Like any normal girl, Julia should have been rather surprised to see a red fox outside the window, but Julia wasn’t a normal girl. For the past month, she had been practicing lucid dreaming and become quite adept at differentiating between the real and dream worlds. The trick was to notice something unusual and ask yourself the question: is this reality or is this a dream? Seeing a fox peeking through her window was rather unusual, and she did not have to ask herself the question to know that she was awake inside a dream.
Note: I had written this story for one of The Ink Well's writing challenges. Alas, I misread the deadline for the 'outside the window..." challenge, so I decided to take more time to craft the story and then post it as its own piece. Without further ado, here is Julia and the Red Fox. I hope you enjoy!
As it always did when lucid dreaming, her heart beat fast with excitement. But she had to remain calm, for if she got too excited, then the dream would fade and she’d wake up.
Extending her arms in front of her, she looked at the back of her hands and took a few deep breaths. On the periphery of her vision, she could sense that the dream world was shifting around. She did not look at it directly but instead kept her focus on the back of her hands until the world stabilized. When it finally did, she jumped out of bed and ran to the window.
“Well?” said the red fox peeking through the window. “Are you coming or what?”
“Where are we going?” said Julia.
“We’re going somewhere wonderful,” said the red fox and trotted off across the grassy hills.
The girl climbed out the window and stepped onto the crispy ground. She looked down and saw the purple blades of grass, which crackled beneath her feet. She ran her fingers along the grass, and when she did, the blades broke off into tiny pixels and scattered along the yard.
“Wait for me!” she shouted and ran after the red fox.
The dreamscape opened up to gently rolling hills beneath a spectral purple sky.
Julia saw the red fox trotting along a stream that glistened with an emerald sheen. He stopped along the bank and drank from the stream.
“Go on,” he said looking up at Julia. “Take a sip,”
“The water looks funny.”
“It’s not water. It’s the milk of the green fairy.”
“Oh goodness. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Go on try it,” said the red fox with a grin.
Julia knelt beside the stream and dipped her fingers in the milk. As soon as the liquid touched the tip of her tongue, a tingling sensation spread throughout her body.
“It makes me tingle all over,” said Julia.
“I love it!” said the red fox, and after a few more licks of the milk, he took off running across the hills with a bounce in his steps.
Julia spread her arms and imagined herself flying through the air. She jumped up but immediately fell back to the ground. It took a few attempts, but on the fifth jump, she managed to float above the hills and glide towards the red fox like a paper plane.
She found him resting beneath a crystal tree on the edge of the stream. She descended slowly and touched the leafs, which shimmered and glistened like jewels. When the breeze blew through them, the crystallized leafs made the most delightful tinkling sound. It was so beautiful and magical, it made her heart ache.
“What is this place?” Julia asked the red fox.
“It’s the place where wonder turns to understanding.”
“Why, Mr. Fox, whatever you mean?”
“Well, today you are a child, but tomorrow you will become a woman.”
“You mean the Rite of Eve?”
“Precisely. You will learn many new things about the changes that will happen to you as you grow older.” The red fox was about to say more, but the leafs of the crystal tree suddenly began to tinkle and shimmer.
“You will get bloated,” said a sleepy voice from the tree.
The red fox sprang up and looked up at the branches.
“You there! Have you no decency, sir?” The red fox scolded the arboreal spy. “Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“But my nose is very smooooll.”
Julia’s eyes widened when she saw a black and white sloth making his way across the branch. He was so slow, it was painful to watch.
The red fox ran around in circles beneath him.
“May I ask,” said Julia looking up at the sloth, “what do you mean I will get bloated?”
“Oh, it happens to all women,” said the sloth without stopping its tortuously slow sojourn across the branch. “They get bloated in the belly.”
“Hey, watch your mouth!” the red fox told him.
The sloth ignored him and kept moving closer to the end of the branch, which was beginning to bend with the added weight.
“Hold on, Mr. Sloth,” Julia called out to him.
“My name is Ernest,” said the sloth.
“Please, Mr. Ernest, what else should I know about becoming a woman?”
The sloth did not answer her question but kept moving across the branch, which had bent so much on account of his weight, its tip was now dipping beneath the surface of the stream.
Inch by inch, the lumbering sloth moved towards the end of the branch, and then reached down with one of his long furry limbs, which ended in three obsidian claws. They were rather long, sharp like spears, and curved like scythes. It was a wonder he could move at all without them getting in the way. As he strained to reach the precious liquid, he shook the branch, and the leafs tinkled like bells. Ripples of fairy milk spread around the claw that touched the stream. Then the second claw entered and the milk frothed against it as well. At last he managed to insert all three claws, and he seemed rather content with himself. As they were very long, the claws took some time to penetrate the surface fully, but the clever sloth shifted his weight on the branch, causing it to bend a little more and thus manage to inch his way into the fairy milk. After what seemed like a very long time, he managed to insert his full hand. His fur was soaked in the stream and turned somewhat green. As he retracted his hand, a few droplets fell back into the flow and disappeared in the swift eddies of the current. Reaching up with his slow but steady claw, he let the milk drip into his mouth, drop by drop. Smiling, he looked down at the stream and sighed.
“Please, Mr. Ernest. I do wish to know more about being a woman,” said Julia.
Inch by inch, the lumbering sloth moved towards the end of the branch, and then reached down with one of his long furry limbs. As he strained to reach the precious liquid, he shook the branch, and the leafs tinkled like bells. At last he managed to insert all three claws, and he seemed rather content with himself. The clever sloth shifted his weight on the branch, causing it to bend a little more and thus manage to inch his way into the fairy milk. After what seemed like a very long time, he managed to insert his full hand. Reaching up with his slow but steady claw, he let the milk drip into his mouth, drop by drop. Smiling, he looked down at the stream and sighed.
Having had enough of the sloth, the red fox took off at a trot and made his way downstream.
Julia looked up at the sloth and repeated her request.
Inch by inch, the lumbering sloth moved towards the end of the branch, and then reached down with three obsidian claws. They were rather long, sharp like spears, and curved like scythes. As he strained to reach the precious liquid, he shook the branch, and the leafs tinkled like bells. Ripples of fairy milk spread around the three claws, and he seemed rather content with himself. As they were very long, the claws took some time to penetrate the surface fully, but managed to inch his way into the fairy milk. Reaching up with his slow but steady claw, he let the milk drip into his mouth, drop by drop. Smiling, he looked down at the stream and sighed.
Julia had finally had enough of the slow and uncommunicative sloth, so spreading her arms in the air, she flew after the red fox.
The rush of air was exhilarating and she twirled with a sense of unlimited freedom.
“Over here!” The red fox shouted.
Up ahead, there was small but ornate bridge arching over the bubbling stream. The red fox stood in the middle and wagged his tail back and forth.
Julia floated down from the sky and stood on the bridge. Her feet sank a little, and she realized she was standing on a marshmallow bridge. She nearly lost her balance and had to look at the back of her hands to steady herself.
The red fox grinned, obviously amused with her clumsiness.
“What’s on the other side?” said Julia looking across the bridge, where an impenetrable fog lingered like an impossible window.
“Many wonderful new things for you to explore.”
“But I can’t see anything. Just the window and the fog.”
“That’s because you still do not understand, but you soon will,” said the fox and turning his red tail he tickled the tip of the girl’s nose.
“Come when you’re ready,” said the red fox, “or never come at all.” He then ran across the bridge and jumped through the misty window.
Julia stood there looking after the nothingness that lay beyond. Her heart was beating fast, and she knew very well it was because of fear. Her childhood was coming to an end. She would never return to this valley of dreams. Not like this. There would be more expectations of her. More responsibilities. And she would get bloated like Mr. Ernest had told her. All of that lay beyond the mist. But there was more. New experiences and friends. The wind of foreign lands. The smell of the ocean. A boy’s caress. A home of her own. The promise of many dreams.
She looked across the hills beneath the purple sky, so vibrant and rich. Crystal lattices shimmered along the grass. And there beside the stream, stood the crystal tree.
Inch by inch, the lumbering sloth moved towards the end of the branch, and then strained to reach the precious liquid, and the leafs tinkled like bells. Ripples of fairy milk. His fur was soaked in the stream and turned somewhat green. Reaching up with his slow but steady claw, he let the milk drip into his mouth, drop by drop. Smiling, he looked down at the stream and sighed.
Then Julia jumped outside the window and disappeared in the mist.