Chapter Nine
~Into the Dream~
Laura opened her eyes. She was in exactly the same spot she remembered, sitting on top of the hood of the car. Nothing had changed. She looked up, realizing that Logan was holding her, looking down at her. His face looked a little… different. It was clearer than before. Or maybe everything else was a bit fuzzy.
“Ah, there you are,” he said. “You took a while.”
“What do you mean?”
He smiled. “Welcome to my world.” And he leapt up off the car. But instead of landing on the ground, as Laura would have expected, he just floated horizontally in the air. He twisted back, hands behind his head, as if reclining on a couch. Laura gaped.
“How are you doing that?” she asked. “Is this another trick?”
“No, no trick,” he promised. “You’re now in the dream world.”
“The dream world? What do you mean? Am I asleep?”
“That’s right. In fact, we’re both asleep, and you’re holding my hand.”
Laura looked around her. Nothing looked different. She put a hand down to feel the metal of the car. It was cool to the touch, as before. And the small, lapping waves at the shoreline continued just as before. She spun around to look behind her. The same dirt road she remembered driving down was there, as were all the evergreens, swaying gently in the light wind.
“How is it possible?” she asked. “I can see you just like I would in real life. Except, you know, for the fact that you’re floating in the air!”
Logan laughed lightly, and touched down on the ground. He offered a hand to help her step down, which she took gingerly. And took her first step inside the dream world.
The ground felt solid enough underneath her. But just then, as she took another step, reality blurred. It was only for an instant, but in that instant she felt like she lost all her coordination, all sense of where she was. She stumbled, and Logan caught her before she fell.
“Careful there,” he said. “On your first journey here, your body needs to get used to it.”
“What do you mean?” Laura asked again. “I don’t understand what this is. Get used to what? You need to explain everything!”
“Everything?” Logan mused.
“Everything. And don’t you dare leave anything out! You brought me here, after all!”
Logan laughed. “In time, Laura, you’ll know more than you’d ever hoped. Explaining everything could take a very long time, though. Let’s just start with the basics?”
“Ok,” she said reluctantly.
“Ok, so the basics are,” he said, just as he leapt in the air again to hover a few feet off the ground, “that I can do this, and you cannot. Not yet, anyway.”
“How come?”
“Reality is mutable, here. But you have to learn to control it.” He touched back to the ground. “For example, take floating, what I just did. How do you think I did it?”
“Um, I don’t know. You just jumped, and… stayed in the air.”
“I jumped.” He smiled. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. What I did, in truth, is push everything else down. I pushed reality down, a few feet away from me. You went along, with it.
“Now, from your perspective, it looked like I jumped up and floated in the air. But for me, I actually stayed perfectly still, in the same dimensional plane. It was everything else that moved.”
“Woah,” Laura breathed. “Can I learn to do that?”
“Yes, eventually. If your mind is strong enough. But not yet. Like I said, reality is mutable here, which means we can control the things around us. Let’s try something simple. Like… your hair.”
“My hair?”
“Yes. What color is it?”
“Um, I don’t know. It’s dark. A deep shade of brown, maybe?”
“And mine?”
“Yours is sleek black.”
“Ok, I want you to watch me very carefully. Are you looking?”
“Yes.”
“Ok… and now?”
Laura’s jaw dropped. On his words, Logan’s hair changed to the lightest shade of blonde she could imagine. There was no transition. One second it was black, and the next, bleach-blonde. Everything else about it stayed the same, though.
He laughed, and his hair changed back. “You want to give it a try?” he asked.
“Me?”
“Yes, I think you’re strong enough to do that.”
“Um, ok. How do I do it?”
“Well, the first thing you’ll discover is that you can’t do it to me. You can’t change anything about me, actually.”
“Why not?”
“Your mind has power over this world. As does my mind. But we aren’t actually a part of this world. We’re more like… reflections. What you see before you, the person you’re talking to – and who I see when I look at you – is just a reflection of your real self. So since I’m not actually a part of this world, you can’t change things about me. Just like I can’t change things about you.
“However. You do have power over your reflection. It’s kind of like… adjusting the filter that a light goes through. If you put a blue screen over a beam of light, the light turns blue. You can put a yellow sheet over that, and the light turns green. But the light itself isn’t changing. If that makes sense.”
Laura nodded.
“In truth, I think I could change something about you, but it would only be changed to me. You wouldn’t notice any difference. It’d be like me putting some type of special glasses on.
“But you can change things about yourself. If you do it, your reflection onto this world becomes whatever you project. So you can be anything, here.” Suddenly, he was a head taller than before. Laura gasped. And in an instant he was even taller, rising high above her until his knees were of level with her head. She looked up, speechless. He was as tall as the biggest evergreen, now, and looked down upon her with eyes as big as the sun. Then, just as quickly, he was back to his regular size. He smiled at her. “That, for example, was much like the hair thing. It just took more control. I don’t think you’d be able to do it, yet. But I think you have enough control to be able to change the color of your hair, though.”
“Ok,” Laura said. “I’ll try. What do I do?”
“It all begins in your head,” Logan said, tapping his forehead with a finger. “First, you have to believe that reality can be changed here. You have to believe that you have full control.”
“Ok, I can do that…”
“But it’s not enough me telling you. You have to experience it for yourself…”
Abruptly, a huge explosion came from the car, knocking Laura backwards with its force. She fell, and when she hit the ground, she saw that enormous flames engulfed the ground around her. She tried to scream, but couldn’t get her lungs enough air. She scrambled back. The heat from the sudden flames made the air thick, and she could feel the warmth against her skin. She spun her head wildly from side to side, to find some way to safety. But all around her, the flames only doubled in strength. She was trapped, and couldn’t get out.
The flames roared higher, getting closer to her. Trapping her. The air was too hot to breathe. Heat blasted from the inferno, and she flung a hand in front of her face to face to reduce the blare, but it was no use. The flames were getting closer. She needed to get out. But how? The fire roared, nearly engulfing her. She could already smell the bitter scent of her singed hair. Wait. Hair. Her hair.
Suddenly, she remembered what Logan had done to his. He had changed it. Meaning she could change hers. More than that, she could change reality. Desperate, not knowing what else to do, she squeezed her eyes shut and imagined the ground as it had been. She focused on the clean, cool air she remembered breathing before. On the breeze moving gently through the trees. On the sound of lapping water from the lake.
The lake! It was still there – it must be! Frantically, she imagined a great invisible bucket scooping up water from the lake beside her, and throwing it over the fire.
She gasped as a heavy sheet of icy cold water slammed hard against her. Her eyes popped open in shock, and she coughed loudly, choking on the bit of water she had breathed in when she gasped. But the heat of the fire was gone. As the coughing fit died down, and she looked around her, she saw that the ground was absolutely drenched. Puddles of water were everywhere, and she sat in the middle of the biggest one.
Laughter came from behind her, and she spun around. Logan was there, picking his way along dry patches of ground. And he didn’t have a drop of water on him.
Suddenly everything had come together. He had done this to her – he had caused the explosion! Anger raged through her, and she started to rise, ready to pummel him to oblivion with her fists, when a better idea struck.
Doing as she had before, she imagined a giant bucket dipping into the lake to pick up huge amount of water. Twice as much as before. As she did that, she allowed the water to be touched by a hint of frost, making it as cold as possible while remaining just short of freezing. Then she threw all that right on top of Logan.
He gasped as the water fell on his head, then slipped and fell as the stream engulfed his entire body. Laura placed an invisible border of air around her so that the water from the lake wouldn’t get to her. Only when the pouring stopped, with Logan lying helplessly on the ground, drenched just as much as she was, did she let the border of air dissipate. And she walked over to him.
As she came closer, she saw that he was shivering. He had gotten up to his hands and knees, with his head down, and his body shook with shivers of cold. Suddenly she grew alarmed. Had she hurt him? Did she make the water too cold? Did she pour too much?
Then his head swung up, and he looked at her. Mirth filled his eyes, and an enormous grin sat on his face. He wasn’t shivering at all. He was laughing! Probably laughing at her. Her anger returned, and just as she was about to think of something else to do, Logan was at her side.
There was no movement that she saw. One moment he was on the ground, wet and laughing, and the next he was beside her, dry as a duck and holding her arm. It was taking all of her dignity not to claw his eyes out for what he’d done.
“Before you do anything else,” he said quickly, “realize that I know a lot more than you, and I could counter before you even knew it.” Then he took his hand away and frowned. “And you’re still wet.”
Abashedly, Laura had realized that she was. Could she change that, too? She imagined herself in the same clothes, dry as they had been. Nothing happened. She closed her eyes, and tried again. When she opened them, her clothes were as wet as ever.
Logan smiled. “Remember what I said. You are just a reflection, but everything else is part of this world. You and everything that came with you – clothes included – are reflections. Instead of thinking of dry clothes, think of taking the water out of your clothing.”
Laura growled, and tried again. This time, like Logan suggested, she imagined the water being pulled out of her clothing. She saw the cross-weaves of the fabric in her mind’s eye, and thought of tiny little droplets coming out of the cloth and evaporating into the air. As she did that, she realized that she was completely dry.
Logan laughed. Laura looked at him strangely for a moment, but then she began to laugh, too. His laughter was contagious. And, anyway, doing all this felt wonderful!
For the first time in her life, she was in full control of nearly everything around her. Any angry thoughts she had before quickly cleared away, and she laughed with pure joy. This truly was an amazing world Logan was showing her. An astounding world! One that just brimmed with endless possibilities. She felt euphoric, and let her laughter sweep her away. She spun around happily, and Logan laughed even more.
Finally, with the laughter starting to subside, Logan looked at her somewhat seriously.
“You did a fantastic job back there,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said. “At first, I couldn’t believe that you were responsible for the explosion!”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you. But you handled it by yourself like a pro. Your mind is a lot stronger than I would have thought.”
“What do you mean?” Laura asked, curious.
“For most people, the first time they come here, they panic so much in those flames that they seize up, and rip themselves out of this world. It’s just like when you wake up in the middle of a nightmare. Your mind can’t handle the pressure, and wants to escape. You, however, fought it all off very well. And especially that water touch at the end. That was something.”
“Wait, what did you just say?”
“Hmm? About what?”
“About ‘most people.’ Are there others you’ve taken here?”
“…yes,” Logan answered slowly. “Never mind that. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“No, but you did,” Laura pressed on. “Who else have you brought here before?”
“Not many, personally,” Logan answered. “But I’ve seen people come here. Sometimes, people stumble upon this place in their own dreams. Everybody has access to it, you see, but most people don’t realize it. In fact, I don’t think any people really realize it. Every time you dream in your bed, you have a chance – however small it may be – of drifting into this place. That’s when you have your most memorable dreams, and the ones you’re sure mean something. Because this place stands out so much in your mind compared to your regular dreams.
“I’m not exactly sure about how it all works, but from what I’ve pieced together… I think that right here, right where we are right now, exists as a… parallel plane. To our regular lives. Maybe to our regular dreams, even. And like I said, everybody has the ability to enter this… plane.”
“Like a parallel universe?” Laura asked.
“Sort of. But it’s more like… two sheets of paper, held parallel to one another. If one sheet of paper has something drawn on it, and you shine a light through it onto the other sheet, the shadow of the drawing falls onto the second piece of paper. I know it’s confusing – it doesn’t even make much sense to me – but I think that’s sort of how this place works.”
“So our real world is the piece of paper with the drawing,” Laura said slowly, “… and this world is the second sheet, with the shadow falling onto it?”
“Yea, exactly. That’s the best way I can explain it. I know it’s not very elegant, but it’s been useful to me. A bit hard to grasp though, right?”
“No, no, I think I got it. I have another question, though.”
“Ask away.”
“How did we get here? How did you bring me here?”
“Ah.” Logan smiled. “That. That has to do with what I showed you at school.”
“With your mind-reading ability?”
“Hah. I wouldn’t call it quite that, but yes, it has to do with my ability. When we touched hands in the real world, a sort of… wrinkle… occurred. It happened right before all the thoughts come flooding into your head. That wrinkle, I think, has to do with reality shifting slightly right before the thoughts come. But I learned that if I timed it right – if I let you experience that flood of thoughts just as you’re falling asleep – in that last split-second, your mind, and mine as well, shifts into this realm. And you come here. The world of dreams.”
“That’s amazing,” Laura breathed.
“Yes, it’s very interesting, isn’t it? Oh, one more thing. Time flows differently here. Sometimes much faster than in the real world, sometimes – much slower. Usually, though, it’s much faster. So everything we’ve experienced so far – from me jumping off the car all the way to this conversation – has occurred in the span of only a few seconds in the real world.”
“Wait, so in the real world,” Laura emphasized for clarification, “we’re both asleep? On top of your car?”
“That’s right. And as soon as we go back, we wake up.”
“How do we go back?”
“I’ll show you. Not just yet, though. What I was just saying, about time flowing differently, that’s more important. Now, do you remember when you took your first step, and you stumbled towards me?”
“Yes, I do.”
“What’d you feel, when it happened?”
“What did I feel?”
“Yea, like what was that like for you?”
“Um… I felt dizzy, I think. Like I lost my sense of gravity. Kind of like I couldn’t say which way was up and which was down.”
“Did objects kind of… streak together for you?”
“Oh that’s right! Yea, my vision blurred a bit and all the colors merged.”
“Ok, well, I call that a glitch. And what it is, I think, is your body protesting you entering this realm. It’s nothing to worry about. Unless it happens in rapid succession, and doesn’t stop.”
“Does that happen often?”
“No,” Logan admitted. “But when it does, you have to watch out for it. Like I said, sometimes time flows faster here than in the real world, but – sometimes – much slower. It’s rare when it flows slower, but you be careful then.”
“How come?”
“Because if it flows slower here, you might get caught sleeping for a very long time in the real world. Days, weeks, or even months can pass in seconds. Years, maybe, I think, if you don’t get out fast enough.”
Laura gasped. “Years?”
“Yes. And nothing will wake you. Your only clue to that happening is if those glitches occur, over and over, right when you get in.
“If that happens, you need to get out as fast as you can. You never know – every second you stay here longer might be another few hours you’re asleep for – or more – in the real world.”
“Has that… ever happened to you?”
“Once, when I was much younger. I came here, and wave after wave of those glitches attacked me. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t think too much of it, though, once they stopped, and stayed for maybe half an hour. When I got up in the real world, nearly ten days had passed.”
“You were out for ten days?” Laura marveled.
“Yea,” Logan grinned. “I found myself in the hospital when I woke up, and I had no idea what was going on. The doctors thought I had fallen into a coma in my sleep. I gave the nurse quite a scare when I shot to life in the middle of the night.” He laughed. “That’s the only danger for you here. Getting caught when time flows slowly.”
“But you said that doesn’t happen very often?”
“No, it doesn’t. Usually it’s flowing a lot faster, like right now. It all comes in waves, I think. Maybe the best way to think of it is… the scale of time oscillating back and forth. Like a pendulum.” He made a sign with his hands designating one. “When it swings to the very right—” he brought a finger to the right, “—time here is much slower than in real life. And as it falls back and swings to the left—” he motioned with his finger to the left “—time here gets faster and faster, until it peaks as it hits the very left. And then it goes back. On and on again, back and forth, in a cycle.
“Now, one thing I’ve realized is that it’s not a perfectly even pendulum. Most of the swing is spent in the zone where time is faster here. Only a small sliver—” again, he motioned with his finger “—of the pendulum’s swing is spent in the zone when time is slower here.”
“I think I get it,” Laura said. Then she smiled. “You explain it very well.”
“Nah,” he said, waving the compliment away. “You just pick it up very quickly.”
“Maybe. So, what else does this place do? …Now that I’ve gotten the entire airplane safety lecture,” she added with a wink.
“Oh, I can show you,” Logan replied, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.