QSFer S.L. Kassidy has a new FF magical realism romance out: Once Within a Dream.
Samar Habeen is a warrior waging two wars—one against the Nightmares that prowl the forsaken streets of Oganja, and another within the silent chambers of her own heart. Grief clings to her like a second skin as she fights to stay afloat in a city that doesn’t care about her.
The loss of her mother and homeland have hollowed her, leaving her yearning for the warmth of family—though what remains of hers feels fractured, distant, almost spectral. Instead, she finds a strange solace in a building housing a tomb, a monument reflecting all she’s lost.
And when she stops visiting, her absence awakens the sleeping soul, who sets out to find her.
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Excerpt
Donning black gear practically identical to what she had just taken off, she ate her food, then put on her boots. She made her way to the tomb. She sat on the front steps and leaned against one of the pillars. Ease seeped into her bones, while a knot continued to tighten in her stomach.
“My sister and Siku got into a little thing this morning. They thought I was sleeping. He has a problem with Mechi. He’s a weird guy, but she loves Mechi. She wants to marry him. It should be okay for her to sleep with him…I think anyway. I don’t understand this sorta thing much.”
Samar scratched her head. She tried to think of something else to discuss with the building. Mechi was on her mind. They had something in common.
“Siku uses Mechi something like he uses me. Mechi’s quite the competent and accomplished warrior. If he could see Nightmares, he’d be incredible at fighting them. I’d try to train him, but he thinks my entire culture and upbringing are akin to living in the trees.”
The media still portrayed Asale the way it had been about a century ago. After casting off the shackles of colonialism, Asale endured a long, ruinous civil war that left them in a bad position on the globe. People were poor, sick, and starving. But in the past fifty years, the country had developed responsible leadership and worked its way to being quite an amazing place to live. She was happy her mother saw fit to raise her there.
“Oh, I learned how to make coffee and tea today. It’s a real mystery to me how Vin drinks coffee. It smells nasty. She needs to drink it to stay awake, she says. I think it tastes as bad as it smells. She bounces sometimes when she doesn’t have coffee. That’s a bad thing, I’m sure. I like tea. Hot chocolate is tasty too. I never had it before coming here. My mother preferred making smoothies for us because it’s hot in Asale almost all of the time. Vinny used to make hot chocolate for me when I stayed at the house. She still does it sometimes when she comes by.”
“I know. You told me all about it,” a familiar voice said.
Samar’s body tensed. She turned toward the voice. “Who’s there?” She glared into the darkness.
“Hi.” The young woman with the lilac eyes greeted her weakly and stepped out of the tomb’s doorway. She approached Samar and sat down next to her. The subtle scent of jasmine wafted from her. It was almost distracting.
“What’re you doing here?” Samar inquired.
“I sleep here. Well, I used to sleep here,” the woman answered with a light laugh.
Samar scowled. “I never noticed you before.”
“I slept inside, in the coffin.” She pointed to the door. “You’ve been inside a few times when they allow people in, with your sister I think you said.”
This was all correct. “How’d you know that?” Am I being stalked? Followed? How did I not notice? No way that’d ever happen.
“My apologies.” The woman placed her hand over her heart and bowed her head slightly. “I’m Kouji, and I thought you were talking to me all of these years.”
Samar’s frown deepened. “What? You mean to tell me you’ve been here since I started coming by?” Who the hell was this woman? If she wanted to hurt you, she could’ve done it during your fight or any time before that. So you might as well calm down.
“I’ve been sleeping.” Kouji nodded toward the doorway again. “I could hear you though. Your voice cut through the void and touched me, made me conscious to a degree.” A small smile settled on her perfect face. “I woke up when you stopped coming by. I thought something happened to you, thought you abandoned me, thought you might be hurt. So many thoughts. I’m glad you’re okay. I haven’t been able to go back to sleep since.” A small, awkward shrug. “My mother’s beyond angry with me.” Kouji let loose an uncomfortable laugh.
Samar shook her head, but didn’t take her eyes off Kouji. “I don’t understand.”
“I was sleeping in the coffin,” she repeated.
Kouji made it sound so simple, like it all made sense. But come on, sleeping in the coffin? Stranger things have happened. You chase Nightmares, after all. Nightmares didn’t sleep in tombs.
“You must think I’m stupid. That coffin’s made of solid marble. How were you getting in and out of that thing?” Samar inquired, catching this liar in her lie.
Kouji squinted. “That’s the whole point. I wasn’t supposed to leave. I was meant to stay asleep. I don’t think I should’ve been able to hear you.” She tilted her head, as if thinking about it.
“And yet you claim you did.” Samar glared at her.
Kouji’s brow furrowed, and she shook her head. “Let me try to explain it better. I was the black sand inside the coffin. My mother put me to sleep to save humanity.”
Samar scoffed. “To save humanity?”
Kouji rubbed her forehead. “I think that’s why.”
“To save humanity from whom?”
“Me…maybe. I’m foggy on it right now.” Kouji’s eyes scanned the air, as if it had the answers. “As I said, I wasn’t supposed to get up. But when you stopped visiting me, something was wrong. Or something went wrong? I’m not sure how to put it. I was aware of your absence. I missed you. I was worried about you. I thought something happened to you, and I enjoyed your company so much. I decided to look for you in case you needed help or something.” Kouji nodded, more to herself, as if suddenly everything made sense.
Samar was certain her ears weren’t working. “Are you serious?” Did it say gullible idiot on her forehead? There had to be a reason for Kouji telling such a farfetched lie.
Author Bio
I’m a New Yorker who started out writing poetry in junior high, branched out to short stories, usually fantasy and romance stories, during my high school and college years, and, after graduating college, ventured into the fanfic world. I had quite a bit of fun with fan fiction and eventually decided to try my hand in original fiction. I suppose it was sort of like coming back around to what I had been doing in high school and college, except this time the stories were for whoever wanted to read them. After I uploaded my first original story, I didn’t looked back. I plan to keep writing as long as I continue getting ideas for stories and it continues to be fun.
| Author Website | https://penlightpress.com/dpp-author-bios/sl-kassidy |
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| Author Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/people/SL-Kassidy/100057050892458/ |