Five days had passed since she'd been evicted, a month since she'd lost her job. The money in the bank had long run out, and the storage fee on those few precious items she'd not yet pawned would be due within a month. Life didn't seem to be looking up any time soon. She needed a real job, and none were in sight.

Carrying her heavy-duty black backpack, wearing worn-out blue jeans, a plain but clean T-shirt, and combat boots, Ellette fit into the crowd well enough. She looked like an average college student, until one looked closer. It was then that the wear of hard times, the exhaustion and struggle became clear. She was no college student looking ahead to a successful future. That dream had died long ago.

Now the only dreams she had were the dreams at night where she'd do things she knew she'd never do, meet people she knew she'd never meet, and live a life she knew she'd never live.

Bleak reality and the intense heat pressed on her, combined with the lack of food, she'd become rather light-headed. The cement sidewalk seemed to only reflect the sun, and the buildings offered no shade. Cool air wisped out of doors as they opened, but the doors closed quickly, and the bit of arctic wind never reached the sidewalk.

Summer in Steinberg wasn't a pleasant time. Any season in Old Town Steinberg wasn't much better. It seemed to sag with weariness and age. Most of the buildings dated back to a time forgotten, the romantic and stately presence of them faded. It was a place of forgotten people. The people society had forgotten or tried their best to forget. Yet it was on these streets where she was remembered and helped to remember.

"Ellette? Ellette! Is that you?"

She turned instinctively towards the sound of her name. She focused on the voice, trying to place the speaker. A tanned skinned man, not much older than her, or taller, for that matter, rushed towards her.

A street bum grumbled at flailed a bottle when the man disturbed some of his belongings. The young man apologized and turned back to Ellette. The man on the street kept muttering drunkenly, apology or not.

The man who had called out to her seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place him. He was dark, dark hair, eyes, and skin; his features strong, a sharp nose and thick brows; his hair a shaggy mess, curling slightly at the nape of his neck. A memory of the same face, bandaged and bruised, flashed across her mind's eye. Still, she couldn't place him.

"Yes?" she asked, her mask of stubborn confidence flying into place.

His smile brightened. "I can't believe I found you!" He moved his hand toward her shoulder to touch her as if to check that she was real but restrained himself.

"I didn't realize anyone was looking for me." She tried to sound nonchalant, not wishing to betray her exhaustion in case he was one of the local crazies.

"You don't remember me, do you?" he asked, his face falling. He was so sincere, she couldn't help but wish she could remember him.

"I do, but I don't. I can't think of where I know you from," she replied, hoping he'd jog her memory.

"My name's Rand." He paused as she searched her memory. "You helped me out a little over a year ago in Clarenceville." The two names triggered her memory. She began to put the pieces together, but they didn't fit.

"It was a dream," she muttered. Panic tremored in her voice. She was sure it was a dream, she even remembered waking up afterward and thinking about it. Yet here he stood, the man from her dream. She'd joked with Dani about how real her dreams were, and about how frightening the one with a man named Rand in it had been.

She pressed her palms to her eyes and removed them after a moment. Rand was still there, and she wasn't asleep, but he was a dream. He looked at her questioningly.

"I like to help people in my dreams. It's my little escape, my adventure, my way to make a difference. They're only dreams," she said. Her mind began to whirl as the reality she knew no longer made any sense. " I helped you in a dream. I met you in a dream." Her worn state and lack of food weren't helping her sudden panic. She didn't see the cement drawing closer until it was too late for her to put a hand out.

With a distant sort of amusement the thought, I think I just fainted, fluttered through her mind before everything went black.