‘The Squashbuckler Diaries’ are the daily tales of Joy Shelley’s Life in the Dream. The ‘Lost in Dreams’ books will tell the story of what happens to her at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and so on. The diaries tell us what happens before, after, and between the books.

#109: Dead Tired

It was a long day. Dragon Little and Dragon Father fought the army of killer Martians throughout the entire day. There was sword-fighting, running in corridors, jumping over roofs, a chase down a steep hill, jumping from spaceship to spaceship and back again. 

They were victorious and the evil Martian dictator was defeated, arrested, and escorted by Dragon Little to his new cell in the Infinite Prison at the bottom of Bonny’s Revenge

When Dragon Little fell into her cot in her small cabin on their pirate ship, she was asleep in two seconds. 

Dragon Father, for once, had an opportunity to stay while she slept. He stayed there, looking at her for a long while. Then he went to the bow of the ship and stared at the horizon for long minutes. 

I have never seen him so calm. 

He then went to the wheel and took the ship out for a ‘ride’ in the clouds. 

He brought the ship back down, stared at the horizon again, and disappeared. 

A few hours later, I heard Dragon Little stir in her cot. Soon, she stumbled out of her cabin, one foot fumbling in front of the other as if she hardly knew how to walk. 

She climbed the plank, went to its edge, took down her pants and panties, and sat down with her ass in the air. 

She peed into the ocean, as she always did. She stood up, got dressed again, took another step forward, then simply collapsed slowly to her knees and from there to a sleeping position on top of the plank. 

My body tightened, ready to spring into action if she fell. 

From my high hiding place I watched her for the entire night. But she did not fall. She turned left and right, to one side then to the next, during the night, but she never fell. 

—Told by The Red Dragon

#110: You're Not Angry at Me

#108: How Mary Saved Joy's Life