Berries and brain cookies.
The weight of the night has dropped down like a heavy theater curtain, celebrating the end of the day. Lu gathered some herbs to lure herself into sleep. She picked mugwort to add colour to her dreams, sagewort to relax the nerves and lavender to release the muscles. Lu used to be a gatherer back in a time when life was simpler and people allowed nature to show their place of settlement. Lu was convinced that she was very good at tracking herbs, edible nuts, and berries. Otherwise, this skill wouldn't have survived all these years.
Every time Lu was in a forest, her whole composition would change. Her posture slightly bent over, back rounded, minimal blinking, mouth open, head turning quickly, following the gaze, hair on her head activated, and her tail tensed. The most interesting transformation was in her attention, gaining a laser-like sharpness that knew exactly what it was looking for. There was no doubt or uncertainty in her actions. Lu was becoming an animal that knows what it was built to know.
Sometimes Lu would find herself in a similar state when she was having a conversation, harvesting an interesting brain, gathering delicious mental cookies. Those kinds were Lu's favorites because in her opinion, they were secret maps to guide to more of those kinds of cookies, generally known as insights.
Sometimes Lu was so focused that she confused ideas with berries, forgetting what time it was and where the hunting was unfolding. Those moments she considered as successes in a special kind of dying. She was not simply dead but could observe herself from the side. It was not only a little unsettling but also very scary.
"Who is this person picking berries in the brain of another person? Wait, these are not berries but ideas! Or wait, this is not a brain but a forest!"
And so she ended up in a loop, not knowing what is what and who is who. Lu didn't even manage to find out who was thinking these thoughts. The loop became smaller and smaller, suffocating whoever that was between her ears. Quickly, Lu's body remembered itself, sending gentle reminders of sweat and heat followed by an increase in heartbeat and hyperventilation.
Lu was alive again, once again as it must be. Finding herself picking herbs in the moonlight to brew some tea and dissolve in the place where not knowing anything for certain was part of the game and not that scary.
Without finishing her last sip, Lu found herself spooning with Bob, both biting their tails, slowly spinning in circles. The spilled leftovers of the tea attracted small animals seeking to beautify their existence and jump on the train of induced lucid dreaming.
Lu and Bob didn't mind those cute clandestine passengers as long as they were furry and cuddly.
The night promised to be cold, and the warmer the body is, the deeper the dream will be.