.
He was all alone.
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Ivan woke up in a cold sweat, breathing harsh and tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He looked around, not recognizing the room at first. He wondered if he had gotten a hotel instead of going home to deal with Natalia trying to crawl into bed with him, something he would not have minded before, but frowned upon now that she thought she was in love with him.
He shook his head to clear it as he realized that he was not in Russia at all, but in the home he had purchased in Louisiana. He was in America and far from his sister and her advances. He tried to recall the dream and what about it had made him wake up feeling like he was going to have a heart attack. But all he could remember was golden petals and a flash of eye as blue as the sky. Other than that everything was completely fuzzy.
He shrugged it off and continued with his day. He had a meeting with the painters later concerning the chipping paint on the house.
By the time the day was done and Ivan had crawled into bed, he was much too tired to even drink himself into a stupor. He had forgotten how easy it was to forget all the misfortunes of the past when the concerns of the present were pressing at you.
The meeting with the painters had not gone well. They had insisted that the paint he wished to use was an unwise choice. They had wanted to use a different shade, to ease the burden of wear and tear it would endure over the years. Ivan had told them the shade was ugly and that as long as he was the one paying the bill, he would choose the color. It had not made them happy, to say the least. In the end they had compromised and picked a color that Ivan found suitable aesthetically and the painters agreed would look good for many years to come.
Not once the whole day had he thought of either of his sisters or the mysterious dream he'd had the night before. And as he got comfortable on the bed and let his mind drift off, his thoughts were free and light in a way they hadn't been in a long time. Perhaps buying this house and moving to America would do him more good than he thought, despite the overall oppressive nature of the house.
But as soon as he drifted off, the dream sequence started over again.
Ivan was back again, laying in the grass and staring up at the bright blue sky. It all seemed so familiar, as if this was the way he passed his days. It wouldn't be a bad way to spend his time, he thinks casually. He would just lay in the grass, staring up at the sky and being warmed by the sun. It would be such a carefree existence. But he knows that there is more for him to do in this world than sit and stare at clouds.
So he gets up, stretching and setting off for the hills. His feet trace the same path they did last night, over the hill and through the valley of sunflowers. The bright yellow petals still bring a smile to his face, but more intriguing is the boy in the midst of them all. He is not unlike a sunflower, himself. Tall, though not as tall as Ivan, golden bright like a miniature sun. He, too, brings a smile to Ivan's face. So much like a sunflower.
The boy turns to him almost immediately this time, smiling that gentle smile of his and mouthing the same words he did last night. This time, Ivan doesn't try to move closer. At least not at first. He just basks in the company, staring up at the sky and around at the sunflowers. But most of all he stares at the boy. It's not long before Ivan finds himself drawing closer and the edges of his vision start to go black. Before he can retreat the peaceful scene is gone, replaced once more by pitch black darkness. He is left alone with the silence and the loneliness...and the beeping
Ivan groans as his alarm clock goes off, hitting the snooze button and rolling over in the bed to bury his face in the pillow. He doesn't want to get up yet, but he knows he must. But in the back of his mind, he is still thinking about golden hair as bright as the petals of a sunflower and blue eyes as vast as the sky.
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Not sure if this was what I originally intended for it, but I like it. Could stand to be a little longer, but I'm not sure how to do that in this chapter without either combining it with the next or making an infinite number of dream sequences. Also, updates will always be posted to LJ first, then here when I finally get around to it.