“Hey, Dolly,” she said. “The check says I owe $11.11.
Just charge it for $15.”
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Chapter 12
Dreams
Heather laughed when she opened her front door.
Though they hadn’t planned to coordinate outfi ts, she and Jade looked identical in ponytails, black dresses and high heels. As they giggled, they shook their heads in unison and each instinctively hid blushing cheeks behind a fi nger-spread hand. It felt as though an invisible life-size mirror separated them and it fi lled the sisters with an eeriness that neither was ready to deal with just yet.
Heather couldn’t help but think a passerby would have to be very confi dent in his mental health to drive by and not smash his car into a tree.
“Ready?” Jade asked, obviously refusing to reference the doppelganger moment. They knew instantly it was going to be an interesting night.
Jade’s smile was so big Heather thought she looked shiny. Before Heather had the chance to respond, Jade pushed passed her and sprinted toward the bathroom.
“Hey, you might want to think about lifting the toilet seat this time!” Heather called out, half laughing and half 175
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serious. In the past, she would have already jumped up to dampen a cloth or ooze emotional support but all that had changed a few months before. Sympathetic and fi lled with good intentions, Heather had sat with Jade at the base of the toilet when her sister was about fi ve months and Jade’s lunch threatened to revive itself. Chunks of hot dog mistook Heather’s lap for the toilet bowl awaiting it and the odor sent a message to her own gag refl exes. Clean-up was even more disgusting than the vomit party and both agreed to just allow Jade some privacy in the future.
Heather walked into the living room and watched the boys play video games with Damon. They gave cheers of victory or groans of defeat every few seconds.
“Okay, we’re getting ready to go,” she said softly.
Damon started out as her boyfriend, became her husband, turned into an enemy, and ended up being family to Heather. He shot a look of disapproval her way but was careful not to let the boys see. She stuck her tongue out at him and ignored the silent plea in his eyes the best she could. Both he and Joey had asked her not to venture out into public until the weirdness was over and Heather had responded with a lecture about power and control issues and a husband’s lack of rights post-divorce.
She tried to explain to both of them that she was going because of the weirdness.
When she didn’t get a verbal response or even a nod from either child, Heather cupped her mouth with both hands.
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“Hello out there?” she called dramatically.
“Sorry, Mom,” Jack answered with a giggle.
“Yeah, sorry,” Tommy fi bbed.
Heather leaned in to kiss them goodbye and she inhaled the scents that emanated from their hair and their necks. They had already showered and changed at Damon’s persuasive suggestion and both looked squeaky clean. Jack’s damp hair was brushed back neatly and Tommy’s hung mostly over one eye, as was his new skater trademark. When she asked if they had remembered to brush their teeth, Jack blew a minty puff of air toward her nostrils.
“Thanks, dude,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he said still giggling.
“Food’s in the fridge, Damon,” she instructed as she walked toward the kitchen. She had to pass his chair on the way there and when she walked by his chair, she smacked a fi nger-kiss onto his forehead. Heather continued her walk but stopped abruptly and turned back.
“Thanks for watching them,” she said seriously.
“You’re a good guy sometimes.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he mumbled.
Damon had never been good at accepting compliments and his responses made it diffi cult to dish them out very often.
“Who said food?” Jade asked as she wobbled back down the hallway.
Heather glanced at her watch and wondered if there were any possibility of getting her sister safely past 177
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the refrigerator and still make it on time for the dream seminar.
After they parked, the sisters practically jumped out of the car. They took the stairs that led to the building two at a time and jogged down the walkway that led to the main building.
“They better not have locked the doors yet,” Jade threatened.
“Or what?” Heather laughed.
“Or else I’ll be super-mad,” Jade said in a dumb valley-girl voice.
As they ran, Heather worked hard to read the bold type at the top of their tickets. It clearly instructed participants to arrive fi fteen minutes early and they were about fi ve minutes late. Heather had too many questions and Jade had too much of an appetite for them to accept being locked out so she hoped that wasn’t the case. She hated being forced to break into places.
Luckily for all involved, the doors were still open to stragglers such as themselves. They walked inside and oozed amazement at the dream-like room they found themselves in. A building-sized mural painted on one wall showed a woman fl oating above her bed. It was unclear whether or not she was supposed to be happy about the levitation because she was faceless under a head of long red curls.
Heather knew, without looking down, that her arm hair stood at attention like an army of obedient 178
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soldiers. She sucked in a surprised gulp of air and a cold clamminess spread its way across her palms. The picture looked exactly like the guardian angel that her Wiccan friends said they had seen around her and Heather knew she’d come to the right place.
Stars lit up the ceiling and refl ected off the wooden fl oor, creating a strange and beautiful lighting effect.
It made Heather feel as though she were one with the universe. She turned to see Jade’s reaction and couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s inability to close her mouth.
A huge spiral staircase remained the centerpiece for the room and it made Heather think of a stairway to heaven. A plaque beside the bottom stair vied for their attention.
Your dreams are the doorways to the evolution of consciousness frozen in time ~ Ellie Crystal
“Do we go upstairs?” Heather asked nervously.
“Like I’m supposed to know,” Jade snapped. Her tone told Heather she was getting hungry again.
“Hello.”
A deep voice from behind them made both sisters scream shamelessly. When they dared to turn around and face the source of their fright, they found themselves face-to-face with a very tall, very thin man. The smile on his face said he either meant no harm or that he thought they’d look good hanging on his wall.
“I’m sorry,” he laughed. “I didn’t mean to scare you.
Are you here for the dream seminar?”
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He offered a hand and Heather accepted the stranger’s touch with decreasing concern. He had a gentleness about him that couldn’t be misconstrued as anything else. His head was in its last stages of balding and his blue eyes told all those who came into contact with them to just relax.
“Yes, we are. We were just admiring the room; pretty trippy looking. Should we go upstairs? Where’s the food?”
Jade asked.
Her incessant babbling told Heather she had passed hungry and had advanced to a state of starvation. Heather worried about what might happen if they didn’t fi nd some potatoes soon.
“Yes, everyone’s upstairs, along with the food. I was just coming out to lock the door so it looks like you’re all ours,” he answered. “I’m John, by the way.”
“Hi, John,” Heather said. “I’m Heather Simmons and this is my sister, Jade Carney.”
Jade was the only one of the three sisters who still carried their father’s name. Heather had decided to hold onto her married name so
it wasn’t different than both of her children. Lisa shed herself of the name, and the family for that matter, when she got married.
John walked toward the staircase and motioned for them to follow. Heather noted that she got no bad vibes from him and imagined that if she could see auras, his would be mint green.
“Good, we were worried we were too late,” Jade said and Heather knew what was coming next.
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“Are you serving dinner before or after the seminar?”
He laughed and motioned for them to follow.
“We’re eating during the seminar. As a matter of fact, they’re laying out the buffet right now.”
He turned toward the staircase and led them to the top.
A crowd had already gathered into clumps throughout the large room at the top of the staircase.
Heather lost Jade within the fi rst minute but before she had a chance to really panic, her little sister popped up at her side again. Somehow, she had already commandeered a plate of roast beef, new potatoes and broccoli. A coke was in her other hand and a slice of bread was held snugly between her teeth.
“Classy,” Heather said.
They walked toward the tables and noticed that name tags had been placed in front of every place setting.
After fi nding their names, they slid into chairs and hoped nobody thought less of them for the several faux pas they’d already committed.
“You know, it’s probably not proper etiquette to start eating before anyone else has even gotten into the food line,” Heather said matter-of-factly. She looked around the room to see where John had taken off to but couldn’t spot him.
Curious dreamers sauntered around the room, trying to balance dishes and drinks as they looked for their 181
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assigned tables. The sisters’ table had already fi lled to capacity and Heather wondered what had brought each of the others to such a seminar.
She scanned the room in hopes her eyes would magically connect with someone who understood, someone who would give her answers but no such meeting of the minds occurred. When the lights dimmed, she was grateful for the small dose of privacy and focused her attention on the stage in front of her.
John walked onto the platform but this time he wasn’t alone. A petite brunette followed him to a couple of waiting chairs that had been set up on the stage. Heather noticed they each had microphones pinned to the top of their shirts. She wondered if they’d ever forgotten the mikes were on and had been caught talking about audience members.
The speakers introduced themselves as scientists who each carried a degree in experimental psychology.
Heather hadn’t been aware that such a credential existed but decided to take their word for it. They had also spent most of their adult lives studying dreams and they seemed excited to share their knowledge. Heather tried to relax and silently formulated the questions she wanted to ask.
When she had fi rst seen the advertisement for the dream seminar, she hadn’t been sure if the focus would be psychological or supernatural. As it went, the dynamic dream duo found a way to maintain a decent balance of each. John covered the groundwork for proven facts, 182
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including the stages of sleep and the body’s need for each one of them.
Sandra discussed beliefs that neither Heather nor Jade had ever even considered. She introduced the possibility of dreams leading to other worlds, serving as a portal that connected people to their parallel selves. Heather listened for the sound of chair legs scuffi ng the fl oor as people jumped from their seats to run for the door, but she heard nothing but silence from the audience. When she looked around to assess the crowd’s emotional state, she noticed that all eyes were on her.
“What?” Heather whispered to her suddenly rigid sister.
“What do you mean what?” Jade whispered back.
“You just screamed.”
Heather wouldn’t have believed her sister if not for the fact that she seemed sincerely mortifi ed. Her own heart pounded and Heather wondered if this was the moment of the big breakdown. She had no recollection of making any sort of sound and could only assume her dreaded turning point had just been reached.
“I’m sorry,” she said fl atly, addressing the crowd as confi dently as she could fake. “I thought I was choking,”
she lied.
It was all she had.
John saved her from deeper humiliation by joking it away and bringing the audience back to a place of wonder and awe. At the beginning of the seminar, he had 183
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promised everyone the opportunity to ask questions, and they had waited patiently.
Heather was still reeling from her schizophrenic episode but didn’t want to lose out on the opportunity to get some answers. She found herself crossing off planned questions only to discover that new ones sprang from their extinction. A short, pudgy woman ambitiously thrust her hand higher than the rest and ended up getting fi rst dibs.
“What’s a lucid dream?” she asked in a squeaky voice that didn’t match her hearty appearance. Heather guessed the poor woman had faced many social challenges in her lifetime.
“A lucid dream is one in which you’re completely aware that you’re dreaming,” Sandra answered. She smiled and Heather decided the tiny woman held powerful secrets.
“Are they common?” asked an older man at her own table.
Sandra took the fl oor again.
“Actually, they’re very uncommon. As a matter of fact, there are entire religions where people spend years training themselves to obtain lucid dreams.”
Heather was struck by a fast moving memory. As a child, she had experienced both terrifying nightmares and complete awareness while she was sleeping. She couldn’t believe that she’d forgotten. Without waiting to be called on, she blurted out her fi rst question.
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“If we were able to have a lucid dream, does that mean we could also manipulate what happens in the dream?” she asked bravely.
Her hosts seemed impressed by the question and the other raised hands went down, one by one. It was John who answered this time.
“There are ways to infl uence your dreams but it’s not easy. It’s strenuous and it requires a great deal of concentration. It’s more common within children than adults,” he added. His smile told Heather that he believed she was capable of a lucid dream or at least that’s how she interpreted his look.
Another guest asked why children were more prone to it and John answered him.
“We grow up,” he said simply. “Our experiences and our pain cause our ability to fade. Think about it. To become both observer and participant simultaneously, we need to block out negativity and accept the unbelievable, qualities much easier for children to attain.”
“Qualities that we lose when we come to realize deception,” added Sandra.
“You mean, like, getting older and fi nding out that Santa Clause isn’t real?” asked a woman at the opposite end of the room.
“Bingo. The seed of betrayal is born. We forgive the lie but we don’t forget it,” he said.
“That’s right,” Sandra joined. “Then we learn they lied to us about the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny. We’re raised in a world of half truths and unfulfi lled fantasies 185
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followed by harsh realities. It’s no wonder so many people lose faith in God. We’re waiting for the inevitable conversation that He was never real to begin with and we feel stupid to have believed in the fi rst place.”
“Our belief systems are challenged and we move further and further away from the ability to communicate with ourselves on other levels. We start to believe less in the things we don’t understand until we completely cut off the idea that other worlds exist at all,” Sandra fi nished.
“What do you mean by our parallel selves exactly?”
&
nbsp; Jade asked without being called on. “Is that just an analogy or do you really believe we all exist in another world?”
A low buzz traveled from one corner of the room to another as the people voiced mild skepticism. Their speakers hadn’t even answered the question yet and everyone was already poised to disbelieve. Heather thought there may be something to what John had said.
The pair had obviously expected the group’s reaction and neither of them seemed offended. She imagined they had heard every debate there was.
“We mean it quite literally,” John fi nally answered.
His smile seemed genuine rather a facade born of embarrassment. Heather liked him even more than she did at the beginning.
He continued his explanation. “We live in a world governed by balance. There is no good without bad. There’s no light without darkness. There’s no happy without sad or else we wouldn’t know the meaning of happy to begin with. I know it sounds cryptic but it’s also quite logical if 186
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you really think about it. Each soul that exists has a soul to balance it out in someplace else.”
The room got quiet. Nobody seemed interested in what the next person was thinking anymore and eye contact was kept to a minimum. Everyone allowed the words to sink in, each person responsible to which levels those words penetrated.
Questions erupted from the other tables and Heather took in each question and answer. She listened intently and scribbled notes on the single piece of paper she’d brought with her. When questions about parallel worlds were exhausted, the focus shifted back to dreams. An older man three seats away raised his hand.
“What about repeated dreams?” he asked with a note of frustration in his voice. “I’ve had the same dream again and again for years.”
The poor guy didn’t look happy about it and Heather fought the urge to ask him what his dream was about. He followed his question with a long sip of water, as though asking it had drained him of all nutrients. John took the question.
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