CHAPTER 5: REALIZATION

“I dreamed I could fly,” Claribel said. “But when I woke up, I couldn’t remember how.”

“Sometimes the truth hides in dreams,” the demon replied.

“So dreams are real?”

“As real as you want them to be. Sometimes they show us what we haven’t yet understood while awake.”

“And what was it that I didn’t understand?”

“That you don’t need to fly to be free. You already are—because you know who you are, even in this place.”

Claribel looked down at her bare feet.

“And you? Who are you?”

“Maybe I’m the part of the ending that learns to listen to beginnings.”

“That sounds like a tongue twister.”

The demon laughed—for the first time.

“Many people spend their lives searching for something they already have: peace, love, joy. But they forget.”

She looked at him.

“And what do you search for?”

“Comfort. And sometimes I find it in places like this. In people like you.”