One Little Spark: Part 1

Chapter 31

  "It's a real honor to you, Mr. Dreamfinder." said Dr. Channing with ecstasy. "You, as well, Figment."

          The moment Dr. Nigel Channing comes in with his pleasant attitude, everyone but Rachel starts to feel a deceiving sense of warmth in him. His attitude seems harmless enough to describe him as one of the friendliest people alive. Even the handshake he has with both Figment and Dreamfinder gives away the amiable personally he must have.

"I cannot tell you how much I have always admired your work and your story and how much I wanted to meet you and get to know you. That is, before and after the incident that happened the last time you were here."

"Yes, yes. That was quite a mess," said Dreamfinder, with a blush of embarrassment "but the fear receded and everything worked out all right in the end."

"It has indeed! And even better, since the past events we've been conducting our research seeing how all this dream power is made and what it's made of."

"Uh...isn't it obvious?" Figment asks. "Dream power...made of dreams...made from peoples' imagination? It's no rocket science."

"Well, yes." said Dr. Channing. "That IS true. But I believe there is something more to this dream power than just what you and Mr. Dreamfinder have found. No offense."

"Oh, you'd REALLY LOVE TO KNOW THAT, wouldn't you?!" Rachel shouts, angrily, behind the crowd.

          That outburst has shocked everyone in the room. Their heads turn straight to Rachel with a look that each says, "What was heck?" The room grew dead silent. They all watch Rachel stand by the Chairman's desk sweating and flustered with anger and embarrassment. Her eyes are twitching and her breaths have swiftly shortened. The sweat in Rachel's hair is making it build up to its frizziest.

"I...I gotta go." said Rachel in a panicky, breathy, gasping voice.

          Rachel storms out of the room in a quick pace. The tension building in the office with everyone staring at her like she's a kind of psycho woman is beginning to really weigh down upon her. As she quickly passes by, both Figment and Dreamfinder realize how weird Rachel has been acting since they've gotten here. Though, neither of them can understand why this is happening now, especially at a time when they are trying to enroll an incredibly intelligent applicant to the academy. The door swings wide and slams very loud behind her, leaving everyone else in the room in a state of vast confusion. Only Dreamfinder was able to break the silence for everyone.

"Uh...she's says it's the...uh, Florida heat." Dreamfinder abides. "I'll just...uh, I'll be right back."

          Dreamfinder runs out of the room after Rachel, exposed to the light blue lighting illumination from the glass ceilings of the academy. He gently closes the door behind with, leaving with only Figment, Fye, Alex, the Chairman and Dr. Channing alone. The looks on everyone's faces can only declare that what just happened cannot be explained. Not well, at the very least.

"So...Alex." the Chairman starts, ignoring the events of Rachel's outburst. "Do you...know any good sports?"

******************************************************************************************

          The poor Rachel speed walks away from the Chairman's office towards the nearest water fountain. Without hesitation, she presses the button on the side and gulps up the water spouting out. She hangs her head down with her shoulders scrunched up and leaning her body forward toward the fountain. Her breaths have become both fast and short. Her hands tremble to the point of clenching onto the fountain's sides. Whatever is happening to her right now, it's making her a mess.

"What is wrong with you?!" Dreamfinder yells.

          The Dreamfinder suddenly appears behind Rachel from the Chairman's office, but she doesn't turn back to see him. She sighs with defeat. His muscles tense with great anger building inside. The sight he had witnessed in seeing Rachel yelling at a college professor has mortified him. Rachel, however, has seen that the sight of Dr. Nigel Channing showing up out of nowhere is already mortifying enough.

"I can tell you're upset." Rachel sighs.

"I'm WAY past upset!" Dreamfinder shouts, angrily. "Yelling at a college professor? Slapping the Chairman?! Do you not realize what you've done?"

"Look. Slapping the Chairman...well, yeah, you're right. That was really uncalled for and I'm sorry I did that. Really, I am. But Dr. Channing is whole different matter here. I don't trust him one bit!"

"Why? Do you know him?"

"I can't say anything, Dreamfinder! Believe me, you're better off not knowing about it."

"About what? For all I know, you've just met the guy and you're already ruining your chances of a good first impression. Do you not realize how much embarrassment you've caused me to feel in there? What you did in there was FAR below low, even for you!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME, DREAMFINDER! YOU DON'T KNOW THE SLIGHTEST THING ABOUT ME AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO! EVER!"

"..."

"No, Dreamer. I'm...I'm sorry." Rachel stammers. "I didn't mean—"

"No, you know what?" Dreamfinder calmly interrupts. "I don't care anymore. All I wanted was to show you a small, but important piece of my life and all you've done is just embarrass me in front of all my friends. I couldn't even stand to look at Figment with the look I had on my face and HE is my best friend! If the Florida heat is really the problem you're having here, okay, fine. I can put up with it and help make you feel more comfortable. Otherwise, whatever this is really about to you, I have a lot of thinking to do of whether I should keep you with me or let you go."

"I...I understand, Dreamfinder."

"Oh really? You do?"

"Yes, I do! You can kick me out of your adventures through imagination and never see me again for as long as you live all you want, but get this: if I were you, I'd be more worried about Dr. Channing than me. Like I said, I can't say anything. But please, for me, watch out for him! He's not as good of an apple as he looks."

"Not good? How?"

"You remember how I felt about King KaZing being some kind of creep back in Fillidore? Well this is worse, WAY much worse!"

"Rachel, I appreciate your concern. But until you actually tell me why you feel this man isn't to be trusted, then as one Scientifica-Lucidus professor to another, I HAVE to trust him."

"...No, you don't."

          Unsure of what to say back, Dreamfinder abruptly attempts to leave Rachel behind and heads back to the Chairman's office. His hands turn to fists, clenching with an upsetting rage as they swing with every step he takes. The larges steps he makes signal his great need to get as far away from this problem as possible.

          Suddenly, the Dreamfinder bumps into another student. She was carrying a sketchbook and a pack of colored pencils, but drops them in colliding into Dreamfinder. Like an explosion of fireworks, the pencils drop to the ground, bounce off the tips of either sides in an array of colors, and roll inches away from one another forming a sea of wooden sticks with colored lead. The sketchbook falls down and hits the ground half open, bending the pages to a creasing.

"Oh, excuse me!" Dreamfinder exclaims.

"No, I'm sorry." said the girl, shyly.

          Like Capri, the girl Dreamfinder has bumped into is dressed like a student attending the Academy Scientifica-Lucidus with her gray jacket and skirt, red tie, white shirt, white socks and black shoes. The only additional fashion she has is a strange, but lovely silver pendant, glistening like a diamond in the sunlight. Her slightly rounded-heart shaped head has a natural blush on her cheeks and a rosiness in her small refined nose. To match, her pink eyebrows and long and luscious salmon pink hair and bangs drapes down to her lower back like a cascade of pink lemonade. Her up-turned eyes house her gray irises that gleam like a light of a soft moon, silvering over the evening of life. And finally, if she smiles big, her pink shaded lips surround her pearly white teeth.

"No, really. I didn't see you right there." Dreamfinder stammers, as he tries to pick up the colored pencils.

"Dreamfinder!" the girl exclaims, picking up her sketchbook.

"Runa? Oh, Runa! Hello!"

"Long time no see!"

"So, what? Are you replacing me now?" Rachel asks

"No, Rachel, I am not. This is Runa." said Dreamfinder. "She's a student of the academy."

"Hi." Runa says in a shy tone.

"Nice to meet you." said Rachel with a smile.

"Forgive me, girls, but would you mind I excuse myself. I have some business with the Chairman right now."

"Of course." said Runa.

          Dreamfinder leaves the two girls alone and heads back to the Chairman's office. Apparently, the frustration in him is still intact. As they watch Dreamfinder disappear, the girls drew closer together in their newfound loneliness. The only thing that came out a lot louder than Dreamfinder's stomping and angered tone is the sound of him slamming the door behind him on the way back in with Figment and the others.

"So, how did you meet Dreamfinder?" Rachel asks Runa.

"It was a year ago...the last time Dreamfinder and Figment came here." Runa replied.