Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the next dream. The last dream had been intense, a full-fledged fantasy world, complete with dragons, ogres, wizards- the works. She kind of hoped the next dream would be a little calmer. She wasn’t sure how much more excitement she could take.

The dream she stepped into was bare. Nothing was around her. Not a sky, not a ground, no walls, no light, no dark. Just- nothing.

I said calmer, not dull she commented inwardly with a shrug, she would just move on. No reason to stick around.

She was just about to take a step when she heard it- a muffled sob. She immediately swung around, protective instincts she didn’t even know she possessed surging to the surface. The sob was small, weak, pained. It belonged to a child, she just knew it.

She stepped forward, further into the nothingness around her. She listened carefully, until she heard another quiet sob. It came from all around her, clearly belonging to the dreamer. She took another step forward, determined. All thoughts of her most basic rule- never be spotted by the dreamer- vanished. A child was crying, she needed to find them.

One more step revealed a small, curled figure, its head on its knees and arms wrapped around its legs. Soft curls obscured the face. Sobs wracked the small body. Her heart went out. Such a small, vulnerable creature.

She inched her way closer to the child, hoping not to scare the poor dear awake. Once she was next to them she sat down a spoke softly. “Hullo. Why are you crying?”

The child’s head sprang up suddenly, eyes wide. Startled, but not enough to wake up. Interesting. It was a young boy, no more than four or five years old. Wide, brown eyes in a tanned, freckled face. Soft, dark curls tumbled over his ears. Tears coursed down his rounded cheeks.

“Who are you?” She frowned. The voice was childish, but the tone was not. “I didn’t dream you up. I don’t know you at all.” He spoke with the conviction of a dreamer. He knew she didn’t belong, he sensed it.

She smiled gently, friendly “No you don’t.” she agreed amicably “I’m a visitor.”

He frowned, an all too serious look for his young face. “Where did you come from?” he demanded.

She shrugged “Don’t know.” She paused. “Well, right now I came from a dream about this really cool magical world. There were dragons. You like dragons?” he kept glaring at her, not answering. “Why were you crying?”

He turned away with a huff. “None of your damn business.” She frowned. That was NOT childlike language.

“I just want to help.” She muttered, a little annoyed.

“Well I don’t want your help. Goodbye.” He turned his back fully to her.

She shrugged. Not much she could do with a kid who didn’t want her help, as much as she'd like to. She stood up, prepared to move on to the next dream. “Well, goodbye then.” She turned.

A small hand grabbed her leg. “Were there elves too?”