The Dream

Chapter Three : The Plan

3: The Plan.

"So what do we do then?" Tic asked.

"Hmmm", puzzled Tac under his breath.

All Toe could do was look rather perplexed and just a bit worried.

The professor pushed his glasses up his nose once again as he rubbed the few graying whiskers on his chin. He looked off in deep thought for a moment. Leah looked out the window for a moment. There was total silence in the room. Finally the still was broken as Dot looked at Trimese.

"Someone has to go outside of Dreamsland and bring someone back that knows howto fix clocks, that knows how to wind them at least," the professor proclaimed.

"What?" everyone seemed to exclaim at the same time. Leah turned from the window to look at her father. The brothers looked at one another and then to the Professor.

"Go outside of Dreamsland?" Toe muttered. "Is that possible?""Has anyone ever done that before?".

Tac was now the one to rub his chin as he pondered the suggestion.

Looking over at Leah, Tic blurted out "Yeah why not?"

"Yeah, why not?" said Tac as he looked over at the professor. The professor shot him a very knowing look.

"Mmmm"Toe  grumbled. "But who?"

"But who indeed?" the professor said as he looked at all of them now."Who could we get to go that already knows about the clock, and the clouds and that is not tied up with doing their garden?" "Who is brave enough and has the fortitude and foresight and vision?" he continued.

"We're already on board professor." "You don't have to sell us", Tic said.

"Right" added Tac. He nudged his brother Toe in the side "Right Toe?"

"Um...right, right... ". He nervously smiled at everyone.

"So good, it's agreed then" the professor said as he searched again through his piles of cluttered messed. "Now where is that map?" He went over to several cylinder rolls that were stacked in one corner, sitting in a canister, and fumbled through them. Finally he had found the one he was looking for and took it over to the table where he had the books. Pushing them to the side he laid out the map and placed several small books on the corners to keep it from folding up on it self.

"Hmmm"Dot thought to him self as he once again pushed up the glasses on his nose.

"Not many people know I have this." He glanced over at the boys and his daughter and then at the map.

"What is it professor?" Tic inquired.

"It's a map to the outer world" the professor answered him still looking at the map. "Or rather it's a map on how to get back here from there?"

"Huh?"Toe muttered. Even Leah was a little confused.

"How do we do that professor?" Tac asked, a little confused.

"Simply turn it upside down and follow it backwards." The professor answered.

"Guard it with you life boys cause there's not another like it in the world." "And if you intend on getting back here then you'll need this for sure." "The City Elders don't even know about it." "They would never approve of such things."

It was true, the City Elders were so stuck in dogma and old ways they would never ever consider anything outside the comfortable confines of the quaint little village. To them, there was nothing outside the city limits, nothing beyond the 'business as usual, take care of your gardens, mind to your own affairs and try to fit in'. Beyond the hills that surround Dreamsland was a 'never ever' land that no one ever visited or even discussed. It just wasn't brought up. No one ever left Dreamsland. No one ever visited. It had been this way since the very beginning or as long as anyone could remember. You were born here, you lived here, you worked in your garden and you tolled away at it all your life. You lived off the vegetables or the fishes that were caught in the little lake that sat next to the village and the meat from the animals that were raised and kept in people's back yards (in their little cottage barns) and at the end of it all you simply died here... end of story.