Dreams have long proven themselves a source of mystery and intrigue for humans. Everybody from Shamen to psychiatrists have offered people interpretations of dreams in attempts to divine the future, explain the past, or part the veils surrounding the sub-conscience. With objects, people, and events occurring in dreams not always taken at face value, no one is ever able to guarantee that what they "see" in your dream is exact. In the end, a person's own feelings about the dream end up being the most accurate, and any genuine interpretation will act more to guide a person towards their own findings rather than offering predictions.
Of course, that's never stopped anyone from claiming that they can predict the future based on what's seen in a person's dreams. Although oracular dreams have a long tradition among many cultures, it's not something that has much credibility in modern times. While most of us believe that we can control our own destiny, the future remains a mystery that most of us would rather not explore. While some people might want to know the answer to questions like, "Will I be wealthy?", nobody is really that keen on finding out when and where they die.
In Zoran Zivkovic's novella Steps Through The Mist, published in the United States by AIO Publishers, the layers of mist that surround time are peeled back by the experiences of five women. With them Mr. Zivkovic asks if our fates are not as random as we think after all. For while they may not be governed by some great God who has planned our lives in advance, they could be determined by more than just our choices.
Five women experience what's it like when the fabric breaks and they either step into, or are offered a glimpse of what it's like, in the mists of time. Both the future and the actions that shape the future exist beyond this veil, and the experience leaves each woman rattled and her sense of self disturbed. When the line between dreams and reality breaks down, how do you judge what to believe and who to trust?
Each year, Miss. Emily has set her freshman class of girls the task of writing out their recent dreams as a first assignment. Experience has taught that each year there will be a few girls who will deliberately create outlandish tales to pass off as their dreams as they refuse to take the assignment seriously. This year is no exception, but most disturbing is the girl who comes to their defence and offers proof that they aren't lying by claiming to have dreamt their dreams with them. She can not only recite their dreams, but in order to prove her abilities she also tells Miss Emily her dream. The girl claims that if she were to leave the classroom it would cease to exist, as it too is somebody else's dream that she is visiting.
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