Dreams: Part Three

"Good morning," Ranea said as I walked in the kitchen. She was eating some Neocrunch cereal. "Do you want some?" she asked me, pointing to her bowl of cereal with her spoon.

     I nodded and Ranea poured the cereal and then some milk into a bowl that was a bit smaller than her own. I pushed a big chair to the table, since we didn't have any small ones, and climbed onto it.

     I finished my cereal in a few minutes and then excused myself from the table. I walked to my room and sat on my bed. I never had time to wonder what my dreams meant. The one with the Aisha and the shadow-like creature. The one about Ranea and I. Those stood out from the rest of the dreams because I could remember them much more clearly, like it actually happened and I was just standing there watching.

     I knew nothing about the first dream, like who the Aisha was and where they were, so I started thinking about the next one. In the dream, it was in the afternoon. Ranea had said she'd be gone for a day. When would she say that? I searched my mind for all the possibilities. Of course! During our weekly shopping! And we always leave past noon and before sunset - in the afternoon!

     I blinked. I knew dreams were special and amazing things, but could they really predict the future? Was what I saw really going to happen?

     I sighed and absentmindedly played with the bell on my neck. Its soft, tinkling noise made me feel better somehow. I looked up at the clock on the wall opposite of me. It was about half an hour until it was time for the Jungle Clouds to assemble. I shrugged. A good leader is an early leader, I guess.

     After asking for Ranea's permission, I once more walked out the front door and headed for the apple tree. On the way down the secret path, I saw Quig pass by, looking for fruits. I picked one from the basket, this time careful to pick a good one, and continued along the path.

     When I got to the apple tree, I decided to climb up to the top and stare at the clouds until everyone else came. I walked over to the unfinished clubhouse and picked up some rope that was lying there. Throwing onto my shoulder, I put my purplum in my mouth and began to climb. Several minutes later, I had scaled up to the very top of the tree, a feat which proved too hard for most other kids who had tried.

     I stretched and looked up at the sky. I took a bite of the purplum and savored its sugary taste. I wondered how something so good could be so common on Mystery Island.

     I let my thoughts wander back to Operation B. We did all Operations alphabetically. Operation B was Operation Bury. We buried our things and when we get to Operation R - Operation Remember - we dig up our things and remember when we were little and were only on the second letter of the alphabet. I wonder how much I would have changed. It'll be a long time until we reach R.

     About ten minutes later, my sensitive Aisha ears heard something from down below me. I looked down and saw a green Techo looking around the unfinished clubhouse. I was a bit surprised because he wasn't part of the Jungle Clouds. Then again, maybe he just wanted to climb on the tree. Every kid on the island knew about the apple tree. But then why is he looking around the clubhouse?

     Suspicious, I tied one end of the rope I brought to a thick branch below me. I silently climbed down the rope, inching closer and closer to the Techo. I was focusing so hard on wondering what the Techo was doing that I didn't notice how far I was from the ground.

     Suddenly, the Techo bent down and grabbed some wood and some handmade furniture we were going to put in the clubhouse. I gasped and started sliding down the rope, not caring about the rope burns my paws were getting.

     A thief! How dare he steal our stuff!

     The rope suddenly came to an end several feet below me. I gripped the rope so I would come to a halt. I stopped just barely before the end of it. The Techo was starting to run back to the secret path. He still hadn't noticed that I was dangling from a rope, a long way from the ground.

     All of a sudden, I got a crazy idea. I started tugging on the rope, and suddenly, it got slack. I started falling at a dangerously fast rate. The Techo was a few yards away, then a few feet, then right below me. My heart jumped to my throat. I yelled to get his attention. He looked up, his face showing surprise, then shock, and just as I hoped, he stopped.

     I knew the impact would hurt me, but as long as it stopped the thief, I would be fine. I closed my eyes, and suddenly, I stopped. Bewildered, I opened my eyes. I was on the ground next to the Techo who, somehow, was unconscious.

     That was…weird, I thought, looking at the Techo. I wonder what happened.

     "Milana! Are you alright?"

     I looked towards the direction of the voice. Three members of the Jungle Clouds were racing towards me. I nodded, though I wasn't sure myself. They helped me up and I told them that the Techo was a thief and how I stopped him, but I left out the part when I landed.

     "So are you alright?" one of them asked.

     "I suppose so," I answered. "I guess I wasn't far from the ground enough to hurt myself."

     The three sighed in relief as the rest of the Jungle Clouds entered the clearing. I had to explain everything to them as well, along with added praises from my friends. By the time I was done, the Techo was stirring. He got up and rubbed his head.

     Dazed, he looked around and was shocked to find all the members of the Jungle Clouds glaring at him. He looked around for an exit and quickly scampered away.

     I shrugged. "He's learned his lesson. He won't bother us anymore."

     Everyone else nodded in agreement and, on my word, continued building the clubhouse. I dragged the things the Techo had grabbed back over to their original places. My stomach rumbled and I realized I left my purplum up at the tree.

     I walked up to the trunk of the apple tree and wondered if I had enough energy to climb back to the top and get the fruit back. Before I could make a decision, something fell from the tree and headed towards me. I closed my eyes and instinctively put my arms over my head to protect myself, and something landed squarely in my left paw. Surprised, I took my left paw down from my head and looked at what was in it.

     "My purplum!" I exclaimed, amazed. I looked at the top of the tree. And remained silent for a long while. I finally said, "The wind must've blown it off." But that same instant, I knew that the wind didn't have enough force to blow it down, especially not today, one of the least windy days of the year.

     Shaking my head, I resumed working on the clubhouse. I also got a red Usul to stop working on the clubhouse so she could look out for any thieves. I couldn't take any chances for things to be stolen.

     Throughout the whole day, nothing strange happened again. By the time I had to go back home, we were almost done.

     "Great work today!" I said to everyone as they got ready to leave. "By the looks of things, the clubhouse will be ready to use the day after tomorrow!"

     Everyone cheered at this and started to head off to their neohomes.

     I stretched and glanced at the nearly finished clubhouse. I had spent a lot of time hiding all the things for the clubhouse behind bushes, in holes, buried underground, and hidden in tree branches.

     I walked down the secret path and when I reached the end, it was almost sunset. I ran the rest of the way home.

     * * * * *

     It was the day that Ranea and I usually went to go shopping. But this time I begged Ranea to let me stay at home. She finally agreed. During the one week from when I met the Fountain Faerie to up until now, the first time Ranea has let me stay home alone, a few things had happened.

     For starters, I started having stranger dreams than usual. Almost all of them were about that same Aisha I had first seen in that dream right before I met the Fountain Faerie.

     Next, the Jungle Clouds and I finished the clubhouse and adding furniture to it. It's now the official headquarters of the Jungle Clouds. Now, we're brainstorming what Operation D should be.

     But now it was time. It was the moment to at last go to Faerieland!

To be continued...