The Dream Machine

Twenty-Nine

LIZZIE

My life was now making sense, but in the weirdest way possible. Harry/Frederick was definitely my brother and the very suspicious Bob is my father. What is so crazy about all that? Everything, every last detail. Plus, I have this power called dreamscaping where I can see the world in my...sleep? Gosh, why am I in such a Sci-fi movie right now?

Despite the fact that Frederick was now his fourteen-year-old self, the three of us decided to stay at the rink to just have a good time and not worry about things we really should've been worrying about. We just threw it away for the rest of the night.

Sandler and Frederick got their skates and joined me on the wooden rink. Everyone still looked at us, but apparently, everyone thought it was some sort of Hollywood special effects trick. So, no one knew about Sandler's powers, which is a plus.

But a question still lingers in my head. While Sandler, Frederick, and I are out having a good time, I can't push it out of my brain. Who is Bob? Why would he beat up Frederick to get to me? Did Harry do anything wrong? My guess was probably so. I've only known my so-called brother for like a week, so I still have my doubts.

As we skated, Sandler fell, a lot. The floor of the rink was practically his bed for the night. That's how much he fell. Gosh, how is that even possible in a person? Every time he fell, he'd just get right back up again and pretend like nothing happened, even though from then on he would clutch his hip like it had just broken.

Sandler cared about me. I could tell that. He truly, truly did, and I liked that about him. I know he can keep me safe. And based on these new things in my life, I'm probably gonna need it.

So, if I'm seeing this straight, Bob is my father and Harry is my brother. Are my parents also hiding him from me? This is straight-up crazy! I bet, they don't even know about him. They've just been totally uninvited to all the new things in my life. It sucks that that's the way it has to be. There's no way I could tell them. They'd never believe me.

Once the night winded down, Sandler, Frederick, and I waited in line to trade back in our skates. Unfortunately, after I traded mine in, I turned around and crashed right into Lloyd. He wasn't doing the same thing as I was doing. He had been standing on the edge of the rink, ready to start, but I had pushed him, sending him crashing on his knees to the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" Lloyd yelled at me before he turned around and made a gentlemanly attempt to not yell at me again, "Having a good time, Lizzie?"

Before I knew what I was saying next, I bent down and helped him up, "I'm sorry, Lloyd. I was just excited to get home, that's all. Totally not on purpose."

Lloyd regained his balance and got to his feet, "It's fine. Who's your friend? Sandler, I recognize you of course, but who's that other guy? He looks a lot like your old friend..."

He was talking about Frederick, oh gosh, "Frederick?" Sandler answered.

"Yeah! Frederick! Are they like related or something? They look almost exactly alike minus a few years."

Frederick looked conflicted, "I'm his brother, Harry," he said, admitting to his newfound life, "Nice to meet you." He held out his hand to Lloyd and they shook. Awkward.

"Well, see you guys around," Lloyd says as he skated away to join the many people on the rink. He was an okay skater but not without any falls.

Sandler turned to Frederick, "So you're Harry now?"

Frederick seemed unsure but then he steeled himself, "I guess I am. Older me is Frederick, and this me, I guess, is Harry."