Ellen drew in a breath, her mouth and nose filled with a thin coating of clay flavoured dust. She coughed, a feeble sound her body not allowing her to strain the muscles in her back. Her entire body ached as she lay on her belly, her left cheek pressed down against the hard warm soil and a rock that was jutting from the ground. She opened her eyes to see the swirls of clay colored dust dancing in front of her eyes and the blades of grass with tall stalks just beyond.

With an effort that felt like a whole workout all on its own she pushed herself over to her back and let out an exhausted breath. The warm wind caressed her face as birds chirruped, she lay looking up at the blue sky framed by the yellow fattening kernels of wheat dancing on their stalks above her.

Just moments ago she had been in a horrible place. This was the opposite, serene, she must have died and gone to heaven, but heaven didn’t exist. There was only one life and people should take care of it. On the other hand, she couldn’t be sure, and she hadn’t really lived as if her life was precious, every day going to the job she found boring, mostly sitting with her face in a book longing for something more exciting. But if this was just a dream and she would wake up soon in a hospital bed, then she would truly take better care of her life and make the most of it.

Her eyes began to well up as she thought of her life that she had lived. Her parents and the grief that they would be feeling if she was dead. It would be the same grief that they had gone through when her brother died as a teenager. Only this time there would be no children left at all. She lifted her arm to dry away a tear that ran down her face, her arm, chest and back muscles ached from the movement. If she did wake up from this dream it would only be to die, there had been no way out from that burning inferno. The face of the tall man as he passed on swam in front of her. That would be even worse to wake up to, his once handsome face, drained of all life. A heavy weight constricted her chest as she felt a sob building within.

A rustling sound amongst the wheat made her turn her head. Someone was coming. Or something. If this was a dream, it was the most vivid dream that she had ever had. The rustling  drew nearer and the stalks shook frantically to and fro in disarray. A boy pushed himself out from the thick clump of straws. He skidded to a halt in front of her. His eyes bulged beneath a mop of red hair as he stared down at her, his mouth shaped like an o. Ellen stared up towards him from where she lay, her woes forgotten for the moment. He looked strange, he had probably grown quite a bit recently considering his brown pants were at least ten centimeters too short, skinny ankles poking out. His shirt, which looked like it once had been white but now beige, was much too big, draped over him like a large bag held in at the waist with what appeared to be a piece of brown string. As he drew closer and kneeled next to her she could smell a stench of sour sweat. He stared down at her where she lay, his eyes darting over her body with a look of puzzlement.

“Are you alright?” He asked in with a strange pronouncement, the r in “are” rolling and the “you” sounding like “yo” with an extra long o.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I’m Elijah. Are you alright?”

She nodded as best she could while lying on the ground. Though it was technically a lie, she didn’t feel well at all, neither physically or mentally. But she wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Can you wait here for me to come back?” He was looking around back the way that he had come, one hand picking at his nails as he did so, shuffling his feet in a way that seemed nervous.

“Where are you going?”

“Home, to get my pa. He will want to see you.” He turned back to where he had come from.

“Why does he want to...” She began to ask. But he had already run away.

Elijah had seemed nervous about her presence. Though of course finding someone lying on the ground might make a person nervous. It struck her how logically she was thinking, in dreams things were not like this at all, really you didn’t think much at all. It was time to get off the ground and look about, just in case there was something for her to be nervous about.

She rolled over on her side and set her palms down to press herself up, her arm muscles tensed and made her wince as she pushed upwards. Finally sitting up propped on her arms she felt her head swim and she swayed. Standing still for a moment, the earth stopped spinning and she brought her legs under her to stand, they didn’t hurt as much as her upper body and she got to her feet where she breathed deeply of the fresh warm summer air.

In the direction where Elijah had run stood a wall made of rocks fencing off the field. Beyond the wall a small unpainted timbered house stood, one small window was all it seemed to have next to the door. Still it seemed to be a home, as light gray smoke rose in puffy ringlets forming the only clouds in the sky above its thatched roof. There was a tree leaning against the house, as if someone had planted it close by without having a thought that it would grow in time. A smaller timbered building, only a small shed really stood to the left of the house as well as a crudely built shelter, no walls just a roof supported by wooden beams. It had a very idyllic look about it, reminiscent of some old fashioned farming landscape that Rembrandt might have painted. A man with a large brimmed hat walked around from the back of the house towards the field where she stood. Elijah hurried along next to him, pointing and jumping along next to him.

Ellen felt distinctly nervous about the commotion and huddled down to the ground as if she would not be found there. It was one thing having a strange boy look at her as if she was a freak but what was his dad going to do? Maybe they wanted her off their land, but the boy had told her to wait, not to leave. What was absolutely plain was that this was not an ordinary dream. It was odd, but not a dream.

When he arrived to where she sat the man took one look at her and then threw himself to the ground in a kneeling position looking up to the sky. He mumbled under his breath and crossed himself before looking at her. He was as odd looking as the boy. His intensely staring eyes sat in sunken hollows and his cheeks sagged inwards, his light blonde hair lay mated against his skull. The clothes that he wore fitted better than Elijah’s, but were just as dirty and of the same style. A short bladed knife with a light coating of rust beginning at the handle hung at his side on a thinly worn leather belt.

“Are you alright?” He asked the same question as Elijah had moments ago, with the same strange pronunciation.

“What do you want of me? Where am I?” She asked.

“This is the village of Sundborn and my name is Harrald. We have been praying that we would receive help from our lord and now here you are. ”

“What do you need me for?”

“My son is very ill.”

He smiled a small smile, his lips together, eyes filled with sorrow.

She looked at Elijah who stood there panting.

“He doesn’t look ill.”

“No, my other son Sebastian.” He said, throwing a look over his shoulder at Elijah.

“He is really sick, he is going to die if we don’t get help.” Elijah piped up, his eyes pleading with her. His father gave him a reproachful look.

“You know it is a bad omen to speak of what may be.”

They were both in front of her, looking forlorn, their eyes pleading with her as if she had all the power in the world to heal but if he was very ill there was nothing she could do, she wasn’t a doctor and she had no medicine. On the other hand if he was dying she couldn’t make it worse by trying. Maybe she had been sent to this place for this very purpose.

“I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you.” They both said.

She stood up from her crouching position, her body felt as if it was healing rapidly, the aches and pains from moments ago had faded though she still felt a slight vertigo. Once she had become steady she followed the man and the boy as they walked towards the house. Inside her gut there was an unease, what could she possibly do to help?