Her dreams were painted with the rose gardens of her home, warm with the
summer sun, and ever shifting in the light breeze that threatened to dry
her watercolors before she was done.
Her father called her name, and she stood quickly, upsetting the water glass by her knee. Icy cold, the well water washed over the canvas, turning all the flowers she had painted there into a muddy brown mess. She gasped in surprise and knelt to mop the mess up with a rag, only to have her hand sink into a deep warm puddle of spreading blood. It surrounded her, pulling her down into its vivid red depths: She tried to scream, but the only sound she made was a hoarse whisper, soon silenced when the thick blood covered her head, drowning her in darkness.
Katrien awoke to find the moon illuminating the frost-covered windows of the train, filling their cabin with soft light and gray shadows. The silence was deafening, every metallic creak or groan echoing through their car. On the other couch her mother was as still as a marble statue, her thin face almost skeletal in the eerie light.
She licked her lips nervously, her breath shaky as she inhaled, "Are we dead?"
"So Sleeping Beauty finally awakens." Her mother's voice was harsh, her eyes black in the darkness. "We are not dead. The train stopped a few minutes ago- some idiot probably pulled the emergency brake to amuse themselves. Stupid girl, why would you think that we are dead?"
"I thought... I had an alptraum, and I thought..."
"Silly girl, grow up, it was only a dream, nothing more. Now, let's put this delay to good use and warm up..." Katrien nodded, watching as her mother pulled a round tuner from her pocket and blew into it, doing her best to match it's soft whistle.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At the other end of the car, strong hands forced the door linking it to the rest of the train open. A figure slipped through and moaned painfully, covering his ears against the pure sweet sounds drifting down the corridor to him. He shrieked, cowering in the corner as the sounds grew louder and louder, nearly drowning out the voice that kept up a constant murmur in his subconscious.
The voice's tirade took a sudden turn, changing from its previous focus on freedom and escape to a completely different direction.
The prisoner hissed to himself, his eyes clouded with visions of blood stained walls. The angels, he silently promised his friend, would suffer.
TBC
German to English glossary
*Alptraum - Nightmare
Her father called her name, and she stood quickly, upsetting the water glass by her knee. Icy cold, the well water washed over the canvas, turning all the flowers she had painted there into a muddy brown mess. She gasped in surprise and knelt to mop the mess up with a rag, only to have her hand sink into a deep warm puddle of spreading blood. It surrounded her, pulling her down into its vivid red depths: She tried to scream, but the only sound she made was a hoarse whisper, soon silenced when the thick blood covered her head, drowning her in darkness.
Katrien awoke to find the moon illuminating the frost-covered windows of the train, filling their cabin with soft light and gray shadows. The silence was deafening, every metallic creak or groan echoing through their car. On the other couch her mother was as still as a marble statue, her thin face almost skeletal in the eerie light.
She licked her lips nervously, her breath shaky as she inhaled, "Are we dead?"
"So Sleeping Beauty finally awakens." Her mother's voice was harsh, her eyes black in the darkness. "We are not dead. The train stopped a few minutes ago- some idiot probably pulled the emergency brake to amuse themselves. Stupid girl, why would you think that we are dead?"
"I thought... I had an alptraum, and I thought..."
"Silly girl, grow up, it was only a dream, nothing more. Now, let's put this delay to good use and warm up..." Katrien nodded, watching as her mother pulled a round tuner from her pocket and blew into it, doing her best to match it's soft whistle.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At the other end of the car, strong hands forced the door linking it to the rest of the train open. A figure slipped through and moaned painfully, covering his ears against the pure sweet sounds drifting down the corridor to him. He shrieked, cowering in the corner as the sounds grew louder and louder, nearly drowning out the voice that kept up a constant murmur in his subconscious.
The voice's tirade took a sudden turn, changing from its previous focus on freedom and escape to a completely different direction.
The prisoner hissed to himself, his eyes clouded with visions of blood stained walls. The angels, he silently promised his friend, would suffer.
TBC
German to English glossary
*Alptraum - Nightmare
