Dream Wanderers: Gren’s Dream

There was no light anywhere, not even a spark. Gren knew she wasn't alone. She could hear it breathing; feel its breath on her neck. She knew it was big-a giant monster of some type. She stumbled in the dark, trying to get away.
"It's not big, and it's not dangerous," Lawson's voice told her.

"Yes it is!" Gren exclaimed. "It's huge-I just know it!"
"No, Gren. It's just a baby. Over your head there's a light. Turn it on, and you'll see how small it is."
Her hand shaking, Gren reached up and turned on the light. She wished that she had kept it off; in front of her was a gargantuan beast, twice as tall as she was. It had two heads, sharp yellow teeth, and enormous arms that were reaching right for her. The light shone strangely off its silver-gray fur. "I knew it wasn't a baby. How do I get out of here?" Gren's voice was filled with fear.

"The door is right behind you," Lawson said.
Panicking, Gren rushed out the door and closed it behind her, locking the monster inside. She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned around-only to stand face to face with two more of the hideous creatures. She started to run. "You can outrun them," Lawson's voice said calmly. "They're slow."

Gren ran as hard as she could, the monsters close behind. They weren't as slow as Lawson's voice had suggested, but she pushed herself harder because he told her to.
"You can make it," Lawson's voice said quietly. "Focus on that tree up ahead. Run to the tree, climb it, and you'll be rid of them."

Gren saw the tree; she was almost there. Once again she could feel monster breath on her neck. She made it to the tree and climbed. The creatures stayed on the ground, their long arms reaching for her. Gren climbed higher and higher until she was sure she was out of their reach. She reached the top of the tree; it swayed gently in the wind.

For the first time she looked down. To her horror, she realized that the tree was growing on the edge of a cliff. The wind picked up and grew stronger. "I'm going to fall!" she screamed.

"No, Gren, it's just a gentle breeze," Lawson said without much conviction. "A harmless, gentle breeze!"
"I'm going to fall!" She heard the crack, felt the branch she was on break very slowly. Suddenly she was falling.

Gren awoke with a start. "I hate dreams where I fall!" she said out loud, not really aware of the others in the room. She looked around to get her bearings. "Oh, I forgot where I was for a moment."

The look on Hutch's face was pure disappointment. "Lawson, what have I told you a thousand times? What rule is it that you seem to have such a hard time remembering?"
Lawson hung his head. "Don't call her by name."

"Exactly! It can have disastrous results. Look at what just happened here. Gren, was Lawson's presence in your dream a comfort or a distraction?"

"I wouldn't say a distraction," Gren said, trying to help her partner, "but it wasn't because he used my na-"
"Well it certainly wasn't a comfort," Hutch reminded her. "I know that you two are almost through the program, but last orbit or not, if you keep working like this you will never make Dream Wanderer. I'm not even going to grade this session, it was that bad."

Hutch relaxed a little. "We won't be meeting rotation after next because of the Partnering Ceremony. Enjoy the break, but keep studying. We'll meet again in four rotations."

Gren followed Lawson as he hurried down by the lake. "Come on, Lawson, wait up," she called with frustration.
"Leave me alone," he muttered.

Gren refused to give up. "It's me. We talk about everything, remember?" She ran to catch up to him. "They're watching us right now, from the main building. I saw Charla in the window. If you don't stop and talk to me, I'll..."
"You'll what?"

"I'll touch you!" Gren almost screamed out the words. "Very obviously, so everyone will see it. Then we'll both have to suffer the consequences."

"Fine," Lawson replied. "In fact..." He stopped where he was and very deliberately reached for Gren.
"No!" Gren screamed and pulled away.

"It's a stupid rule, anyway," Lawson mumbled. "They partner us for over seven orbits, and we're not allowed to touch each other? Stupid."

Gren changed the subject. "So we had one lousy wandering session. It's not worth getting thrown out of the program."
"It's not the session," Lawson said slowly. He started to walk again.

"What?" Gren asked, trying to keep up. "You've always been able to tell me everything. Whatever it is, we'll get through it together."

Lawson stopped and sat down in the sand. He didn't care how dirty it made his blue uniform. He waited until Gren sat next to him. "I didn't get in."

"Get in where?" Gren asked.
"The apprenticeship program," he explained. "The one near where your family lives." He started to run his fingers through the coarse sand. "The one you've already been accepted to. The one we were going to join together."
"I never said I was actually going to go-"

"It's all you've ever wanted!" Lawson sighed. "And I understand. You want to be close to your family. I...I just want to be close to you. I know I shouldn't, but I do."
"Lawson, we can't think like that. If it ever showed up in one of our dreams, we'd be released from the program."
"They're the ones who threw us together!" Lawson immediately regretted raising his voice. "It's a cruel thing for them to do to us."

Gren tried to change the subject. "You've been accepted to two other apprenticeship programs. Will you take one of those?"
"Will you come with me?"

Gren looked away.
Lawson sighed. "You know me, Gren. I've always said I wanted to see more of Terra. Maybe I'll go as far away from here as I can." He laughed. "Or maybe I won't even become a licensed Dream Wanderer. Maybe I'll sell out my trade to the highest bidder, working on the Black Market and deliberately calling people by their names in their dreams."

Gren broke a smile. "Oh no, we can't have that. If you call someone by name, you'll never know what kind of damage you could do. It could have..." she lowered her voice, "‘disastrous results'."

"I'm going to tell Hutch in our next session that you were mocking him." Lawson stood up and took a few steps back from Gren.

Gren stood as well. "You wouldn't."
Lawson smiled. "Try and stop me."
He started to run. Gren chased him. They were aware that it was impossible for her to actually catch him without the possibility of suffering some dreadful consequences-whatever those might be.

Next: Partnering Rotation

Previous: Time with Friends

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