Lucidity

Welcome to Wonderland

I'm ready.

I add the finishing touches to my first complete dreamscape. My mother assigned a purely unique and original dreamscape with interactive elements, and over the past week, I've designed my new world and made it a reality. I'll show her tomorrow night, but for now, I'll invite Leo over to test it out and help me troubleshoot.

I told him about Dad's apology, and he said he understands. He promised he would never do anything to hurt me, and I assured him that was never a concern. I don't think I've ever met anyone with a heart as pure as his.

I pull up his file to send him a message. The screen only displays fragments of thoughts, single words or two appearing every few seconds. Evidently, his Cipher is improving. My name appears once, and I'm desperate to see the hidden context around it. Unfortunately, the rest of the randomly appearing words are as unpredictable as the writing in his notebook.

I invite him to my dreamscape, and within seconds, he appears in front of me. I dismiss the file, allowing it to disintegrate in my hands. "Hey, thanks for stopping by," I greet him, my smile immediately appearing.

"Of course! I'm so excited. Show me everything," he demands enthusiastically, already trying to take in the entire dreamscape at once. His little star companions follow him everywhere, not having left his side since our first lucid night. "I want the full tour."

"I mean, I think it's pretty self-explanatory, right? Just look around and see."

So Leo does exactly that. He tips his head back to admire the soft pink sky and its wispy clouds, like one moment of a sunset captured and immortalized, never fading or darkening. He kicks off his shoes and socks to feel the dark teal grass beneath his feet. Plopping down on the ground, he runs his fingers through the overgrown blades, ripping out a handful and letting it fall through his fingers. Considerate as always, he reattaches every blade exactly where it belongs.

While Leo examines every minute detail, he rambles about his observations, complimenting every aspect of the dreamscape. "Wow, this is incredible, I mean, it's just so quiet and peaceful here, and everything is so beautiful, I think I could live here forever, and what's that?" He reaches toward a glowing blue orb that resembles a miniature ball of blue fire, but it bounces away like a grasshopper and neatly lands outside of his reach, floating just off the ground. "Whoa, you made these things move on their own? That's so cool, they react to my movements, how did you do that? This is extraordinary, I mean, it's mystical, I feel like I'm dreaming, well, obviously, I am dreaming..."

He chatters on and on, overflowing with excitement, face lit up every time he notices something new. I love listening to him speak. There's something enchanting about his passion. It seems to be present in everything he does. It's inspirational and a little contagious. It's remarkable, the way he loves everything so much, and it makes my heart light as a feather when I watch him.

He finally notices the raindrops. Each is suspended in the air and falls in slow motion. With the lack of momentum and friction, they are perfectly round spheres of water, and if I get close enough to one, I can see the distorted world on the other side. One sphere bursts as Leo pinches it between his fingers curiously, for which he profusely apologizes and repairs it. His stars interact with the raindrops, dancing around them and making them spin. When the stars get close enough, the drops reciprocate their glow, shining from their cores.

Leo has yet to stop talking, but I don't mind. Instead of interrupting or stopping him, I take his hand and lead him up the teal hillside. I smile to myself as he continues, "That's so creative, wow, do you think I could hold one? Or would they all burst? I don't really want to try because I don't want to break anything or interfere with your dreamscape, but I guess if I wanted I could make it so I can hold one, I mean, clearly we can control anything here, so why not, right? Where are we going, by the way? Ooh, what are these? Are they flowers? Succulents?"