Chapter 17
That night, in the very early hours the forest sprung to life. As the two friends drifted off to sleep bright new stars sprinkled secret messages across the sky and a warm green glow swept the treetops. At 3 am the beautiful blue light returned, carrying them back to the towering mountain where the magical staff of dreams lay waiting.
Across the freaky dream world the same family waved at them, still stuck on a shifting island in the thick green sea. Tonight they’d moved closer to the mountain and appeared far less happy at being there again. The lady in particular didn’t seem to be enjoying herself half as much. That isle seemed like the best place to start. This family were all having the same recurring dream, which was very odd and very rare. Even though their island seemed quite small, when Lawrence blinked it grew larger. And when he blinked once more it shrunk down again and turned upside down. Lucy blinked next, turning it on its side, then right side up.
Now they had a goal in sight, Lawrence and Lucy felt a little more confident. They watched the family carefully, trying to work out what they could actually do to help. Not only was the family stuck in the same dream, every few minutes the same weird events happened over and over again. It wasn’t surprising the poor lady looked so tired and fed up.
Lucy nudged past, meowing proudly just as Lawrence had a breakthrough. What he had to do was enter people’s dreams and guide them out! That should break the repeating cycle, allowing normal, random dreams to begin again tomorrow night. He’d have to disguise himself though, because folks may recognise him, or choose not to follow his advice because he was so young. Thankfully the magic staff could help with that.
First they’d have to get down there. The soothing blue light had disappeared again, so Lucy tried out an idea, springing far off the mountain’s edge with a wild meow of delight. In a flash of green smoke she appeared back beside Lawrence, wearing a wide grin. It was good fun anyway she thought.
So the staff was the only way they could leave now. Lucy perched on Lawrence’s shoulder, holding on tightly as the brightly burning staff glided them down there safely.
Closer up they were astonished to find the whole island scene covered by a huge bubble. Scattered across the weird landscape, other bubbles of different colours and sizes bobbed and weaved closer together all the time. Suddenly Lucy realised all these smaller bubbles were sitting inside a much larger one, ending at the foot of the mountain. The human land of dreams sure was strange.
Lawrence shouted hello loudly, but no one took any notice. It seemed people couldn’t see them while they floated outside the dream bubble using the magic of the powerful staff.
Now, who to change into? Aha! Someone in authority may work. Lawrence’s clothes transformed into a smart blue uniform, complete with matching cap and shiny badge. Following his orders the staff glided into the bubble, which vibrated an odd pinging noise when it closed up behind them. Lawrence hit the soft sand just right, landing right in front of the family. Because this was the weird land of dream, the three dreamers didn’t wonder where he’d come from.
“Hello there, park ranger here. Our parks closing. Thanks for visiting. This way please, straight across the sea!” Lawrence announced confidently, making his voice sound deeper and more powerful, like he was used to being in charge.
“Thank you sir!” the lady gushed gratefully, ushering her two young daughters before her. As she stepped off the island, a wobbly walkway of jelly formed up in sections, allowing them to happily trot along. Lawrence merrily waved them off till they quickly became lost in hazy black mist.
“That was so easy!” Lawrence exclaimed, petting Lucy triumphantly.
Just as Lawrence was about to leave the family appeared on the opposite side of the isle. Balancing unsteadily on faltering beams of light, they tottered back onto land, looking very confused and frustrated. Phew, this puzzling situation needed a little more thought! Lawrence decided to have an even closer look at their dream that had started all over again.
This family were enjoying a relaxing walk across the beach. Two young girls had arranged fizzing flowers in their hair and skipped along, enjoying the tropical air. Their hands were full of brightly coloured fruit that flew round and round in circles, singing enchanting songs.
“What’s this?” their mum exclaimed at a swirling misty creature springing out of thin air. It shot between them playfully, squeezed into a tight little ball, bounced off pink palm trees, whistled a happy tune, turned into a huge melon and crashed on her head. Mocking laughter echoed all around.
Lucy watched the scene replay three times before she noticed something black swirling beneath the surface. She sprang down from Lawrence’s shoulder to investigate. Something else glinted far below the black too. Even her keen eyes couldn’t quite make it out. Lucy’s interest caught Lawrence’s attention. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move further into the weird substance to sneak a look underneath the shifting sand. This wasn’t the original staff, so maybe that was why.
Lawrence changed tactics, imagining the sand was shallow water, causing it to flicker clear for a second. This proved just long enough for Lucy to spring down and grab at the smoky creature. Showing perfect timing, she sneaked a little of its wispy black tail off. Luckily this was enough to scare it off into a swirling mist.
In a puff of green smoke the family appeared outside the bubble, smiling happily as they floated away over the morphing scenery. The girls were delighted finding excited white fairies buzzing round their heads. Very soon they all disappeared from view.
“Well done Lucy! Now for our next trick!” Lawrence declared, dancing across the warm sand. His rhythmic steps made sand bubble, bringing two small nuggets of gold floating to the surface. Lawrence bent down and picked them up, watching them dissolve in his hands.
“Oh well, we can’t expect to find all the answers!” he exclaimed.
Round the changing landscape the three nearest bubbles moved a little slower. Many others still formed and fell, but were outside the main one and still a long way off.
“This is fun! Come on Lucy, let’s help them all! Lawrence laughed, spinning over there. Just then the world faded and the travellers arrived back home again. Rather weirdly a minute later the alarm clock woke them up, proving their quick adventure must have taken most of the night. Time was always very hard to work out in dreams. Lawrence would have to get to bed a lot earlier tonight, considering they’d only saved one tiny part of the dream world so far!