‘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.

#341: Outside Justin's Dream, Part 3

I have heard some of my fellow dragons flying far away. I have heard the monsters. 

And now… I listened farther. 

I listened to the missing voices. 

Ah. There it was: The silence. There was no dust in the winds! 

I smiled to myself happily. Oh, my my, how disappointed the monsters must be!

I listened more. 

There it was, the familiar sound of the dreams: A dream grows there! And there! And there! And there! 

Such a soft sound. It blends into the background. But all around, in the thousands of dreams that are nearby, some are always growing. 

I wondered if I should make a sound. A sound soft enough that only my fellow dragons will hear. 

To let them know I’m alive. 

But no… They are slaves. As much as they would be happy for me, one or two of them may tell their enslavers or the information will slip one day from their mouths when the monsters are listening. 

No. I cannot trust them. 

It ist best to be forgotten. To be lost and perhaps thought dead. 

I took a deep breath. 

Yes. It is best to remain dead. 

Softly, softer than before, remembering that dragons might hear, I walked back, back towards Dragon Father’s dream, back to my hiding place.

I must hide. For myself. But also for Dragon Little. 

They’re looking for her even more than they are looking for me. 

I must protect her. With my life, if necessary. 

She must never be caught. 

Perhaps when she ist older, just a little bit older, I will explain to her who she ist and the truth of the world she was born into. 

But not today. She ist not old enough and it ist not yet time. 

Today I will let her sleep.

—Told by The Red Dragon

#342: The Back-Flip School for Young Girls

#340: Outside Justin’s Dream, Part 2