A Peculiar String of Bizarre Dreams

Chapter 12: Carpe Diem

I am in my room again.

I glance down at myself and rush to the mirror on my dressing table. I am indeed eighteen years old again!

It hits me that I have left my mother without saying goodbye. But I instantly cheer up at the thought of going back to see her.

I throw myself on the bed, lying and thinking there for a few minutes. Suddenly I wonder what day it is.

The moon is only half visible in the sky, through my window. It is dark and blue outside. I check my phone and it confirms that time hasn't moved forward since I found the scroll.

But I'm unconvinced and tiptoe outside towards my dad's room. I put my ear to his door. Silence. I open his door, careful to make the least possible noise.

My father is sleeping on his side, in his baby blue flannel pjs. I can't see his face, but I can see he is resting under his big black blanket. I smile at the sight of him sleeping peacefully.

I go back to my room and lie down.

Curiosity is eating away at the edges of my mind.

I now possess the ability to potentially help people around me. Avian Oaks may not have heart-wrenching humanistic problems. But small annoyances plague its inhabitants on a regular basis.

This morning, the Junipers were having problems with weeds growing in their garden. Maybe there is a gem for them. A gem that'll rid their garden of weeds for once and for all. No more weeds. The Junipers will be over the moon if that happened. The garden is like their baby, and they take care of it, no matter the time of the day or the season.

Then, there's Vazouk. Everything and everyone in Avian Oaks annoys him. I need to find a gem that puts Vazouk at ease, a gem that makes him zen, but also leaves his Vazouk-ness intact. He probably won't even take a gem from me. He might even mock it, saying it's some mumbo-jumbo superstition, "gems don't have benefits," he might say. If only Vazouk could develop more affinity towards earthly goods and beings.

For Marion, I could go into the world of Harry Potter and steal the Cloak of Invisibility. I could do that right? I know she really wants it, it'll help her with the case she's working on. I wonder if there's a rule about stealing things. Can a voyageur de temps steal things from other realms, especially from fictitious ones? I mean even if there's a rule about it, a wizard or witch is bound to catch me. Maybe Harry, now-an-Auror will catch me mid-act. Or maybe Ron and Hermoine's daughter will conspire with me, and help steal the cloak. Goodness, I'm really getting carried away, aren't I? I don't think I can even travel to such a realm, it's too good to be true.

Who else? Hans! A gem that relieves his grief. Or a powerful gem that brings his wife back from the dead. I realize that that will be a little creepy. But it will help Hans tremendously. He has been sad for several months now.

I bet there's also a gem for people like Phina, a gem that lets them stay connected with another world. Sometimes, I think Phina is not from our world. She may even be half angel and half human, based on the conversation we had today. It'll be awesome to visit the angels.

I feel excited, thinking of all these possibilities. I quickly acknowledge again that I may be getting ahead of myself. Some of this stuff might be beyond the grasp of my ability, who knows.

I take a few more seconds to think about who else I met during the day. Oh right, the new guy, Eli! My thoughts move on to Yuna's rant about me marrying him. I'm such a girl, I sternly coax my mind to focus again. There is such an excitement building inside me, I know I'm onto something with this idea.

So, Eli. A gem that will perhaps help him with his book-fetish anxiety. I doubt I can find such a specific gem though.

And finally, how can I forget the two most important people in my life? Yuna and Dad.