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Water bubbled up all around him, he choked and spluttered, and Eddie called out to him wildly, "Buster, come on! She's coming down!" and he swam madly, trying to overcome the falling debris. The world spun and crashed around him

"Johnny! Push Meena through!" he shouted before again being submerged with water. The dream changed and showed him dead, drowned, surrounded by theater members who only stared at him with blank expressions.

"Maybe it's time to stop thinking and just give up!" Eddie barked, his usually laid back voice coming out harsh and cruel.

He whirled around with a yelp to face a mirror. He saw his own reflection but something was different. It was his own form but it was twisted and wrong. "You're a failure. You are a mistake, Buster Moon!" he stumbled backwards in surprise. The reflection changed into the face of his dad next

"You are hopeless! I am ashamed of you." his dad shook his head in disgust.

"Dad! Wait! No!" he called out before whirling around "Miss Crawly!" he called desperately, only to see her hanging from the cieling, a noose around her neck. He screamed. "Ash!" he saw her laying cold and dead on the floor. He ran up to her. She was undoubtedly dead.

He gave a wail before running down the stairs, the voices of everyone he had ever know telling him who he was.

Loser

Pathetic

Miserable

A waste

Garbage

Stupid

Idiotic

A screw-up

failure

tiny

amatuer

talentless

Worthless

"MAKE IT STOP!!" he screeched a sound that should not have been possible, and the world shifted to reveal Miss Crawly being crushed into nothing by the falling debris of the theater. He screamed again in terror as even her glass eye rolled a bit away from her mangled corpse.

He suddenly found himself in a burning room, surrounded by flames. They wreathed him. The black smoke clung to his lungs and he coughed and spittered. "DAD!!!" he called out, reaching for his father before the house fell and a blood red haze covered his vision.

You were a mistake.

He found himself dangling from the catwalk again, the murderous glint in Jimmy's eyes bright red. He dropped Buster and he fell but no one came to rescue him. He screamed but all he heard was the laughter of everyone around him as they pointed, taunting and calling him names.

True names.

He was so So FOOLISH! "WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! MAKE IT STOP!" he pleaded in horrible piercing wails.

He could see himself being beat up again and again after school by bullies and the entire school, teachers and all, just pointed and laughing and cheering the bullies on.

He saw himself covered with water and he saw himself in the flames again, thhe voices surrounding him. "BUSTER YOU'RE SUCH A LOSER. BUSTER, YOU'RE A FAILURE. BUSTER, YOU'RE A WASTE OF TIME. BUSTER, KILL YOURSELF ALREADY. BUSTER, YOU'RE NOT WORTH ANYTHING. BUSTER, WE HATE YOU. BUSTER, YOU'RE WORTHLESS-"

"BUSTER!" a loud voice called. "BUSTER! WAKE UP!"

He bolted upright. "NO!" he screamed that single word so loud, he thought his lungs might have burst. People from blocks around would have been able to hear it. He was hyperventilating so hard and his eyes were filled with hot tears as he sobbed with such unimaginable force for his small size that his friend legitmately was scared for him. He gave a long wail into Rosita's shoulder as she took him from his little bed and hugged him close. She didn't even know Buster was capable of such noises. She had this whole encounter on recording so far, too. It was unbelievable otherwise.

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