The People of Simbria: Sunset Valley: Chapter 1.1: Springtime of never-never land.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Guide me safely through the night,
And wake me with the morning light.
- 18th century children's bedtime prayer

It was the first day of spring and Ranveig Motorsen woke up feeling drowsy. She had been having these strange dreams since shortly after she started writing that science fiction book. She had almost gotten used to them by now, but the dream she had just this night seemed so much more real and alive then the others. Almost as if she had actually been there.

She stood by her bedside and pondered about it for a few seconds, before heading downstairs to make pancakes and have breakfast with the boys and send them off to school.

Most days she wouldn't have time for much more then a brief good morning, as she had to go to work early, but today was her day off.

Oliver Freddy, her oldest son, was close to aging up to a young adult and would have his high school graduation later this spring. She was so proud of him, as she was of both her boys. They spoke the usual everyday chit chat at the breakfast table, before they had to run out the door just in time for the school bus.

After they had left, she quickly went over to her computer and sat down to finish her book. Though she was not a professional writer of novels by any means, she had worked hard on it for quite some time. And like so many times before, she was stark in her determination to finish this project. All that was left now, was just the last round of editing and touching up a bit on the ending chapter, and the book would be done and could be sent off to the publisher.

By noon she was finished, and decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing on her bed while watching the romance channel. She had always wanted to find the true love she dreamed of and get married. Sure, she had tried a few times, but nothing really seemed to work out. At 42 years old and with two children she hadn't completely given up that thought, but didn't put anywhere near as much effort into it as before. She was pretty pleased with herself after all. She was already a well respected chess champion, and this she had achieved the hard way while simultaneously and single-handedly raising two children. And keeping a full time job to boot. This moment slouching on the bed was well deserved, she couldn't say anything else.

After a while, she felt an urge to call her old childhood neighbour Kathrine Kråke-Karlsen to invite her over for a talk. Just as she went downstairs to make the call, her phone let off a beep. Oliver Freddy had sent her a text message saying he would head over to a girl he knew from school, Inge Reppe, this afternoon. Ranveig wasn't surprised. She had long suspected something to be going on between the two.

She paused for a while, thinking about the dream again, before making the call to Kathrine. And sure, she would be over in just a bit as soon as her shift at the hospital was over. While waiting, she went back up to her bed to continue watching tv.
Kathrine knew her well enough to know where to find her. Or maybe it was enough to just follow the sound of the tv at near full volume. Whatever the case, she rang the door bell once, and when nobody opened she quickly went inside and up the stairs to find Ranveig excactly where she expected her to be.

"I had a really strange dream tonight.." Ranveig began.
"I was being led into this weird looking place.. and there was this guy there. A complete nutjob! I don't know, but he had some machine that could read memories.. but the strangest part is how real it felt. Like I was actually there, and it really happened. I have never had a dream give me this sensation before.. Maybe I'm just overworked from writing on my book and everything.."

Kathrine: Eh.. I'm no expert on dreams or anything, but it was probably just that, a dream. I wouldn't worry to much about it, if I were you.

Ranveig: Yeah, you might be right. I just don't like how this brought back some memories I thought I was done with. From school and everything.

Kathrine:I remember that, too. Those guys weren't really nice to you. And I did feel guilty about.. well, we shouldn't have left you alone like we did, but.. at the same time, it was so important to hang with the right crowd, and.. well, I'm sorry.

"It's ok, I guess", Ranveig said with a sigh. "We can't change the past, or something. Let's go downstairs, shall we?"

Downstairs Robert Bråge, Ranveigs youngest son, had just come home from school. It was clear he felt agitated by spending his days there, and if he was anything like his father, he would much rather have skipped school to go fishing. Preferrably as far away from any building or road as he could get, but Ranveig was a strict mother. She wanted her kids to make something of themselves, and skipping school was not an option. As long as everything else was ok at school of course. And luckily, Robert Bråge didn't seem to have any problem at all with his peers at school. It was more the teachers , the lessons and the homework that were his problem...