Undiscovered [DreamNotFound]

Hush Little Baby

I offer to walk Maya back to her house, but she declines politely. She leans across and gives me a kiss on the cheek, making me blush. I rake my fingers through my hair, somewhat embarrassed, as Maya waves and leaves.

I sit back on the sofa. I'm not sure if I like Maya or not. I mean, I do like her, but I can't be sure if I'm ready to build a relationship with her.

My phone rings again. How many times has this rung in the past three days?

'Has your girlfriend gone or not? Cause I'm ready to code. You coming?'

I sigh in exasperation. 'Dream, she's not my stupid girlfriend.'

He gives a whoop of laughter. 'Hah! Knew it was a girl! Have you kissed yet?'

I blush again, thankful that he can't see me. 'DREAM I TOLD YOU SHE'S NOT MY STUPID GIRLFRIEND.'

I hear gasping from the other end and I know he's laughing at me.

'Do you want an inhaler?' I snap, and he doubles up.

'Oh my god George,' he wheezes. 'Why are you so easy to annoy?'

'More like you've conquered the art of annoying people,' I roll my eyes. 'Get on TeamSpeak.'

The plugin is about bees, which is rather weird seeing as that I dreamed about bee stings last night. And this plugin sure involves a lot of bee stings.

As I try to find a solution to an error on Google, Dream interrupts. 'Hey George, do you know what the boy did when he left the closet?'

'Which boy?' I murmur absentmindedly.

'Never mind which boy. Just say yes or no.'

'Yes.'

'Ughhh George you're spoiling the joke. Say no.'

'You told me to say yes or no so I said yes.'

'Just say it.'

I sigh in irritation. 'Fine. No.'

'He left the closet door a-gaype.' He laughs as if it's the funniest joke he's ever cracked.

'Ha ha, that's so funny, you're the best comedian on this planet.' I roll my eyes. 'Anyway, I found the solution. Thank god Reddit exists.'

But a few minutes later, I get the idea for a similar type of joke. 'Hey Dream.'

'Yeah?'

'What did the deer say to the other when they walked out of the bar?'

'I don't know, what?'

'He said, "I can't believe I blew forty bucks in there."'

A second of silence passes. Two seconds. Then Dream actually laughs.

'Oh my god George that's so stupidly dirty,' he wheezes. 'Did you know I've never worn my gay sweater? It hasn't come out of the closet yet.'

That draws a chuckle from me. 'Dream, do you think gay midgets come out of the cabinet?'

'That's plain rude,' he says. We spend more time cracking gay jokes than coding the plugin, and when we finally get off TeamSpeak it's 7:30 p.m. I feel exhausted, so I just switch off my P.C and snuggle down on my bed without bothering to undress.

[Violence ahead]

We're in the boat again. Only this time, the sun slowly sets, the moon bringing with it night-time and terror. Even Dream's godly aura seems to falter, and so does my supposedly ever-lasting smile. We gaze at each other in panic, afraid of the night. The ocean is eerie and dark, and sudden waves spring out, nearly capsizing our boat. I clutch at Dream while he hurriedly tries to regain control of the boat. We're tossed about by the waves, and then the boat upturns.

When I hit the water, screaming, I strangely don't go under. I seem afloat, while Dream struggles in the water, yelling for help. I'm frozen to the place I'm bobbing about in, not able to go over and pull Dream up. I watch in horror, screaming for him as he's thrust back and forth by the waves which have taken on a strangely controlled quality. No help comes as we're in the middle of the ocean, far away from human life.

Dream's screams suddenly get louder, and a red liquid colours the water around him. Sharks. About a million of them suddenly appear, all thrusting their noses forward, trying to clamp their teeth on Dream and rip him apart. He screams again in pain, and I shriek, trying to reach him. But I'm held back, forced to stay afloat and watch his body being torn apart. He screams until a shark finds his throat, and then he begins to choke on his own blood as the sharks finish him.

The water is coloured red all around me. I keep screaming even though I know he's gone and never coming back. The sharks flip around, noticing my presence as if for the first time, and come for me.

I wake up, screaming my throat raw. My blanket has turned into a rope and established its control over me. I shakily try and pry it away, keeping my eyes wide open just in case the sharks return. Once I've thrown the blanket away and feel the foam under me, I realise it's just a dream and that Clay hasn't been harmed and neither have I. But what if he's seriously injured, if not by sharks? Oh god, no.

I force my shaky hands to comb the bed for my phone, then find that it has fallen to the floor. I quickly switch it on and call Dream.

No answer.

It's all I can do to keep myself calm. I call him again. And again. Still no answer.

I curl into the foetal position, drawing deep breaths. I notice how much I'm shaking and clench my fists, trying to will myself to stop.

Half an hour passes. I call him again. No answer.

An hour passes. I call him again. No answer.

But then, a few minutes later, my phone rings, startling me. I hurry to pick it up.

'Dream? Dream? Is that you?'

'Yeah, George. Are you fine? You don't sound well. Is something wrong?' his voice is filled with concern.

'I –' I begin to say, but burst into tears. I've never had a nightmare like this in my life, and it has shaken me to the extreme.

'George! Talk to me! Are you alright? What's wrong?' he nearly screams, and I try to calm myself down.

'N-nothing, just a n...nightmare.' I choke out.

'Oh.' The line is silent for a while.

'Why didn't you pick up? I called you so many times! I was so worried!' I say, forcing my knuckles into my mouth to stop my teeth from chattering.

'I'm sorry! I was out, I forgot my phone at home. It's not like I didn't pick up your calls on purpose!'

I sink down, gasping for air. 'I – sing me something.'

'What?' he sounds shocked.

'Just – sing me something. Please.' I half beg, then curl up on my bed.

'O-okay.' There's a short pause. 'Um, what song?'

'I don't know. A lullaby or something.' I'm too shaken to sound embarrassed.

He chuckles. 'No way. I'd rather sing Frick a Creeper.'

'Well then, sing that,' I say, joking. He laughs nervously on the other end.

'Fine, I'll sing you a lullaby.' He takes a deep breath, then starts.

Hush little baby, don't say a word

Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

'That sounds wrong,' I sleepily chuckle.

'Shut up. You wanted a lullaby and here it is. You're not allowed to interrupt or I might die of embarrassment.'

'Okay, daddy,' I say, and Dream bursts out laughing. He says something, but I can't quite catch it.

'What did you say?' I ask.

'Nothing. Do you want a lullaby or not?'

'I do.'

'Then zip your stupid lips and listen.' He starts again. I slowly slip into a deep sleep, listening to his voice croon to me.