by Gareth Otton
However, as Tad wiped away his tears, his smile didn’t leave his face because for the first time in a while the pain of thinking about his lost family was bitter sweet, and he could look on these pictures and remember the good times rather than concentrate on the horrible circumstances of how they left him.
“It looks amazing.”
Tad was so consumed by his thoughts that he hadn’t heard anyone enter the room, and he jumped when Stella spoke. She smiled at his reaction but didn’t tease him, she just nodded at the painting.
“Lindsay has quite the talent. It looks almost real.”
“That she does,” he agreed, taking one last minute to admire the portrait before turning to Stella.
“I thought you had more work with Mitena that you wanted to get done today. I didn’t expect you home until tonight.”
“We finished quicker than expected,” Stella admitted. “And I had a few other things I wanted to take care of today.” Before Tad could ask what she was talking about, Stella asked a question of her own. “Does this being on the wall mean you’re finally going to stop moping about the house all day and you’re going to come do something useful for a change?”
Her tone was light, making it clear she was teasing him, but Tad recognised how serious she was at the same time.
“Yeah, I’m done with this. The doctor was right, it helped.”
“Really?” Stella asked, the hope in her voice portraying just how patient she had been with him over the last few months. After months of recovery, he was learning to recognise that though the last year and a half had been hard for him, in many ways he was blessed. Stella’s patience, even after going through her own loss, was a perfect example of something he never wanted to forget again.
“Really,” he agreed.
“So you’ll come work with me and Mitena tomorrow?” The hope faded from her expression when Tad shook his head and there was genuine hurt in her voice when she asked, “Why not?”
“Because that’s your path, Stella. I’ve been thinking while painting this and I’ve realised that there’s another path for me to walk.”
Her normally controlled aura flickered from the dark purple of irritation to a lighter blue of hope before she reigned herself in and asked, “What path is that?”
“I think I’d like to revisit what I started with Jacob. In one thing Norman was always right, now that the Merging has gone global, dreamwalkers should help lead the way in some form or another. This time, I won’t leave that to someone like Jacob. There are still dreamwalkers out there who could use some guidance and help, starting with the prisoners like Brad, good people who just made a big mistake. Besides, it’s not good for us to be so isolated. Hopefully one day I can turn us into a community that can give back to the world. I mean, the work you are doing with Mitena is amazing, but no matter how good those dreamcatchers get, there’s no substitution for the quick response or creative thinking of a dreamwalker at times.”
The hope in Stella’s aura had completely consumed the frustration, and she was smiling again at his words.
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said. “You’re right, there’ll always be a place in the world for dreamwalkers, and who better to lead them to that place than the Dreamwalker himself.”
Tad rolled his eyes at the nickname, but he chuckled along with Stella at the same time.
“That’s not all I want to do,” he said. “I think I’d also like to continue what Tony started. I think I need to keep working with ghosts. Right now, I am the only person in the world that can help them stay here without needing to merge with them. At the least, I would like to work with people like Kimberly to help keep ghosts grounded until they are ready to move on. But who knows, maybe I could borrow Mitena at some point and we can figure out a more permanent solution.”
“I’m sure that could be arranged,” Stella said. “It’s all going to have to wait for a bit though as there’s something we need to talk about first.”
Tad’s smile faded as Stella’s tone grew serious.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, fearing the worst.
“I brought someone here to see you and she needs somewhere to live for the next five years or so. I thought maybe you could help.”
Tad frowned in confusion, but it only lasted a second before there was a blur of copper coloured hair and he was almost knocked off his feet by an overly excited teenager who was dangerously close to turning fourteen. Tad grunted and took a step back, hugging Jen even as Hawk and Growler followed her into the room. Suddenly, something clicked in his head. Stella had asked to bring Growler with her this morning and now he understood why. She didn’t want Growler here and sensing Jen’s arrival or he would have tipped Tad off. She had obviously thought this through.
As great as it felt to get a hug from his daughter, Tad manoeuvred her to arms length so he could ask them both a question.
“What are you doing here? You know we’re not supposed to see each other until I’ve finished with the appeal.”
“Not anymore,” Jen disagreed, beaming up at him and happier than he had seen her in a long time. “They’re letting me come home.”
Tad blinked, not understanding what he was hearing and looking up to a grinning Stella for answers.
“That new law they passed the other day, the one guaranteeing ghosts rights in the eyes of the law, it meant that the courts can start considering the testimony of ghosts as witnesses. With Amber testifying for Jen’s version of events, and Rodney and Thomas testifying for your version of events, there’s no doubt anymore that Jen’s parents wanted you to look after her. Thomas especially has been fighting hard for this, hitting up his old contacts in parliament and working to get this sorted.”
“But… I don’t… My lawyers didn’t say anything,” Tad asked, unable to process the news.
“That’s because I asked them not to. It’s not official until Wednesday when you’re back in front of the judge, but with the testimony of ghosts who have actually been inside your head, the good public support you’ve had recently, and everything you’ve done for the country, they’ve decided not to fight anymore.”
“So I can come home, dad,” Jen finished for Stella.
Tad was speechless as for the second time in mere minutes there were tears falling from his eyes, and once again they weren’t tears of sadness.
Jen’s coming home, he thought, not quite believing the words at first as it had been so long that he had started to believe it would never happen. But as the echo of those words bounced around his head more and more, it finally sank in.
“Jen’s coming home,” he said rather stupidly, but before anyone could call him on it, it was his turn to surprise his daughter with a hug, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around while she squealed in surprise.
“Too tight, dad,” Jen squeaked, half joking and half serious, but he ignored her and just hugged her even tighter as finally the nightmare was over.
Standing off to the side, he noticed Stella grinning at them. Without letting Jen go, he waved her over, indicating he wanted to hug her too. Not to be left out of the action, two giant dogs trotted over, both of them jumping up so that Growler was leaning on Tad and Stella, but Hawk stood with both forepaws on Jen’s shoulders, resting his muzzle on the top of her head as he started licking faces.
Stella sputtered in surprise as he went for her first and Jen shouted Hawk’s name in protest, but Tad just laughed in genuine happiness for the first time in months. He couldn’t help but glance up at the pictures on the wall, wondering at the timing of finishing the painting of Charles within minutes of getting the news about Jen.
While the pictures could never replace the ghosts’ presence in his life, looking at them while holding his daughter and Stella in his arms, he suddenly felt like for the first time he had his family back.
The memory of a supernatural warmth washed over him as he flashed back to the feeling he got when he was holding open that hole in reality and thought
he was going to fail. The memory of the people on that wall was what gave him the strength to keep going, but more than this, he was sure that in that moment he could feel them wherever they are now, and he knew they were waiting for him. He was suddenly more confident than ever that one day he would see them again, and though he’d miss them terribly until then, right now he needed to get on with the business of living.
He was broken from his thoughts as a long, wet tongue somehow reached his face at over six feet off the floor, and it was his turn to sputter as he took a step back, disengaging from the hug. It turned out that Tad was the support beam for this little group and the second he stepped back, the whole thing tumbled. Hawk’s weight on Jen knocked her to the ground, Growler pulled down Stella, and trying to catch herself, she pulled Tad down with her.
They fell in a tangled heap of arms and legs, and from there they faced a new problem. So close to the ground it was just all the easier for both dogs to get to them. It wasn’t long before Tad and his family were crying with laughter as they fought off their overgrown, playful puppies, while being watched over by the smiling faces on the wall.
Epilogue
Tuesday, November 30th 2032
21:12 (local time)
“Tim, turn that off, it’s nearly our turn.”
With a put-upon sigh that only a nine-year-old pulled from his game can produce, Tim placed his finger over the glowing dreamcatcher at the bottom of the screen and mentally commanded it to power down. Instantly, the screen went black and Tim slapped the device against his forearm where it curled up like a glossy black bracer, waiting to be used later.
When he looked up, he found his father was right. The queue that had been over a hundred people long was finally down to just two more people before them. It was the busiest Tim had ever seen the terminal at the end of his street, and there had almost been too many people to fit in the building.
“Why did we have to wait so long?” he moaned as he shuffled to his dad’s side. “We’ve been here forever.”
His dad laughed even as one of the people in front of them stepped onto the platform that contained the complicated design of the giant dreamcatcher. It flashed white for a second, transporting the person on the pad to a new location. Air rushed in to fill the sudden void with an all too familiar pop.
“You should count yourself lucky,” his father said. “You were born after the Second Merging and you don’t know the meaning of the word patience. Back then if you wanted to take a trip to Cardiff you’d have to drive five hours to Los Angeles, wait in an airport for another couple of hours, fly on a plane for ten more hours, then get a train from London to Cardiff which would take who knows how long. Now we’re going where we want just by walking down the street. You don’t know how lucky you are.”
Tim rolled his eyes.
“Whatever, dad,” he said, having heard that same tired story before.
The man in front of them, a tall black man in his late fifties, turned and grinned at Tim’s dad.
“Kids today don’t know how good they’ve got it,” he said, to which Tim’s father predictably snorted and agreed. Thankfully, it was that man’s turn on the transport pad or Tim just knew they would start talking about the old days when everyone drove cars and you were lucky not to be run over every time you stepped outside the door. He’d heard it all before and learnt about the olden days at school. He couldn’t bear going over that yet again.
“Here we go, we’re next,” his dad said excitedly, taking Tim’s hand and pulling him along to the front of the queue. “Evening Sally. Must have been a long day for you,” he said to the woman standing next to the pad.
“Craig, Timmy, good to see you both. And don’t you know it. Merging day is always the busiest day of the year.”
“Merging day’s not for another month,” Tim protested and both of the adults rolled their eyes in the manner of people who knew something he didn’t which bugged the hell out of Tim. Seeing his frustration, his dad explained.
“You’re talking about Global Merging day,” he said. “That was the second one. This is the one that changed everything the first time, and that’s the day that most people make the trip to Cardiff. You know, the Dreamwalker and his wife make an appearance most years.”
For the first time, Tim didn’t roll his eyes at the topic. His father was fascinated with all this stuff and always had been, but Tim didn’t see the point. But talking about the Dreamwalker and Stella Holcroft, that was different.
Eyes wide, he asked, “Will… Will they be there tonight?”
Sally laughed at his question, but not in an unkind way.
“I’ve seen that look before. Sorry, kid, you’re a bit late now. It’s gone three in the morning over there. The Dreamwalker’s been and gone already. Heard he gave a good speech this year, announced some new project his charity’s been working on.”
“He didn’t fight a nightmare or anything?”
Again Sally laughed, as did his dad.
“There’s not been a proper nightmare for him to fight in years,” his dad said. “But you never know. We are going to Cardiff after all. That’s the Dream capital of the world and who knows what sort of stuff happens there.”
Tim knew his father was teasing him, but wished that what he said was true. If he saw a real life nightmare… He could only imagine the looks on his friend’s faces at school tomorrow. And if he saw the Dreamwalker as well… Suddenly he wasn’t so upset about his dad dragging him out so late at night just so they could go visit some silly monument.
A beep sounded that made him jump, and Sally looked at her wrist and the screen wrapped around it.
“Alright then boys, you’re my last trip of the night and you just got your window. Onto the pad, quickly now, I want to get home off these tired old feet.”
Still holding onto his hand, his dad tugged Tim behind him as they stepped onto the glossy surface that held the giant dreamcatcher.
“Don’t forget to jump now,” Sally said before she pressed her finger to a smaller dreamcatcher on a metal plate on the wall, and suddenly Tim was swallowed up in a flash of light. He jumped as requested, and his feet left the floor in the terminal at the end of the street and touched down in another terminal nearly five and a half thousand miles away.
“Welcome to the Tony Suen Dream Gate. Please step off the pad and follow the gold line. Do not stray outside the ropes. You are welcome to take pictures, but please be respectful of other visitors.”
Tim ignored the recorded voice as he stepped off the pad and his mouth almost hit the floor. This dreamwalking terminal was the biggest he had ever seen. At least twenty transport pads had been set up around the edge of the enormous room, each with their own golden line that led from the pad over the polished floor towards the same roped off pathway that he was following out of the building.
The room was artificially bright thanks to the dreamcatchers embedded in the walls, the ceiling, and floor. Tim had never known a world without dreamcatchers, but even for him, this place was unusual.
“This is something, isn’t it?” his dad said as he led Tim off the pad towards the exit of the building. “There are terminals like this all over Cardiff, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in this city. I haven’t had a chance to come here much because the place is a bit rich for my tastes, but I can’t deny it’s impressive.”
Tim didn’t answer, he just continued to gawp as two more pads flashed, creating the familiar pops of dreamwalking people and more tourists stepped into the large room, some of them with eyes as wide as Tim’s. As soon as they started speaking, it was obvious they weren’t from America, and Tim wondered just where in the world these people were coming from.
Suddenly, he was overcome by cold as they stepped out of the heated building into the night air. He shivered and turned to look where he was going, and for the second time, he gasped. In the distance, he could see the famous skyline of Cardiff. For years, this had been the home of the biggest businesses on the
planet and the city had grown with it. Tim had seen loads of web-shows set here so he didn’t think it would be this impressive, but seeing it up close and in person… It was almost like stepping into the future.
“I knew you would love it. I bet you’re glad you came with your dad now, aren’t you?”
Tim looked away from the skyline to see his dad grinning from ear to ear and looking in the complete opposite direction to what had caught Tim’s gaze. Tim followed where he was looking and saw another massive line of people and several large statues that lined the path, each illuminated by dreamcatchers on their bases.
Tim didn’t want to humour his dad, but he couldn’t help but ask, “Who’s that?” as they walked past the first statue.
“That’s Prime Minister Norman Geller. He was the—”
“What about that one?” Tim interrupted, not caring about some stuffy old Prime Minister and more eager to see the next statue.
“That’s Leon Galanis,” his father answered, not put out in the least as he had another chance to talk about all the things he had learned about the great battle of the Second Merging and the people involved.
“And this one is Stella Holcroft. You know who she is, of course. Which means the next one is the Dreamwalker himself.”
Tim looked up at the next statue, and was a little underwhelmed. Whoever had sculpted it had gone for accuracy over style and it wasn’t anywhere near as noble looking as the Prime Minister’s, nor as heroic as Leon Galanis’, nor as beautiful as Stella’s. Instead, there was just a plain looking guy who was a bit too thin and a bit too tall. However, though underwhelmed at the sight of him, Tim had seen him before on videos and knew that though the man looked ordinary, he was anything but.