Dream Wanderers: Time with Friends

Few people on Terra cared much about their own galaxy. They lived happy, peaceful lives. Life on other planets was something for storytellers. It was also for dreamers, and so Dream Wanderers needed to know about the concept.

To Calli, that was one of the hardest things in the Learning Center. Her green uniform represented that she was in her second-to-last orbit before graduation. After that, she would be an apprentice for three orbits before becoming an official Dream Wanderer. Those in their final orbit no longer had to sit through the long, boring classes, like the one Calli sat through now, explaining the different things that might be found in dreams. The Blues had more practice and fewer practical lessons.

Calli glanced at Tayo, her new partner. Tayo was leaning against her arm, her eyes closed. Calli was sure Tayo was asleep. She considered briefly wandering into Tayo's dream and telling her to awake up, but if she was caught she'd be immediately expelled, the gift of dream wandering permanently removed from her soul. Instead, she gently nudged her partner, who woke with a start.

"Huh?" Tayo said sleepily.
"Shhh," Calli whispered. "You were asleep. I don't want to have to change partners again."
Tayo put her hand over her mouth to hide a yawn. "Sorry," she whispered back. "How much longer?"
"Not too much," Calli replied.

As if on cue Charla, the teacher of the front of the room, turned off the galaxy map and turned on the lights. "So you see, Greens, other planets, right here in our galaxy, are capable of sustaining human life. Some historians even believe that large ships filled with people left Terra thousands of orbits ago and colonized the planets Abacu and Eden. I personally doubt it.

"Now, I want each of you to come up with a plan for what you would do in a dream situation for someone who believes in life on other planets. You'll present it when we meet again, rotation after next. Greens, you're dismissed."

Later that rotation, Calli and Tayo sat in the dining area. Since they had just become partners, they spent as much time as possible together; being able to work well with your partner was one of the most important aspects of training. Calli was tired of changing partners. One by one, her four previous partners had been dismissed from the program. Tayo's luck hadn't been much better; she had watched three partners leave. It was unusual for anyone to make it through the entire program with the same partner, but three or four changes was excessive.

Calli and Tayo both noticed Lawson and Gren entering the room. If they graduated at the end of the orbit, they would be the first male/female partnering ever to make it through without a change. Usually a boy and a girl were partnered only as a last resort, but somehow, with these two, it worked.

"Mind if we sit here?" Gren held a tray of food, which she put on the table. She sat down and Lawson sat next to her. Still picking out their dinners were Titus and Sham, partnered Blues who were Lawson's roommates.

"The Partnering Ceremony is only four rotations away," Sham commented. "I can't believe we're in our last orbit!"
"Speak for yourself." Calli threw him a dirty look. She brushed her short, brown hair out of her eyes. Physical contact between genders was strictly prohibited, but if there was anyone she was almost willing to break that rule with, it was Sham. She tried hard not to think about it; one of her biggest fears was that Sham would pop up in a dream of hers that was being wandered.

"I don't see why they make the Partnering Ceremony such a big deal," Tayo added. "Nobody stays with the same partner as when they were Whites." Gren cleared her throat. "Almost nobody. I'll never understand how you two have made it together for so long."

"Me neither," Lawson teased, throwing a playful look at Gren.
"I almost requested to change partners," Gren said with a serious look on her face.
"When?" Calli asked.

Gren thought for a micro. "Let's see...first when we were Whites, then when we were Browns, then Purples . . ."
Lawson joined her. "Then Reds, then Oranges, then Yellows, then Greens, and finally in our last session with Hutch."
"You two are amazing," Titus remarked. "It's almost like you know each other's thoughts."

"I don't know her thoughts, but I know her dreams," Lawson joked. "I thought that's what you were going to say," Gren added with a grin.

Later that same rotation, Gren, Calli, and Tayo sat in their dormitory room with Lanna and Macy, also partnered Blues. There was an unused bed in the corner; if Gren had a female partner, it would have been hers. It was unusual for Blues and Greens to share a room, but since Calli and Tayo had recently been partnered, the leader of the Learning Center made an exception to give them the chance to get to know each other, away from the other Greens.

So far, things seemed to be shaky for the new partners. Calli really enjoyed being with the older wandering students, even if they were only older by one color. It somehow made her feel more mature than her fifteen orbits. Tayo liked Gren. She wasn't thrilled with Lanna or Macy, and she didn't understand Calli's fascination with age. Their time would come soon enough.

"So what are you going to do?" Lanna asked Gren. It was a subject that at least one of her roommates seemed to bring up every few rotations. "What if your feelings for Lawson slip into one of your dreams?"

"What feelings for Lawson?" Gren asked innocently. "I've told you over and over again-we're just friends. That's all we can be if we want to stay in the program, and I'm happy with that."

"I bet after you graduate the two of you will become joined," Calli said.
"Joined?" Gren twirled her long, red hair around her finger. "Lawson and I aren't going to become joined. After we graduate we'll apprentice-"
"Together," Macy interrupted.

Gren ignored her. "And then we'll practice dream wandering somewhere. Together or separate, I don't know. Lawson has big plans. He'd like to travel, see more of Terra, maybe be a wandering Dream Wanderer!" She laughed at the joke, even though Lawson had told it to her so many times. "But I have my family to think about. I know they're not going to want me to go too far."

"Is that why Lawson spends his breaks with you?" Calli asked. "Because you want to be with your family, and he wants to be with you?"

Lanna and Macy each gave Calli a dirty look. "Lawson doesn't have any family of his own," Gren explained. "His parents were killed in an explosion right after he entered the program. That's why it means so much to him. They were incredibly proud to have their only child be a Dream Wandering student. And that's why he spends breaks with us. He's a ward of the Learning Center. He has no other place to go."

The room Lawson shared with Sham and Titus in the boys' dormitory was quite a bit smaller than the girls' quarters. There was an empty bed in the corner of their room, as well. "I hear the Greens were getting the ‘life on other planets dream' lecture today," Titus informed his roommates. "I sure don't miss those classes!"

"I don't know," Sham said. "Don't you think there could be life somewhere else out there?"
Lawson laughed. "No I don't. The whole idea is ridiculous. The chances are against it."
"I don't know," Sham repeated. "I know this guy, Roy, who claims he's from Abacu."

"Sounds like he needs his dreams wandered." Lawson grinned. "I'd be willing to do it for free...as soon as I get my license.

Next : Gren's Dream

Previous: An Unexplained Rule

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