Charlie agrees that Joy be in his birthday party, the one that already took place, but he refuses to have it in Justin’s dream.
Justin brings Bonny’s Revenge to one of the suns, and we all leave with new jetpacks that Joy has just now made permanent. Master Mind, ever the chaperone, Justin, Charlie, Joy, me, and, for a change, Suzy who does not like flying from dream to dream but wants to see some of Charlie’s waking world.
Charlie’s Shroom is now quite a distance below us, for some reason. Joy hasn’t been able to jump there for years. The physics of Dreams is weird. I am not even close to getting a handle on them yet.
Everyone flies down except for Suzy. Master Mind takes her in his arm the way he usually does me, and flies down.
I spurt around, but I’m competent, and I land safely.
We go through the tunnel, and as usual I have to bend my head a bit. Charlie’s elevato waits for us.
As we descend, I see the lake, part of the park, and the playground are all still there, having been made permanent by Joy years ago.
The path on top of the lake, leads from the elevator to the park.
There, Charlie recreates his home.
I look around. It’s a small 2-bedroom apartment, much smaller than what Suzy and I have, basically the size of Justin’s bachelor apartment. It feels cramped and gloomy. Native American art hangs on the walls. The TV is small. There’s one small sofa and one small couch in front of it. The kitchen is part of the living room.
“Oh! So nice! This is your home?” Joy is excited.
“Joy! So nice to see you again!” a young woman emerges from the kitchen. She’s only slightly taller than Charlie, thin, with brown eyes and long black hair.
“Charlie’s mom!” Joy runs towards her and Charlie’s mother disappears.
“Don’t make her permanent!” Charlie says.
Joy nods multiple times quickly. “I can control it. I won’t.”
The woman reappears. Joy hugs her.
I look aside, and see that Justin is staring at her.
“Joy! So nice to see you again! I’ve been hearing aaaaalll about you from Charlie. Every day!”
Justin is still staring at her.
“Hi everyone. I’m Kate. You can call me Kate. You are…” she offers a hand to Justin, who is just glaring at her.
Oh, boy. This is going to be trouble.
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt