Quest 158

[primrosella]

[Private//Hackable by Friends]

Mm, that curse again. It's been the better part of a year now since we last had it, hasn't it? And in a few weeks it'll be a year and a half since I arrived here at all.

A year and a half, and in all that time, I've never been home--except in my dreams. But that's rather odd, isn't it? Most people go home, it seems, at least for a little while at a time. And it also seems as though there've been dozens of people going home and coming back lately. Sam went home and came back alive, and Blair went home and came back, and people all over are always going and coming again. Rue's gone and come back a few times before, and that's just since I've known her. Blue's gone and come back, too. Even Cain's been home once, for all the time he's been kept locked up here.

The first time I dreamed of home, it was the home I wanted most to see. Things had been just awful, and I remember I was just so tired of it all, and all I wanted to do was go home to Daventry where things made sense. I wanted to be able to whistle for Mother and Daddy anytime I got into trouble, and always have them there to come to my rescue. I wanted us all to be together again, safe and sound.

This time, it was the home that really is. Not the home they showed me when the barriers ripped open, cool and perfect; the home I left behind when I fell through the worlds and into the fountain. The dragon will still be there when I go back--it'll only have been dead a little over a day when I do. The land will still be ravaged. The kingdom will still need to rebuild.

But it will grow. And someday, Mordack will come for us.

I've spent a long time thinking of what it means to call a place home. This is where my friends are, and in the time I've been here, it's become a home to me. And I wish I could take everyone I've met here home with me well, most everyone, the way it was in my dream. That would be perfect, wouldn't it? And then we could all live there, happily, and it would all be fine. It was a nice feeling, having that. Even if it was only in a dream.

But I shouldn't forget what's waiting for me at home, either. There's plenty still to do. And Daventry will need us more than ever, when I finally do get back. We'll have to be strong, and hold on to hope as long as we can. The dragon is dead, but it isn't gone. It won't truly be gone until we can make things right again.

It's funny, in a way. The last adventure I was on, I found myself racing against a ticking clock, with only a certain amount of time to get everything done. Here, it's just the opposite--I have all the time in the world, so long as I'm here, and they'll all stay exactly how they are until I return. Sleeping Beauty wasn't the only one who slept for a hundred years; her family and her kingdom went under the spell as well, and they all stayed right where they were until the minute when she awoke again.

As long as I'm here, and they're all waiting for me to come home, I ought to be doing something about it, shouldn't I?

Now I suppose I just have to figure out what that something might be.

[/Private]

I suppose it's rather funny, really, that I made a resolution to be modern in some things and old-fashioned in others this year, and now I've gone from a court gown in Daventry to this getup all in the same week. And it must be a curse that's brought it about, since it seems all my usual dresses have disappeared for the day, and been replaced with things like this instead. I do hope they all come back at midnight, though, since I really do rather like those dresses, and it'd be troublesome to have to try to replace all of them now. Especially since my court gown is the one with--

But since it doesn't seem as though anyone else on the Network is sharing my predicament, despite clearly being cursed, I suppose that means it's one of the random weekends again? That's odd, it doesn't seem as though it's been that long since the last, and now here it is again.

The curses do seem to fall into patterns that way, don't they? I know there's been some speculation as to whether or not they really do follow any sort of pattern, but the longer one remains here, the more it seems as though they must. Some of the longtime residents can even remember several multiples of the same curse, I know, and we've been having weekends like this for months now, without fail.

On the other hand, some curses don't repeat very often at all--like the dream curse we had, just a few days ago. I'm glad I was able to see that one again. It was different this time than the first time I had it, but...well. Any curse that lets me see my family again can hardly be called a bad one, and any curse that lets me go home, even if it's only a dream...that's a rare and precious thing. And I'm glad that so many of you were able to come with me, too. Perhaps someday we'll manage it in real life, and not merely in dreams, hmm?

And speaking of managing, there's still plenty of things I want to finish today, and I've been lucky enough to draw a curse that won't hinder me from getting them done. Well, not very much, anyway. These oh, what are they called again? Jeans? jeans are comfortable enough, really, but they're simply dreadful for keeping things in. Honestly, I can barely fit half my hand into these pockets, much less hold anything in them.


[OOC: Why, yes, that is Rosella in jeans today, courtesy of the Wardrobe Switch curse. She's keeping busy at the Library today, so feel free to action her up if you're there; for everyone else, it's a Network post.]

Comments

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

Were you wearing jeans?

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

I, er, still am, actually. I've been stuck in them all day.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

Oh, I only say you from behind when you left and I thought you were someone visiting you when you were leaving the warehouse. Waaaaaay awkward now that I checked you out and thought you were hot while you were leaving.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

Oh. Yes, well, it's an easy mistake to make, I would think. I don't look very much like myself today, really. Terribly modern, yes, but not like myself.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

I, uh, I thought you looked pretty good. From the back. I mean, from what I could see, you looked good in that outfit. Or, that outfit, you know, you made it look good.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm glad you think so! Though it's not a very practical outfit, really--there's no place to put anything.

[not-so-smooth.livejournal.com]

You should get a backpack, just for today. Or I can walk around with you and help carry stuff.

[mad-here.livejournal.com]

Do the curses belong here?

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

...Pardon, belong here? I'm not quite sure what you mean.

[mad-here.livejournal.com]

They're supposed to be here? Accepted... here?

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

Well, they've been here as long as anyone can remember, I think. So you could say they're accepted as a part of life, yes.

[mad-here.livejournal.com]

...so everyone else is the intruder.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

If by intruder you mean we didn't originate here, then yes. I come from a kingdom far, far away from here, and everyone else has their own lands that they come from, too. But we've all been brought together here in this one.

[playstheblues.livejournal.com]

You need a purse.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

That does seem to be the way other modern girls go about it! Sam suggested I go find a nice one, too. And perhaps I will, if I get the chance.

[playstheblues.livejournal.com]

It might help when you end up in jeans.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I'd be able to carry things again. Well, assuming I could find a purse that would fit everything I want to carry, that is. Some of them seem to be awfully small.

[playstheblues.livejournal.com]

How much do you want to carry?

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

Well, er, just what I usually have in my pockets any other day, really. And room for all the interesting things I might pick up.

[adamantined]

You were actually glad for the dream thing? You must've been in some nice dreams.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

I was, yes. I got to go home in my dreams, and I was glad for the chance to see my family and my kingdom again. It's been the better part of a year since I was last able to go visit.

[adamantined]

So you like to think that it was real?

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

Well...I know better than to think that I really went home during that curse. I know I was dreaming the whole time. But if I can dream it so clearly that it might as well be real...well, then I'm not above enjoying it while it lasts, I suppose.

[adamantined]

I'm glad that you at least got to experience something nice. A lot of the dreams that I wandered in and out of weren't so great.

[primrosella.livejournal.com]

I saw some rather awful ones, too, actually. I've been lucky with that curse so far, though, and that's likely why I don't have any reason to mind it.