City of Dreams
Part 1: Reinstated
Bonnie floated into her favorite Asian restaurant after a long day teaching residents to play gravi-ball. The place was packed, but a few heads turned in greeting. She was well known in the City of Dreams, where anything was possible if you believed.
She led daily meditation and magic seminars for new residents. Greenhorns had a lot to learn, coming from the outside, and they cherished her guidance. Chances of survival in the world outside the walls had been bleak since nuclear war covered the Earth in smoke and dust.
She levitated over the crowd in her usual lazy position, feet first, an arm cradling her head as if on a sofa. Once she found a chair she raised her arm for a server. The restaurant went silent.
Bonnie looked around and saw every single person in the restaurant frozen in place. The diners started shuffling outside like zombies.
“Huh?”
A high pitched ringing struck her ears. She curled up and covered her head as the ringing grew louder, turning her thoughts into white-noise. It left her gasping, but her faculties returned one by one.
A hallway formed in the wall beside her. Codes of conduct started pouring into her mind. Oh great. Not again.
Shaking her red hair out of her face and muttering about how the Council treated the residents, she walked down the grey hall. Two clerks carrying stacks of papers ran past her.
“Mam.” They said, avoiding her gaze.
Around the corner were a familiar secretary’s desk and a massive oak door. She gave Richard a hard stare and sat in one of the waiting chairs.
“Why did they reinstate me? I thought I made it clear that I quit last time.”
“Uhhh, I’m sorry Madam Sentinel. You know they don’t tell me much.” Richard’s apologetic face reminded Bonnie of her students in the park.
“I know, Rick. No worries. Could you just get Merlin out here?” She rubbed her still throbbing temples.
The secretary pressed a button. “Can I get you anything while you wai- ”
Merlin popped into existence in a puff of smoke in front of Bonnie. She coughed and swatted the smoke away.
