Revelations. [TFTG]

He woke up in a clammy sweat, looking around in apprehension. He was no longer in the woods, he was just a guy named Jeff, in his bedroom, and a quick glance at the clock told him he'd have to get up for work in 2 more hours.

What an amazing dream, he thought, marveling how his mind created such a vivid landscape. He actually believed he was a druid in the woods. He grabbed his dream journal, and jotted down the main impressions he had from the dream. He made a mental note to buy yet another notebook, as he only had a few more pages in this, his 8th dream journal he's written. He'd been having lucid dreams for over six months now, but during the past month he's had a recurring theme during his slumber, a message that his subconscious was trying to relay to him. He was convinced of that fact.

He lay back down, knowing the dream would come back to him, and he had two more hours before work. He didn't care if he was late.

He woke up in a clammy sweat, jerking upwards from his sleeping cloth, looking around in apprehension. He was still in the woods, and Sam and Laythorn were still sleeping peacefully. Storm projected a query. He emoted back no danger.

His dream was bizarre, he thought, dreaming about a boring life of being stranded amongst automatons. He'd seen them during his training, huge factories that belched smoke, ruining the earth magic around it, but they were from a different time, and he pondered if that was the era he had dreamed about. It was normal to receive visions, and as he sat there and pondered, he heard the wail of a banshee.

He stood upright, perceiving it's closeness, and barked at the two other slumberers. Laythorn held his hands over his ears, crouching in half as the noise over took him, but Samantha readied her bow with a silver arrow. The noise got louder and louder, closer and closer, to the point where Sam dropped on one knee, and he felt ready to. He chanted a vine spell, and the forest around him descended on his attacker.

Jeff rolled over and hit the Snooze button, groaning softly, his dream interrupted once again. He made a few last notes in his journal, then headed to the shower to prepare for work.

Twelve minutes late, he was met by his best friend Larry at the door.

“Already punched in,” Larry stated, “You have another one?”

“Yeah”, Jeff said wearily. “Let me get a coffee, and I'll tell you the updates.”

Having known Larry for over 20 years, he trusted him, and been confiding his dreams with his work partner. They had a grinding eight hour shift ahead of them, but since they were friends, it made the time pass all the much quicker. Larry was older, having worked there for 30 years, and was recently widowed. I felt bad for him, so I told him my dreams. He liked listening.

“....and I could tell Laythorn was ready to pee his pants, when Storm walked by him.”

Larry was smiling, thinking about my dream adventures. I wondered why I had them myself.

The assembly line slowly rolled by, the steady chinking of machinery all around them. They did their work, talking casually throughout the first part of their shift.

It was silent for several minutes, when Larry asked Jeff, “So who do you think this 'Samantha' is?”

Larry knew Jeff was a bachelor. He was prodding him, as he had for years, to get married and start a family. Larry's kids were all grown, living away from home, causing his focus on Jeff's life to become more acute. After his wife died, Larry had definitely become more paternal towards Jeff, and Jeff knew it. Jeff also knew he missed the mark, and never found a girl he wanted to settle down with. He preferred to be alone.

“Samantha is the ideal woman for me, I guess,” said Jeff.

“Do you think you'll meet her someday?”

“I dunno, Larry, I dunno. Sometimes it just seems so real.”

Larry rambled on further about a theory about quantum effects, how dreams effect the physical reality that we dwell in, but Jeff was daydreaming about Samantha, working on the assembling line, and wondering.

The lunch buzzer went off. The assembly line slowly ground to a halt, and all the workers filed into the break room. The supervisor walked in after everyone else, and shut the door behind him.

“I have an announcement tonight, the hiring of three new employees. I'd like to introduce them before I tell you their work areas. First, we have Steven, who'll be starting in work area 3. Larry and Jeff looked at each other, a subtle look exchanged between them that meant “Oh well.” They usually got a new hire for their area, number 6, the most productive in the whole factory.

The supervisor continued.

“In area 8, we have Sue starting tonight.” There was moderate clapping, as area 8 was the shipping area, which meant that orders were picking up. Everyone knew the addition to area 6 would be announced last.

“In area 6, we hired Samantha to train with Larry and Jeff.”

Applause enveloped the breakroom. “Everyone gets 15 extra minutes for their break today.” The supervisor left the room.

Jeff had been shivering since the three new hires had entered the break room after the supervisor. He recognized her right away.

Larry finally looked at Jeff, and noticed his demeanor. Larry grabbed Jeff's shoulder, rustling him back and forth briefly. Jeff had a faraway look in his eyes. He snapped back.

Holding his shoulder, Larry asked Jeff, “Is it? Is it HER?” Jeff nodded slowly. Larry released his grip on Jeff's shoulder and stumbled slightly himself.

Samantha walked up to them, smiling.

She looked straight at Jeff, still happy, then ran in and gave him a huge hug.

“I made it,” she whispered into his ear.

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Author's note:

This is the final? chapter in this short story.

The Gwethen Chronicles.
Prologue: The Semi-Usable Guide to Weather Manipulation.
Chapter 1: The Path to Gwethen Castle.
Chapter 2: Danger on the Path
Chapter 3: A new Friend.
Chapter 4: Revelations.