Is this a dream?
The question floated through my consciousness as I found myself standing in what appeared to be an infinite expanse of dark water. The lake stretched endlessly in every direction, its obsidian surface broken only by strange, ethereal lights that danced beneath the waves like trapped stars.
I tried to move my arms, to feel the familiar weight of my own body, but there was nothing—just the vague sense of existing, of being present without truly being there. Yet when I willed myself to walk, my legs responded, carrying me forward across the liquid mirror with steps that made no sound.
Minutes passed—or perhaps hours; time seemed meaningless in this place—before something made me freeze mid-step. My heart, if I still had one in this dreamscape, lurched against my ribs.
There, perhaps fifty yards ahead, stood a solitary figure. The woman's back was turned to me, her familiar silhouette clear even in this surreal landscape.
