Chapter 1: Perpetual Dream

"Darkness...Darkness is all that lies before my eyes, and it is...It is everything I see. What is this? Where am I? Why am I not dreaming?" A voice echoed through the void of sleep, a realm which all must visit, though the comprehension of such a place seemed to escape this person's mind. The voice was that of a young man's, soft, innocent, yet it seemed troubled, and it quivered with anxiety as the young man tried to make sense of what was before him. Fear rose up from the pits of his heart, and he soon began to feel helpless before the void around him. "Take me not!" He cried out as he tried to cover his eyes-a naive attempt to guard himself from the darkness that seemed to peer into his soul. However, in trying to do so he found that his body could not move. "Has the darkness already devoured me?" He asked himself, fearing for the worst as his body lingered uselessly in the darkness of the void. "I fear it has..." His voice-now choaked with sorrow-whispered through the plaines of the darkness, seeming as if he was weeping.

"Fear not, oh bright star!" A voice, no, it was nothing but words from an enigmatic source that entered the young man's mind. It echoed through his thoughts, taking on his own voice, though it was pure like the sound of a trickling brook. The voice was as soft as velvet, and as sweet as honey. It shocked the young man at first, though the warmth that he felt from these words that entered his head caused his weeping to end, and the fear inside of him to disappear. "The light you possess is stronger than any weapon you hold." The voice continued to reassure the young man as he drifted in the darkness, though it perplexed him. "What light? What are you talking about?" The young man pleaded, though there was nothing but silence. Suddenly, he began to feel the warmth that had been growing inside of him suddenly take to new hieghts, and the young man began to feel as though he were sitting upon his favorite grassy knoll in the middle of the spring. He could picture it now: The rays of sunlight hitting his skin as he lay upon the soft bed of grass beneath him, and the wind blowing gently through the fields around the knoll. Birds chirped in a single tree behind him-a large, old, and magnificent oak tree-as the wind rocked it back and forth. The sound of leaves hissing in the wind was like a melody to which could put the young man to sleep with; he felt like he could stay here for all eternity.

As he tried to see through the darkness, his body began to slowly come in to view as he looked down. He realized his body was now relinquished from the grips of the fear that completely consumed him, and he began to examine his body as it slowly shone through the darkness. At first he looked transparent, but then he could notice how concrete he was, and the more and more he became apparent, he realized the light that he possessed was revealed to him by this unknown entity. Like a moonbeam, he illuminated the darkness around him so that he could see as he now drifted slowly down towards solid ground. The surface of this solid plaine was glazed in the light that eminated off the young man, and it allowed him to see around him. There truly was nothing here, nothing at all but emptiness, and a cold gloom that fell like a cloud of mist from the walls of the darkness around him, surrounding the young man. The light, however, warded off this evil cloud so that it would not touch him. "What is this place?" He questioned himself as he looked around to gaze at the nothingness surrounding him. It was surreal to him as he stood there on the plaines of the darkness. He knew it was a dream, there just couldn't be any physical way he could be in this place.

What was this void? Why could the young man not wake up from his slumber? Maybe he was there, though not in body, but in soul? Had the darkness brought him here in an attempt to drown him in despair? Maybe, though why was this voice calling out to him? Why was it even there to begin with? It could've been a being that resided within him, and awoke when he was brought to this place of darkness. "Now step forth, and awake renewed." The voice echoed through his mind again, encouraging him to walk along some mysterious path that the young man could not see. Where was this voice intending to lead him? He felt obligated to obey it since it vanquished the fear that had settled within him. "Your destiny is a path that basks in the light. You must be on guard at all times, for your shadow will always follow behind in your footsteps. As you grow stronger, so will your shadow..." The voice instructed him as the young man weightlessly walked forward, unknowing of his destination, though he followed the direction in which his heart pulled him in. "What is this perpetual dream?" He questioned once more, hoping that this time the voice would answer him directly, though it seemed on only informing him of some destiny that was unknown to the young man.

"Fear not, oh bright star! Your light is the most important weapon against the darkness!" The young man was startled by the voice again for some unknown reason. He searched all around him to find some form of entity standing before him, or the figure of a person lingering within the darkness, but the young man could find nothing...Nothing at all. "Who are you!" The young man exclaimed, finally becoming frustrated with the entity that seemed so immersed in toying with the young man. "Fear not, oh bright star!"

"Fear not...Oh bright star!"

"Fear not..."

"...Oh bright star!"

"Fear..."

"Not..."

"Bright..."

"Star..."

The voice echoed over and over again like a broken record inside of the young man's mind as he whirled around still trying to find the source of the voice, and still his attempt was in vain. He didn't know what exactly was going on, was this what so many people called God? Or maybe was this some other entity all-together? "Who is..." The young man paused for a moment, suddenly feeling faint, "...This...Warmth...?" Slowly he swirled around still, and slowly he drifted into unconsciousness once more. As he fell, he could feel the warm touch of gentle hands that caught him, and slowly embraced him until he finally rested upon the solid ground. This was the last thing he could remember of this dream. After that, he could feel the softness of his plump pillow, and his warm blankets. However, the familliar touch of those hands remained as he lay comfortably in his bed. "Oh bright star! Fear not." The voice of a middle-aged woman cooed as the young man lay in his bed. It immediately sent a vibe through him that made him suspect it was that same damned voice again. He shot up abruptly after hearing those words spoken to him, and shouted with a cry of horror,"AAAHHH!" He clentched his chest as tightly as he could to stop his heart from beating out of his chest, and he sat pressed up against a wall adjacent to his bed. "Don't worry, Etoile! It was only a nightmare!" The womanly voice chuckled as he panted in fear,"H-How do you know I was dreaming?" Etoile questioned the woman sitting at his bed side. "Oh dear, you were talking in your sleep. You really musn't stay up so late, or you might not have had such a bad dream to begin with." The woman answered with a chuckle, and looked over at Etoile with a smug little stare. "I-I wasn't up that late!" He protested, though the woman simply continued to chuckle as he did so. "It's okay, son, just don't do it so often." And with that, she leaned over and kissed Etoile gently on his forehead. "Mom! Really? Is that necessary? I'm seventeen you know! I'm not a little kid anymore!" Etoile groaned as he simultaniously tried to push his mother off of him, and wipe the lipstick from his head. His mother only rolled her eyes and stood back up, "Fine, fine! Have it your way, Etoile." She bent over and picked up a laundry basket she brought up into Etoile's room apparently. "Just hurry and get dressed, your breakfast is getting cold."

Etoile rolled his eyes snarkily, and sighed as she began to walk down the hall, and away from his room. "Still...That dream was pretty wild. It was unlike anything I've ever dreamt." He thought to himself as he lazily crawled out of bed, and stood upon the hardwood floor of his room. "Oh well. It was all just a dream. Nothing to get too worried over." Etoile tried to reassure himself so that he could concentrate on the stuff he had planned for today, and recently he had procrastinated enough towards his agenda. He cautiously took a shirt that was lying on his floor, and sniffed the folds of its sleeves to check its "wearability" status. "Hmm, still good." he thought to himself as he took off his previous shirt that he had slept in, and slipped the new one on. It was rather comfy, and stylish in his eyes- A black V-neck made of 100% cotton. Though now that he had solved the riddle of "what shirt he should wear today", the next question came to mind. "Which pair of pants should I wear?" This was the one million dollar question, but as he scanned the floor of his room, and sifted through piles of towels, blankets, jackets, and socks, he finally found the pair that suited him the most. They were a snug, and loose-fitting pair of denim skinny jeans. The fabric on his jeans looked rather worn out since their original color had faded, and holes littered them on the front and the back. As Etoile trudged out of his room, he grabbed a wallet with a black and white checkered bandanna hanging out of it, and slipped it into his rear-left pocket. "Hola!" He said gleefully as he entered the kitchen-swinging on the side of the doorframe towards the fridge that sat right next to the door. Etoile hummed as he looked through the contents of the fridge, trying to decide on what he was going to eat. "I've already made you something. You'll probably need to sit it in the microwave for about a minute or so." His mother called out to him from the laundry room on the opposite side of where he stood in the kitchen. He looked back and saw the plate of food sitting on an oval table-which made him grimmace at teh sight of it. Cold fried eggs, bacon, and oatmeal. The spoon that stuck out of the pile of oatmeal was pretty much cemented to the plate, and the bacon was all cold and hard, and the eggs...The eggs made him shiver just by looking at them. Etoile dared not try to stick them in his mouth to test them since they looked really greasy, and the yoke looked all crusty. "Ehhh..." He whimpered as he feared the taste of them. Though he quickly thought up a plan, and checked to see if his mother was doing anything. After confirming she was putting her full attention towards the task she put before herself, he took the plate and carefully scraped the food into the garbage can. "Heheheh!" He laughed slyfully as he cleared his plate.

He quickly dropped the plate, and the silverwear into the sink, and took a few items out of the fridge before exiting the kitchen in a rush. "Don't forget to take out the trash!" Etoile's mother cried out as he trudged through the hallway. This made him flinch with disappointment. "Okaaayyy!" He answered back, and then sighed angrily as he slumped over, and walked towards the front door. There were a couple bags of trash sitting on the poorch which had flies buzzing around them. "Awww! Rank!" He exclaimed as he turned his head away and covered his nose, "Doesn't anyone else besides be know how to take out the trash around here?" He growled as he clenched his teeth, and carried the trashbags out to the street. The sound of muffled shouting echoed out into the air from the house next door to Etoile's, and it suddenly elivated to a full out argument as a young woman exited a house as a few glass bottles followed after her, and crashed upon the street. Etoile didn't notice this uproar due to his strain of thought, and inner monologue-griping to himself about the chores he had to do around the house, and how none of his siblings had to do any of the work. Etoile did notice the girl after he slammed the trash bags into the plastic garbage can, and turned to go back into his house. He stopped in his tracks after laying eyes on her, and replaced his previous angered look with a gaze of obliviousness. "Oh, Shosanna! How's it going?" Etoile asked the girl as she stood by the side of the street. "Oh...Hey Etoile." Her voice sounded rather gloomy as she answered, which struck confusion inside of Etoile. "Is something the matter?" Etoile took a few steps closer to Shosanna becoming worried for her now, "I'm just fine." She looked down at the ground as she crossed her arms tightly against her bosom. She looked rather upset, and hopeless, whcih made Etoile feel even more worried for the girl. "It's okay if you tell me. Trust me, I've been down the road of disappointment quite a few times." Etoile laughed to try to lift her spirits up, but Shosanna simply shot him a sideways glance, and then sighed as she stared back down at the ground. "I just want to get away from here. You wanna' go to the spot on the hill?" She asked, changing the subject entirely for some reason. Apparently, she didn't want to speak of the events that took place just moments before Etoile came outside. "Sure! Race you there!" Etoile shouted as he suddenly dashed down the road laughing, and then back-peddling as he looked back at Shosanna-who apparently wasn't going to challenge him. "Slow down!" She cried out to him as she lazily walked in the same direction Etoile was going. "Aww, what's the matter?" Etoile jeered as he ran back towards Shosanna, and walked beside her with his hands tucked in his pocket. "I just don't feel like running." She answered with a half-hearted laugh that made Etoile feel kinda' dumb. "Yeesh! Must be that time of the month..." He thought to himself as raised his brow, and rolled his eyes.

Soon, they both managed to make it to the grassy knoll after a long walk, and a failed attempt to start up a decent conversation on Etoile's part. "Here we are! Man, I love this place." Etoile said as he placed his hands on his hips, and stopped as he took in the view around them. The field in which the grassy knoll stood was about a couple of miles outside of town in some unused acres of land nobody bought. Around their town, farming was a big thing, and it was something Etoile hated, because for one thing, it smelled. Yup, reeked to high heaven, but something about this country environment seemed to appeal to most of the people who lived in this town. Etoile never really understood it, because he himself was what one would call a punk...Well kind of. He lived for chaos, and it was something that he enjoyed doing most. It wasn't anything like full on anarchism or anything, it was just a more cynnical way he looked at the lifestyle the people here lived, and he just got a kick out of messing with people from time to time. Shosanna passed Etoile with little interest as he stood there lost in thought, however he was brought back to earth as she slightly nudged him. "Hey, wait up!" He shouted as he ran to catch up with her. He could tell she was rather distrought about something, but he really couldn't place a finger on it. Was it her birthday, and no one remembered? No...Maybe she missed out on something? Nah, couldn't be that either. Etoile puzzled his chin as he sat upon the grass next to Shosanna, and speculated as to what got her so upset. "I know..." He said as he raised his right index finger in the air, which grabbed Shosanna's attention. "Know what?" She said a little harshly as she looked over at him with a cold, blank stare. "The thing to cheer you up!" Etoile grinned maliciously as he held both of his hands in front of him, and clawed them as he leaned slowly towards Shosanna. "HAA!" Etoile pounced upon Shosanna, and pinned her down to the ground with one hand while tickling her sides with the other. "HAHAHA! Etoile-HAHAHA! Please-AHAHA! Stop!" Shosanna managed to carry out an entire sentence through the laughter as Etoile tickled her mercilessly. "Fiiiine!" He groaned as he sat back down, and allowed Shosanna to sit back up. "You know..." She said, hesitating for a moment as she started wiping the dirt, and blades of grass off her clothing. "Hmm?" Etoile hummed as he looked back at Shosanna. "It worked!" She yelled out as she pounced on Etoile in return, and forced him to submit as she pinned him down to the ground with both of her arms. She peered down at him with her bright blue eyes, and a sly smirk drawn across her face. "Etoile, you're in trouble now!" She teased as she began to press her torso with his, leaning in slowly towards his face with her own. Etoile stared back up helplessly as he became hypnotized with her stare, the only thing he could think to do was to lift his head up slowly as she lowered hers. Gently, both of their lips touched one another in a passionate display of effection. Shosanna's lips pulled away from Etoile's slowly, though Etoile yearned for the soft caress of her blushing lips once more, and he lifted his head back up and kissed her even more passionately than before. It was like a little piece of heaven...

They both lay now on the soft bed of grass that the knoll had to offer, and stared up at the blue sky above. White puffs of clouds wandered aimlessly through the sky, creating shapes that each of them would point out as something that looked familiar to them. They laughed merrily as they went down the list of creatures, objects, and people that they could think of with each passing cloud. The wind blew gracefully down the plaines, and caused the tree behind them to sway slowly back and forth. The leaves hissed as the wind brushed up against the tree, which sounded much like a rushing stream, or a waterfall. All was peaceful for the two of them as they lay upon the grassy knoll, both with each other's hands holding one another, and staring pleasantly up at the sky. "You know, I'm really gonna' miss this when spring break is over." Etoile said as he suddenly recalled that school was not far off, and that both of them would be trapped within the acedemic prison. "Yeah, classrooms are so cold. It'll be tough trying to get used to eight straight, cold hours." Shosanna sighed as she, too was brought back to the reality of their lives. Etoile turned his head and looked at Shosanna, who in turn turned her's towards Etoile. He smiled happily, and then pecked Shosanna on the lips. "Just one more year of it, and then it'll be over." Etoile said to try to comfort Shosanna. She smiled back at him, and then examined his face with her eyes. "So what are you going to do after you graduate?" She questioned Etoile with a sort of sweet, and innocent tone. Etoile stared blankly off into space as he closed one eye, and tried to think of what he had planned on doing. "Hmmm...I don't know yet. Probably hit the road, and see the world, you know? I'm taking a break from hitting the books for a while." Shosanna nodded in understanding of what Etoile meant, but she felt a painful sting when he spoke of him leaving the town. "I don't know what I'm going to do yet..." She said rather depressed as she sighed, and played with Etoile's hand. "Don't worry, it'll come to you." Etoile smiled once more at Shosanna and kissed her on the cheek before standing up. "Come on, let's head out of here." Etoile offered his hand down to help Shosanna up to her feet, which she greatfully took, and allowed him to pull her up. They both walked back towards the town with the sun now setting behind them. They had spent quite a few hours just laying out on the knoll and talking about each other. Etoile could think of no better time spent, though as he looked down at Shosanna as they walked back to their homes, he wondered if she felt the same for him. He had always flirted with the idea of asking Shosanna if they should take their relationship to the next level, and instead of just being friends, well...You get the picture.

"See Yah!" Etoil said as he waved his arm as she went back into her own home. "I enjoyed our time spent today." She said with a smile stretched across her face, and then blew a kiss to Etoile. He smiled back as he waved good-bye, and then he went back into his own home. "Man! I think I'm in looooooove!" He thought as he twirled, and danced around through the hallway into the kitchen, when his mother walked out luckily. He grabbed both of her hands and began to dance with her as he hummed a beat. "Haha! Etoile, what's gotten into you?" She demanded as she laughed while they waltzed across the kitchen floor. "Mother! I love Shosanna!" He jubiliantly said as he let go of his mother, and spun in circles in the middle of the kitchen. "Etoile and Shosanna sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Three tiny little voices called out from behind Etoile as he danced around in the kitchen. "Ah!" He shouted as the impish little voices laughed and squealed. Three little kids came out from behind the doorway, and jumped around Etoile as he stood there shocked from their sudden appearence. "H-Hey! Don't you guys know how to mind your own business?" Etoile began to try and snatch up one of the little brats with his hands so he could teach thema thing or two about evesdropping upon someone's conversation. They laughed and jeered as they avoided his grasp as Etoile reached out with his arms randomly trying to catch one of them. "Oh you four! Enough!" Their mother said as Etoile finally managed to grab one of the younglings while the others grabbed ahold of his legs. "Sorry mom!" They all said simultaniously as they let go of one another. "Jaque, Charolette, Rosette! The three of you to your rooms! And you Etoile!" Etoile's mom caught him as he began to try to slink away, but he had not been stealthy enough, and she grabbed him by the ear. "Owowowowowow!" Etoile winced while his mother yanked hard on his earlobe. "You have chores to do, mister!" She let go of him, and he immediately began to rub his ear. "You still haven't cleaned out the gutters like I told you to do." She handed him an empty trashbag, and a trowel to help him carry out his task better. "Yes, ma'am..." Etoile sighed as he took the items, and began to walk back outside.

Upon the roof, Etoile mumbled to himself, mocking his mother as he grumpily cleaned out the gutters with the trowel, and plopped the wet leaves and stuff inside the trash bag. "I just need to get a day off!" He said to himself as he sat off the side of his roof, and stared off towards the other side of the street. That's when a strange clicking noise caught his ear. He turned to look where this noise had come from, only to see Shosanna standing at her window positioned as if she had just closed her window. Etoile watched intently as she backed away from her window and undressed for a shower it seemed. "No...Way!" He whispered to himself excitedly, and slunk low so that he was partially hidden from her view if she just so happened to look up. When she finally exposed her full body. Her body was so slender, and so fit, yet the best thing about her at this moment would've had to have been her breasts, that's when Etoile leaned over the side of the roof with his jaw practically dropping all the way to the ground. "Oh my g-!" However, he had veered to far from the support of the roof, and had lost balance. "WOAH!" He shouted as he wobbled, trying to keep his balance on top of the roof, but it was no use, and he tumbled over the side like a sack of bricks. "OOF!" He grunted as he landed with a thud just outside her window. The clicking noise was heard again, followed by some sort of sliding noise, and then Etoile could see Shasanna sticking her head out the window, though now she was covered up with a towel. Her long, maroon hair was draped over one shoulder as she peeked out through her window down at Etoile. "Are you okay?" She asked, laughing softly as she looked upon his collapsed body. "Yeah, yeah...Just fine!" He groaned, laughing sheepishly as he steadily got back to his feet. "Uhh...Yeah, well, see yah!" And with that, he bolted off to the side of his house so she could not see him, and he just stood there pressed against his house breathing heavily. "Stoopid! Stoopid!" He hissed as he began to slap his forehead with his hands.

Sometime later the sun had finally disappeared behind the horizon, and darkness of the night soon fell upon the peaceful town that Etoile and his family lived in. He and the rest of his family were doing various tasks before they all finally went to bed, Etoile barely made any effort in trying to carry himself to his room since his body was worn out with the various tasks his mother made him do after he returned from cleaning out the gutters- aka, spying on Shasanna undressing. "G'night, mom." He moaned while he passed her room, "Good-night, Etoile! Sweet dreams!" She replied with the voice of an angel. "Man, that woman can snap from being the nicest thing in the universe, to a hellish demon in a split second." He thought to himself as he walked into his room, and threw his pants off. "I've gotta' try to get out of the house tomorrow...The sunflower festival is coming pretty soon, maybe I could help with setting up and stuff?" Etoile began going over the options in his head about the various things he could do, though no matter what he thought about, Shasanna's face always seemed to wander into his mind, which caused him to become lost in daydreaming about the lives they could spend together. "Yeah..." He sighed, thinking to himself again as he plopped down into his bed, and covered himself with his blankets. "Fat chance..." Etoile slowly began to drift into sleep after he shut his eyes, and thought of nothing but Shosanna.

"Remember, your shadow grows more the closer you get to the light."