off. It clings on to her hand from a line of chewing gum. And she’s not in pain. The chewing gum bubbles once and then twice before a little creature opens a little flap in her wrist and climbs out.
Taking a rope off his mini belt, he ties it tightly, throws it and lassos her finger right by the nail; dragging her finger back into her hand. The two connect with a small ‘bump’ noise and the little creature scurries over, takes out a needle and thread and sews the pieces together.
Lane heals instantly. She watches as the little guy scampers away back inside of her forearm; closing the little door shut tight.
She’s a dream AND a human…
That’s what the voice that sounds like her voice but isn’t said.
Lane pulls at her ear next, pulling it clear off her head; attaching it to her nose. She waits for the voice to say something but it doesn’t. She’s not sure if the voice is still in the room. Quickly she takes off her head and places it on the floor.
It’s strange for her to watch her body moving around in front of her while she’s just a head on the floor but when she gives it a command, her body does it. She tells her body to take off her shirt and turn it inside out and put it back on. She tells her body to take off her trunk and place it on backwards. She tells her hand to pull out her skin so that it’s super long and stretchy; stretching her arm skin all the way down to her feet. Now she looks like she has wings.
She tells her hands to pull at her teeth and make them longer; make them into fangs. Last, she orders her head to pick her back up and cradle her head in her arms at her side. Now the image is complete.
Ordering her body to go and stand next to one of the walls, she runs her nose up and down the surface; spitting on it. Her saliva melts the white, revealing a gnarled forest on the other side. The dreamer is still half asleep.
She continues to spray the wall with her mouth juices until there’s a hole large enough for her to wiggle threw. The voice does not say anything. The voice must not be in the room.
Sneaking down the hill into the forest of gnarled trees, she encounters a one eyed bird with pink fangs and a tiny body with huge talons; a rag doll caught in its beak. Giving Lane a once over, it becomes very excited, hopping down off its perch to sit on her shoulder like a parrot sits on a pirate.
The bird squawks and squawks, scaring all of the bad dream monsters away, letting Lane walk past the living talking gnarled trees and bushes without being touched or bit or snarled at.
There’s an explosion of noise from somewhere behind her; where the room is. The voice is screaming her name. Increasing her speed, Lane goes from walking to jogging to sprinting with the bird flying behind her; keeping pace. The trees and bushes hop out of her way as she comes running by.
The voice is thunderous and close. Lane doesn’t think she can out run the voice for much longer; tripping and stumbling, landing in a hole in the ground. She lands in her basement but it’s not her basement it’s a dream basement filled with dream toys and a dream tent with a mouth with fangs what snaps at her and tries to eat her whole.
The voice is gaining on her.
Running up the stairs into her kitchen she grabs the frying pan as a weapon but it melts as does the toaster when she picks it up. Everything she touches starts to decay, slime and drip away. The blue paint on the walls above the microwave starts chipping; plummeting to the ground like bombs; exploding into blobs of rainbow paint.
There’s a tiny ship at sea in one of the rainbow drops. Tapping it, she feels her body reconfigure and her head being pulled out of her arms and back onto her neck; superglued there. Her pointer finger starts shrinking, then her hand, then her elbow, then her head and the rest of her body, sending her flying towards the ship adrift in a sea of blue.
Landing hard on the deck of the small row boat, Lane looks around for land. She’s all alone. ALL alone...
She starts wishing for Tommy but Tommy moved away so she can’t wish for him. He’s not coming. But she misses him. He’s still not coming but he would if he knew she were in trouble. She knows he would.
She wishes for her mom but her mom’s at work. But her mom WOULD come and save her if she knew she were in here all alone and scared.
She wishes for Night and Corbin. The twins want to be her friends, agreed to be her pets, helped make homework fun and showed her an amazing world of dreams and memories. She wants to see them again; she wants to be their friends. They are friends; amazing friends.
Something touches down on the boat. Terrified, Lane whips around to confront the scary demon.
“It’s just me.” Night sighs; scrunching up his nose. “Thank you for the pixie back. I should have never have brought my pet into the Dream World and the World of Memories.”
“That thing is your pet?” Lane hisses; still shaking from fright.
Night nods a yes. “His name is Keen and he was a gift from my mother. She made him for me so I wouldn’t be lonely when she has to work. And mom has to work an awful lot. So does dad. My world is work, work, and work. Corbin and I ALWAYS have to work. We don’t really have friends. That’s why I want to be yours. I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”
Lane shrugs. “I LOVE it but right now I’m sort of terrified the voice will find us.”
Night giggles. “It can’t.”
“But it was chasing me!” She snarls.
“It can’t. Promise… We’re sitting in the boat in my eye.” Night continues to laugh. “No one else can get here. I promise.”
Boat in Night’s eye..? Then Lane remembers. When she first met Night he took ice cream from the grocery store and, and when he’d opened his eyes inside of the memory, his blue eye was a sea. But his eye is the color of a rainbow; like the droplets on the floor.
“How’d I get in here?” She whispers.
“No idea!” Night smirks. “But I’m glad you came. I was worried about you. YOU almost woke a dream and you almost saw the Lord of Memories and her Pet. You CAN’T see them anytime soon; Corbin and I need to keep you a secret.”
“I’m part dream and part human.” Lane looks at him cross-eyed.
“Yes.” He shrugs. “I’m not either one. Corbin and I are something else.”
“What something else? You are an alien!”
“I’m not an alien Lane!” Night playfully pushes her around on the boat. “Owe!” He holds his face. “That hurt my eye. We need to get out of here. Corbin is waiting for me to return with you. He has Keen and they’re waiting right at the Dream Horizon. The Dream Horizon is right where we keep on exiting from.”
Taking Lane’s hand, Night reaches up and sticks his finger in his eye. Suddenly, a huge finger sails out of the sky and taps the small row boat. Lane climbs the nail; waiting for Night to follow but he’s disappeared.
Lane holds on tight to the nail as she’s quickly pulled out, dropping to the moist ground. Before she can open her eyes, she feels cool tile under her butt and the sounds of a key being wiggled around in a lock.
She opens her eyes fast. She’s sitting on the floor in the kitchen in a circle around Night and Corbin. They stare at her and sigh. Her mom opens the door and calls ‘hi’. Lane calls back and immediately calls out an apology that she has friends over.
Her mom explodes into the room, a super happy look superglued to her face. “Honey,” Her voice is ecstatic, “I was so worried about you after Tommy left… I guess I was just being silly. Please, play; I’ll be on the phone ordering dinner.” She grabs the device and bolts into the living room. She no longer seems upset with Lane’s school predicament.
“She also is going to call your dad to tell him that you’re going to be ok without Tommy around.” Night smiles. “They were super worried.”
“Ah,” Corbin whispers low. “I just realized I lost the necklace mom gave me in one of the dreams we were just in. We’re gonna have to find it.”
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