We return to Justin’s dream before Sandra wakes up. Justin is embarrassed by everything we’ve seen over in Sandra’s dream, but Justin’s behavior changes as soon as we get back to the deck of Bonny’s Revenge, their flying pirate warship that’s waiting for us at the edge of the tunnel in and out of the dream.
He is now a father and a hero. He docks the ship near our island, makes sure that I’ve got a good place to rest and heal, and then returns to the ship, asking Master Mind to join us so Justin can have some alone time with Joy.
Charlie appears on the deck, but Justin asks him to wait a while because he has to talk to Joy.
Charlie creates some kind of desert right next to our island and goes into one of the houses.
Joy sits on the plank, arms hugging her legs, while Justin sits next to her, leaning on the railing, and talks to her.
It’s an intense talk. I’m sure he’s asking her about everything that went on in the child enslavement camp.
She talks quite a bit. He holds her hand.
She cries. He hugs her.
She talks more and he listens intently.
This takes an hour or so. Suzy and I watch silently.
“He’s a good father,” Suzy says.
“Yup.” I say.
I look aside at Master Mind. “What’s she saying, Master Mind?”
That robot hears almost everything.
“That is not for me to say, Pirate Father. It is private. But I will say what she did to be able to be rescued by me.”
“What’d she do?” asks Suzy.
“She made the ground they were on permanent because she knew the Dreamer would wake up. She made five of the children permanent because she wanted to save them. She then did everything she could to just survive until the Dreamer woke up.”
I think about the wherewithal she had to act like that. “Wow,” Suzy says.
“She is a heroine,” Master Mind says in his robotic voice. “And I love her.”
That line is strange to me, coming from a robot that speaks like a robot. But Suzy grabs his arm and says, “You have a big heart, Master Mind.”
He nods. He does not mention that his heart was created by Joy.
I can see Justin now leading Joy to her cabin and her cot to sleep. That’s right, she hasn’t slept this whole time.
Later on, Justin comes back down. He looks at Suzy and me and says, “What a life she has. No child should have that life. I’m going to take the ship just to fly around a bit.”
And he does.
—Told by Grampa Walt