say it will make no difference." He begins to pace as his voice escalates in fury. "No difference? I have the greatest army on Earth! Better than piss-ridden England's, even. And they tell me I can't go into Russia? A country so hideous, so utterly hopeless that its people don't even have the will to scramble from their pitiful hovels and flee? I am the greatest General this land or any other has ever seen and I. Will not. Be. Humiliated."
He stops.
Looks at Ria.
Speaks very quietly.
"That, little dreamer, is what you are here for. I need someone modern. Someone who knows. Someone who will tell me the truth. Can I, Napoleon Bonaparte, invade Russia? And succeed? Tell me, girl!" He shakes her. Ria wrenches herself away, knowing the truth--that he does not succeed--but tempted to tell him a lie. It is a dream, after all. She is allowed to have fun. She doesn't have anything to fear from a dream.
"What's the worst that could happen? You can do what you like. Either way, someone loses but..." She hesitates. Lie to him? What would he do with the truth? Nothing, She tells herself. It's a dream. A dream that she is becoming bored with every second that she continues to dream it. "If you don't want it to be you, I suggest you invade." The dream fades. The pillow is now on the floor.
The rest of the night is dreamless as a general from the past invades;
fights;
loses everything.
****
Ria has to drag herself through her classes the following day. She doesn't understand the exhaustion, nor does she understand the pounding in her head. Her dream from the night before sticks in her mind, pushing all other thoughts and potential knowledge out of reach.
She doesn't understand.
Sophomore year is tedious and the Napoleon she reads about in World History is a mere shadow of the man in her dream. She is still completely uninterested. Until that night.
He stops.
Looks at Ria.
Speaks very quietly.
"That, little dreamer, is what you are here for. I need someone modern. Someone who knows. Someone who will tell me the truth. Can I, Napoleon Bonaparte, invade Russia? And succeed? Tell me, girl!" He shakes her. Ria wrenches herself away, knowing the truth--that he does not succeed--but tempted to tell him a lie. It is a dream, after all. She is allowed to have fun. She doesn't have anything to fear from a dream.
"What's the worst that could happen? You can do what you like. Either way, someone loses but..." She hesitates. Lie to him? What would he do with the truth? Nothing, She tells herself. It's a dream. A dream that she is becoming bored with every second that she continues to dream it. "If you don't want it to be you, I suggest you invade." The dream fades. The pillow is now on the floor.
The rest of the night is dreamless as a general from the past invades;
fights;
loses everything.
****
Ria has to drag herself through her classes the following day. She doesn't understand the exhaustion, nor does she understand the pounding in her head. Her dream from the night before sticks in her mind, pushing all other thoughts and potential knowledge out of reach.
She doesn't understand.
Sophomore year is tedious and the Napoleon she reads about in World History is a mere shadow of the man in her dream. She is still completely uninterested. Until that night.
