Dream People I — The Mysterious Magic Visitors

CHAPTER 2

The Man Who Flew Above the City

Daniel stood in a city he had never visited while awake. Its towers shone like polished glass, and elegant vehicles moved between terraces high above the streets. He looked down at his feet, then at the vast distance below. He was floating. Astonishment turned to delight. He stretched out his arms and sailed above a broad public square where a fountain rose in bright, impossible arcs. The people below stopped walking. Some pointed. Others raised recording devices. Daniel waved, certain he was dreaming and therefore free to enjoy the miracle.

He drifted over the fountain and laughed at the sheer ease of flight. Then a warning sounded from a nearby platform. Security vehicles changed course, and the expressions in the crowd hardened from amazement to alarm. A little girl stood beneath a flowering tree. She held a sketchbook against her chest and looked up without running away. Daniel noticed her small raised hand. He waved back. For an instant the noise of the square seemed to fall away. He wondered who she was and why she looked at him as though he were someone she might meet again.

The security vehicles drew closer. Daniel tried to explain that he meant no harm, but the words tangled strangely in his mouth. The towers blurred. A cold sensation moved through his arms, and the light around his hands became thin and transparent. He looked down, frightened now, and tried to grasp the air. Then the city disappeared. Daniel woke in his bed.

The ceiling was familiar. He could hear the ordinary sounds of morning. He remembered flying and a magnificent city, but the details began to loosen. He showered, dressed, and wondered why the dream had felt so vivid. The little girl's face had already slipped from his memory. In VELORIA, Seralyn did not wake. She ran home and painted the man she had seen, carefully including the confusion in his expression. Elara helped her submit the portrait to FREEDOM. When Alyssra received it, she placed it beside an old and painful case file. She did not know the stranger's name. She only knew that the shape of his face stirred a memory she had spent years trying to resolve.

The Moment Between Flight and Fear The air did not behave as Daniel expected. It pressed against his palms like warm water when he changed direction, yet offered no resistance when he rose. He laughed aloud, delighted by the impossible mechanics of his own body. A terrace of pale flowers swept past. He could see people sharing food beneath an awning and a musician stopping in the middle of a performance.

Then he heard the alarm. It was not a sound from a nightmare, vague and symbolic. It had a pattern: three low pulses, a pause, three more. People moved out of his path with the coordinated urgency of a city that had rehearsed danger before. Daniel tried to slow down. His momentum carried him toward a lane of approaching vehicles. He twisted aside, suddenly understanding that his freedom might be somebody else's hazard.

Below, a girl lifted her hand. Her expression was neither worshipful nor terrified. It was curious. He waved back, grateful

for one face that did not accuse him. When his fingers began to fade, he reached instinctively toward her. There was no time to say that he was sorry. Morning took him.