Dream

Chapter 10

'This is so confusing.' Said Daisy as we stood up.

'No, it's not.' I said. 'The darkest parts of myself is playing a game with us, we have to decide which is real, and which is a dream. And then, we have to die in the dream. So, there's something that'll kill us in each world. And we need to decide which one is real, and which is a dream. And then, we have to escape the one in the real world.'

'But, what if they're both dreams?'

'They're not.' I said simply. I knew what the darkest part of myself was - Daisy was the only person who could bring me away from it. It was logical, it was secretive, and it was very difficult to see through.

'Well, what do we do now?'

'We figure out what's trying to kill us.' Was my simple reply.

⏳⌛️⏳

Everything was so calm and peaceful in the village. We had seen the kids playing in the playground at school, and going to the park when lessons were over. Everybody knew everybody - even if they didn't know some of their secrets.

But the secrets were nothing dark.

We were sitting on a bench in the park now, kids running around in front of us, shouting and climbing and playing.

'If we're trying to beat you,' said Daisy. 'Then you're the only one who can do it. No one else is as logical and observant.'

'Doubtful.' I replied. 'I'll bet my father is better at it. Well, he is. I'm pretty sure I know that much, if I only know one thing about him.'

'That he managed to get a prostitute pregnant?'

'Okay, two things.' I said, and we burst out laughing.

'Okay, in all seriousness, we need to figure our what's going on here.' I said, after we had calmed down.

'I have no clue.'

'Neither.' I said. 'But we need to look for something that's not normal. Something that gives it away. A mistake.'

'Like?' Daisy prompted.

'Listen.'

'To what?'

'Just listen.'

We sat in silence - well, the kids were still making plenty of noise - and I waited for Daisy to catch on.

'I still don't know what I'm listening to.'

'They're all saying the same things at different times.' I whispered.

'Come on, let's go climb that tree!' One of the boys in a group was saying.

'That tree looks so climb-able, we might as well.' 'Said another.

'We might as well go home, if you won't join in with the others.' A mother said to her sad-looking child.

'The others are annoying!'

'Come on. Let's go!' The mother picked her daughter up and carried her away.

'Oh, my god.' Felicity muttered. 'So that means this is the dream?'

'Not necessarily.'

'But...'

'Remember something,' I said. 'It could mean it's a dream, and our minds are too lazy to come up with dialogue. Which is a perfectly plausible explanation. But, if this is reality, then we're in the stimulator, and the stimulator is just repeating the words.'

'So it doesn't help at all?'

'Of course it helps.' I said. 'Either way, this is my head we're talking about. Every single detail is extremely significant.'

Then, we heard the Dream Lord's voice whisper into our ears.

'Sleep.'