This little snippet isn’t based on a dream, but it’s sort of a prequel of a story I want to write based on a dream. I hope you enjoy it!
Practice makes Plummet
I finish another set of breathing exercises and drink a small glass of water with a few drops of that tincture the Ambassador gave me to keep my vocal folds nice and lubricated. Closing my eyes, I draw air slowly in through my nose, imagining the sensation of cold water filling my nostrils, and my lips part in anticipation of the first note.
“If you start that damned song again I will actually murder you!”
I start, hitting my elbow on the side of the sink, at the sudden voice of my roommate. When I open my eyes, I see her face in the doorway to the livingroom, eyebrows raised in a ‘don’t you dare’-expression.
“I have to practice, Leah,” I respond. “I can’t be off, even by a little, even on a single note, when I sing into the depths.”
“You have been practicing for months, every day.”
“Yeah b-“
“You know it perfectly. You haven’t made a mistake in weeks.”
“Yeah, w-“
“And if you do it one more time, I will either die or kill you, and then who will sing into the depths?”
I chuckle in spite of myself, and roll my eyes as she crosses the kitchen floor to squeeze my are.
“You’ll be perfect,” she says. “Okay? Practicing now is just making you more nervous.”
I scratch my neck and consider what she’s saying. I haven’t made a mistake in weeks, that’s true, and all my superiors have signed off on my performance and given me the go-ahead. Yet I’ve been getting more and more nervous all day, practice by practice. “Maybe you’re right,” I tell her, smiling. “Wanna go for a walk?”