every muscle in his body complained, including many he had no idea were there. As he straightened, a sudden head rush hit him and he staggered, narrowly missing the puddle of multicoloured sick and nearly knocking his TV off its stand as he grabbed at it for support. He stood there for a moment, swaying gently, as the blood in his arteries began to do its job properly. Unfortunately, when the dizzy spell had passed it left behind a thumping headache, so he resolved to deal with that first and attend to the vomit later.
Staggering like a zombie, he left his room and made his way downstairs. The house was bright and airy, filled with fresh morning air and sunlight. Ryan’s mum was busy dusting and cleaning and had thrown open all the windows and doors. She smiled at him as he shuffled into the kitchen.
‘Good afternoon, sleepy,’ she said, coming over and kissing him on the head through his shock of bed hair.
Normally Ryan would have rejected such an act of tenderness, but that morning everything felt different and it gave him a surprisingly nice feeling.
‘What time is it?’ he mumbled, too focussed on finding a cure for his pounding head to take a look at the clock on the microwave.
‘Oh, I was just joking honey. It’s eleven thirty; nearly afternoon, but not quite.’
Ryan rummaged around in the medicine draw and found a packet of paracetamol. He broke a couple of tablets out of their packaging, popped them in his mouth and stuck his head under the tap to wash them down.
‘Baby, please use a glass,’ asked his mum politely. ‘You know I don’t like it when you do that.’
‘Sorry,’ mumbled Ryan, who had sprayed half the work top with water in the process.
‘Oh look, you’ve got something on your T-shirt,’ she added, coming over with a cloth.
Ryan looked down and saw the regurgitated remains of one of the sweets stuck to his chest.
‘No mum, it’s okay,’ he said. ‘It’s just a bit of sick.’
‘Really?’ she replied. ‘Have you been poorly?’ Then she adopted a slightly sterner tone. ‘You didn’t eat that whole bag of sweets, did you?’
‘Yeah, maybe,’ muttered Ryan. ‘But that’s not it. I was ill anyway.’
‘Well, I hope you made it to the bathroom. You know, you should try getting an early night for a change. I’m sure staying up so late doesn’t do you any good.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said, pulling a slice of bread out of the bread bin, folding it up and stuffing it in his mouth.
‘Are you deliberately trying to wind me up?’ asked his mum, coming over and sweeping up the crumbs he had dropped on the counter.
‘Sorry mum,’ he said, spraying a load more out in the process.
‘Ryan, not the floor too!’
She went to cuff him around the back of the head, but he hopped out of reach, giggling idiotically.
‘You’re a nightmare,’ she said.
‘I’m a teenager,’ he replied.
‘Okay, cheeky. Now, you go and sort yourself out before Daisy comes over. I’m sure she doesn’t want to see you with sick on your clothes.’
‘Oh crap, Dizz!’ cried Ryan, and he turned and legged it back upstairs.
Since waking up, Ryan’s brain had been operating on minimal systems and hadn’t quite gotten round to analysing the twisted events of that night. The fates of his friends hadn’t even crossed his mind, and he felt extremely guilty for not having spared them a thought sooner.
Back in his room, he scrabbled around for his mobile phone and hurriedly sent a text message to Sophie. He wasn’t sure what to do about Jack, so he sent him one telling him that he had missed out on some top quality gaming the previous evening. Then he jumped in the shower; the puddle of sick would have to wait just a little bit longer.
Daisy Rose did not own a mobile phone. Even if she had done, the chances of it being switched on, or her even knowing what to do with it, were pretty slim. Therefore Ryan planned to go and check up on her in person. It said a great deal about how far their relationship had come in the past week that he was prepared to head round and knock on the Roses’ front door. It was something he hadn’t done for years.
He also took a little longer over his appearance than he normally did, especially for a Sunday. It wasn’t like he was off to church with his grandparents, but after all they had been through in the dream, and the care and concern Daisy had shown for him, he felt he owed it to her to make a bit of an effort. That alone was a sign that Ryan Butler was not quite his usual self; he never normally felt like he owed anything to anyone. Still, he was fully aware of what he was doing and figured that he could go back to being a scruffy teenager the following day.
Once dressed, he headed out of the front door and into the glorious May sunshine.
Even though the grim corridors and damp, heavy air of the castle had been a dream, Ryan’s body felt more alive than ever as he sucked in great lungfuls of fresh, spring air. The whole experience seemed to have given him a new appreciation for the waking world, which was a sane, familiar place that was unlikely to turn inside out on a whim.
The gravel on the driveway was satisfyingly pliant and the blossoming trees were full of radiant colour. Ryan hoped that his new-found appreciation for blossom was fleeting; any comment to such effect would take a long time to live down amongst his friends. But again, for this day at least, he was happy to be showing a slightly more sensitive side to himself. And who knew? Perhaps he would be able to understand some of what Daisy Rose was on about for a change.
He opened the gate at the end of the drive and stepped out into the lane. Then he had to dart swiftly out of the way as an off-roader came pelting past, giving no consideration for what might be in the road or coming the other way.
Ryan swore loudly and stooped to pick up a stone, but the vehicle was travelling way too fast and was gone before he had a chance to throw it. He took a deep breath and smiled inwardly. That was more like the Ryan Butler everyone knew.
He walked the few yards to Daisy’s gate and headed through it, continuing to enjoy being out in the fresh air, rather than being cooped up in the dingy citadel. The Roses’ house was different to his, being laid out in a large L-shape, rather than the more traditional rectangle. The front door was situated such that it was overlooked by the enormous lounge, above which sat the master bedroom. Ryan had always wondered whether the Roses had a thing about seeing people before being seen, or whether they used it as an early warning so that they could decide whether or not to answer the door. In any case, it came as little surprise that he was still several yards from the front door when it flew open and out bowled Daisy, almost falling over herself to embrace him.
‘Ryan!’ she cried, throwing her arms around him and almost leaving the floor in her excitement. ‘I’m so glad you’re all right. I was going to come over, but I’ve been so out of sorts since waking up.’
Ryan staggered slightly and then, rather than pushing her away, returned the embrace. It felt nice.
‘Yeah, I’ve been feeling a bit rough too,’ he smiled. ‘I’m glad you’re okay. It was a pretty crazy night, eh?’
Daisy pulled away and looked at him, her eyes like burning sapphires.
‘Oh it was horrible, wasn’t it? It started off quite fun, but then it just became the most awful thing I’ve ever experienced. I never want to go to sleep again.’
He could see that she had been genuinely traumatised by the experience. It was so sad to see that he did something else rather uncharacteristic, and hugged her again.
‘It’s all right Dizz, it’s over,’ he said soothingly.
She gave a small sob and pulled away again.
‘I’m so glad,’ she said, tears streaking her beautiful, pale skin. ‘But you were so brave. You got us through it.’
Ryan Butler did a good line in turning red when embarrassed, but this time he out-did himself. He positively glowed in the early afternoon sunlight, and there was no way he could look Daisy in the eye. He muttered something incomprehensible and she laughed loudly and
truly.
‘How about that walk?’ she said.
‘Good idea,’ muttered Ryan, thankful to have changed the subject.
It was impossible to imagine a more perfect day to be out enjoying the woods and hills around Picklewick. It was warm and sunny, with just the smallest scattering of high cloud and a light south-westerly breeze rippling through the trees, clearing out any stuffiness from the woodlands. It really was a throwback to the endless summers Ryan and Daisy had spent together exploring and playing, when the hills around their houses had felt like the entire world on their doorsteps.
Much had changed since those days. Innocence had grown into immaturity, and with it Ryan’s perspective on the merits of the countryside had changed. It was no longer an untapped well of possibilities, but somewhere he had to pass through in order to get between the places he really wanted to be. But on that gorgeous Sunday afternoon things were different. Ryan’s insular mind was suddenly open to his surroundings and he embraced the outdoors wholeheartedly for the first time in years.
He smiled at Daisy Rose as they walked together up the lane towards one of their old haunts. Her appearance was irresistibly quirky, having paired a floral dress with Wellington boots and her hair in a French plait. It was an outfit that said so much about her as a person, but Ryan couldn’t resist questioning her about it.
‘What’s with the boots?’ he laughed, as they turned off the road and climbed a stile