Flora was walking through the forest with Helia. They were holding hands and laughing. They walked all the way to the lake where they took off their clothes, except their undergarments, and went for a swim. They raced across the water and at the other end had a splash fight. Flora was having the time of her life. She felt so lucky that she had Helia in her life. But then something happened there was a great change in the atmosphere. The clear blue sky turned grey and storm clouds appeared. The gentle breeze that was there earlier was now a huge windstorm, and a sudden chill came. Flora shivered in the water.
"I think its time for us to get out, Helia"
"I think you're right." Flora got out and looked expecting Helia to be right behind her but she saw nothing. She looked out to the lake and still nothing.
"Helia!" Flora yelled his name but no one answered. Fearing the worst, Flora jumped back into the lake. She swam to where she last saw him but nothing was there.
"Helia!" She yelled again. Then something grabbed her legs and pulled her down. She tried to scream but nothing came out.
Flora jolted upright in her bed covered in sweat. She looked to see, to her relief; Helia was still asleep next to her. It was only a nightmare. Flora looked at her clock and saw that it was 11 at night. The gang had decided to let them sleep instead of waking them up for dinner. Flora knew that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep for a while and she didn't want to wake Helia up. So Flora got out of bed and walked over to her balcony. She looked out to the ocean feeling the warm ocean breeze on her face, feeling a little bit better. She has had plenty of nightmares in her life, but this one seemed different in a way. It had felt so real, shaking her to her very core. Flora was outside for some time before she noticed what was on it. Ms. Faragonda's spell must have also included her balcony because it was covered in vines and flowers. One kind in particular caught her eye. There were a bunch of evening primroses on her balcony. They were a special kind of flower that only bloomed at night. She was totally surround by them and their sweet scent.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Helia said coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. "Now what are you doing out here so late, my flower." Kissing the top of her head.
Flora smiled. Just having Helia's arms around her made her feel safe and protected. "Oh nothing. I just had a nightmare and couldn't fall back to sleep."
"What was it about?"
Flora was a little hesitant to tell him. She didn't want to sound silly. "You and I were out in the forest walking together. We got to a lake and decided to go swimming. Then the weather change and when I got out you disappeared. So I went back into the water to find you and got pulled underneath by something. I woke up after that."
Helia stayed quiet for a moment. Flora couldn't see but there was a flash of concern that came across Helia's face. The expression was only there for an instant and then it was gone. "I am sure it is nothing. Chances are we will have a busy day tomorrow, so I think we should go back inside and try to get some sleep."
Flora and Helia walked back into Flora's room. He kissed her goodnight and was about to leave the room when Flora said something. "Where are you going?"
"Back to my room."
"Can you please stay with me tonight? After that nightmare I don't want to be alone." What Flora said was true but there was more that she didn't want to say out loud. If she did have that nightmare again she wanted to have Helia next to her to know that he is safe.
Helia smiled, "Of course I'll stay with you." Helia walked over to the bed, he took off his shirt and climbed into bed. The two of them fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.
Helia woke up the next morning to the sun rising. He looked to see that Flora was sleeping peacefully in her bed. He smiled; glad to know she was able to get some sleep after all. But the nightmare that she talked about did worry him. It sounded similar to ones that he use to have when he was little. Chances are it was nothing, but he was going to keep a close eye on Flora and her dreams just in case. Helia shivered at the memory. It had been many years since he last saw his cousin, but the memories of him were still fresh. Helia put those memories in the back of his head and grabbed his shirt. He headed to the pool to get in a quick swim in before everyone started to wake up.
