Sal and his friends roam too, but they prefer their cave and the music Sal creates on his sound box. Sometimes Eleesha stays with him in the cave. In the evenings, he plays. She paints. Deb tells stories. The tall girl sits back, listening and watching. These days, Sal isn’t afraid of Binders. He knows they’re people like him, trying to do what’s best.
In the Meadow, on the island, there used to be a sign on the wall.
Never meet the dreamer.
Never harm the dreamer.
Always follow the Plan.
Arthur took down that sign and put up another one.
Created in song.
Explored in dreams.
Discovered in life.
It’s not always clear what we should do, but Jeremy tells us that’s the way it’s supposed to be. People must decide for themselves. There is danger because they can be hurt. The Earth can be damaged, as it was in the Warming, and everything might be destroyed. But we need freedom, because if we can’t fall, we can never fly.
Now that things are changing, the City people dream of the future. Dreambenders explore the past. Sal and his friends are showing us how to live the moments in between.
I go to the Music Place. The woman is there, and so is Booker. I’m learning about songs and how to sing them. Even Jeremy has tried playing music. He found the old man’s trumpet and blew a few notes, then decided to stick with his questions.
Recently, Jeremy has been spending time with an old friend. He and Leif go to the dreaming field, where they sit and talk. Sometimes they argue, the way they’ve always done. Sometimes they actually listen. I think Jeremy is helping Leif, but Jeremy says it helps both of them. Leif is teaching Jeremy about discipline and control. Every once in a while, Leif asks a question.
Leif is learning as he goes. So is Jeremy. Maybe all of us are. We are hummed into life. The hum becomes a melody, the melody a path, the path a journey.
We are singers, living the song.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Ronald Kidd
Cover image © David Wardle
Design by Jordan Kost
978-1-5040-3155-4
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