What is this place? I looked around at a vast emptiness. I stood on the floor which seemed to be made of ice. I was cold and I didn't know what to do. So I began running. The cold seemed to affect me less the further I ran. Eventually, I found a mountain sticking out of the ice. Tall trees littered the area. It was an odd place. I climbed into the forest and sat down in the snow and fallen pine branches. Who am I? All I knew was that I was in this place and that it didn't have anyone else. Which I mean was okay at the time since people didn't really thrill me too much. But why didn't I like people? I didn't know why I did a lot of the things I did. I found an old rusty ax and chopped at a tree. I didn't have anything else better to do anyway.

After a long while, the ice melted and revealed a vast sea. The water was so blue and so pure. It looks like it's never even been touched by man. A could see small creatures that swam by the shore. I had never eaten anything in this world and was surprised by a lack of hunger. But I just wanted to eat something regardless. I grabbed a stick and sharpened it with my ax to make a spear. I went to the water's edge and looked for the fish, but it seemed that they were all gone. Suddenly the water started leaving. Like a tide going out, but the water was just disappearing. The water level was dropping and I began running downhill toward the shore. But it kept getting farther and farther away. Eventually, there was no more ocean and I had run all the way down the mountain. But when I looked back towards the mountain it too was gone. I was now in a barren wasteland.

I sat down and pondered what to do. After a while, a house appeared. At first, I thought it was a mirage from the heat. But it didn't go away or disappear. I began walking to the house, running, as though I was being pulled there by some invisible force. Tears were streaming down my face as I ran. Each tear turning into an icy oasis when they hit the floor. Soon there was an icy river that flowed behind me as I ran, and the house in the distance was getting closer. Someone stepped out of the house a girl in a short green dress with long brown pink hair. I pouted harder for some reason. The house became surrounded by a garden and the girl waved at me tears streaming down her face too. She called for someone else. Two little boys came out and waved too. I felt like I knew them. I ran all the way to them and embraced them. Past memories filled my head and I remembered these people to be my family. Memories of Haru scolding me for coming home too late and Aki and Natsu always asking for second servings. Sweet memories and happiness.

Day after day I spent my time with them. Gathering fruits and vegetables from the garden, watching movies on an old projector, and playing with the little ones. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years. Nothing changed and this life I was living was so happy it was like a dream. But being this happy felt wrong, and I had no idea why though. My heart was so full of love, I didn't quite notice when it started going bad, like a fruit left on a table for weeks. When I started feeling bad like this I would have flashes of them all being dead, which made me feel really distraught and nearly gave me panic attacks. So I ignored these feelings. At a point the love in my heart started to flow out as lead filled its place and weighed me down, to stay here, like an anchor. Soon, every day felt like I was having a battle within myself. One day, I confronted them.

"This isn't real, is it?" I said with tears in my eyes.

"What are you talking about Yuki? Of course, this is real, and it's all you've ever hoped for," Haru said with her soft and comforting voice.

"Then why do I see you all dead sometimes?"

Haru became silent. I noticed that the boys were not here. At the time she was talking to me she wasn't directly facing me.

"Haru, look at me," I said sternly.

She didn't move. I walked around to get a closer look at her face. I fell onto the floor and backed away. Her face was gone.

"ISN'T THIS WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED? WHY AREN'T YOU SATISFIED?" Haru said to me.

It wasn't just Haru speaking to me though, but rather Haru, Aki, Natsu, and myself. All their voices crammed into one. She now looked at me and her face was contorted into a mixture of all of our faces in disgustingly ugly positions. I got up and ran away. That thing that was Haru started chasing me, on all fours at lightning speed. She, or rather it, was screaming and spewing blood everywhere while transforming into a demon. I ran and ran, tears in my eyes.

"This isn't real!" I screamed.

There was a ravine that I jumped inside, but it was too deep. I fell down maybe 100 feet (31 meters) and broke one of my legs. I've escaped for now. That was what I thought. Its face appeared right behind me through the wall of the ravine and breathed on my back.

"SILLY GIRL, THIS IS YOUR REALITY NOW!" It screamed at me.

I began running, rather limping, through the ravine. Suddenly it started raining and water began pouring in from the sides. I realized this was the remains of the icy river I had made when I first cried at seeing Haru. The water was filling up the ravine, but I couldn't swim since my leg was broken. I gasped for air, and pulled myself up along the side of the ravine, like on the side of a really deep pool. I climbed up as the water lifted up my weight. What on Earth was happening? Why was this happening? Countless unanswered questions streamed through my head. When I finally pulled myself out of the ravine I began limping away from everything. The mountain was back. I climbed up and the world began to fill with water once again.

A few days have gone by since Haru became a demon. It still haunted me, but it also helped me to remember everything. I remembered that everyone was dead, that I crash-landed on some faraway world, and that this was all a crazy long dream. When will I wake up?

Sorry for the delay, I had to prepare for hurricane Dorian. Everything's fine though and I'll release chapter 10 on Sunday (9/8/2019). Thanks!