Valerie was tired of silence and being stubborn and for some reason she believed he was different. “I was unhappy and I’m ashamed to say it because I had the kind of life people wish for. Ease. Comfort. People who cared about me. I felt useless though, like I had missed the point.”
He nodded. “We all have that feeling of missing something. There’s a good chance you'll find it here.”
She knew he was telling the truth but her mind wasn’t ready to give up. “Is this the afterlife?”
The crease between his brows relaxed. He laughed. “There’s lots of destinations after Earth, from what I hear. Some are supposed to be pretty nice. Most people here say this is their real life and Earth was the dream.”
She had asked it to throw him off guard, but she was the one startled.
“If I take your word that this place is not Earth—even though it looks exactly like California, then the question is, where are we?”
Valerie saw he was tired from the small white lines that appeared around his eyes. He shrugged and looked up as if he expected the answer to appear on the ceiling.
“This is the Coast House of Larreta. It’s either a different planet or a different plane of existence or a different version of Earth. I’m no scientist, so don’t grill me about the details, but in the end, Larreta is what you make of it.”
“Why does it look like California?”
“You’re not the first person to say that. It looks like this because it’s a Waystation for people from Earth. This is one of the stable parts meant to give continuity to newcomers. No matter how much time passes, it will always look this way.”
“How do you know that? How long have you been here?”
Leo looked out the window toward the sea. “A long time. Longer than most.”
His somber tone startled her. “Are you a prisoner?”
It seemed to cost him an effort to turn his gaze from the water. “No one’s a prisoner. We can do whatever we like. Go anywhere. Time is different here and more malleable than on Earth, so almost anything is possible, but the trick is, you have figure out what you’re missing. If you don’t, you get stuck and that makes time seem endless, I’ve discovered. We all started here, Valerie, most a long time ago, so this a homecoming of sorts. For those who don’t find what we lost, it gets frustrating.” He smiled at her. “On the other hand, others barely get unpacked before they’re off on their next adventure. It’s up to you.”
“You're just as crazy as the rest of them.”
“No. Pissed off a lot, but not crazy. Whether you like it or not, this is your place now.”
“I object,” she said weakly.
“Won’t help. You’ll feel better after we start your training.”
“What training?”
“My name is Leo,” he said. “I've been assigned to be your teacher.”
A Note from the Author
This is the first Storyteller Tale.
Analia has relayed a trilogy of stories that will be published by Ellysian Press as fantasy novels, but she also decided to share some additional tales from that world. I am offering these without charge to readers so you can learn about the world of the dreamwalkers.
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