I woke up. It felt like I had been sleeping on a frozen rock without a blanket. Yet, oddly, I felt a thin, warm softness around me, as if I was wrapped in a cloud. I went back to sleep.

The second time I woke up, it was snowing. I knew this because I could smell it in the air. I opened my eyes and saw I was in a cave. Snow was falling outside. Still half asleep, I blearily wondered why I wasn’t in my bedroom and why I felt so small. I came fully awake, and realized that (1) I had mysteriously been moved to a cave on what appeared to be a mountain and (2) I was a gray cat, and the feeling of warmth I had was from my own fur.

As so often happens when the world is turned upside down, instead of running around and screaming, or fainting, I went into shock. I calmly stepped out of the cave, and saw that indeed I was on a mountain. It was snowing, and the sun was hesitantly peeking through a gap in the clouds, making the snowflakes look as if they were on fire. It was so beautiful, for a moment I entirely forgot about my dilemma and could only stand gaping at the sight before me. However, the glowing snowflakes sparked a memory buried deep inside my subconscious…

The night before, I had said goodnight to my parents and my little sister, and crept into my bed. The sheets were warm and soft,  and I fell asleep in no time. And as I slept, I dreamed.

I was walking down a long, gold walled hallway, in my human form. Little rosy lights floated through the air. When one brushed my arm, it felt cold. I kept going. There was a silver door behind me, and one ahead of me. I urgently felt I needed to open that door, that what lay behind it was of utmost importance. I finally reached the door, and pulled it open. It made no sound, not a single creak. I went through the doorway and into a room. The room had the same gold walls as the hallway, and on a throne in the middle sat a lady. I did not remember what she looked like. All I remembered was the smell of vanilla.

“Welcome, Roxana, said the lady. I wondered how she knew my name. “Kneel down before me”, she commanded. It did not even cross my mind to disobey her. I knelt. The lady spoke one mysterious word, and all the glowing lights that had floated so aimlessly through the hall gathered around me. They were touching my face, my arms, my hair. Their coldness pierced through me, and even though I was screaming in agony, I felt more blissfully alive than ever before… And through the pain, I heard a voice saying, “You have achieved you true form.”

Then the dream ended.

 Of course, if I was in my right mind, I would have dismissed the idea as a sign that I was going crazy. But there was no other explanation. It must have been the mysterious dream lady who turned me into a silver tabby. My only question was how? And… Why?

Now, I had nothing against cats. In fact I was quite fond of them. But actually being a cat was something else altogether. Not to mention being stranded on a rock in the middle of who knows where. And my family…  Lena, my adorable little sister, and my poor, hardworking mother and father - the thought that I would never see them again was terrifying. Suddenly reality came washing over me in a cold, grim, wave. I was a cat. On a remote mountain.

I fainted.

      ✳✳✳

I opened my eyes. I was floating in a vast, starry chasm. I would think it was outer space, but I could still breathe, and the stars looked odd somehow. They seemed smudged, and each slightly varied in color. Then it hit me. I was dreaming. I could hardly contain my excitement. If I was able to control my dream, I might be able to find that mysterious lady and convince her to return me to my human form! Now the only trouble was where to look.

After much thought, I concluded that since this was a dream, if I was meant to find the lady I would. That settled, I experimentally flicked my paws, and flew twenty feet forwards due to the lack of friction. I quickly became used to this odd form of travel, and made for a pink tinted star. I soon came close enough to see that it was not a star at all, but a floating gold palace. It was beautiful, with soaring gold spires and silvery gemstones intricately inlaid within the walls. I went up to the grand silver door and, to my surprise, it swung open on its own. I walked inside.

It was the same hallway from my previous dream. Glowing pink lights floated through the golden walls. When I reached the silver door, I scratched at it. It swung open. I quietly padded into a magnificent room.

The room seemed to be lit by an invisible light source. Unlike the room in my previous dream, the walls were gold like the hallway, but it was a rough, sparkling gold, not like the smooth metallic gold of the hall. In the middle of the room was a throne, formed of the same material as the walls. On the throne was the lady.

She was a cat. A cat with shimmering golden fur and piercing green eyes. I smelled vanilla, and I knew I had found her.

“Why have you returned?” she asked in a voice like liquid silver.

“You’re a cat?!” I rudely answered.

She laughed. “Yes Roxana, I am a cat.

A rosy pink light floated between her pointed ears. I shuddered, remembering the pain they had caused me.

“Why?” I asked. Why did you change me? Why are you a cat?  Why me? I had so many questions. But all I said was, “Why?”

She laughed again. “Cats are animals of the dream world. Do you notice how they are always napping? They cannot be parted from either world for too long. Except for me. I live here, and always will.

I twitched my tail.

“As to why I chose you? Every year, I take a human girl from the waking world to turn her into a cat. I train her in the ways of dreams, and she assists me in the maintenance of this world. Would you like to see the others?”

Without waiting for my answer, she turned and led me out of the throne room. We went out into the same hallway, but this time there were dozens of corridors and doors branching off of it. I reminded myself that this was a dream and it was liable to change. The cat-lady led me off down a long, twisting corridor. I carefully kept a few steps behind her. I had not noticed before, but she was larger than me, larger than any cat I had seen before.

“The cat is then sent to a remote location so that she has no distractions in the waking world. She stays in this world as much as possible, waking only to eat and drink. Often they do not miss their previous lives, as I am careful to choose those who are unhappy.

Was I unhappy? My family had never been rich, but we were happy together-or so I thought. Thinking about my family sent a pang of despair through me. They must have thought I was kidnapped, or had run away.

We finally reached a small doorway. When I stepped inside, I was met with a room full of cats. The room was huge, with walls so high I could barely see the ceiling, and there were cats everywhere. Some seemed to be working, polishing the walls and opening mysterious packages, while others simply chased each other about, or scattered sparkling dust through the air. The feline part of me wanted badly to join them, but I held back and stood in the doorway.

“I want to go back.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think about them.

The cat lady glanced back at me. “That’s what all of them say, at first.” she said. “But you will grow fond of this place, as they all do. Cats were meant for the dream world, and you will be quite comfortable here”.

Before my eyes, a cat flickered and disappeared, probably because she woke up.

“I want to stay with my family! I don’t want to be constantly dreaming!”. That part was not entirely true. In the dream world, I had a sense of belonging that I had not felt anywhere else.

The lady turned and looked straight into my eyes. “Is that the real reason you want to return, Roxana?” she asked.

I nodded vigorously.

She looked at me for a long moment, and I got the feeling that she was searching my mind, stripping me down layer after layer to find the truth.

“How strange,” she said. “I was so certain you came from an unhappy background. However, once one starts down this path, it is near impossible to turn back.

It felt like I was sinking into a bottomless pool, sinking down away from my family, my friends, everything I ever knew.

“But I can make a compromise.”

Those six words brought my hope back to me. “I’ll do anything.” I promised

“You will spend each day with your family, living your life as you did before. But when night comes, your dreams will bring you straight back here, where you will become a cat again and do as I wish.

I was overjoyed. I would still be able to live with my family! And I could not deny that a part of me had loved the dream world, with all its beauty and mystery.

“Thank you so much-”I paused, uncertain of her name

“You can call me the Empress.”

And then once more the glowing lights encircled me. I cried out, expecting pain, but this time I only felt a gentle tingling. Then nothing.

   ✳✳✳

The morning sun broke through my curtains. I groaned, pulling my blanket over my head in a futile attempt to block out the light. I could hear my little sister banging around in the bathroom, and my mother cooking breakfast downstairs.

Then I remembered my dream and sat bolt upright. It had been a dream, hadn’t it?

Only time would tell.