There are times when a dream is so ridiculously impossible that as soon as you wake you realize that it could only have been a figment of your imagination. There are times when a nightmare is so terrifying that you are elated to open your eyes and discover that the threat isn't real at all. And then there are times when you're not exactly sure whether you've woken up or not---when you're seemingly caught in the uncertain limbo that separates reality from the dream world.

As Geneva regained consciousness and her eyes fluttered open, she found herself paralyzed by confusion in that unsettling dream-or-reality limbo. She had no recollection of what had last happened in her life. She had no idea what time of day or night it was. And she had absolutely no clue where she was as she gazed around her unfamiliar surroundings. For a moment, she almost couldn't remember who she was. So she laid there, unable to move, waiting for her brain to reboot and bring her to her senses.

But it didn't.

Eventually she sat up from the prone position on her back. She was in a small room. A rounded room with no corners. The walls appeared to be bare wood; not boards or siding, but smooth seamless borders that looked like they had been carved into wood. There were no pictures or works of art on the walls, but there were tiny objects protruding from them in a very precise geometric pattern about four inches apart. The series of objects began about halfway up the walls and continued right up to the ceiling.

Geneva turned to the nearest wall and leaned closer. She saw then that each spot in the pattern featured a tiny v-shaped shelf attached to the wall, and nestled within each v-shape was a small gemstone. Every one of them appeared to be approximately the same size, but each one was distinguished by a unique color, shape, or texture.

Geneva swung her legs off the side of the bed she had been laying on, noticing for the first time that it too was round. There were no pillows, but the mounds of plush bedding were warm and comfortable. She sat still on the edge of the bed, sizing up the rest of the small room.

A large, bowl-shaped ceramic container sat on the floor in the center of the room, housing a crackling, popping fire that cast a warm glow throughout the room. The fire bowl was white but decorated with ornate patterns of colorful markings. There wasn't much smoke coming from the fire, but the thin gray wisps that did rise out snaked upwards in a spiral formation before disappearing through a dark opening in the ceiling directly above the fire.

Four small seats were positioned together on one side of the room. They didn't have legs like traditional chairs, but rather looked more like tree stumps that had been sanded and polished to a smooth, shiny finish. A plump cushion sat atop each one, decorated in the same colors that highlighted the ceramic fire bowl.

On the opposite side of the room was a curved cabinet-like structure. Its bowed shape allowed it to be positioned against the wall where it naturally hugged the curve of the room. The lower half of the structure was hidden behind a series of doors, while the upper section was all shelves covered in baskets of varying sizes, wide mugs, and clay canisters. This was the most dominant piece among the sparse furniture, and it made the room look almost like a home. This seemed strange to Geneva, because everything else gave her the appearance of a hideaway designed by some creative kids.

At length, Geneva's gaze found a short, arched doorway toward the side of the bed where her feet had been when she was laying down. Immediately she hopped up off the bed and moved quickly towards it. As she stood, it became clear to her how low the ceiling was.

"Where in the world---?" she muttered, not finishing her question. She grabbed the notch that had been carved into the wooden door to serve as a handle, then swung it open and gasped.

Something was standing in the doorway. Some...thing...

It was...a person. Kind of.

It stood about four feet tall, probably a little more, but definitely about one foot shorter than Geneva's five-foot, five-inch frame. It was thick and stocky, almost egg-shaped, with an emerging oblong protrusion at top that was apparently the head.

It was standing upright on four squat legs which were positioned wide apart beneath its body like the legs of a table. Was it an animal? Its exposed flesh was a pale yellow and looked as if it would be soft and squishy to the touch. Not wet or mushy, but dry and pliable. Geneva immediately thought of Play-Doh.

Although the creature wore no clothing, most of its body was covered in short, thick, curly hair. It reminded Geneva of her Uncle Mickey's back. The only areas that weren't hidden beneath the mat of hair were its four feet, two hands, forearms, head, and portions of its chest. A pair of huge, glistening eyes stared at her from the bald head, but it was impossible to tell where the creature was focusing its gaze because the solid white orbs didn't have colored irises. Beneath the eyes was a tiny nose, looking as if a sculptor had pinched the blob of flesh from out of the doughy face, and a thin lipless mouth that disappeared around both sides of its head. Geneva might have guessed that the head had been split open along this slightly parted seam, but she could see rows of wide, stubby teeth within so she assumed it was a mouth.

The most prominent feature on the bizarre being was a long horn that protruded from its forehead, an outcropping of bone that added a contrasting touch of menace to its otherwise cartoonish features. The tapered horn ended in a dangerous point, and was covered in nasty-looking barbs. This strange creature with the intimidating horn stood before Geneva holding a basket full of glittering gemstones in its hands---hands that featured thick, curved claws.

Time seemed to stand still as the girl and the creature froze in shock at their unexpected encounter and stared each other down in open-mouthed silence. Geneva couldn't fathom what she was looking at, but it definitely wasn't human. In reality, time didn't stand still---it was only a matter of stunned seconds before Geneva found her voice and erupted in a reflexive scream at the top of her lungs. This caused the short, hairy, egg-shaped being to jump back and emit its own shrieking scream as the basket fell to the ground and the gemstones scattered at its feet.

Geneva swung the door shut and rushed back into the room. Frantically she searched for another way out or a make-shift weapon to defend herself. She found neither before the door opened again and the creature stood in the doorway. She moved around the fire bowl so that the flames were between them.

"Get back!" she shouted furiously. "You...stay...away from me!"

"Please," the creature said softly from its impossibly wide mouth. "I will not harm you." Its voice was musical, but not a melody. It was a string of imperfect notes. For some odd reason it made Geneva think of cartoon characters talking underwater, how their voices sound distorted because they're being transmitted through water. The creature's voice sounded as if it were being transmitted through music.

"You...talk?" Geneva asked incredulously.

"Oh...yes," it replied hesitantly. "Does that offend you?" The unique voice was familiar to Geneva. But how was that possible?

The creature bowed its odd head before her. "If my voice offends you, I will not speak. I wish only to assist you in fulfilling your destiny."

That's it! Geneva now remembered why she knew that voice. She had nearly drowned, and when she stumbled out of the water half dead, a shadowy figure with an odd musical voice had come to her aid.

"You...helped me out of the water," she said, her thoughts spilling out of her mouth before she could decide whether to actually talk to such a strange being.

"Yes, oh yes," it replied as it lifted its head back up to gaze at her with the first true ear-to-ear grin she had ever seen. Its little ears were replicas of its nose---couldn't the sculptor have been more creative?---and the wide thin mouth reached literally from one ear to the other.

"I brought you to my home to heal," it explained. "I will not harm you."

Geneva felt her tensed muscles relaxing. The gentle demeanor of the creature, combined with its musical voice, was defusing her instinctive fear of the unknown.

"And where exactly am I?" she asked.

"You are in Daysheen, of course," the creature replied, "as you chose." It moved further into the room, but sensing Geneva's continued unease, it stayed on the opposite side of the fire bowl.

"As I chose? No, no, no. I didn't choose to go anywhere," she insisted.

"Perhaps I am wrong then," it answered. "Did you not choose to leave your world?"

"I..." but Geneva was speechless. In all the excitement of her impossible situation, she had lost track of reality. But this bizarre creature was right. She had chosen to leave her world. And now that the door to reality had been cracked open, her mind was flooded with painful memories and overwhelming sorrow. Her legs became weak, her head dizzy, and she collapsed to the ground in an awkward sitting position.

"Oh this has to be a dream," she said to herself as she rubbed her temples with trembling hands. "Please tell me this is a dream."

"You wander through your dreams, yes," the creature commented as it sat down on the opposite side of the fire bowl, "as I do mine. Cloya the Spinner once told me that the thread of one dream may occasionally cross the thread of another, allowing dreamers to share their walk. Sometimes the threads tangle and the dreamers must work together to weave them into a strong fabric of individuality and unity...or the threads will knot and then break, separating the dreams from the loom and leaving them lost in frayed nightmares."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Geneva replied. "I just want to wake up from this dream." She squeezed her eyes closed as tightly as she could, until bursts of light and flashing streamers filled her vision, then she snapped them open again. Her intent was to rid herself of the inexplicable scene that she found herself in, to wake from this ridiculous dream and no longer have to converse with a horned hairy claymation egg with a musical voice. This was all way more than she could handle right now.

Yet when she opened her eyes she was still in the small round room with wooden walls covered in gemstones on teeny shelves. She was still sitting in front of the colorfully decorated ceramic bowl of fire. And there was still a creature beyond imagination sitting on the other side of the fire bowl looking at her through huge blank eyes. Or at least she assumed it was looking at her.

"Yes," she said to the creature. She felt compelled to respond because it just sat there staring. "I did choose to...leave my world." Tears welled into her eyes. She didn't bother to stop them from spilling over and running down her cheeks.

"Am I dead?" she asked.

"Your spirit yet lives," the creature said with another creepy, full-face smile.

"Is this heaven?" she asked next.

"I do not know. What is heaven?"

Her gaze focused on the ominous horn that protruded into the air, always poised to do harm. The nasty barbs sparkled in the firelight. It triggered a sickening thought.

"Is this hell?"

"No. Not yet," it told her.

"Not yet?" The more this thing talked to her, the more she was lost.

"Not if you fulfill your destiny. And I can assist you, Geneva Maxwell."