Mom sighed. "Let's go to the living room. For breakfast."

"Yes," Dad agreed with an uncertain expression. "We have a lot to talk about. The spell dissolved too soon?" He looked at my aunt. She nodded.

I, on the other hand, remained where I was. "Magic? What magic?"

"We'll explain it to you. Come." Dad smiled contritely.

So we made ourselves comfortable in the living room. My parents, mostly Mom, had made the table chic. A sumptuous breakfast and fragrant coffee were waiting for us. Everything was a bit close together, as our living room table was not particularly big. But our dining table was even smaller, because a larger one would not have fit in our narrow kitchen.

Our house was not particularly big.

Almost a tiny house. But only almost.

I sat down between my parents and took a close look at Aunt Tanja's wardrobe.

She looked exactly like in my dreams. My aunt wore a dark green robe studded with dark blue pearls and a gold chain with a sparkling pendant hanging from it. I couldn't see her shoes under the loose fabric. She looked so out of place on our simple, normal sofa of the modern world.

"How much longer are you going to stare at me, child?" she asked after a while, with her usual sternness in her voice. "Wendy would have liked to come with me.”

"Wendy?" I looked at Mom. "Can someone please finally tell me what's going on here? Hello? I'm still confused, and I'm starting to feel like I'm being fooled!" I demanded in the meantime, slightly angry. Slowly I felt really stupid.

Was this a lousy joke?

Aunt Tanja cleared her throat indignantly. "What have you told your daughter so far? Moritz?"

"Nothing? We've already told you that, my dear." Dad grimaced in embarrassment. He looked at Mom. She just shrugged.

Aunt Tanja took a deep breath and smoothed the fabric of her robe. "What have you two taught her here?" she asked Dad and looked at me, completely stunned. "Well. I've never seen such behavior from her. Kamilla." She shook her head.

I snorted bitterly.

"Nelly!" Mama warned quietly.

"Nelly behaves very normally for this world," Dad answered. "We taught her the manners appropriate for this world. The rest was your job, dear sister-in-law."

"Moritz." Mom shook her head.

"Hello?" I interrupted, annoyed. "I'm still sitting here confused and would like an explanation! Maybe now? If that were possible, oh honored Ladies and Gentleman?"

"Nelly!" Mom shook her head again and looked at my aunt. "Sorry. Teenager. And... She has the right to be so angry after everything obviously didn't go as planned."

Aunt Tanja nodded.

In the end, they wanted to talk about something very surprising. I learned the truth.

Wonderful! Hear my sarcasm! It glitters.

They told me a fairy tale. Something completely unbelievable. All strange events, whether dream or reality, cleared up.

Or my parents and aunt also had delusions.

I didn't want to completely rule out this possibility.

1. My hair had actually grown by magic.
2. Aunt Tanja was not a delusion.
3. Naomie had never been a dream.
4. Naomie was my real name.
5. I was a princess from another, fairytale reality.

I lived in two different worlds. Nelly was a name my parents had given me for this world to avoid major confusion. (Ha ha, very funny!)

I should not confuse the two worlds. My home should be nothing more than a dream for me. For years. I should be able to lead a normal, carefree life.

My home was not this world.

It was the world of fairies, elves, witches, wizards, dwarves, and, and, and. A world next to this reality.

Another being, Mom repeated the words I had overheard.

Great, right?

My parents ruled over a large country there, but had been forced into exile in this world. And they had changed not only my name, but also my appearance. They had to, because my true hair and eye color did not appear in this world.

In the other world, it was kind of the same, but… Details.

At least there was magic there.

At night, when my body was asleep, my consciousness shifted to my home world. There I was under the care of my aunt. Hilde had taken care of the necessary magic when I was two years old, and we had to flee. While my consciousness traveled, my body rested.

Hilde's spell was getting weaker and weaker, which is why I had only been there for a few hours lately. In the meantime, it had dissolved.

The kingdom consisted of several continents and was only called 'The Empire'. There were other countries and kingdoms, but my parents' was the biggest.

I had suddenly landed in a cheesy fantasy novel!

Or Sci-Fi?

"Angelo would be thrilled!" I murmured.

"Who?" my aunt asked.

"A friend!" Mom said quickly. Again, she threw me a warning look, as so often in the last hour. Oh! Forgive my bad mood, my QUEEN! I'm just a teenager. A bad mood and bad behavior are part of the overall package when I am TAKEN BY SUCH A SURPRISE!

"So I'm an alien?" I didn't want to believe the nonsense that had just been served up to me. "Funny. Where's the hidden camera?"

"Alien?" My aunt frowned. "What's that?"

Dad grimaced. "Small, green men with huge eyes."

"Green?" Aunt Tanja blinked.

"Honey!" Mom pushed him gently. Then she looked at me. "You're not an alien. You're human. Our worlds share a handful of languages, some plants, some animal species... Our world is just there. Outside of this. It's magic. Two realities that sometimes meet. Where do you think the belief in elves comes from?"

My hairdresser would really love this story!

"And why all this?" I asked, completely taken by surprise, "Why the exile? Why this horrible look?" I had been bullied for my appearance! I thought I was ugly! A toad! "Is there really no camera here?"

My head was buzzing. I looked at my aunt. She looked as if she would never recover from the idea of green aliens and was now frozen in shock.

Dad sighed sadly. "Nelly. Difficult times have come in the kingdom... We were forced to leave. We had to break through the boundary between realities, so to speak. Here, in some places, the line is so thin that some people catch a glimpse of our world."

"Ah." I grimaced. "I don't understand." I really didn’t. HUH?

Mom took a sip of coffee and then stirred the half-filled cup with her spoon. "We've changed your appearance so you don't stand out here."

"So that I don't stand out?" Now I didn't understand anything anymore... "I stood out! As the UGLY girl."

"Well," Mom answered, "For you, both worlds should be separated for as long as possible. And we could never be quite sure that those who threaten us would not follow us here. Hence the other name. For the same reason."

"Have you changed your appearance too?" Mom and Aunt Tanja looked too similar.

"There's another magic on us." Dad shook his head. "We didn't want other children to laugh at you because you kept telling them you were a princess from a magical kingdom. That probably wouldn't have gone well for long. So it was just a dream for you, and yet you learned everything you need as a princess there. And if someone followed us, you'd be safe. And we."

"What magic?" Slowly, I felt uncomfortable in my skin. I took my coffee cup and warmed my hands with it. The rolls on the cold cuts remained untouched by my parents and me. I didn't drink the coffee.

"We can't be found by certain people. We couldn't use that spell with you," Mom answered.

"Why?" I asked further.

"That's unimportant now. We'll talk about that later." Aunt Tanja bit into one of the buns and grimaced. "The quality of the baked goods here is a disgrace! It tastes like... cardboard."

Enraged, I took a sip of coffee. It was too bitter. I had forgotten to add milk and sugar. "Any more secrets?"

"For your own good." Dad stroked my hair.

I looked at him angrily until he withdrew his hand.

As a child, I had often been teased. My nose resembled a fat potato. That was my first, nasty nickname. Potato nose. I had never been popular anywhere; I was always just the ugly and clumsy one. The blind one. The laughing stock.

I only had one girlfriend! Not to forget that I had only met Penelope 2 years ago. Before that, I had been alone. All I had were my dreams. And a talkative hairdresser. He would be horrified if I didn't mention him.

Well, I had TWO friends.

"So you made me look so terrible? I have you to thank for this mess? Isn't it enough that I'm blind as a mole and clumsy?" I grumbled and rudely put the coffee cup back on the table. "And why am I only seeing bad here?"

"Sweetie! You're not ugly! We made sure your appearance was inconspicuous, but we never made you ugly! Please, understand. We had to do that!" Mom defended herself. "And you only see badly here, because your body has always stayed HERE."

I didn't look up at her. "Oh? And what forced you to do it? What haven't you told me yet? Would I have died otherwise?"

No one said anything.

I swallowed. Mom had tears in her eyes. Dad was pale, and Aunt Tanja's expression was petrified. But maybe she was still thinking of green men. What did I know!?

"We probably all would have died," Mom whispered.

"What?" I looked, startled, from one person to another.

"You'll return to the kingdom tomorrow. That's why Tanja is here. Your life in this world is over. We'll follow as soon as we can," Papa suddenly announced. He sounded unusually stern.

"What?" I shook my head. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely." Dad sighed. "I would have preferred it to have turned out a little differently. But since the spell dissolved too soon..."

"What do you mean? As soon as you can? Ended? What on earth are you talking about! Why could we all die, and why the hell should I go there? Alone? Am I in mortal danger? What about Penelope?" I shook my head. "I can't disappear without a word! And Angelo! He... Will be surprised."

"You should call her and say goodbye to her. We're sorry, sweetie. We have no other choice. You'll leave us tomorrow morning." Now Dad smiled. A sad smile. "Your aunt will take good care of you. She always has."

"And Angelo... Well, I'm going to tell him you're in a boarding school now." Mom winked at me. Then she hugged me. "We really don't have a choice, my darling."

I felt the tears gathering in my eyes. "What?"

Mom cried.

"The country was subjugated by a tyrant many years ago." My aunt grabbed a second bun, bit into it, and then put it sullenly back on the plate. "This tyrant is trying to kill your parents. If they return, they will die instantly. It's hard to explain. It's because of a spell. That's not my area of expertise. Understanding magic is harder than using it, Hilde once said. Aunt Tanja explained in a stern, firm voice, but her face was pale. "They can't accompany you, Naomie. And you... You're in danger, yes. I don't want to lie to you. But if you don't come with me, you're in even more danger. We have no choice."

"What?" I trembled. My ears rustled. "What tyrant?"

"We'll send you there to live!" said Mom, now in tears. She pulled me even closer to her. "The tyrant won't try to kill you as long as... You have to go there." Mom sank into the sofa cushions, crying.

"As long as what? As long as I return? What's going on here? Never!" I jumped up from the couch and ran off to my room. Desperately, I slammed the door, threw myself into my bed in tears, and pressed my head into the old pillow.

All this had to be a delusion!

It couldn't be real.

"Naomie," Dad's sad voice came through the door to me a little later. He had followed me.

"Go away!" I demanded softly into my pillow. Too quiet for Dad to hear.

"Naomie. It's hard to explain. The spell we put on you has evaporated. That's why Tanja had to come here. She has to pick you up. You won't dream of the other world anymore. As soon as you get there tomorrow, you'll lose the form you have now. The spell is made that way, and it should never last forever. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to take you with us."

I didn't want to listen to him, but I did it anyway.

"We can't explain everything to you now. It's too much and too confusing. You've learned enough for today. Tanja will explain the rest to you after the ball... Um, the flower ball, I think? After this ball. I promise. But you have to go back. A part of you has always returned. There was no other way. Our hands are tied. I hope you'll understand soon. Please don't be mad at us. We never wanted any of this. I love you."

"I love me, too!" I grumbled into my pillow.

I didn't want to leave.

And this, even though a lot of things here were crap.

When I fell asleep that night in hopeless tears, I actually didn't dream of the other world. Instead, I dreamed of pink plush bears throwing a pool party. The water in the pool of brown sugar boiled reddish. In the middle of the pool floated a large cake made of turquoise marzipan, on which purple marzipan pigs danced polka. The lawn around the pool was made of deep black liquorice. On the black meadow, I stood in a torn light blue shepherdess costume. I was surrounded by colorful sheep whose fur was made of cotton candy. The sheep stared at me with glowing eyes and laughed mockingly while they showed me their pointed teeth.

Strange dream!