The House of Dreams

Chapter Five

"Dreams is full of mystery and magic . . . . Do not try to understand them."

- Roald Dahl

"Hi, Frank," Kate waved at him with a troubled face while her left foot was still stuck in the broken woodpiles and landed on the muddy surface.

"What on earth are you both doing here!" Marco exclaimed, reaching a hand over to help her sister.

"Well," Little Ann said, "we obviously followed you. This was Kate's idea."

Marco glared a sharp look at her sister. "And you seriously brought this little girl with you?"

Kate struggled to pull her foot from the ground. But with the two boy's help, she managed to cross over the broken porch and stepped on the sturdy concrete flooring.

She brushed the dust and dirt on her dress. "W-wait. I can explain."

"Come on Little Annette," Frank said, stepping on a sturdy block of the platform and leaned forward to reach the little girl who was left outside.

Then Kate began her explanation. "I know—I know this is stupid. But while we were behind those fences watching you both vanish in the woods, I realized there were chickens on our back. And Aunt Monica told us she's feeding the chicken."

"So what? What's with the chickens?" her brother asked, agitated.

"Well if she sees us...we don't know what to answer if she'll ask where you both went and what are we doing behind her house. And Ruel too. I can't tell her you three crossed the fence to look for this house."

"Then at least you should have hidden somewhere or went home instead."

Kate rolled her eyes. "As if we'll just leave you and wait and pray nothing's going happen."

"She told me she wanted to go," Annette butted innocently, and Kate fell into an awkward silence for a moment.

"Okay, okay!" she said. "I wanted to go after you both but I don't want to leave Ann behind. So..."

"So you brought her," Marco concluded. "Great."

"Well at least you're both safe," and Frank looked down at her dirty feet. "Except for that."

Kate diverted her attention on the interior of the house. "Where's Ruel?"

"He's not here," his brother responded.

Kate frowned. "Oh my God, where did he go?"

"We haven't checked the rooms yet, but we're pretty sure he's not there. We've been calling his name—"

CLINK!

A sound of a fallen metal echoed from one of the rooms—like a sound of a steel cup dropped on the ground. The children froze and little Ann immediately hugged Frank on his hips.

"It's okay," he patted the girl's head.

"A rat," Kate said, obviously scared.

"Ruel," Marco added. "I know he's in there, fooling us again."

A wind gust through the opening of the roof. It swayed the leaves of the plants grown indoor and the children could hear the slight moaning sound of the house slightly shuddered by the wind.

"Stay here," Marco said to the girls.

"No," she responded immediately. "We'll go with you. No arguments."

The children started walking hesitantly together towards the rooms. They ducked underneath the tree, hopped on this huge crack on the floor, and finally reached the dark section.