Sweet Dreams

Chapter Nine: Inescapable Thoughts

I looked down at the other Kyle, black haired and baggy eyed, and realized just how pale I am. How ugly I am, too. I jerked my arm swiftly to the right, wondering if he would do the same. He did not. Is this part of my dream? I thought. Weird... I felt hands violently shake me back and forth before waking up in a cold sweat. Luna stood over me, folding her arms over her chest.

"Hey weirdo, you were talking in your sleep." She said. "Somethin' up?"

"I-I was?" I stammered. "What was I saying?"

Luna shrugged and eyed me curiously. "Something about like, reality or whatever. You're homesick, huh?"

"I guess so..." I said, starting to think more deeply about my situation.

"Yeah, me too..." Luna said, sitting down on the couch next to me. "My parents... they were always quite strict, especially my mom. But I guess they just acted the way that they did because they care about me. I should've treated them with more respect while they were in my life, but..." She trailed off, looking out a nearby window. The four moons of the dream world shone brilliantly through the purple night. Stars of multiple colors danced across the sky. Despite the beauty of the world around me, I felt nothing but hatred for it, and the person who created it.

"Sometimes..." I started. "Sometimes I feel like my parents don't care about me at all. They never ask me how I am or if I'm alright. They only pay attention to me when they want to yell at me for something."

"Got any siblings?" Luna asked.

"No, but I do have two cousins. They're from my mom's side. One of them is Skye, the other is Niko. They fight a lot with each other, but I still like them. Niko's older than all of us, so every now and then when we get to see each other, we can learn something cool from him. Skye's younger than us and he's really sensitive. Niko makes fun of him a lot, but I know they really care about each other. I miss them sometimes. We only get to see each other at like, Thanksgiving, but other than you, they feel like my only friends sometimes." I bit my tongue, realizing that I was rambling. "Ah, sorry..." I mumbled.

"No no, you're good!" Luna said. "Sorry you can't see them too often." 

"Me too..." I said. "Niko's sixteen, so I don't worry about him too much. But Skye is twelve, so he falls into Candy's killing range. So sometimes, I'll get really worried that Skye... well..." My voice trailed off and I looked at the ground.

"Yeah, but Candy's not here right now." Luna said. "And it looks like things are going to stay that way for a while."

"Yeah, but what if they don't? I'm worried that I won't be able to live up to the prophecy and I'll let everybody down.. And if I do, then what next? I'll be forced to leave you here forever, and for all I know, Skye's gonna die. Kids with families that care about them, hopes, goals, and imperfections... they'll all die and I'll just move on, having done nothing about it while I still had the chance. Or worse yet, I'll die here just like them. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm scared..." After I finished ranting, I felt extremely stupid for spilling out all my feelings like that. I wanted to apologize or something, but I said nothing.

"Gee Kyle, I dunno what to say..." Luna said. "I'm sorry you feel that way. I think you're going to do great. Don't worry too much about that dumb ol' prophecy, it's probably just a bunch of mumbo jumbo anyways. But I believe in you either way. I mean, I dunno what I'm saying. Just don't feel sad, okay?"

I paused. "Yeah..." I said, after a moment. "I guess I'm just worried that I won't be able to help you after you've helped me so much."

"I've helped YOU?!" Luna exclaimed, apparently not at all concerned about the fact that she was yelling in the middle of the night. "Dude, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be nearly as happy as I am now! Everybody else here totally sucks!"