Dreamscape: Saving Alex (3 page)

“I promise,” she said, although the corners of her
mouth already wavered in a smile.

“Do you remember this?” I asked, spinning the
photo around so she could see it.

“I can’t believe you still have that!” she
exclaimed, grabbing the picture from my hand. “Look at us. Look at your
braids!”

“How could I get rid of it? And I wouldn’t talk,
Little Miss Pigtails.”

“That’s Queen Pigtails to you.”

“Ah man, those were the days,” I sighed. “It all
seemed so simple back then.”

“It was,” she said, handing me back the photo.

I looked at it once more before re-pinning it on
my wall, careful not to create a new pin mark. The two girls smiling back at us
were from a lifetime ago. The only similarities left were my long blonde hair
and Natalie’s love of pink eyeshadow. How had time passed so quickly? I turned
back to the flashing screen before the swells of bittersweetness drowned me and
focused on the controller.

“Time to play,” I said, punching in the codes.
“Left, right, up, down, circle, circle, enter. See, I still have it.”

“That remains to be seen. Let’s see how many lives
we lose saving the queen. I don’t think we ever had a perfect game.”

“I’ll just be happy if we make it past level
five!”

We leaned back against the bed, watching the
images fade into darkness. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to end the
day. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“Don’t worry about it.” Natalie nodded and pushed
the buttons on her controller.

We fell into our
routine, a comfortable pace of helping each other, arguing about the hard
levels, and falling back in laughter during the easy streaks. I had forgotten
more than I’d thought. The smooth movements and combinations I remembered were
gone, faded with time, replaced by clumsy, last-minute reflexes. That’s what I
was afraid of. How could I hope to remember the memories of my life here if I
couldn’t recall a silly code?

As perfect as it
was, it didn’t last. Hours felt like minutes, and, sooner than I expected, the
game was over. We saved the queen and brought
down
the evil empire in record time.

Natalie undid her
ponytail and yawned. “I’m going to bed. That game wiped me out.”

I gave her an odd
look and then remembered she had cheered at school before coming here. “Sure,”
I said, tapping a rhythm on the controller. Without the distraction of the
game, nervous energy prickled through me. I wasn’t ready yet. Not for sleep.

“You’re not tired?”
she asked, crawling into her sleeping bag.

“Not really. I have
a lot on my mind,” I admitted, biting my lower lip. That was an understatement.

“Do you want me to
stay up?” She yawned again and laid her head on her hand. Her mascara had smeared,
exaggerating her drooping eyes.

“Nah, don’t worry
about it. I’ll be asleep soon.”

“Okay, if you’re
sure,” she said, pulling the sleeping bag over her head so only the tip of her
head remained out. “I’m glad we did this. This was fun.”

“Me too.” I smiled
over at the familiar lump of my friend sleeping on my floor. Out the window
above her, the stars twinkled as they disappeared and reappeared from behind
the slight scattering of clouds. I yawned, and the lights blurred.

I
would
n’t sleep. My racing thoughts were like a whirlpool,
pulling me down. And even though I knew how to swim, the current was too
strong. I wasn’t ready; I doubted I ever
would
be. I felt pulled in every direction.

It was hard to
decide which were stronger, the memories pulling at my heart or the pang of
wishing I had more. Did it really matter? The sadness filled me the same. The
ache chased my heart as it raced around my insides. There always seemed to be
enough time until a countdown actually began. Once that timer started, everything
spun out of control.

Most of the
decisions were in someone else’s hands, but not all of them. I looked down at
my hands, gripping the old game controller. Maybe I could still control
something after all.

“Dun-dun doo-bee
doo
,” I sang quietly, making sure
Natalie’s eyes stayed shut as the game reloaded from the winning screen to the
main menu. I would save the queen again, and in some way, maybe myself, too.

I yawned, waiting
for the hero’s dance to begin. Heaviness pulled at my eyes, fighting the urge
to play. I held on to the controller like it was the last reminder of my
childhood and forced my eyes open.
Out of the darkness, the golden
letters popped up again. I
typed in the code,
but my thumbs slipped, pressing the wrong combination.

“Crap.”

I pressed the
letters and symbols again. My eyes popped wide open as I waited for the
confirmation. I let out a deep breath when I saw the secondary screen. It
worked.

I
accepted and
leaned back against the bed, waiting for the hero to dance
across the screen once more. For some reason, this round took forever to load.
My gaze drifted back out the window towards the stars until they became
unrecognizable.
I rubbed my eyes
with the back of my hand and sighed.

From the corner of
my vision, I saw the screen turn black. What now?

“This is
ridiculous,” I mumbled, stepping over Natalie and tapping the edge of the
screen. It lit back up, wanting another confirmation.
“Yes, I’m ready. I
already told you that.” I pressed the button hard.

The words on the screen burst into thousands of
golden crystals.

Whoa. That was new. I stared at the eruption of
yellow coating the screen. Did I break the game? I squinted and leaned closer,
checking out all four sides of the TV. Nothing seemed broken. The theme song
still played in the background. I couldn’t tell what was wrong. I tapped the
edge of the screen again and sneezed as dust flew off into my nose.

I looked back at it, but nothing had changed. It
still sparkled with golden pixels. And then I saw it. A steady stream of yellow
flakes spewed out of the screen towards me.

Holy crap, what was going on? I scrambled
backwards until my back rested against the bed, and I froze. Nothing made
sense, and the wild images running through my mind only made it worse. I had
never seen anything like this before—except in horror movies. I didn’t want to
go there.

Everything stopped, except my racing heart and the
stuff flying at me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do anything
but watch as the dust covered me. Bit by bit, it crawled its way up my body,
which tingled where each glittering piece landed. I held my breath, trembling
as my legs disappeared under the golden light.

No. No. No. I tried to kick the dust off me, but
my legs were numb, and my arms wouldn’t move. Something was happening. It felt
like a nightmare. The kind where you’re trying to run away, but your feet slush
through the deep water as everyone else glides past effortlessly. I couldn’t do
anything I wanted to do. And I knew that if I tried to scream, it would sound
like a whisper.

I choked back a scream and shivered. I had no idea
what it was, but something inside me was changing. Light crawled up my body,
pulsing to a familiar rhythm. Pins and needles spread through me like
lightening until my whole body hummed. When the light rolled over my head,
darkness blinded me. Vibrations shook my core until my teeth chattered.

I sat shivering in the dark for hours. At least
that’s what it felt like. I had no way to gauge anything, and I didn’t trust my
mind. It was telling me all sorts of crazy things that didn’t make sense.

I shook my head, surprised that it moved. The
pulsing slowly softened to gentle thumps, like a heartbeat. I kicked, swatting
the golden light off me. I might have been able to move, but I still couldn’t see.
Blurry golden light surrounded me. It was different than before though. This
light… was warm.

That didn’t make sense. I shook my head again and
squinted. Other colors appeared, indistinct images moving too fast for me to
focus on them. I rubbed my eyes, hoping it would help, but it didn’t. I twisted
around, noticing the blur of vibrant, diverse colors. Even without seeing, I
felt empty space and sensed a new strangeness. Fear clenched my heart.

I swallowed hard. I wasn’t home. Where was I?

A persistent hum stirred deep within and around
me. Hidden in the chirps of the birds and the sway of the branches, the
familiar tempo repeated itself. A blurry parade of light passed in front of me,
speeding up to the pulsing rhythm, and then, after a few moments, repeated. The
same hum, the same movement. Everything repeated, forcing me to pay attention.
I knew that tune.

My stomach knotted in a strange blend of curiosity
and fear.

“Dun-dun doo-bee doo, Dun-dun doo-bee doo,” I
hummed to the beat.

I was in Dreamscape.

“Crap, crap, craaaaaap!” I flicked off the last
golden specks of dust from my shin. I must be dreaming. I had to be dreaming.
There was no other explanation, except the absurd notion that the game had
eaten me. I shook my head. I wasn’t even going to go down that road. I was
dreaming, but how could I wake up? Besides the fuzzy light, I couldn’t see a
thing.

My imagination worked overtime; terrifying ideas
ran through my mind. Whatever was happening to me, it certainly wasn’t real.
Call it a dream, or maybe a hallucination. I didn’t know what this was, and I
really didn’t care to find out. I just wanted it to stop.

“Wake up!” I ordered myself, pinching my arm.
“Wake up!” I gave into the tears at the edge of my eyes. I shook with despair
until I heard the Dreamscape theme song again. It played in a pattern of
rustling leaves, squawking birds, and the shuffling of my own toes. The air
buzzed in rhythm. It was different, fuller perhaps, than the game, but I still
recognized the cheerful tune. It wasn’t supposed to sound like that.

I frantically grabbed the ground. Cool dirt stuck
beneath my fingernails, and sharp needles poked my fingers. A strong whiff of
pine and sage assaulted me. Nothing was familiar. I had never wanted so badly
to smell my mom’s overly sweet cinnamon popcorn in my life. But it wasn’t here,
and I didn’t want to be here either.

I yelped and scooted back, covering the top of my
foot as something sharp punctured my skin. My bare feet dug into the ground,
pushing me backwards until I stopped against the rough bark of a tree. A small
trail of blood trickled down my foot where I’d been attacked.

I cried, which only made my vision worse. Nothing
appeared from the rustling leaves. Nothing else crept towards me. I saw
nothing. Yet I knew things moved just beyond my sight. I was scared.
Vulnerability pinned me against the tree.

I waited until the throbbing in my foot became
tolerable and pinched my arms again. A bruise grew near my elbow. Why couldn’t
I wake up? The fear I had brushed off at first now exploded. I couldn’t
breathe, I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t think.

And when I finally could see, I screamed. Not a
silent whisper, but a full-blown scream that shook me from within. Unfolding
around me was a world only hinted at in the video game. My mind was blown.

Holy crap! What was going on?

It was ridiculous. I mean, I had played this game
for years and seen some beautiful paintings in art class. But what I saw now
surpassed anything I had ever seen.
Rich
colors and angles blended together perfectly.
Unlike
in the scrub forests at home, layers of greens unfolded before me—bright green,
dark green, forest, olive, jade, and lime.

My fingers itched to draw, to capture the details
and add it to my wall at home. My trophies and ribbons proved I had natural
talent, but nothing I drew at home compared to what I saw now. Even in the
shadows, vibrancy existed. Neons and pastels flashed around me as birds flew
from branch to branch. When they landed, clutching onto the undersides of the
branches, I swallowed hard.

No matter how I admired the beauty, it scared me.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I made a wish. I didn’t
want much. I just wanted to wake up in my bed. When I re-opened them, I saw red
and purple splotches on my arm from my manic pinching. It hadn’t worked.

Something beyond my control was at play. I needed
more time to figure it out, but I didn’t think I would get it. Time was my
enemy, at home and here. I had to move. Sitting here pinching myself wouldn’t
get me home and that’s what I needed to do. Find a way home.

I thought back to freshman English and reading
“Alice in Wonderland,” and even further back to watching “The Wizard of Oz”
when I was eleven. I wasn’t the first girl to get stuck in a fantasy. Granted,
I was real, and they were in stories…but it was all I had to go on. If Alice
and Dorothy could find their way home, so could I. This would be a piece of
cake. If this was Dreamscape, I already knew all the twists, turns, and crazy
creatures here.

I cracked my knuckles and tightened my ponytail.
It was time to play the game.

A parade of puff birds that had inched closer to
me with each repetition of the song were now within reach. I barely recognized
them. On screen, they were nothing but rolling yellow balls. Here, they
reminded me of wobbling puffer fish with needle-tipped feathers and inflated
bodies. The rhythmic stabbing of their spiked beaks into the ground interrupted
their slow walk. I saw a bird with a bloody beak and pulled my feet in,
covering the fresh wound on top of my foot.

“Stupid bird,” I mumbled, standing and brushing
the dirt off myself as I watched the strange creatures. They moved in a
pattern, shuffling from the edge of the forest towards the field to my left.

I started a countdown—three, two, one, jump.

As I landed, a shrill scream echoed beneath me.
The bones of the bird crushed easily, like cracking knuckles, when I flattened
its body to the ground. A pool of red surrounded me, turning the golden
feathers dark. I shrieked and jumped back, flailing my arms until I hit a tree.
The rough bark grabbed at my hair and scratched my back. The other birds
squawked a warning before puffing into balls and rolling away down the hill. I
covered my hurt hand and looked around nervously.

This wasn’t real, this was a game; it couldn’t be
real.
But the knot in my stomach and tears falling down my cheeks told
me otherwise. This was real, too real. I was losing it.

Only a few minutes in, and I had killed an
innocent creature. I felt sick. Did I really expect it to burst into a puff of
feathers, disappear, and deposit golden coins in my pockets like in the game?

I looked over at the lifeless bird with the sick
feeling of guilt in my chest. How was I going to survive in this world? I
thought about the most dangerous levels. Any advantage I’d thought I had just
disappeared.

I plucked a yellow feather from my heel, looked to
the ground where the trampled bird lay, and sighed. No matter how I felt, I had
to move. Waiting would only bring the birds back. I didn’t want another
punctured foot or reminder of my cruelty.

To the right of me, the forest grew together.
Branches intertwined, limbs crossing at all angles, blocking the light from
reaching the ground. It was dark. Darker than I’d imagined, but that was where
the first level of the game started.

I glanced in the other direction, noticing the
birds twisting and turning, flying in random directions over a treeless, grassy
hill. Patches of red wildflowers sprinkled the green meadow.

I bit the inside of my cheek and glanced between
the forest and the meadow. If this place was real, maybe I didn’t have to
follow the rules of the game. The crimson puddle haunted me. I didn’t want to
follow those rules.

Turning away from the trees, I walked towards the
field. Warm sunlight settled over me. My smile stretched across my face. I
broke into a run across the grass. It seemed so perfect—the pristine beauty of
the hill in comparison to the dark forest, the warmth of the sun, and the
silence. Halfway up the hill, I paused mid-step and looked around.

When had the birds stopped singing?

Oh crap. Something was wrong. The grass tangled my
legs. Warm gusts of wind pressed against me, slowing me down. The small patches
of wildflowers gave way to larger pockets of red poppy-like flowers. Their
delicate fragrance turned sickly sweet.

A burning sensation rushed across my leg. When I
moved the tall grass out of the way, I saw a trail of blisters along my shin.
Behind me, a bright red poppy whipped in the wind.

“Dragon weeds,” I muttered, recognizing the
flower. This threw in a new angle. Biting fuzz birds, burning pollen—the
dangers were the same and yet they caught me off guard. I blew cool air onto my
shins and, using a blade of grass, carefully scraped the poppy pollen off
before more blisters grew. One thing was becoming painfully clear—I’d have to
keep my eyes open.

My steps slowed as the ground softened to mud the
further I trudged up the hill. Wind blew my hair into my face, blinding me just
as I stepped on a loose rock. My feet slid out beneath me, slamming me into the
muck. I flailed at the grass, trying to stop my slide back down the hill. A
sharp pain shot up my legs as the blisters broke open.

I dug into the ground, pulling, grabbing anything
to slow my descent. I glanced down the hill. Darkness waited for me past the
floating pollen and whipping grass. The edge. My heartbeat doubled. I seized
the closest bundle of poppy stems, ignoring their burn as I lurched to a stop
and curled into a ball. Pollen covered my hands, and new blisters swelled
immediately, but I only felt relief. Five feet down, the hillside dropped off
in a sheer cliff.

Even from a distance, the abrupt edge terrified
me. I could see myself freefalling over it. But then again, maybe that would
get me home?

I threw a handful of rocks over the cliff,
watching them fall, then disappear through a layer of haze that blocked my view
of the bottom. My foot slipped, sending smaller rocks over the edge, bouncing
off the walls. My heart thundered in my chest. Maybe not. I didn’t want to be
like one of those rocks.

Reality, dream, or insanity, it didn’t matter. I
didn’t want to die. That meant one thing. No more messing around. I had to play
the game, level by level, until I saved the queen.

There was only one problem. I’d never won without
my codes.