Brain Freeze

by Oliver Phommavanh

Mum murmured in agreement.

  Abigail turned to her mum. ‘How about you?’

  ‘I can’t remember my dreams,’ Mum said. ‘I mean, I remember dreaming something but I forget the details as soon as I wake up.’

  Abigail stared at her bowl of cereal. Her dad’s dream land was just a giant office building like in real life, which doesn’t count. Her mum’s dream land was just hazy. Abigail didn’t want to be like either of them. She wanted to be a real dreamer forever. She really needed that double bed!

  Abigail’s dream land became more and more crowded, and her dream creations were beginning to fight more often. The pie-geons, pies with wings, were getting in the way of the buttered-flies. Abigail’s dream library, where you can lick the different flavoured book covers, was overflowing with neon gnomes, giant bowls of cake batter and goatatoes, potato-shaped goats, who started to eat all the tasty colourful books.

  Abigail watched from the balcony of her Lego tower. There was a giant Venus skytrap on the ledge, a plant that liked to eat clouds.

  The Unicorncob stood by her side. ‘Can’t you dream up another huge tower?’

  Abigail shook her head. ‘I can’t dream up any more buildings,’ she whispered. ‘I’m too scared to dream anything bigger than this Venus skytrap.’

  ‘I really hope you can make your family get you that double bed,’ the Unicorncob said.

  ‘My family? It’s only my parents who I need to . . . hang on, I’ve got it!’

  Abigail woke up from her dream land with a new plan.

  Abigail started to pester her aunties and uncles at family events, like Lunar New Year. When Abigail got a whole bunch of lucky red pockets with money, she told them about her plan for a double bed.

  All of her aunties and uncles were bamboozled. Auntie Christine and Uncle Harry thought Abigail was crazy, even after listening to all of Abigail’s twenty-seven reasons. This included a made-up report that lying down on your bed to do homework makes you smarter, and the fact that her new bed could be an indoor trampoline and she could practise on it to try out for the trampoline team at the Olympics.

  Abigail dreamt about having a double bed and dreaming on it. Dreams of dreaming were the best kind of dreams. When Abigail went back to her dream land, she discovered a double bed outside the Unicorncob’s forest.

  ‘Is this it?’ the Unicorncob asked. ‘The solution to all our problems?’

  ‘No,’ Abigail said. ‘I mean, it is a double bed, but not a real one in my real life . . .’ She tried her best not to dream up any more things, otherwise her dream land would be full. But it was hard not to dream anything new. For Abigail, it would be like telling an eagle not to fly or a hot dog not to be tasty. It was impossible.

  It was only two weeks before Abigail’s birthday, and she had no choice but to pester her big sisters. After school, Rebecca and Claire were doing their homework at the dining table.

  Abigail sat next to them. ‘Hello!’ she said.

  Rebecca and Claire kept working on their laptops, lost deep inside their screens. Abigail clenched her fists and then she quickly slammed their laptop lids down.

  ‘Hey!’ Rebecca said. ‘Can you go play somewhere else, Abigail?’

  ‘Not until you make Mum and Dad get me a double bed.’

  ‘I don’t get it,’ Claire said, flicking her hair. ‘We don’t even have double beds. What makes you think you need one?’

  Abigail wondered if it was time to tell them the truth. They were her sisters after all. Perhaps they would understand. ‘Because my dreams are getting too big for my bed,’ she said.

  Rebecca and Claire looked at each other.

  ‘Really?’ Rebecca said.

  ‘Yeah, dreaming is my second favourite hobby after sleeping,’ Abigail said. She’d also put that in her school essay. ‘I love dreaming, but now I need room to grow my dreams.’ Abigail spread her arms wide. ‘My poor Unicorncob needs room to fly.’

  ‘Are you for real?’ Claire said.

  ‘Yeah, totally. I want to build more rooms in my mud-cake castle, so my straw monster can have his own gym and do strength training, like Mum,’ Abigail said. ‘But I don’t have the room.’

  She watched Rebecca and Claire’s faces as they grew redder in their cheeks. Abigail stepped back, worried they were going to let off a laughter grenade. But her sisters just smirked and gave each other an embarrassed glance.

  Then Rebecca gently put her hands on Abigail’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. ‘Maybe you can let go of your older dreams.’

  Abigail’s jaw swung wide open. ‘Huh?’

  ‘Get rid of your old dreams,’ Claire said. ‘Then you’ll have room and you won’t need a double bed.’

  Abigail’s lips quivered. Out of all the solutions that her family had given her, this was absolutely the worst. ‘That’s so silly and stupid, times a million,’ she said. ‘I could never throw away any of my dreams. Not even one.’

  She ran out of the room, tears stinging her cheeks.

  Rebecca and Claire looked at each other, nodded, and went back to their laptops. An hour later, they went to see their parents in the kitchen who were washing the dishes.

  ‘I think we can raise enough money for Abigail’s birthday present,’ Claire said.

  ‘Is she still on about this silly double bed thing?’ Dad asked.

  Mum flung a tea towel over her shoulder. ‘Why on earth does she want one so much?’ she said.

  Rebecca opened her mouth but Claire elbowed her in the ribs.

  ‘If this is what Abigail really wants, let’s just do it,’ Claire said. ‘Then she won’t bother any of us again.’

  That night, Abigail went back into her dream land and went to find some of her older dreams. She was looking for something she could bear to throw away, like her marshmallow air balloon, or her magic hula hoop that made your limbs longer when you used it. She hadn’t thought about her shark on rollerskates in ages, maybe he could make way for something else. But Abigail looked at her rollerskating shark at his skate park, doing fin to flipper tricks in the air. She giggled at the sparkly purple helmet that fitted over his head.

  She couldn’t un-dream the shark. She couldn’t throw away any of her dreams. The only thing she could do was get a bigger bed.

  As Abigail lay on her tiny bed, Abigail’s parents started making phone calls to all their relatives, asking if they wanted to pitch in for a present.

  ‘Sorry,’ Uncle Harry said. ‘We already bought Abigail a present.’

  Mum and Dad frowned. ‘Maybe we should get that second-hand bed,’ Mum said.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Dad said. ‘If she’s getting one, then it might as well be brand new.’

  ‘It can double up as her Christmas present,’ Mum said, with a grin.

  On Abigail’s ninth birthday, her mum took her out to watch a movie. Abigail’s dad and her sisters went to a bedding store and bought Abigail a brand new double bed. They helped push the bed up into her room. It was tight but there was just enough room left to squeeze past and get in and out of the door.

  ‘Wow, Abigail was right. It does fit after all,’ Dad said.

  Rebecca and Claire covered the bed in wrapping paper.

  Abigail’s dad shook his head. ‘Why would you wrap it up?’ he said. ‘She’s going to know it’s a double bed.’

  Claire shrugged. ‘We were just bored,’ she said. ‘And Rebecca couldn’t find a giant ribbon.’

  Rebecca rolled her eyes. ‘Nobody sells giant ribbons at the shops.’

  Abigail and her mum got home later that afternoon. Before her mum could stop her, Abigail raced up the stairs.

  She screamed and dived onto her present, with the wrapping paper still on it. It took her three minutes to unwrap the whole thing.

  Abigail leapt onto her dad’s back. ‘Thank you, I love it, I love it!’ she said. She hopped off and gave her mum a giant hug too. ‘I want to try it out now.’ Abigail tucked herself in. ‘Good night, everyone.’

  Abigail’s m
um frowned. ‘But it’s only six-thirty.’

  ‘Can I just take a nap?’ Abigail said.

  But before she could lie down, the doorbell rang and Abigail rushed to answer the door. It was Uncle Harry and Auntie Christine. ‘Happy Birthday, sweetie,’ Auntie Christine said. ‘Come see your present outside.’

  Abigail walked outside with them and shrieked. There was a double bed up against the fence, with a giant ribbon on it.

  ‘Wowee, another double bed!’ Abigail said, spreading her arms out to give it a giant hug.

  The rest of Abigail’s family walked out to the front lawn.

  Claire slapped Rebecca on the arm. ‘I told you they made those giant ribbons.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ Abigail’s mum asked Auntie Christine.

  ‘We wanted it to be a surprise for her,’ Auntie Christine said.

  Abigail’s mum folded her arms. ‘She’s not the only one who’s surprised.’

  Just then, a truck stopped outside the house and the driver hopped out of the truck. ‘Special delivery for Abigail Quach.’

  Abigail bounced up and down. ‘That’s me!’

  The driver and his helper went to the back of the truck and pulled out . . . a double bed! They dropped it beside the one from her Auntie and Uncle.

  Abigail’s dad signed for the bed. ‘Who is this from?’

  ‘Grandma Quach,’ the driver said, reading from his order form. He smiled at Abigail. ‘Happy Birthday!’

  Abigail was busting with excitement. ‘I must be dreaming.’

  Rebecca and Claire went on either side of Abigail and pinched her twice.

  ‘No, I think we’re in my nightmare,’ Abigail’s dad said.

  ‘Would you like us to pinch you as well?’ Rebecca said.

  Meanwhile, their mum’s face had been turning paler by the second.

  ‘Are you okay, Mum?’ Abigail asked. ‘Maybe you should lie down on one of my beds.’

  ‘Let’s just bring them inside,’ her mum said.

  Everyone helped bring Abigail’s presents inside the living room. Abigail’s eyes were like two full moons, the ones that make wolves go crazy. Her dream land could be six times bigger. Her Unicorncob could have the whole countryside to roam and fly around. Her straw monster would be left alone in peace. ‘I want to sleep on all these beds,’ she said.

  Claire laughed. ‘Your bedroom isn’t big enough.’

  ‘Then I’ll stack them up and sleep on top of all of them,’ Abigail said. ‘Like in The Princess and the Pea.’

  ‘Let’s talk about this after dinner and cake,’ Abigail’s mum said, still quite pale. ‘And for now, you can just sleep in the one bed that’s in your room.’

  Later that night, Abigail was tossing and turning in her new bed. She was desperate to see her dream land doubled in size but, for once, she couldn’t get to sleep. Maybe it was because her tummy was full of birthday cake, or because she was buzzing from all the excitement of having three beds. She even checked to see if Claire or Rebecca had put a pea under her mattress.

  Eventually, Abigail closed her eyes and slipped into her dream land. She expected to see plenty of open spaces. But when she got there, the cats were still screeching and annoying the straw monster. And the shark on rollerskates was now racing around the library, knocking over the neon gnomes.

  The Unicorncob came up to her. ‘Happy Birthday, Abigail! Sorry you didn’t get your double bed.’

  Abigail groaned. ‘I got three double beds!’

  ‘Then why are things still the same?’ the Unicorncob said.

  Abigail woke herself up and went downstairs to the living room, where the two other double beds were stacked against the wall. She lay them down on top of one another and went to sleep. But when she returned to her dream land, it still looked the same. She stroked the Unicorncob’s head. ‘All of this was for nothing.’

  ‘There must be something you can do,’ the Unicorncob said.

  Abigail gulped. She thought about what her older sisters said. Would she have to get rid of her older dreams?

  Abigail woke up in the living room. Everyone had gone to bed hours ago, but she tiptoed up to Claire’s door. There was still music coming from her room.

  Abigail knocked quietly and Claire opened the door. ‘What’s wrong, Abigail?’

  ‘My double bed didn’t work.’

  Claire swallowed a yawn. ‘Is one of the springs broken?’

  ‘No, my dream land is still the same size as before,’ Abigail said. ‘It’s not fair.’

  ‘Come on, let’s go see Bec,’ Claire said.

  When they went into Rebecca’s bedroom, she was still reading in bed. Claire sat on the swirly chair and gestured towards her little sister.

  Abigail sat on the edge of Rebecca’s bed. ‘Why is my dream land not growing?’

  ‘Our dream lands never get any bigger,’ Rebecca said. She sat up and pulled Abigail over onto her lap. ‘As we get older, we need to make room for more dreams.’

  Abigail gasped. ‘Huh? You all have dream lands too?’

  ‘We’re all dreamers,’ Claire said with a nod. ‘Once I had a sundae monster who used to shoot chocolate fudge out of its hands.’

  ‘I remember Octodog, a furry octopus dog that had eight legs and could hang upside down,’ Rebecca said.

  ‘So, those things are not in your dream lands anymore?’ Abigail asked.

  Rebecca and Claire shook their heads.

  Abigail rocked herself back and forth. ‘But I don’t want to get rid of any dreams.’

  Rebecca wrapped her arms around Abigail. ‘Trust me, you’ll want to, because you’ll have even better dreams.’

  Abigail looked up at her. ‘Really?’

  ‘The best kind,’ Rebecca said. ‘Ones that will stay with you forever.’

  Abigail couldn’t imagine what could be better than a Unicorncob but she wanted to find out. She pulled Claire over to the bed and went in for a triple hug. Her big sisters made her feel as big as her straw monster.

  Abigail went back to sleep in her bed and slipped into her dream land. She walked around the boundary of her dream land, which was covered in thick fog.

  She didn’t know how to un-dream something. She’d forgotten to ask Rebecca and Claire how to do it. But she wandered over to her older dreams in the corner of her dream land. She picked up her hula hoop made out of lolly snakes and closed her eyes. When she opened them, it was gone.

  After that, it was easy to let go of her other dreams. The toaster that made fairy bread, the kind that had wings. The rollerskating shark, even though he was still pretty funny. They all disappeared.

  She wandered over to the straw monster. He bent down on one knee. A paper straw popped out. ‘You know you have to.’

  ‘I can dream you up again, can’t I?’ Abigail asked.

  ‘Maybe,’ the straw monster said. ‘But you won’t know until you let us go.’

  Abigail fought back tears. ‘Goodbye, straw monster.’

  The straw monster smiled. ‘Farewell, little child.’

  She closed her eyes and the straw monster was gone.

  The Unicorncob galloped over. ‘Hey, what’s going on?’

  ‘I’m making room,’ Abigail said. ‘I have bigger and better things to dream about now.’

  The Unicorncob’s head dropped. ‘So, I guess this is it then.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Abigail said. ‘I’ll never un-dream you.’

  ‘But I’m one of your oldest dreams,’ the Unicorncob said. ‘You said it yourself, you need to make room . . .’

  Abigail held onto her Unicorncob’s head. ‘No. Never.’

  ‘Think about it,’ the Unicorncob said. ‘You’re still so young. I’ll just be holding you back.’

  Abigail stroked her Unicorncob’s back. ‘Let’s go for one last ride then.’

  The Unicorncob neighed. ‘Yes, of course.’ The Unicorncob took Abigail all around her dream land. She gripped him tighter as he flew as high as he could. Abigail look
ed down below at all her dreamy creations.

  ‘Thanks, Unicorncob,’ she said. ‘I’ll never forget you.’

  The next day, Abigail skipped down for breakfast with her family. ‘Thanks so much for my double bed, everyone,’ she said. ‘I slept like an angel.’

  Rebecca laughed. ‘Like one of those snow angels, where you spread out your arms and legs?’

  ‘Yep,’ Abigail said. ‘You and Claire should try it sometime.’

  ‘I’m not sleeping on your bed,’ Rebecca said.

  Abigail smiled. ‘No, on your new double beds.’ She pointed to the two beds in the living room. ‘There’s one each for you and Claire.’

  Claire and Rebecca swapped glances. ‘That’s a really nice idea,’ Rebecca said.

  Abigail’s mum rubbed her chin. ‘Do you have enough room for those double beds?’

  ‘We’ll make room,’ Claire said.

  ‘There’s always room for better sleep,’ Rebecca said. ‘And better dreams,’ she added with a wink.

  Abigail grinned back at her sisters.

  ‘Speaking of dreams,’ Mum said. ‘I had a weird one last night.’

  ‘Oh, you remembered this time,’ Abigail said.

  ‘Yeah, it was a unicorn with a corn cob on its forehead.’

  Abigail snorted out her juice. ‘That’s crazy!’

  Everybody laughed.

  Abigail felt fuzzy all over. She couldn’t wait to go back to sleep at night. She couldn’t think of anything else that would be better than a Unicorncob.

  But one can dream.

  Mayfield is a small town and the streets here are pretty straightforward. Not the actual streets themselves, but the street names. There’s a park on Park Street. The train station is on Railway Street. The main street is called Main Street because, well . . . you get the point.

  That’s why none of my friends ever go to Slaughterhouse Road. You would have no reason to go there anyway because it’s a dead-end road on the outskirts of town. And there’s nothing on Slaughterhouse Road except for an old house on top of a hill.

  When my mate, Zac Blayney, and I ride our bikes home after school, we have to ride past Slaughterhouse Road and we always stop in front of the street sign. It’s now up high on a pole because people used to steal it. I reckon it’s even worse now, because they’ve made it extra big so everyone can read it.