THE SECRET SEA: EXPANDED EDITION

69

I wake up with a racoon sitting on my chest. "VarnLiqn?"

No. This creature is disrobed and its eyes lack VarnLiqn's mischievous spark. It tilts its head to the side curiously then jumps from me and dashes out the wide-open door.

I sit up and rub my eyes. I'm back in the garden shed. "Eve!" I shout. There's no answer. I jump up in my pajamas and run out into the night. The moon is full and the air is crisp.

I leap up the steps into Eve's little house. There's no overgrown foliage or impenetrable darkness, just Swedish-style furniture and pale green walls covered in blue paintings. I peek my head inside every room, but there's no sign of Eve. "Oh god, please let her be here," I murmur, entering the master bedroom. My heart sinks when I find it empty.

I hear a toilet flush.

"There you are!" says Eve, throwing open the bathroom door. She's wearing one of my t-shirts and nothing else.

"Eve?"

"What?" Eve turns around and washes her hands. "Were you sleepwalking again? I was about to come look for you."

"I...I don't—" I stop short, lacking words.

"Don't tell me you were in the damn shed again," says Eve, drying her hands. "I'm going to tear that thing down!"

"I don't remember going out there," I say. "Did...did we stop him?"

"What? Tim, are you still asleep?" Eve walks up to me and snaps her fingers in front of my face. "Wake up, dork."

I sit on the edge of the bed. A huge smile crosses my face and I can't help but laugh.

"Must have been a good dream," says Eve, crossing her arms and cocking a hip.

"Gud dreem," says VarnLiqn, sticking his head out from under the sheet.