Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

One

     After a long night of sleep, Link opened his eyes and rolled over. He hit the floor with a thud, and his glasses fell off of his face and skidded across the floor. He winced when he heard the plastic come in contact with the wooden leg of the table, and that's when he realized it wasn't night and he wasn't in his bed.

     He was supposed to be searching for a topic to talk about on Good Mythical Morning, and had fallen asleep at his desk. He pawed at the ground in search of his glasses, and his fingers finally graced the frame. He brought the glasses up to his face and slipped them on.

     His vision cleared and he looked up at the desk. He gripped the edge and hoisted himself up, then sighed at the half closed laptop sitting on the tabletop. He pulled the chair over, and sat himself down.

     He must have been really tired if he needed that nap, but he couldn't figure out why he needed it. He rested well the night before, since he was good at falling asleep on the spot. Everything seemed normal, apart from the fact that he didn't have any dreams. 

     Or did he? He scratched his forehead, the feel of his bare skin sending a shudder down his spine. He he still trying to adjust to the fact that his dark hair didn't cover it anymore.

     Why didn't he dream? This seemed like a question that he needed to pose to Google. He opened the computer back up and typed into Google, hastily punching in his question. He squinted as he read the words on the screen, and held his glasses by the frame as if that would help him focus better.

     He learned that he did dream, but he just didn't remember any of them. That led to another link that flashed on the side bar, which read Get lucid now!

     His mouth fell open and he nearly flew out of his seat in excitement before he contained himself again with only a few short breaths. He went back to the main Google search bar and typed, "fastest way to induce lucid dreaming."

     After several seconds of perusing through the various links, he thought he now had the idea for the show. He reached for his phone and dialed Rhett's number.

     "Did you find something?"

     "Oh I definitely found something! Lucid dreaming," he posed the topic to Rhett, his voice sounding cool and smooth. It was quiet on the other end for several seconds.

     "Didn't we already talk about lucid dreaming? I mean, if you found something else related to lucid dreaming, that would be cool man!"

     Link grinned from ear to ear. If he hadn't been holding his phone with one hand, he would have clapped his hands together and rubbed them like a mad scientist. He even had the wild wide eyes to go along with the act.

     "Oh yes. I've got an idea for an experiment. I'm coming to pick you up right now."

     "Okay, cool."

     Link hung up the phone and couldn't wipe the grin off of his face even if he tried.

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     Rhett struggled to get into the car as usual, given he was 6 foot 7. Once he was situated and buckled in, they started heading toward the office to begin their daily ritual of Good Mythical Morning. Link ran the premise of the idea by Rhett once again, who was all for it.

     Rhett's green eyes lit up with wonder at the prospect of touching up on lucid dreaming again. There were several times that they've talked about it when Rhett discussed his dreams on the show. Link tapped the steering wheel as he thought about how cool this experiment was going to be, if they were successful.

     They arrived at the studio and geared up for the show, waiting for the go to begin talking. Situated on the set behind their wooden table with Rhett on the right side and Link on the left, and with their black and orange Good Mythical Morning mugs, they were ready to begin taping.

     "Dreaming is about to get wild," Rhett began, leaning against the table on one elbow as he looked directly into the camera.

     "Let's talk about that," Link concluded sleepily, lowering his head to pretend like he'd fallen asleep. Now would come the intro of their show, and the actual show where they talk about the topic of the day would begin.

     "Good Mythical Morning! Today we're going to experiment using Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming, also known as WILD," Link began as he drew his laptop closer to him to look over his notes.

     Rhett smirked and leaned across the table. "It's a wild experience from what I've heard."

     Link turned his head to look at Rhett. "Yes it is, as the title clearly implies. It's because you're tricking your mind into thinking your body is asleep all while your mind is conscious."

     Rhett gestured with his hands to illustrate his mind being blown. "Dreamception!"

     Link grinned. "It's the quickest way to induce a lucid dream, in which you're in a state where you realize that you're dreaming almost instantaneously. It's the fastest, most effective method used by seasoned lucid dreamers."

     "Which you are clearly not," Rhett joked, seeing how Rhett had always had the lucid dreams.

     Link continued with his introduction. "Here's the weird or fun part, you choose. You pretend like you're going to sleep, being extra careful not to move a single muscle in your body."

     "So I won't be able to scratch my nose?"

     "No, you won't be able to scratch your nose. Not if you want to successfully bring on the sleep paralysis," Link brought on his mad scientist voice.

      Rhett's eyes widened with mock fear. "That sounds ominous. How do we do it?"

     "Step one says to relax. Like you normally would when you're going to sleep. Breathe. Become one with yourself." Link took on a relaxing voice, bringing his hands together and closing his eyes. "Observe. Observe the hypnagogia flashing before your eyes."

     "Gesundheit," Rhett said.

     Some of the crew members behind the cameras broke into fits of giggles.

     Link opened an eye to look at Rhett.

     "Sorry, I thought you sneezed. Go on." Rhett urged.

     Link closed his eye, Rhett unable to keep his silent chuckles that silent.

     "Watch as your subconscious paints a dreamscape right before your very eyes... And jump into it!" Link opened his eyes and leapt out of his seat to simulate jumping into something.

     "I thought we had to stay still the whole time?" Rhett gazed up at Link, watching him scramble for his chair that had scooted away.

     "You have to do this in your head," Link said pointing to his head.

     Rhett rose from his seat and clapped his hands together. "I say we show the mythical beasts how it's done then!"