Dream People I — The Mysterious Magic Visitors

CHAPTER 7

The Family Beyond the Window

From her bedroom in the Serene Gardens District, Seralyn could see hundreds of illuminated windows. She imagined the families behind them and wondered whether the flying man had a family beyond the sky. At dinner she asked her parents why everyone had been frightened of him. Tavren, an engineer responsible for elevated transportation systems, explained that the visitor had passed dangerously close to a passenger lane. An accident could have occurred even if he had meant no harm. Seralyn considered this and answered, 'Then we should be careful.

But we should also be fair.' At school she showed her painting. Some classmates called the visitors magical. Others repeated alarming rumors. Professor Vaelis asked the class to distinguish observation from speculation. Seralyn said that she had seen a man flying, waving, becoming frightened, and disappearing. She had not seen him attack anyone. Her friend Mirella admitted that her family no longer wanted her near the Atrium. Seralyn understood the fear, but wished it did not have to be the end of the conversation. Elara, a visual arts instructor, began planning an exhibition about how Aurelisian artists had represented visitors over centuries.

Neris visited a library and found family testimonies about strangers who had helped farmers, admired unfamiliar flowers, or asked where they were before vanishing. None settled the question of origin, but together they made the visitors seem more human

and less like a single frightening category. At Meridian Research Spire, Reedis demanded progress on a containment lattice. Sardrith insisted that any test include independent oversight and a way to release the subject if the system caused distress. QUIDRIX agreed to evaluate both security benefits and potential harms.

The general did not like delay, but accepted that a failed experiment in a crowded city could be worse than another disappearance. That night Seralyn drew two windows: one opening onto VELORIA, the other onto a city she had invented beyond the sky. Between them she painted a narrow ribbon of light. She named it THE FAMILY BEYOND THE WINDOW. On Earth Temple, Daniel closed his dream journal and wondered whether the girl he half remembered might ever appear again. Neither knew the other was asking nearly the same question.

Two Windows Seralyn drew the second window without knowing what should appear beyond it. She tried mountains, then a harbor, then an unfamiliar arrangement of buildings. Nothing looked right. At last she left the distant city unfinished and concentrated on the two people at the windows: a girl on one side, a stranger on the other.

Tavren came to say good night and found her still working. He stood beside the desk for a while. 'I was hard on you at dinner,' he said.

'You were worried.'

'I still am.' Seralyn showed him the drawing. 'I don't think we have to choose between worrying and wondering.' Her father smiled

despite himself. He inspected the narrow ribbon of light connecting the buildings. As an engineer, he could list a hundred reasons such a connection should be impossible. As a father, he understood why his daughter had drawn it.

'Promise me something,' he said. 'If you ever see him again, keep your distance until you know you're safe.'

'I promise.' He kissed her forehead. After he left, Seralyn added a small door beneath each window. She thought that perhaps a visitor should not have to arrive by falling out of the sky.