Page 109 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“Dreams aren’t supposed to hurt!” I yelled as tears flooded my eyes.

“Who are you?” asked a deep and foreboding voice. From out of nowhere, I was seized, hauled up from the ground in what could only be described as two giant hands around the middle of my body.

“Put me down.” My sight was blurred with tears, so I struggled and kicked but cried out in pain as my leg protested the movement.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” the voice yelled, and the hands shook me like a rag doll. That’s when I passed out.

I hadn’t seen another human for years. I had honestly figured I’d never see one again. I’d even gotten used to my odd solitary existence in the sky. What else could I do? I had my house and my garden, and enough seeds to keep me fed for several years at least, and enough food to get new seeds from, even if I was down to only green beans. It was food. But I had missed people. Having considered myself a loner who needed very little human interaction to survive and be happy, loneliness had been a new emotion for me, but I’d learned to cope; I had no choice.

When the odd plant grew up beside my sky land bringing me a new food source, and more seeds, I had never imagined it would also bring me a person. A very pretty, very small, female person. What was I supposed to do with her?

“Wake up!” I gave her another little shake, but it didn’t seem to help. Overwhelmed with the idea that I’d hurt her, I rushed her into my house and laid her on a soft pillow atop my oversized couch.

Her body was limp, but I could see her chest rise and fall with her breaths. Not knowing what to do next, I sat silently and surveyed her for a moment. She was tiny, but one of the most beautiful little creatures I’d ever seen. Her long blonde hair sprawled around her head and her plump, yet petite little body was perfect in every way. Her features were delicate and youthful, unlike my own. As a matter of fact, she was the complete opposite of me in every way possible. She was light; I was dark. She was tiny; I was huge. She was soft, and I was hard-muscled. The dichotomy was endless.

Oh yeah, and I’m green. So… there’s that.

Covering her body with a blanket, I went to get some water and a chair before returning to her side. Her breathing was steady, and she looked as peaceful as could be. I didn’t want to wake her, yet my curiosity got the best of me. I lifted her hand gently and laid it on top of mine. The entirety of it fit perfectly on my palm.

Seeing her delicate hand against my giant one brought back all of those memories of human interaction. Anger and frustration filled every ounce of my being, and I forced myself away from the girl before I let it overcome me and was unable to control myself. Pushing the chair away from the couch, I paced until I was calm enough to think clearly again.

“Owww,” the girl moaned quietly as she shifted.

“Shhh, lie still,” I ordered, a little more forcefully than I should have. Her eyes shot open and she sprang up into a sitting position before crying out in pain and falling back again. “Dammit, I said, lie still. I don’t know where your injuries are and if you can’t follow directions, I will tie you down until I can figure it out.”

She whimpered and covered her face as she spoke into her hands. I couldn’t make out the muffled noises, so I gently nudged her hands aside. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was chanting.

“It’s only a dream. It’s only a dream.”

I had to laugh, only because I had told myself the same thing over and over again when I’d been cursed and then cast into the clouds. Unfortunately, it was more of a nightmare than a dream, and one I still hadn’t awakened from.

“I wish that were true, but it’s not.” I chuckled. “Dreams don’t hurt.”

“It has to be a dream. Dream Maren is a badass, but real Maren is too scared to deal with any of this.”

I felt bad that she was afraid, but I had so many questions. “Where did you come from?”

“Venus,” she stuttered.

My heart pounded in my chest. My breath caught in my throat, and my ginormous knees turned instantly rubbery. I was from Venus, but that made no sense. “How? You fell from the sky. Where did that stalk come from?” I knew I was asking questions too fast for her to answer, but I couldn’t help myself. I was trying to make sense of it all!

“I don’t know! All I did was plant the seed and go to bed.” Maren whined, then muttered, “I should have known better. Green beans are evil and this just proves it. Arianna is really going to hear it. I’m telling Grayson what she did as soon as I get down from here and I hope he whoops her ass every day for a month.”

Grayson? I sat dumbfounded at the mention of a name I hadn’t heard in forever, a person I hadn’t thought of in ages. Grayson, and his fight with Queen Delta was the literal reason for my giant body and solitary sky-life existence. And this girl, this waif-like pale girl who seemed to have fallen down from the sky above me, claimed to not only know him, but to be from the same village as me. Could it be?

“Grayson.” I repeated the name out loud, louder, and meaner sounding than I intended.

The girl wept and covered her face with her hands again. “Please let me go,” she begged.

I shook my head. There was nowhere for her to go and aside from that, I was enjoying having a real live human being to talk to even if she was shaking like a leaf, obviously terrified of me and making no sense. “You’re in no shape to go anywhere. You blacked out and I’m concerned there are more injuries.”

“I’m fine,” she argued stubbornly as she tried to sit up again. I laid my palm on her chest forcing her to stay in place.

“I have already warned you what would happen if you didn’t listen. It would be my pleasure to make good on that threat,” I growled and she visibly swallowed.

I heard her mutter something about Daddy seeds and Daddies growing on vines, not trees, and a bunch of other gibberish I couldn’t make out. I furrowed my brow, frowning as I tried to follow her train of thought, but it made no sense. My concern that she really did have a head injury grew exponentially.

“You’re not making any sense,” I told her, a little less growly this time.

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