Stinky's Dream

You're standing within the wooden walls of Knightstower below the Refulgent Beacon and alongside your husband, Terry. You're 6 feet tall and musclebound to a comical degree. Terry pats a mound of soil at your feet before getting up to make room for a sapling rapidly growing out of it. The sapling bears two fruits: infants, one female and one male, bearing your adult head and Terry's respectively. Stavroula Jr looks up at you and smiles. "I love you Mama!" she says. A job well done! You turn and walk towards the tower.

Tor is outside of his forge attempting to reach a fruit growing on one of the Dryad trees just out of reach. You lift him up onto your powerful shoulder so that he can pluck it with ease. "Thanks, Stinky!" he says before taking a bite out of the fruit. He offers you the rest, and you fling it into the air where it gracefully arcs into your mouth and down your gullet, seeds and all. It's delicious! You set Tor down and you both wave goodbye as you step into the Beacon.

You're now standing in front of Uusi's classroom where she's writing an unimaginably complicated math problem on her blackboard. She caps it off with an equals sign and turns to the class looking for an answer. Her students are scratching their heads and rubbing their chins in utter bewilderment. You squint at the problem for a moment and think hard, and suddenly the answer comes to you. It's so simple! You pick up a stick of chalk and write "Denizen" with a confident hand. "Extrubligant!" shouts Uusi, lifting both arms above her head. She produces a graduation cap and a diploma from behind her back and hands them to you. You unfurl the diploma and see the words "Smart gal! Geneoise brain! Stavroula Terryswife." The students cheer!

You turn around expecting to celebrate with your classmates, but instead you're greeted by a sanctuary full of parishioners, including Father Uvier, Mother Kyari, Glob and Ida in her slutty nun costume. You're standing at a pulpit with your holy book open in front of you, wearing the vestments of a priestess. You're nervous and having trouble finding the words, but then you look up and see the sun shining through a large circular window at the back of the chapel. It's shaped like a grinning skull, which gives you an exaggerated wink. The anxiety washes away and you raise your girthy arms to the crowd. "Denizen is my friend!" you shout, and the worshippers burst into applause which quickly becomes a standing ovation. They toss purple tulips at your feet as you take an indulgent bow, closing your eyes in the process.

When you open your eyes you're back to a more realistic size and standing inside a small, shabby wooden room with two small beds. A little boy satyr with the telltale features of fetal alcohol syndrome is sitting on one of them and clapping for you while giggling. You smile back at him, more for his benefit than your own. His stomach growls and he looks down at his lap.

"Stinky," he says quietly. "I'm hungry. When is mom coming back?"

You don't know what to tell him and the uncertainty is stressing you out, but you do your best to hide it. Your best bet is leaving and finding food yourself, but your mother could return while you're gone, and you don't want him to be left alone with her.

"She'll be be back soon, Nico. Come on, let's go for a walk down to the market."

Nico nods and climbs down off the bed. He kneels down and pulls a toy out from underneath and hugs it tightly with one arm as he takes your hand with the other. It's a doll made to look like a woman with purple skin, insect wings, purple bangs covering its eyes, and a wide mouth packed with rows of razor sharp teeth.

You turn around, open the door, and wake up.