Waking the Dreamer (Transhuman)

by Andy Kaiser

  “Diabetes?” My mom said. The tears were starting again. “Oh. Oh, dear. I don't know. I know his aunt is diabetic, but... Ty is so young.”

  “I'm not saying that's the issue here, Mrs. Ford. We need the lab results back, and Tyler needs a detailed checkup by a doctor more familiar with his history. There are several factors that can contribute to these symptoms. Diet and exercise, for example, are very important.”

  That was a way of saying I was out of shape and didn't eat right. It was embarrassing to hear someone say it out loud. My mom thought it was true – She nodded along eagerly, as if the doctor was absolutely right about everything.

  Dr. Imani continued. “I do want you to see your family doctor as soon as you get back home. In the meantime, Tyler, if you start feeling worse, I want you to come back here, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “In the meantime, make sure you don't overeat, and eat healthy. Drink plenty of water. Gets lots of sleep at night.”

  "Okay."

  I kept answering politely, like I was supposed to, but my thoughts were quickly spinning far away from this conversation.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zack hold back a smile. I met his eye and could barely hold back my own grin. He knew what I knew, that there was no way I was going to get a good night's sleep tonight.

  I didn't want to keep Eena waiting.

  Chapter 15

  After seeing Dr. Imani, Zack and I escaped from our mom as we walked out of the Lodge's medical station. It was easy. She was talking to herself about the new diet plan she was going to impose on the whole family.

  “We should start eating healthy,” she said, as if the idea was totally new to her. “No more fried foods. Veggies with every meal. Organic. And vitamins, I've got to get vitamins. Organic vitamins.”

  I didn't really care what I ate. I just knew I was hungry.

  Zack and I ran off while Mom was talking to herself. When she got like that, she'd usually fizzle out after a few days of realizing how hard it would be to change. Or she'd have long talks with my dad about everything she wanted to do, and they'd talk and debate so long absolutely nothing would happen.

  We headed to the cafeteria and Zack watched as I loaded up a tray. A couple foil-wrapped hot dogs. A bag of chips. A giant-sized pop. A brownie. One more hot dog, just in case. And some fries.

  “You want anything? Mom and dad will pay for this later.” I looked at Zack.

  “Yeah. They sure will.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I'll just take some fries.”

  As I ate, we talked about Eena and my new powers of... whatever they were.

  “I just can't believe you can move things with your mind.” Zack spoke in a low voice. It wasn't a busy time in the cafeteria, but we didn't want to broadcast what had just happened. “It's freaky, dude. How did you suddenly start doing that? I've heard that some people can move things with their brain, but they're always some ancient hidden martial arts master sitting on a mountaintop or something.”

  “Well, that's definitely not me.”

  “No. You're a little different.”

  “I've been thinking about how I felt,” I said. “After I moved stuff. That's when I got tired. Like I was so exhausted, I couldn't even stand up.”

  “But it didn't happen every time. You seemed okay when you moved the sand on the beach.”

  “I think that when I move things, it takes a lot out of me. It makes me really tired. Maybe just once is okay, like when I practiced moving the sand. But then I moved you.”

  “I weigh a lot more than a few grains of sand. And you didn't even move me that well.” He rubbed at his face and grimaced.

  “After that, I broke the doctor's needle when she tried to take my blood-”

  “What?!” Zack jumped up and stared at me.

  I explained what had happened. He was shaking his head quickly before I'd finished. He sat down slowly.

  “Listen, Ty. The sand is one thing. And the way you moved me, that was almost like an accident, a push. But when you broke the doctor's needle when she was coming at you?”

  “It was weird,” I said, shrugging. “I know. But I was scared, really scared. It's like I can move things easier if I'm scared, or mad. With the doctor, I was just defending myself.”

  “No, you weren't. You attacked her.”

  I was floored. The way I'd “defended myself” seemed like the right thing to do. It sure wasn't easy, because it took so much energy to do something so small. It made sense that I should get rid of the thing that was causing the problem. Or maybe that was just a lame excuse and, like Zack seemed to think, I had changed. I was somehow different.

  “You get what I'm saying, Ty? From now on, whatever happens to you, you've got this power. You could really hurt someone. I mean, what if the doctor had come at you with her big scary needle, and instead of breaking it, you 'accidentally' did something to her?”

  I was already shaking my head. “No.”

  “Like if you reached inside her brain and just-”

  “No! I'd never do that!” I said it forcefully.

  “Are you sure? You're different now. And something that bad could happen by accident. Just by you thinking about it.”

  Zack was right. Or, I corrected myself, he was mostly right. I was more than just different.

  I am dangerous.

  I stared at my trash-cluttered tray, feeling the mass of food I'd eaten sitting heavy inside me. My emotions felt much like my stomach. Roiling and confused.

  “What do I do?” I said helplessly.

  “It started with Eena, right? Let's find her. We meet her tonight. She knows everything. I think you two need to have a very serious talk.” He grinned. “Tell her to wear a bikini.”

  He was right. Eena was the key. If I could get her to stay still long enough for a conversation, if she could get away from Camp Nyhill. And - I realized as the visual hit me – yeah, a bikini would be nice.

  I was suddenly more eager than ever for tonight to get to midnight. Unfortunately, we had a whole day to get through. Having fun at the Lodge didn't seem that fun anymore.

  “This is going to drive me crazy,” I said. “What are we going to do until we see her tonight?”

  “What can you do? I have no idea,” Zack said. “But I know what I'm going to do.”

  “What's that?”

  “I'm going to stay on your good side.”

  Chapter 16

  Strangely, this night I felt I could actually sleep. I think it was from all the stress from earlier. So tonight, I ended up going to bed early, soon after another gigantic dinner.

  The few hours of sleep gave me the recovery I needed, because when Zack's alarm tweeted shortly before midnight, I was up and pulling on clothes before he'd woken up.

  I watched him sleep and thought about what would happen. This was another chance for me to meet Eena – alone – and see what this mystery was about. I would find out how I got this weird power and why she needed my help. And, as I remembered yet again, how did she know my name? With everything else that had happened, that last one was still important, but now it fought against plenty of other very interesting questions.

  I wanted to see Eena. I wanted to help her. And I wanted it to be only me. I didn't want Zack there. If he was, I know the meeting would feel different. It would be like friends sneaking out late at night. Where if it was just Eena and me, like last night, it would be... much better. Not romantic or anything stupid like that. It would just be us.

  Zack was going to kill me for ditching him tonight.

  I walked quietly over to the bedroom door. I pulled it open slowly. There was a low creak as the hinges let me know they hadn't been oiled in a while. I winced, froze, and looked over at Zack.

  He said something in his sleep and rolled to his other side.

  I waited a few more seconds. I could barely see him in the dark, but could tell he was still breathing heavily. He was still asleep.

  I dropped
Zack's cellphone in my pocket. Next time I'd smuggle my own phone on our family vacation, but right now I needed a light in the forest. I left the cabin. I walked a wide circle around where I knew my dad was camping. He still hadn't slept in the cabin.

  I got into the forest, walked into the trees and stumbled over undergrowth until it was too dark to even feel my way around.

  This night was different. Last night's sliver of moon and faint stars had helped guide my way. Tonight, all of it was gone. Either the moon was switching phases or everything was hidden behind clouds.

  It was dark. Like I-couldn't-see-my-hand-in-front-of-my-face dark. I checked this as I moved slower and slower through the forest. I held my hand in front of my eyes and waved it back and forth. I got a vague impression of something moving in front of me, but couldn't see any detail.

  There would be no way my eyes could adjust to this. I definitely needed a flashlight. I turned on the display on Zack's cellphone. Guided by the faint light, I began to move through the forest again.

  The woods were quiet. Last night I could hear animal noises, small scurries as critters ran from me. I had heard the clatter of tree branches rubbing together, bugs whining and chirping, and the sound of the wind rustling leaves.

  Tonight there was nothing. The only sounds were my shoes as they quietly crunched through moss, dirt and plants. It was eerie. Creepy.

  My pulse accelerated. I started to breathe harder. I knew part of it was probably the exercise. I wasn't in shape and it was hard stumbling through the woods when I could barely see. But I was nervous, too. I almost preferred it when there were noises around me. The dead silence was odd and out of place. Without meaning to, I found myself straining to hear anything beyond my own movement.

  I heard someone else's footsteps. There was a faint repetitive crunching far back from where I'd come. If I had to guess, it sounded like a giant wolf sharpening its teeth by crunching on bones. I hoped I was wrong.

  I stopped and turned off the light. The monster stopped chewing. I stood there in the absolute darkness in silence.

  Well, it was almost silent. My heartbeat pounded in my ears. I was also breathing way too hard. I tried to relax and calm down, but didn't do a very good job. It's usually easy to breathe quietly, but when you were out of breath it was almost impossible.

  I listened hard, closing my eyes against the night. I was scared now, really scared. My legs felt weak and my hands shook. But as I listened, I heard something new. A distant rushing noise.

  Surf.Waves. I was close to the lake. I was close to Eena. She had to be there.

  I flipped the light back on and zeroed in towards the sound of rolling water. I forgot about keeping quiet and just moved. The faster I went, the more panicked I got, thinking that Something was right on my tail. I was too scared to look back, knowing that if I did I'd see Something there. I kept my eyes pointed ahead, but couldn't help imagining what was behind me, getting closer, about to reach out and grab me and knock me to the ground. Even though I was hot and sweating, an icy chill shivered its way over my chest, shoulders and neck.

  I shoved through branches and bushes and stumbled out of the woods onto sand.

  Apart from my own gasping breaths and the slow rolling waves just a few dozen feet away, I was alone. No one had been chasing me, no faceless monster was about to take me out.

  Eena wasn't here.

  Chapter 17

  I stood on the beach and looked around. The woods behind me were dark and I really did not want to go back into them. I could barely see the result of my sand-moving, a faint white smear of lighter-colored sand over the rest of the beach which looked almost black in the nighttime. The moon was still hidden and there were no lights here, apart from the tiny one I held in my hand. It was only one shade up from completely, totally black.

  I looked up, hoping to see any evidence of light in the sky. The moon, stars, anything. No luck. I guessed the sky was too clouded up and that it was going to stay that way for a while. This was going to be a dark night. The beach was darkened, the tan sand looking like a black carpet. The water out on the lake was blacker yet. I could see a lighter-colored swim buoy sticking out of the water way out in the distance.

  Without warning, something hit me from behind.

  I had heard no noise until I was slammed into and I almost fell. Something latched itself around me and I half-stumbled several steps down the beach before I regained my balance. Arms held tight around my chest and I felt hot breath in my ear.

  Eena whispered, “Tyler, I'm so glad you're here!”

  She let me go and I used that opportunity to turn around and face her.

  I expected a grin, a smile, something good. That's not what I saw.

  The other times I'd seen Eena, she was cool and relaxed and confident. Now, something was wrong. Her eyes were big and worried and stared up at me with what I thought was fear. Her lips were pulled down into a pursed frown, like she was trying not to cry. Some of her hair was still in a ponytail and the other half had been yanked out – it hung in a long messy curve down the side of her face. The night was so dark, her face was partially obscured by shadow.

  I didn't know what had happened to her, but I knew something important: She was scared and in trouble and she needed me and she looked beautiful. At that moment, I knew I'd do anything she asked. Anything.

  “Did you practice?” she asked. “Can you move the sand? Can you dream?”

  By the way she said it, I knew what she meant with that last one. Her anxious expression melted into relief as I nodded.

  “Good. Show me.”

  I was taken aback. The other times I'd moved things, I'd been focused on it. Or I'd been emotionally ready. Now I was confused and more worried about Eena than showing her my new talent, no matter how impressive.

  “I don't know. I'm not very good yet.”

  She put a hand on my arm. “It's okay. Just show me what you can do.”

  So I did. I stared at the same patch of sand from before. The white smear still seemed to glow in the barely-visible light.

  I concentrated. I had no anger to twist, no fear or frustration to use as the driving force for my weird mental tentacles. But I focused and stared and willed the sand to move.

  “Nothing's happening,” Eena said. She followed my gaze. She stepped a few feet closer to the patch of sand and stared at it.

  “Are you sure?” I said.

  Then the sand started to move. It was slow and lethargic, but some grains were definitely moving, rolling and jumping down the beach.

  It wasn't as impressive as before, but I'd done it.

  I stopped focusing and the sand stopped. I took a deep breath, almost gasping. It was hard to focus for so long, even though my effort had such a tiny effect. I felt like I'd just ran fifty yards.

  Eena looked back over her shoulder at me. I had a hard time telling what her expression was. It was too dark. But I could see the lighter whites of her eyes. They were shining.

  She leaped towards me and hugged me. It felt great. I took a chance and hugged her back. I felt the wonderful feeling from before.

  “This is awesome!” she said. “You've got it! Some people just have a talent for it. You're one of the special ones. You're so lucky!”

  “I sure am,” I said into her hair. She smelled clean.

  She broke away. I missed her immediately, like a puzzle piece had been taken out of my body.

  “It's dreaming,” she said. When I looked questioningly at her, she continued. “It's what I call it. I don't know if they gave it an official name.”

  “They?” I said. “Who are they?”

  She ignored me and asked a question of her own.

  “How long did it take you?” She said. “What does it feel like?”

  “It's hard. I have to think and focus and when I actually move anything, it makes me tired. Like I collapsed when I moved Zack.”

  “Zack! Does he know about this?” I couldn't see her expression very well, but she sound
ed worried.

  “Don't worry. Zack's my brother. He's a good guy. He's cool.”

  “Okay.” Eena didn't sound convinced.

  “Anyway, when I tried to move him, it was so tiring. Or maybe it was just from practicing moving sand just a little while earlier. Anyway, I fell down, like my legs couldn't hold me anymore. I woke up in the Lodge's nurse's station. The doctor gave me orange juice.”

  Eena nodded in the dimness.

  “Yeah, that makes sense. Until you get good at it, be careful, Tyler, okay? It takes a huge amount of energy to dream, especially if your body isn't used to it. Sugar is great for a quick shot of energy. And make sure to eat a lot.”

  I thought about my huge lunch earlier in the day.

  “No problem.”

  “Thank you for doing this,” Eena said. Her voice was different. Quieter and softer. She seemed almost apologetic.

  “No problem.” I said. I was eager to help, to find whatever her problem was and fix it and make her happy.

  “So what about you?” I said. “You can move things too? You can dream? Are you any good?”

  I felt a hand touch my face.

  I looked at Eena, amazed. She had one hand by her side and the other on her hip, like she was posing for a picture.

  Her hands were nowhere near me. But I could feel her touch. It was like she was gently placing her palm against my cheek. There was a gentle pressure and a softness.

  “Yes,” she said. “I'm pretty good.”

  I stood there frozen, amazed, feeling the touch of her “hand” on my face.

  Then Eena laughed and the feeling disappeared. I was disappointed at first, until I heard her next words.

  “I think I owe you an explanation.”

  Chapter 18

  This was it. I'd finally discover what was going on. What Eena needed me for. What this dreaming power actually was. I tried to be patient and wait. It was hard – I could barely stand the pause she took to inhale and speak.