The Ferret Universe

Chapter 7

Jedidiah threw his head back in wild, wheezy laughter. "Damn, sonny!" He swatted my chest with the back of his hand. "Never pinned ye as the creative type, but it sounds like yer lack of sleep last night finally brought yer imagination to life!"

I was standing in front of the gates of my mansion, a short distance across from the gates to Jedidiah's mansion. I had just told the old black-footed ferret about my crazy experience— flying with Lula through those golden clouds at who-knows-where, then chasing after the Soul Bandit with her...then having that trippy experience at Felix and Adeline's island in Galaxy A... before we were attacked by that deranged Lyla. Who, apparently, was immune to all Elemental Powers.

It had felt like day 3 of the Mission. But right now, it was only the morning after my night party on Planet V3149.

As Jedidiah cracked up over my disclosure, I stood there with my arms crossed, giving him a mild smirk. I managed to speak in a chill tone, despite feeling completely disturbed and confused. "Hey, we surprise ourselves every now and then."

Jedidiah calmed his laughing and faced me with his sassy, sideways smile. "The friggin' ferret-holes, sonny. I was surprised when I detected yer drunken ass passed out on one of the Graveyard Planets. Ye must've been drunk outta yer insides to have summoned clumsy black holes like that!"

I felt that tense sensation as I recalled that vague memory of myself summoning a black hole and ending up in some Graveyard Planet. Where I had met the Soul Bandit.

I gave a slight gasp. "Hey Jedidiah, I swear. That experience felt real as heck— do you think it might have something to do with running into...you know..."

"What? The Soul Bandit?" Jedidiah was still smirking at me, but his tone had gotten a little more serious.

"Well I mean...he was the last ferret I saw before I had that strange series of experiences. So...do you think he may have done something with my mind?"

Jedidiah's whiskers twitched. "Hmph. Perhaps. This is why ye should do what yer told sonny—be careful not to sleep with that dream-stalking freak on the loose."

"The Soul Bandit can't control what you dream and experience, can he?" I raised an eyebrow, trying to suppress a feeling of dread. "If he snatches the portion of your soul that enters the Dreamscape Universe, he can't control what that soul is experiencing—he can only snatch it and somehow put it in his own body...right?"

Jedidiah's frown hardened. "Lester sonny...ye shouldn't underestimate how much ye don't know."

I gazed into his narrowed eyes. There was something rather unfriendly about his tone.

But before I could say anymore, Jedidiah gave a huff and shifted his eyes to his Rolex. "Aight, what's taken that Lula gal so long? If she don't show up in the next three minutes, I'm summoning us a black hole to the Prime Palace without her."

"Sorry, boo...I'm coming."

I turned to see Lula sauntering over with a handheld mirror and a facebrush. She was smiling calmly as she gazed at her reflection and brushed her smooth, white cheeks.

I stared at her with unblinking eyes as she snapped her mirror shut and threw both the mirror and brush over her shoulder—they both disappeared into a tiny black hole that formed and disappeared.

"Sorry for the hold up," Lula said in her airy voice, gazing at Jedidiah. "I overslept again."

Jedidiah grimaced. "Gal, the Soul Bandit is roamin' out there, and ye still decided to sleep too?"

"Yep. I love sleeping." She widened her calm smile. "And I had a really cool dream last night. I spent most of this morning, daydreaming about it again." She shifted her eyes to me. "You were in it, boo."