Violet sat up from the bed with a jolt. Her head seemed to aching slightly, and she placed her hands on her temples to gently massage them while wondering about the buzzing noise in her ears which seemed to be coming from so far away.
She opened her eyes and was surprised that everywhere was dark. But then a few moments later, she realised that she was wrong. Her eyes were only trying to focus, for the room was lit up with light that seemed to be shining from different points on the walls of the room where she was.
Looking around her, she slowly took in the beautiful decor of the room. "Strange", she thought. "This place looks strangely familiar. How did I get here?"
Quickly, she tried to get up from the bed. Perhaps, she wasn't paying attention so she mistakenly knocked over a flower vase that was placed on top of the bedside drawer. The noise must have been heard outside the room, for the door quickly opened, and in came a beautiful elderly woman.
"Are you okay, Princess?", the elderly woman asked throwing Violet into more confusion.
Sensing Violet's silent question, the woman took her hand and said, "My name is Sophia. I am the chief stewardess of His Majesty, and you are one of our noble princesses in this Kingdom." Sophia paused before continuing, "His Majesty brought you here so that you could experience the Summer Vacation you have been wishing to have for so long."
Violet's eyes widened in surprise. Who is this 'His Majesty' that Sophia was talking about? True she had always longed for a summer vacation when she would be able to travel to different parts of the world, and dine with kings, queen's, princes and princesses. But can't remember ever meeting any king talk less of...
Sophia's soft and gentle voice interrupted her thoughts again, "Don't think too much about anything. Very soon you will understand. For now just enjoy this moment. I have been waiting for you to wake up so that we could do all that the king had instructed us to do for you. Trust me, there is nothing to fear, for in this Kingdom of Light, everything is done with Love, and for Love. Therefore let your mind be at rest."
Seeing that Violet was a bit more relaxed, Sophia gently took her hand and led her out of the room. After a few more turns, they were outside walking in the most beautiful garden that Violet had ever seen, with the sun shining ever so brightly.
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There were so many different kinds of fruit trees and flowers all around. Birds were singing happily in the trees while the branches of the trees were swaying ever so gently, as if dancing to the songs of the birds. Everywhere looked so clean and peaceful, and Violet couldn't help but close her eyes and take some deep breaths. This what just what she needed.
A gentle touch on her arm made Violet open her eyes. Sophia pointed towards their right, and said, "Let's go over there. Your meal is ready, and the table is set."
Violet could not believe her eyes when she saw what greeted her. A table set with the finest of fruits, meats, wines and every good thing you can just think of! As Sophia led her to the table, she heard the sound of a waterfall very close by.
"When you finish your meal, I'll take you to have a look", said Sophia in answer to Violet's silent question. Violet nodded. This is the first time she was being treated like royalty in her entire life, eating the best food and drinking the finest of wines that tasted like Oak.
After the meal, Sophia led Violet to the watch the waterfall. It was an amazing sight to behold, the water cascading down the rocks, and flowing to form a vast ocean with palm trees lining up along the shore of the ocean. Everything looked so magical that felt she could just stay here forever.
Forever!!?? Violet turned to Sophia, "How long have I been here?"
"Seven days in all", replied Sophia. Violet was shocked.
"I don't know how I got here, but I think I need to go back so that my Grandpa doesn't get too worried about me. Please, you have to show me how to go back." Violet looked with pleading eyes at Sophia.
"Of course! It is easy, and I will show you in a moment. But, didn't you want to get down by the shore and play with the sand?"
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That's true! Violet raced towards the palm trees, then she fell to her knees scooping the golden sand with her hands. While at it, she remembered that she had always wanted to play with sand at the beach but had never got the opportunity to do it.
Come to think of it everything that had happened since she opened her eyes in that room are things she had only desired but never experienced in her reality. She turned to look at Sophia who was watching her with a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
"You got here because deep down inside your heart you had always imagined what it would feel like to visit another world and live the life of a Princess", explained Sophia. "Now, your heart desires to get back to your Grandpa because you don't want him to get worried, and so you will go back."
Sophia then continued, "His Majesty wants you to know that you can always come here anytime you want, as long as you look into your heart and follow what
you see, there is nothing that can stop you from exploring the heights and depths in the whole of creation. So, when you are ready just close your eyes and look deep into your heart to the place where you find your Grandpa, and you will be there with him."
Violet got up from the sand and hugged Sophia tightly. Sophia hugged her back and said, "Whenever you need me, just look into your heart and you will see me waiting for you. Now, let's go back to Grandpa, okay?"
Violet closed her eyes an focused on her heart until the worried and wrinkled face of her grandfather appeared before her. Then she heard someone shouting, "Violet is awake! Yay, she is awake".
She opened her eyes and saw herself surrounded by her classmates and class teacher. "What happened?" , she asked.
"You said you were having a headache and laid your head to rest. Now holiday lesson is over, and even with all the noise around, you were still fast asleep. You have been sleeping for one hour, and this is the first time you did it so we were all worried about you. Meanwhile, your Grandpa is waiting for you outside so you would go home together."
Sophia had said that she had been in the Light Castle of the kingdom of light for seven days. Now her classmates said that she had been sleeping for one hour.
Although she didn't know whether or not she should share her experience with her friends, Violet was sure that she had just had an other-worldly experience. Yes, she had just returned from a vacation in a parallel universe.
The End
Thank you for reading my story. This is my entry for Week 2 of The Late Days Of Summer #dreemportchallenge put together by @dreemport and @scholarandscribe communities.
The images used are free-to-use images from pixabay.com
Thank you once again.