Doors of Animal Beasts

The doors loomed large in front of me. A dark, maroon colored one on the left, a bright, light blue one on the left. I have no idea how I got here. I'd been in my room, listening to music on my iPod, with my earbuds in. Closed my eyes, and suddenly my surroundings had changed. There were no signs or labels to show me what each door held, or where it went. There was nothing around me. A largish rock cavern was all that was here, apart from the wall that held the doors, which was made up of dark wooden planks. I spun around in a slow circle, looking for anything to show me where I was. Nothing. Turning back to the doors, anticipation and a dark kind of excitement welled up in my chest. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, making me shake, but I don't know why. Come on Nora. Calm yourself. I thought. I looked once more at the doors. The light blue one was sure to be safe, but something in the back of my mind - a little tiny whispering voice - was telling me to choose the maroon one.

I reached for the handle of the maroon door, which was an ornately carved silver ball, and turned. Taking a deep breath before pulling open the door, I shuddered. My nerves were on fire. You can do it Nora. I had no idea why I was so scared. Maybe just the unfamiliar place was getting to me. I pulled open the door to be greeted by a sight like no other. A brilliant green forest, with sunlight filtering through the canopy. A group of animals was in front of me, in a circle much like it was a counsel of some sort. All of the animals turned to look at me. Looking away from them quickly I noticed a large castle in the very distance, through a break in the trees. I heard a growl and my head whipped back to the gathering of animals. "What are you doing, mortal thing?" A gigantic lion approached me. My head was well below his own. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. "I- I don't know. I don't even know how I got here. Honestly." I cowered beneath his bright gaze. He stared at me momentarily. "What is your name?" I was uncertain about answering. "I am Ailen, the Great Lion Beast, and I order you to speak your name. We here at the Counsel of Beasts like to know who we have in our company." I cringed away from the deep bass of his voice, but otherwise answered "Nora," in a shaky voice. The beast recoiled from me as if I had slapped him. "Nora? Are you positive?" he asked. "Yes, I- I'm positive," I answered. Suddenly the lion backed away from me. "Forgive my rudeness. I had no idea with whom I was speaking with." I was very confused, as I should be. "What do you mean? I'm- I'm not anybody. I'm nobody. Just a girl," I said to him. Several of the other animals gathered around.

These are the animals that were there. A lynx, lion, tiger, jaguar, elephant, giraffe, rhino, wolf, caribou, elk, deer, fox, fennec fox, and the largest rabbit I have ever seen. Plus there were many other animals there as well. They all bowed to me. "You are not just anyone, you are the Goddess of our legends. The Goddess Nora, who comes to our world someday from her own to help us rule peacefully. We are the counsel of animals here that has been in place for decades awaiting your arrival," the lion said. I had already forgotten his name, which I felt bad for. Suddenly an upsurge of bright white light came from the ground, into my feet, and spread inside my whole body. The animals jumped away from me, fearful of the strange white light. As soon as the light receded, I felt faint, falling to the ground and blacking out.

* * *

Later on I woke, my vision hazy at first, but it eventually cleared up. Waking up was difficult, but once I did, I looked around. I was laying on a large bed covered in animal skins, and a soft material that felt similar to silk. The walls were ornately carved red stone bricks that had beautiful paintings of animals of every kind. From the ceiling hung a chandelier of elk antlers, beautiful fairy lights were small but bright, illuminating the entire room. The room was of considerable size. Animal skins like those of tigers and leopards were hanging on the walls, decorating the room nicely. There was a large window, with a beautiful driftwood frame. The room was very homey, and if some stranger came in, it would be a welcoming room to enter. A large bird flew gracefully in from the window, from which a nice breeze was drifting. It was a bird with feathers every color of the rainbow, and then some. A rainbow ibis. "You're awake! Good morning, Majesty," it said to me. "Are you in need of food? I can have the cooks make you something, if it would be wished by your Majesty," the bird said to me. "Uhm, how about, some water?" I croaked. My throat was very dry, and water was all that sounded nice to me at the moment.

"Of course, Majesty," the bird said, and then turned to go. "By the way," the bird began, "My name is Brynlee, and I will be here to make whatever you wish happen. Call for me and I'll come." I nodded to the bird and then laid back down on the bed to wait. When at last the water came, I was near sleep again. I drank some of the water which was sweet and refreshing out of a hand-carved wooden cup. Then I laid back down to sleep.

When I woke once more, I was very confused. I was back at home, in my human bed, with my human brother, Eli, in my room playing slither.io on my computer. Wait. He's playing on my computer. "Get out of my room! You didn't ask to play on my computer! Get out!" I yelled at him. He hurriedly closed the game and powered off the computer and ran as fast as he could out of my room. He slammed the door shut behind himself in his haste to retreat out of my room. I rubbed my weary eyes, recalling the dream perfectly as if it was a real memory. I smiled. What a strange dream that was. I got up and went about my day. Somewhere in the middle of the day, I laid down to take a nap. When I woke, I was in the room in the animal kingdom again. The lion sat at the foot of my bed. I suddenly remembered his name. Ailen, the Great Lion Beast. "Welcome back, Majesty. We hope you'll stay this time." He smiled a sharp toothed grin. "You have to."