Dream Keeper

Chapter Two - Drifting into the Dreamscape

Liam remembered the moment he fell asleep. That means he should be dreaming, right. Well then why the heck was Liam in the whitest and brightest room ever. Liam lay on the floor and everywhere he could see was white, blinding light, yet his eyes didn't seem to burn. Liam got to his feet and continued to inspect his surroundings, far off in the distance a small dot of dark color, a dot that wasn't light. Curious, he began to approach the far off spot.

When Liam got closer he noticed the dot wasn't a new area or a way out of, wherever. It was an object. A pod seemingly made of some other wordly tech. Inside the pod a small orb floated around. The orb pictured a young lady running around a castle with someone behind her wearing a full set of armour.

The pod had a name engraved into a small plaque at the base. Naomi Ryder. Taking a shot in the dark Liam guesses that this is a dream belonging to a girl named Naomi Ryder. Now wait a minute, how does he know it's a dream, well as he looks around the landscape looks misty, almost dreamy and he hoped it wasn't heaven. Liam doubted that somewhere in the world a princess named Naomi Ryder living out her enemies to lovers fantasy. It feels safe enough to assume, but it doesn't solve the question as to where Liam is, how he got there, and why he is here in this white abyss.

Looking around, Liam notices dozens of pods all around him. Pods raised from the ground and an orb formed in each of them, like people who were just now falling asleep and starting to dream. Every one of the dreams were different and unique. This must be "How to sleep like no one ever has". Laura Marley. Her advice worked. Kind of. In using the advice Liam got stuck in a rift between conscious and sleeping.

Liam circled back to the castle dream and reached out, the curiosity getting the best of him. As he reached into the pod the swirling orb pulled him in as if with a magnetic force. When his fingers finally grazed the globe like dream everything started spinning. Liam felt his feet slip as he grasped the dream before letting the nausea get to him.

After regaining his footing and finally having gained consciousness to look around, Liam saw that he was no longer in the white emptiness of dream land. No, he found himself in the passage which the princess ran through not long before, or at least a similar one. The high ceiling was supported only by long beams that ran across the wall. At both ends of the corridor were sets of stairs which lead to, what Liam assumed to be, identical hallways. Liam faced broad windows that overlooked a seemingly empty city. There were no people walking around and no horses drawing any carriages. Behind Liam was a set of doors, what they lead to, he didn't know.

Before long Liam heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. As the sound got louder and louder it occured to Liam that maybe he should hide or at least run for his life.

Liam didn't have time to hide before two figures appeared around the corner and bolted to the door right next to him. The pair were the ones Liam saw when he was observing from afar. One wore a green silk dress that swung around as she ran through the hallway. The other was dressed in metal armour, which wasn't ideal for running down castle passages. As they swung the door open it should have hit Liam right in the face. But it didn't, the door went through him and before he could wrap his mind around it the door shut and he was left alone again.

Within the minute another cluster of footsteps could be heard approaching. The group sounded angry shouting things like "Get the witches" and "They can't be far". The yelling got louder and echoed more as it advanced and when the mob came into sight Liam saw torches and pitchforks.

Without a glance or second thought the rioters kept moving down the hallway. Ignoring the door and Liam as a whole. As much as he wanted to stay and find out what happened, Liam had other questions and was eager to return to the dream realm. Just after the thought appeared in his mind that maybe another dream sphere would appear something started weighing down his pocket. Liam reached in and brought out a dream sphere. The orb showed the dream realm? Dreamscape? Dreamscape. Liam heard no more oncomeing mobs or runaway lovers so he reached in and grabbed the image.

The nausea stopped as quickly as it had started. Liam opened his eyes, slowly this time because he knew that when he did he would be hit with the light the place emitted. There he stood in front of the dream he had been in just moments before. Not long after, Liam lost control.

His legs gave out and Liam went tumbling to the floor. Just as Liam's face was about to collide with the floor of this white abyss, he fell through. Yeah you read that right he fell through the floor. Liam's reflexes make him squeeze his eyes shut. When he opens them again, surprised because he didn't feel his face smash into the ground, he doesn't find himself in the dreamscape. Liam blinked himself awake and found himself face to face with his mom.

Dayna's ginger curls fell into Liam's face, a soft glow of sunlight formed a halo around her. Her smile brought warmth to Liam's heart.

"Sweetie, I am happy you got some sleep but you need some breakfast and your father is about to leave for work.", she said softly before leaving to get Iris ready for the day. Reluctantly, Liam got up, still weary that he might fall through the floor again. After slowly making his way to the bathroom, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the eyebags from before had lightened. After finishing in the bathroom, Liam threw together an outfit that was way too similar to the one from the day before, and left for breakfast.

"There is our later gator!" Marvin exclaimed as Liam reached the kitchen."You almost missed saying 'bon voyage' to father before his treacherous trip to the hospital."

"Dad, You're a pediatrician," Liam croaked out between bites of cereal "you're going to need more than a 'bon voyage'". And with that he showered his old man with his best wishes.

Not long after Liam was all set up for the school day, Marvin was out the door, Dayna was well into a business lecture, and Iris was well asleep. When the first useless class came, Liam had a complete mental breakdown about the events from the nights before. As a recap:

After reading an article by Laura Marley about falling asleep, Liam pinpoints the moment he drifts into that "sleep mode". In doing so he ends up in some white dreamscape where he can interact and experience the dreams of others. In order to return to earth his body goes numb and he has to fall, face first, into the ground.

You can see why Liam was having a hard time wrapping his head around that.

As the day progressed, he became less and less frightened and more and more curious. Classes came and went, meals were eaten, walks were walked, and by the end of the day Liam was eager to return to the dreamscape and answer his unanswered questions. He hadn't told anybody about the event but thought it would be better kept a secret. And hey, it wasn't going to hurt anybody. Maybe he will even find his own dream, the dream of Liam Jeffords.

As night time arrived the rest of the family started to notice the abnormal behavior coming from Liam.

"Liam, honey, are you okay?", questioned Dayna "You are never this impatient to get to bed. Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened, I am just excited to get another nice night of sleep." Liam answered, hoping it sounded as natural as he planned.

"Okay, you can head to bed now if you want but you'll miss the next episode." Marvin said skeptical as his son's voice had cracked right in the middle of his sentence; Liam hadn't noticed.

Liam ended up staying for two more episodes before everyone went to bed and the TV was turned off.Today, it took a bit longer for him to drift. The excitement to explore more dreams and find his own was keeping Liam's mind active.

If you start to think of other things, you should remember to direct your thoughts back to the riff between on and off.

That's what Liam did, he redirected his mind and in no time he was drifting off into the dreamscape.