by N. A. Hydes
There wasn’t an agreement on how long these dreams would last or how anyone even knew these things were true. All he knew for sure was once the dreams ended, Jennifer would know she was a dragon and have a dragon guide, a Samarbied. Not the physical Jormungant. Rather, one her brain created. If dragon school was correct. He, personally, had never met a human who could become a dragon.
“Johan,” Amy said again.
“Sorry.” Johan returned to the conversation. “What were you asking?”
“I wasn’t asking. I was pointing out someone.” Amy pointed to a brunette, also cute, holding hands with a tall, lanky boy walking on the street. “That’s Jennifer’s roommate, Belinda. Not sure who the guy she’s draped over is. Belinda seems nice.”
“Where is Jennifer’s boyfriend? I haven’t seen him yet,” Johan asked.
“I haven’t seen him in a few days,” Amy admitted. “I don’t think he lives on campus. But I understand he has parties all the time.” She smiled up at him. “I’m sure I can get an invitation if you ever want to go. Maybe we can go together or something?”
Johan wasn’t sure, but he thought Amy was attracted to him. Maybe he could use it to his advantage. When they arrived at the coffee shop, he opened the door for her. “Do you know what you want to drink?”
“Oh, I do,” Amy said, all perky. “I want a caramel macchiato.”
Johan walked up to the counter and ordered a large caramel macchiato and a black coffee. He paid as well.
“Thank you.” Amy seemed cheery. “I love caramel macchiato.”
“So, where are you from, Amy?”
“Oh, I’m from Michigan. I made a few friends at cheer camp from Holt, the teachers from my cheer camp. It influenced my decision to come here for college.”
“Ah.” Johan put a dollar tip into the jar as he took their coffees and led Amy to a small corner booth. “Do you cheer for the college, then?”
“No.” She laughed. “I’m a student only. My cheer days are past me.”
“So, what are you studying then?”
“Psychology. I want to help people with their issues,” she answered. “And what are you studying?”
Johan didn’t have a degree in mind. He planned to get Jennifer and move somewhere else, California, or back to Pittsburgh. “I want to go pre-law. Always wanted to be a lawyer,” he lied.
“Sounds like fun.” Amy had a straw in her ice coffee. She reached the bottom and slurped.
Johan couldn’t help it. He put his hand on the drink lid. “Let me throw that away for you.” She let go of the cup. He threw away all their trash and returned to the table. “Let me walk you back.” Johan reached his hand to Amy. She allowed him to pull her up and held on to his arm as they walked.
“You will come back tomorrow. We can meet at the fountain and walk over to the coffee shop. Talk, you know.”
Johan was sure she was attracted to him. And now he had an excuse to sit outside Jennifer’s dorm room every night after following her all day.
36
Friday
In the puddle at Jennifer’s feet were her notebook and cellphone. Picking them up, she tried opening the stuck pages and turning on the phone. They were both drowned and useless.
She missed her first class while she was looking for her wife, Eireen. Then, remembering the present, she had forgotten her umbrella, rushing to take a test in her second class of the day.
At least the puddle had snapped her into reality, and she was Jennifer again. Warm tears streamed down her face, mixing with the rain, and steam rose from her skin in the chilly fall air. At least it was foggy, and no one could see her cry.
Jennifer’s notes had told her someone was following her, and she should carry her cellphone. Messages that were now ruined.
At what point should she quit trying and resign herself to a mental hospital?
Jennifer walked, in the rain, to the closest cell phone carrier. She felt lucky the company she used was so close to the campus. Jennifer used her emergency credit card to purchase a new phone. The sales representative programmed the phone with the numbers she kept in the cloud, including Matt’s.
Jennifer called him, hoping he could take her back to the dorm, but Matt never answered, and she resigned herself to walking home in the rain.
Dropping everything at the door, she first changed into pajamas. Then she called her parents and explained the puddle, the rain, and the useless phone.
The next day would come. And after today, she knew she would need another notebook to explain who, what, where, and when. In the back corner of her closet, she found an old diary from high school. She hadn’t realized this was in the supplies she’d brought from home.
As she was reading a few of the notes from her senior year, a tear slipped down her face. It wasn’t anything emotional; just a jot about the boy she fancied. It was the lost memories as she ripped those pages out of the journal. Jennifer wouldn’t remember the name of her high school tomorrow. Despite that, she couldn’t throw those pages away, so she tucked them into her Bible she kept near her bed.
Cleaning her face in the bathroom while warming soup in the kitchen, Jennifer thought about what she would need to do tomorrow. The hot soup went down her throat as she wrote as much as she could in what she thought was Gaelic. Technically, she shouldn’t understand Gaelic at all. And maybe it wasn’t Gaelic, but she understood every word, and that was all that mattered.
Jennifer received a text from Matt that night, letting her know he missed her. He and his friends drove to the ocean for the weekend and skipped all their classes on Friday. Matt called it chasing the sun. The message included a selfie of Matt on a sunny beach with the waves behind him. He apologized for not inviting her, but he knew she had a test, and he didn’t want to tempt her.
Jennifer wished she were with him, being a normal college kid. Sighing, she put the cell phone on charge and placed the notebook on top of the alarm clock. She stayed up as long as she could.
37
Pi House
Matt and his friends had made it back to campus late Saturday. He called Jennifer several times, but she never answered her phone or texted him back. Maybe going to the beach without her had been a bad idea.
The roaring party reminded Matt of every clichéd movie scene ever made. He sipped his beer and looked for where Colin and Paul had disappeared. Usually, he enjoyed nights spent at the Pi fraternity house. Tonight, he wasn’t in the mood. He smiled and said hello when spoken to, but he was nursing the same beer he had gotten two hours ago. Looking at his watch, he wondered when it would be polite just to leave.
Somewhere behind him, Matt heard his name. Turning, he found Belinda staggering towards him. One of the Pi members following close behind her.
“Matt.” Belinda let go of the other man and hugged him. “Did you see the full bar?” she asked, looking at his beer. “The good stuff is at the bar.” She took his plastic cup and replaced it with hers. “This is a margarita. I haven’t drunk out of it. I will go get another one.”
The man behind her leaned forward to whisper into her ear. He turned to leave, taking Matt’s old cup with him.
“Drink up,” Belinda encouraged Matt.
Matt sipped the margarita, tasting pure tequila. “Holy crap,” he said.
“I know, right? No scrimping there. Take a few sips to get the strawberry flavor. I’ve had a few. I didn’t add salt.”
The man walked back up, handing her another drink.
“Matt, this is Mike. Mike, this is Matt,” Belinda said in greeting. She turned towards the guy. “Mike, Matt is Jenn’s boyfriend.” Belinda turned back to Matt. “Where is Jenn? I don’t think she likes to party.”
“I was hoping you would know. I haven’t talked to her in a few days.”
Belinda leaned back into Mike, and he put his arms around her. Mike was talking to someone on his left. “I’ve been staying here with Mike.” She turned around and kissed Mike’s neck.
“Do you mind checkin
g on her? Do you have your phone?” Matt asked.
“I guess I need to go back to the dorm tomorrow, anyway. This is my last clean outfit. But Jenn is a big girl. Why don’t you call her yourself?”
Matt held his head down. “I went out of town without telling her. I’ve called and left messages. I don’t want her to think I’m stalking.”
“Sure, Matt.” And Matt and Belinda exchanged numbers.
38
River
Jennifer’s Dream
Jennifer knew she was asleep, but this dream seemed to start at adulthood, unlike the others. She attempted to stand, but was unable. Mentally she sighed and reached for something, anything to tell her whose memories and emotions she would experience.
She got more than a name. This is River’s experience. He is one of your dragon ancestors, something seemed to say.
Another dream, another person.
The wind blew across River’s face, and he squinted to see. The sky was a vibrant light blue and filled with white puffy clouds. He was sitting in a patch of tall grass on a hill. When the wind blew, the grass swayed like a sea, revealing smaller plants amongst the grass. The smaller plants were in bloom with dark blue, almost violet flowers. In front of him was a dark-colored lake. On the other side of the lake, there was another hilly field with yellow flowers.
The cool wind blew again, and River breathed the crisp, clean air.
Sitting on a cold rock, one leg stretched out and the other bent with his left arm around it, chewing on a piece of grass, River was at peace.
Footsteps behind him on the path caused him to swivel his head. Petr, his dear friend, approached.
Petr’s wavy hair was longer around his face, cut to about the length of his nose, a small white streak blowing in his eyes. His chin was missing the beard.
“Petr. You took so long I thought about going to the village without you.”
“I have another idea.” Petr proudly held up two long sticks with one end sharpened.
“You were sharpening sticks? I have been waiting for you to sharpen sticks?” River stood up from the ground and dusted his pants.
“Not just any sticks, my friend.” Petr smiled. “These are special sticks. They are to spearfish.”
“And where would we go fishing?”
Petr pointed with the fishing pole towards the lake. “There,” he said.
“Petr, there are no fish in that lake.”
“River, I put the fish in there long before you were born; there are fish,” Petr answered.
“Before my sister?” River asked.
Petr’s face relaxed. He took an extra-long look at River, pausing before answering. “No. Your sister was a little girl. She and I brought them up here in a basket lined with goat’s stomach.” Petr started walking towards River. “I’d say she was ten. She was every bit a tomboy. We had bought a net from the village.”
River took one of the fishing sticks and walked down to the lake in front of Petr. Over his shoulder, he said, “I remember her, you know.”
“Remember her?” Petr asked. “You weren’t born for another 400 years.”
“I remember her through both my parents.” They got to the water’s edge. The water lapped a shore of rocks and mud.
“It’s a perfect day,” Petr said, looking at the sky.
River followed Petr’s eyes and watched a bird flying overhead between the white and puffy clouds. “Very nice,” River agreed. A few seconds later, River looked at Petr. Eventually, Petr stopped what he was doing and looked back. “I’m serious.” River took the fishing stick and stuck it in the mud.
“What are you serious about?” Petr asked.
“I remember everyone and everything my parents remember, even to the smallest detail. It is called a Legacy. Every Dragon, no matter what race, has the gift of Legacy. I have to search for details. But it is all there.”
“Why are you telling me this? Even your parents, whom I think by now trust me, haven’t told me this. My sister’s husband told me some of it, but even he wouldn’t tell me all of it.”
“Well.” River grabbed the stick and started slinging water by moving the fishing stick in and out of the water as quickly as possible. “There is more than one reason.”
Jennifer got the image of a young woman. She had long dark hair, with a few strands in the front braided. She wasn’t very tall, somewhere close to five feet. She was smiling at River with a bow in her hand. Jennifer sensed she was one of the traveling nomads. The girl was teasing River about not being able to shoot a bow, while she could.
Petr sat down near the water’s edge and took off one of his laced moccasins. “And what are the reasons?” Petr asked.
“Well, you have to know what it is like to be one of us if you are going to protect us. Any descendant of mine, or your sister’s, will know who you are, Petr. And from my understanding, you’ve pledged to protect those of us who are born to humans. The human-born dragons will know who you are; they will have our memories.” River put his stick on the ground and sat down. “My parents say if a child is born to humans and becomes a dragon, they will need guidance during the Awakening. The few humans who have changed have struggled with understanding these ancestral memories in the first few months.”
River put his shoe behind him and looked at Petr. Petr’s blue eyes were intently staring at him. “The Awakening is when humans become dragons. You have to understand, Petr, it is true, some of us lay eggs, and some prefer never to become human.” River started unlacing the other shoe. “It only stands to reason,” River continued, moving his leg and looking at Petr, catching his eyes, “that there will be more than one human who is a dragon. Had my sister had children, eventually, one of her descendants would have had the right to be a dragon. I can’t imagine what it would be like, to be born human and turn dragon.”
“What’s so different about the Awakening in a dragon than in one born human?” Petr asked. He still had one shoe on and started working on untying it.
“The difference, there are lots of differences. I knew I was a dragon, so the first time I took dragon form, I wasn’t surprised. Some dragons are born in dragon form. For a human who can’t control an Awakening, that first shift could happen anywhere, at any time, including in front of other humans.
“And then the Legacy. My understanding is ordinary humans can only see their lives. Imagine having all the memories of all their ancestors. Do you know how crazy that could get, with all that new information?” he asked. River started rolling up his pants legs. “Imagine seeing your parent’s life until the moment they conceived you. If it has been centuries, like I believe it will take, the poor person will have to understand so many lives.” River started rolling up his other pants leg.
A bird swooped down and grabbed a fish out of the water. River saw the scene out of the corner of his eye. “Okay, there are fish in the water.” He smiled at Petr.
River paused, looking at the lake. Jennifer could feel the sincerity in his words. She could sense River had spent several nights debating if he should tell Petr some of the dragons’ secrets and wondering if Petr already knew. Legacy could give a new dragon an advantage over their enemies.
“One day,” River said, turning his head to look at Petr, “I could have a descendant, human at birth, dragon at adulthood.” He got to his feet. “It might even be a girl who would be your heart, your Claiming.” He smiled and walked over to stand above Petr, who was finishing rolling up his pants leg. River held out his hands and helped pull Petr to his feet.
Petr laughed. “You would wish me to be your son?” He laughed harder. “I’m old enough to be your father, over and over.”
“But you’re not,” River said thoughtfully. “And it would be an honor and a blessing to have you officially part of my family.”
They walked over to the ledge. Petr put his foot on a rock and started wading into the water. “It’s a little cold,” he said. He waded in deeper, and then the edge dropped off, and his head went under
water. His head popped up, his fishing spear in hand. River started laughing.
“All right,” Petr said, not laughing but upset. “If you have all your parents’ memories, prove it to me. What is God like? Your father was the first dragon; surely, he remembers that.”
Instantly, Jennifer was aware of darkness all around her and in her. She was floating. There was a breeze that would challenge a tornado swirling about aimlessly. Jennifer should have felt the currents of wind, but she felt nothing. She could hear vibrations echoing through her being, tiny at first but then louder. The rhythm was almost musical, a harmony of singing and noise. In it, there was so much peace and love. She could feel her eyes watering, but she didn’t have eyes. Jennifer just was, without a body. She was anticipating—the creation.
In another instant, Jennifer was outside in the dark, sitting on a bench. This time, Jennifer realized she was in control of her limbs as she wiggled her fingers. This was the first time she was in power in months. Her blond hair fell in front of her face.
She was Jennifer and dreaming.
There was a streetlight beside her, but the glow only extended so far, and then there was darkness. The scene reminded her of a Dick Tracy comic or an old black and white detective movie.
“I know you’re lost.” There was a slight English or Irish accent in the man’s voice coming from behind her. “It’s all a little confusing.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Jennifer caught a dark shadow of a man ambling towards her. He turned and began walking so that his form was just out of reach of the light. He was walking in a circle around her. He skipped a little. “But it will be okay.”