The Unicorn Challenge: Serene


Maude was exhausted.

She lay herself down on the bench in Glandolin Square and soon found herself within a castle courtyard. She moved the heavy blanket off her and sat upright. The indigo sky above was bright and interspersed with a multitude of tiny pulsating lights.

This lucid dream felt different from the others. More relaxed, and there was a strong scent of honeysuckle permeating the air.

Shouting came from the castle behind, but high up, from the battlements. She couldn’t see anything when she looked up, due to the darkness, but she looked all the same.

A metal arrow clanked on a stone slab close to the bench where Maude sat, startling her. Another arrow landed even closer.

As a third arrow landed closer still, Maude wrapped herself in the blanket, willing it to offer her protection from the arrows that had now started falling thick and fast.

Although she was fully covered under the blanket, she could still see the arrows raining down, the one aspect of her lucid dreaming that she liked; being in two places at the same time.

She watched as another arrow fell, piercing the skin on her chest. She tried to shout to get herself to move but made no sound.

She glimpsed her real-world self, wrapped in a blanket, but transformed into a bronze figure before she slipped into her eternal serene darkness.

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge. Hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, the challenge is to write up to 250 words based on a photograph they provide as the prompt. 

14 responses to “The Unicorn Challenge: Serene”

  1. Doug Jacquier avatar

    To be, or not to be, that is the question:
    Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
    The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
    Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles.

    Lordy, lordy, lordy, Ms Maudie, sleep well under the blanket of permanent night.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      You know these characters, Doug… do they ever sleep well? 😴

      Liked by 1 person

  2. jenne49 avatar

    Great images, Tom.
    A darker tale, yes, and good.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Jenne. If I have time this week, I may try something a little more jolly!

      Like

  3. ceayr avatar

    Ah yes, where does the dream start and reality end?
    A question some of us never quite manage to answer…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      I fall into that category, CE. I’m forever dreaming!

      Like

  4. The Sicilian Storyteller avatar

    Always interesting and intriguing, Tom ….
    and always leaving us with a question or two.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      I have that very same effect on myself, Nancy! 🤣

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Chris Hall avatar

    Good story, Tom. It is a dream or is it a reality – I wonder?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Either or neither! Thanks, Chris!

      Liked by 1 person

  6. clark avatar

    Excellent!
    That ‘growing peril’ to our antagonist awfully well done, yo

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Clark! 🙂

      Like

  7. Margaret avatar

    Yikes. I don’t think she made it out of this dream. At least her ‘eternal darkness’ is ‘serene’. But I really hope she’s going to wake up soon. You’ve blurred the real/unreal boundary very well in this.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Margaret. I hope she’s dreaming that she’s dreaming. That blurred boundary is from personal experience… I once dreamt that I couldn’t sleep…! 🤔

      Liked by 1 person

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