Joy gets up before Charlie or Justin appear on Bonny’s Revenge. She’s excited to go and find more children in their dreams.
Charlie appears first on the deck. He and Joy talk excitedly among themselves.
I’m on the deck. Their energy is catchy. I feel like anything could happen at any time. I have to be here.
For a change, Suzy’s on the deck, too. She’s worried, for some reason. But she wouldn’t tell me why when I asked, so I stopped asking.
Justin arrives last.
“Dad, Dad, Dad, the children!” Joy runs up to him.
“The children, the children!” Charlie also runs up to him.
“We have to find the children!”
“We have to find the children!”
Justin looks at the two children jumping up and down and chanting in front of him. He tries to get a word in edgewise, but they keep chanting “We have to find the children! Can we find the children? We have to find the children!”
Finally, he shouts, “Okay! Let’s find the children!”
Charlie and Joy stop.
“Yeah?” Joy says. “Now?”
“Sure,” Justin says. “What children?”
“The children, Dad!” She uses a tone that says he should already know this. “Where are all the children like Charlie? Why are we just seeing old people like you?”
Justin blinks at being called old. We did just celebrate his 30th birthday recently. He overcomes it, takes a deep breath, and says, “What do you mean?”
Joy explains again and Charlie explains and then Justin understands. All the Dreamers whose Shrooms we have gone into have been Justin’s age, except for Charlie. Which means that there can be more children about.
Justin’s face suddenly goes dark and he takes a step back.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he says.
“What?! Dad!”
He looks around gloomily. “I think we shouldn’t leave my dream so much. Let’s have a few adventures at home.”
“Dad! What’s wrong?” Her tone surprises me. She doesn’t act like an excited child, but like his equal, his partner in adventures. I’ve seen them do that when they have adventures together.
He says to her in a low voice, worried, “Where are all the children, Joy?”
She responds with a voice so reasonable it surprises me, “What are you thinking?”
“It doesn’t make sense that we haven’t seen any other children,” he continues in a low voice. Charlie stands next to Joy, listening, a concerned look on his face. “I think someone is looking for children.”
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt