The Dreamjumper and The Dreamcatcher

Chapter 7: A guitarist's dream, pirate heist and free concert included

Alora

Sleeping with the headset on is not a comfortable experience. I always like to sleep on my right side, but there was no position I could find myself in which the wires and electrodes did not feel like they were mushed to the side of my skull. The best I could do was lie with my back flat against the mattress and try not to move as much as possible.

Eventually, tiredness must have claimed me because in my dream Reve finds me. I'm in my room again, oddly enough. Everything is as I left it before falling asleep. I might have thought I was still awake if it weren't for the fact that the lights are on and Reve pops in through the door as soon as I have consciousness of what is happening.

"What took you so long?" he asks as if he's been waiting for me for some time.

"I couldn't fall asleep with his thing on," I say, pointing at the headset. "How come you never have it on in dreams and I'm wearing it?"

"I just don't dream about it or dream it away. Technically, you can do it too since this is your dream. But I'll help you for now."

The headset immediately disappears and though it is not very heavy, I feel so much lighter without it. "Thanks."

"Are you ready?" Reve asks while extending his hand out to me.

"Yes." I take his open palm and immediately the dream around us becomes distorted. The swirling colors are still dizzying to me, but less so than the first two times. I try to just focus on Reve, as if he were the eye of a hurricane and the circling dream world around us are the battering winds of the storm.

We are standing on the deck of a cruise ship when we are done teleporting. The day is bright and the air is slightly chilly against my skin. The breeze brings into my nostrils the smell of a salty ocean. I don't recognize the port in which the cruise is docked at, though I have never been on a cruise ship before so I wouldn't know the port anyway.

People with large sunhats, sunglasses, and faces layered with sunblock walk about the deck. Some lay lazily on blue poolside lounge recliners, reading a book or napping. Others within the pool, which takes up about half of the deck, are chatting, sipping on cold frozen drinks or splashing at each other. Children scream and laugh in excitement as they go down a spiraling tube waterslide over and over again. As soon as they splash into the pool with a joyful scream, they are immediately out of the water and running back up the stairs as fast as they can to relive the thrill.

"I'll admit," I say. "It's kind of nice to finally be on a cruise. Even if it isn't real."

"I'm glad you like the dream, but we're here on a mission," says Reve. "We've got to keep an eye out for our target and find him."

"Who exactly is he? And do you have to call people targets?"

Reve begins walking in between the people on the deck, and I follow close behind him to not get lost. I'm not sure what would happen if we got separated in a dream, but I don't want to find out.

"It's the man with the guitar we saw the other day in the park."

"Oh, I remember him," I say though I'm annoyed he doesn't answer my second question.

"Great. Now find him."

We weave our way through people walking around the open dining area and bar. Reve lightly pushes them aside and squeezes through lines but they don't seem in the slightest bit bothered by this. In fact, no one reacts at all when we touch them. I accidentally stumble into a man with a Hawaiian buttoned short-sleeve shirt, knocking over the drink he had just ordered. I try to quickly apologize, but he doesn't seem to notice or care and just keeps walking on. People do swerve out of our way if they can, but other than that they don't seem to acknowledge our presence.