My name is Walter, Walter Shelley.
I am standing on a small grassy island, looking at a huge wooden pirate ship docked right in front of me. My son has named it Bonny’s Revenge.
This has never happened before in my life. But it’s absolutely normal.
Behind me is my apartment. My nice, little, comfortable, fully-paid-for apartment, which is actually in Toronto, Canada. It’s also here, an exact replica, in the middle of a small island, in the middle of an ocean, under two suns, in the middle of my son’s dream.
This is crazy. But it doesn’t really feel crazy. It’s absolutely normal.
Suzy comes out of the house and puts her arm around me, staring at the pirate ship.
Yeah, Suzy’s here. I’m here. We’re Justin’s parents. We’re dreams. We’re his dreams. That’s… strange. But it doesn’t feel like it. It feels absolutely normal. It had felt normal to follow Justin into dreams and do some seriously crazy things. I think maybe it’s part of how he created us. It’s just normal. And that’s absolutely normal, too.
“How is she?” Suzy asks.
I shrug. “Haven’t heard anything. Probably still asleep.”
She’s talking about Joy. Justin’s kid. My granddaughter, our granddaughter, the one we never knew we had.
We’re Justin’s dreams. Everything around us is something he dreamed at one point or another. Except for Joy.
Joy isn’t a dream. She just lives in it.
Yes, it’s weird. But it’s absolutely normal. Actually, it’s lovely.
“Come on,” Suzy nudges me. “Let’s go see her!”
“She’s asleep!” I try to stay my ground.
“I know!” she smiles. “That’s the point! Let’s go!”
I sigh. But actually, I want to go see her just as much.
I let Suzy drag me towards the ramp that extends up to Bonny’s Revenge.
I can’t wait to see my granddaughter again. I can’t. It feels so strange to suddenly have a six-year-old granddaughter.
But it’s fine, it’s fine. It’s absolutely normal. It’s actually fantastic!
We go up the ramp and into the ship.
—Told by Grampa Walt