Snippet #1532218

If there was anything that could be considered heaven, this was it. For one, the floor underneath my bare feet was made up of stuffed animals. It was like walking on a cloud. Alright, I admit. Maybe a little less comfortable than a cloud, since every now and then, a stray horn or spike would jam into my foot and make me wobble in my step. Whatever. It wasn’t worth paying attention to, when I could see the swell of what appeared to be a giant cookie far off in the distance. It was like walking through my own version of Wonderland. Actually, scratch that. It was like a glorified version of Willy Wonka’s Factory – Cayman Style.

I trailed my finger down and around the side of a tree, giggling with delight as cream and frosting came off the bark. I licked my finger clean, savoring the insanely sweet taste as it exploded in my mouth, making my jaw ache and clench at the sudden assault.

As I continued making my way through this odd frosting tree forest, I found myself walking alongside a quaint little brook…a quaint little caramel brook. Call me crazy, but if there’s one thing I love more than purple unicorn plushies, it’s caramel. Chocolate and caramel, peanut butter, chocolate and caramel, caramel apples…You name it, I’ll eat it. Reaching up, I grabbed a bright red apple from the branch of a tree that just happened to be right above me. Leaning down over the edge of the bank, I dipped the apple in the caramel and pulled it out. It hardened almost immediately, forming the perfect caramel apple.

Munching this delicious treat, with a very familiar tune playing over and over in my head, I continued on my way towards the giant cookie, gazing at the shapes made in the cotton candy clouds, wishing I would reach my hand up and grab tufts of the pink and blue spun sugar floating lazily over my head…

And then…out of nowhere… “Cayman! Wake up you lazy ass! It’s past three.”

I blinked and my candy Wonderland was gone, but the tune remained. A second tune joined it – Alessia’s rhythm, crashing harshly down on me, melding oddly with my melody before both faded away to be mere background noise.

I blinked again, and I was dragged back to the waking world. I sat up abruptly, my eyes trying to adjust from the brightness and the abnormality of my dream to return to the dark and rather mundane room that I had fallen asleep in. I swung my legs over the edge of the sofa, nearly kicking my slender and small cousin in the process. She muttered something under her breath, probably complaining about my sleeping habits again (but okay, I admit. They are kind of bad…I have a habit of staying at Phaedon, Luke and Tailor’s place for a really, really long time and then coming home at like three and sleeping for four hours before my first class in the morning…).

“I went grocery shopping,” Alessia explained unnecessarily as she walked past me to grab the last of the reusable bags from where they had been dumped when she entered the living room to wake me up. “And just so you know, you were trying to eat the pillow.”

She was right about that…the corner of the cushion that I had been using as a pillow was wet and had some of the threads had come loose. I chuckled, almost in embarrassment, before realizing that I didn’t care. It had been a good dream. I walked over, to help her with the bags but only because that meant I was able to see what she had purchased. A carton of eggs, milk, instant noodles, chocolate…I wonder if she bought any caramel…Probably not. Alessia hates caramel.

Or so she says. I can never figure her out, my cousin. She turns around, putting the eggs and everything perishable in our agonizingly empty fridge, filling it up again. "There's something in there for you," she said suddenly. "I saw it and thought of you almost immediately."

I pulled out a set of earrings - music notes. "I...don't have pierced ears?" I frowned.

"Why not get them then?" Alessia chuckled, as she closed the fridge door with a satisfied snap. "I'm heading out again. Gonna call Magnus, see if he wants to grab a coffee or something."

I broke into an evil grin. "A date? Alessia!" I gasped, as though this were the most scandalous thing on earth. She shot me an angry glare, reaching for the butcher knife that was so...conveniently within reach. I paled - but her hand hovered above the handle, and I could see that her cheeks were bright red. Laughing softly, I reached over and patted her on the head. It wasn't hard. Alessia stood a good deal shorter than me.

But she recovered quickly, stepping on my foot violently before heading back out the door, phone in hand.