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" Reality "
(Previous Post was my "Stranger")
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Setting: VALLA ROYAL, Quarters
Stardate: 63076.0500

The young woman laid in the middle of her bed… motionless… at peace, or so it seemed.  For one reason or another, the body of the redhead had stopped responding to the turmoil that raged within her mind… maybe this had been an indication that the nightmare would soon end.

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Dreamscape
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The young woman sat across the elderly humanoid man, a traditional camp fire dancing between them and a single smooth bolder beneath her.  It had maybe been only minutes... or hours... or maybe even days since she had made her way here... wherever here was... but now she didn't care.

The dark, empty world that surrounded her meant nothing more than what it represented... nothing.  Her entire universe now rested in her immediate surroundings, even closer than within arm's reach.  Thanks to the old man who had welcomed her into what she could only imagine was his domain, the young woman's troubles had all but vanished into the darkness around her.

For the first time in her life, she could honestly say that she didn't care... about anything.  Actually, to be more accurate, Rikar didn't care about the outside world anymore, but she did care about one thing... cared about them very much in fact... her memories.

"I wasn't looking where I was going and suddenly... *bang*!  I ran into him... or was it that *he* ran into *me*?  I don't remember exactly... but I remember his face when we looked at each other afterwards." The young woman said sounding as carefree as could be.

"You seem to have many memories of this person... was he someone special to you?"

"Yes he was... they all were... I can remember so many faces now... so many friends... so many people who filled my life in one way or another... and now... I think... I think I miss them." Rikar thoughtfully said, trying desperately to hand on to specific memories when all she could conjure forth were vague, general ones.

"So now do you believe you can answer my question?" The ancient asked, his voice sounding as gentle as wise as ever.

"Your question?  What question?" Rikar innocently asked, truly not recalling *the* specific question he had made reference to.

"Can you tell me who… you… are?

A gentle smile came to grace the young woman's pink lips as for the first time since that question had been ask, she truly believed to have the answer.

Like a dream taking on physical form, a small ragged, used doll appeared in her hands... and when it did, the young woman clenched it within a loving two-handed grip.

"Who is she?" The wise elder asked, sounding as if he already knew the answer.

"Her name is Samantha... she was the first thing my father gave me... she was my first and fondest memory."  As Rikar recalled that first memory, tears began to caress her cheeks, the emotions summoned being too much for the young woman to contain.

"So... who are you?"

"I am..." she began with confidence and certainty but before the answer crossed her lips, she felt a deathly cold sweep over her, reaching all the way to her very soul.  The shock of the sensation had been so intense that the doll she had in her hands was dropped and fell to the ground at her feet.

As if suddenly deprived of oxygen, Rikar found it almost impossible to breath, her body now trembling from the unimaginable cold that had engulfed her.

Suddenly, the campfire that had stood between the elder and herself vanished as if it had never truly existed... then soon after, so did he... leaving the young woman alone in the freezing void deprived of all light.

Finding it increasingly difficult to draw even the slightest breath, Rikar collapsed to the ground, unable to understand what was happening to her.  Was this it?  Was this the end?

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Setting: VALLA ROYAL, Quarters

The young woman drew in a long, deep breath as she felt the hardness of the floor next to her bed beneath her.  Her heart racing, the redhead tried her best to make sense of what had happened, of what she remembered of it and to figure out where she was.

"That dream again," Rikar sighed as she forced her eyes closed to hold back the tears.  This had not been the first time she had lived through that dream… a dream that seemed to haunt her whenever she felt lost and unsure of herself.

Slowly, she forced herself to sit and lean back against the bed from which she had fallen from to gather her thoughts.  After a few minutes the young woman stood and searched the room for something small… something important.  A weak smile formed on her pink lips as she found the item of her quest… a small, ragged doll.  Carefully Rikar placed the childhood memorabilia on the bed where she had been only minutes ago before she made her way to the sonic shower.  To stay still and embrace her memories would only insure that she would feel pain and regret… so she made a conscious decision to focus on the immediate without caring about what would come to pass or what had already left scars that would likely never heal.

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Sabrina Jones
Samantha Rikar
Dabo Girl
VALLA ROYAL

Once known as...
Captain Sabrina Rikar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501