You never believed in dreams—at least, not the kind that could touch reality. But Florence had a way of bending that rule. When you first met her, it was just a casual encounter at a gallery opening. Her laugh was magnetic, her energy impossible to ignore. But then she began talking about worlds no one else could see, worlds she claimed she visited every night.

You laughed at first, the polite kind of laugh that hid curiosity. “Worlds? Like… alternate realities?”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes glinting with a strange light. “I dream them, and sometimes… sometimes I bring things back.”

At first, it was subtle. Objects in her apartment that you could swear weren’t there yesterday, a whisper of music that didn’t exist on any radio, shadows moving with impossible purpose. You chalked it up to coincidence—until you found yourself in one of her worlds.

It began with a knock at her door. You were drawn to it, compelled by a curiosity you couldn’t explain. Florence smiled, holding out her hand. “Want to see tonight’s world?”

Before you could answer, the room shifted. The walls of her apartment blurred like watercolors bleeding into each other. One moment, you were standing on hardwood floors; the next, you were walking through a forest where the trees glowed with an inner light, and the air shimmered with colors you didn’t have names for.

“You’re here,” she whispered, brushing your arm lightly, and the touch felt like electricity. “I knew you’d come.”

The forest hummed with life, and you realized—every creature, every whisper, every ripple in the water was born from her mind. And yet, they felt more real than anything you’d ever experienced.

“You’re… dreaming this?” you asked, voice barely above a whisper, afraid you might break the illusion.

“I am,” she said, stepping closer. “But I can’t always control it. That’s why I need you. When I dream, I get pulled too far sometimes. You keep me grounded… remind me what’s real.”

You didn’t understand entirely, but there was something in her gaze that made disbelief impossible. She led you through the forest, showing you landscapes that defied logic—mountains that floated in the sky, rivers of light, skies filled with constellations you had never seen. Every step, every glance, made your own world feel smaller, duller, and painfully ordinary.

And then, you realized something terrifying: the line between her dream worlds and reality was thinning. A flicker of flame here, a ripple of water there—it followed you when you returned home. You couldn’t sleep without seeing her forests, couldn’t walk down the street without catching glimpses of impossible skies.

One night, you confronted her. “Florence… what’s happening? I can’t tell where your dreams end and my life begins.”

She took your hands in hers, warm and real, grounding you like an anchor in the chaos. “That’s why I brought you here. I need someone who can see with me, who can walk between the worlds without losing themselves. You’re stronger than I am… and I think I’ve always known you’d be the one.”