Blog — The Lost In Dreams Universe

Age: 3, Told by The Red Dragon

Dragon Little was only a three years old girl when she and Dragon Father were surrounded by killer gorillas in the middle of the jungle.

The gorillas had proven themselves stronger than any human or robot they had met so far. They were smart and could talk, and now they had cornered Dragon Father and Dragon Little in a small clearing.

Gorillas that were not there just a second ago, climbed down from the trees and surrounded them.

Dragon Little took out her small sword in one hand and the small laser pistol in the other.

Dragon Father held a long sword, one in each hand.

The two stood with their backs to each other, so they could see all the gorillas that surrounded them.

“Ready!” Dragon Father whispered to her.

Dragon Little nodded. “Attaaaaaack!” she shouted.

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—Told by The Red Dragon

Sep 25
Sep 25 #336: Bored, Part 3

“Go away!” she yelled at him from inside.

He stepped in. “Don’t yell at me,” he was immediately angry again. “I’m your father. That’s disrespectful.”

“You’re disrespectful!”

“Joy. Stop. Yelling. At me. I’m trying to talk.”

“You’re disrespectful! Disrespectful! DISRESPECTFULLLLLLL!” the last one she yelled as loud as she could.

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Sep 24
Sep 24 #335: Bored, Part 2

Suddenly, he turned around and shouted at Dragon Little: “You do NOT appreciate WHAT you HAVE!”

Dragon Little, lying down on the plank, sat up, already hurt at the tone.

“You have adventures!” Dragon Father yelled. “Every! Single! Day! Every single day you have adventures! Do you understand how much fun that is?”

Dragon Little stood up on the plank. “It’s boring!” She shouted back at him. “You’re boring!”

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Sep 22
Sep 22 #334: Bored, Part 1

Dragon Little woke up in a strange mood one day, nearing her sixth birthday.

Dragon Father appeared on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge and Dragon Little was already awake, lying on the plank, staring at the moon hanging high in the sky.

“Oh, you’re up!” Justin had arrived in a good morning. “Whatcher doing?”

“Noooooooothing,” she said very slowly.

Justin looked at her for a second, considered something, then said. “Okay. Shall we eat breakfast and get started?”

“Noooooooooo,” she said slowly again.

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Sep 20
Sep 20 #333: The Day the Red Dragon Did Not Care

Dragon Little’s fourth birthday was over, and when it ended, thoughts entered my mind.

These were thoughts I did not care about, but they came.

I thought of my own birthdays… of my fourth birthday, so many centuries ago. I thought of how I had been a slave, how, at this stage, while I was still… pliable… the evil ones had me do their bidding by hurting me and hurting me and hurting me.

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Sep 19
Sep 19 #332: Joy’s Secret Protector

Age: 3.5, Told by The Red Dragon

Captain Badass’ ship headed towards the unprotected Bonny’s Revenge.

Captain Badass clearly knew that Dragon Little was asleep and that Dragon Father, his hated foe, had disappeared and would not return for hours.

Just as his ship approached Bonny’s Revenge I descended in front of it, blocking its path.

Captain Badass stopped his ship.

“God damn dragon,” he yelled at me, taking a few steps forward, his wooden peg leg moving awkwardly. “Your master isn’t here! Go away!”

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Sep 18
Sep 18 #331: An Old Foe

Age: 3.5, Told by The Red Dragon

I will tell you what happened one day, when Dragon Little slept.

It had been a full day’s adventure for Dragon Little and Dragon Father. The villains were defeated and put in the infinite prison in the belly of Bonny’s Revenge. Dragon Father disappeared after tucking Dragon Little in, and Dragon Little slept soundly.

I watched, as always, from my hiding place high above, listening with my sharp dragons ears, watching Dragon Father’s dream, and licking my emotional wounds from centuries of torture and slavery.

Then something moved.

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Sep 17
Sep 17 #330: Joy’s Fifth Birthday: Joy’s Nickname, Part II

Age: 5, Told by The Red Dragon

“Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see…” Dragon Father drawled slowly.

They were still sitting on the plank as Bonny’s Revenge rested calmly on the waveless ocean. Bother of them were looking out. Dragon Little was sitting between Dragon Father’s legs, on the edge of the plank.

Both seemed happy to sit there and let Dragon Father find nicknames for Dragon Little. He had just realized he had never given her one, and for a reason that seemed to come from his waking world, he thought it was important to give her one.

“Let’s see… I can’t find a shorter version of ‘Joy’, so… What do people call Joys?”

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Sep 16
Sep 16 #329: Joy’s Fifth Birthday: Joy’s Nickname

Age: 5, Told by The Red Dragon

For the third time since I had arrived to Dragon Little’s dream, it was Dragon Little’s birthday.

She was five years old now. She was growing. Inside of me an unease grew.

One day, I knew, she would find the way out of her father’s dreams. And who knows what waits for her right outside his dream? Those who are searching for her, those who would destroy her life, might just be outside, searching, always searching.

Dragon Father, however, did not at all seem to be worried. He was happy this day, happy to not go on adventure, happy to sit on the plank and watch the ocean waves, happy and smiling.

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Sep 15
Sep 15 #328: The Red Dragon’s Wail, Part 2

Age: 5.5

I listened to his voice as he wailed back.

It was wordless. It was an animalistic wail, except that it was not made by an animal. It was not a human cry, for he was not human, either. It was not a dragon cry, for he was not a dragon.

It was the cry of my friend.

I have not seen him in three and a half years.

I wailed back, a dragon’s wail. My wail told him how I missed his voice, his eyes, his love… our talks.

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Sep 14
Sep 14 #327: The Red Dragon’s Wail

My name is not The Red Dragon. I have never met my parents and they never named me. They had never spoken my name to me.

I had been born into slavery and only my slavers gave me a name. That name will not be repeated by me for as long as I live.

I have been named The Red Dragon by the 2-year-old Joy Shelley when I met her and when she and her father rescued me from my enslavers. Now she calls me ‘Red’ and I call her ‘Dragon Little’.

The Red Dragon is the name I love. It is the name I use. But it is not my real name.

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Sep 13
Sep 13 #326: Joy’s Fourth Birthday, Part 8: The Lesson

Dragon Father had flown with a jetpack to Bonny’s Revenge, waiting for them high above the base of the Martian Space Pirates.

He navigated the ship down to the Martian earth, where Dragon Little and the handcuffed Martian Space Pirates waited for them.

Dragon Little, only four years old, danced a little dance. “I win! And you lose! I win and you lose!”

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Sep 12
Sep 12 #325: Joy's Fourth Birthday, Part 7: Joy's Solo Adventure

Dragon Little stood in the doorway, little sword in one hand and little laser gun in the other.

Inside stood a Martian Space Pirate, three times taller than her, a large sword in his scabbard and a big laser gun behind his back. Behind him stood three more Martian Space Pirates. All of them looked at the door as he opened.

“Ha ha!” Dragon Little shouted at them. “I win! You lose!”

Dragon Father, standing beyond the fence, and looking from afar, slapped his forehead. “Never say you win before you win, Joy! We talked about that!”

The Martian Space Pirates were surprised for an instant. Then they stood up as one and all four armed themselves.

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Sep 8
Sep 8 #324: Joy’s Fourth Birthday, Part 6: The Element of Surprise

There were three Martian Space Pirates inside. The Martian Space Pirates are one of the few criminals that Dragon Little and Dragon Father never caught in all the years I had been there. They remained behind when Dragon Father disappeared, but they never cause too much trouble when he ist gone unless they are already a part of the adventure.

Dragon Little took out her laser pistol and unsheathed a small sword.

“Don’t go in through the front door, Joy,” Dragon Father whispered to himself.

Dragon Little went to the front door, armed in both hands.

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Sep 6
Sep 6 #323: Joy’s Fourth Birthday, Part 5: Justin the Daughter

Dragon Father and Dragon Little landed inside the base of the Martian Space Pirates.

Their hang gliders disappeared as soon as they landed.

Although I knew it to be Dragon Little’s birthday, Dragon Father had never mentioned it - or what a birthday ist in all the time I had spent with them so far. And so Dragon Little did not know it. Perhaps it ist also true that Dragon Father would not know it. But then, how ist it that he came to raise Dragon Little?

I do not know the answer to that one. I had only arrived when they were already together, seemingly forever.

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Sep 5
Sep 5 #322: Joy’s Fourth Birthday, Part 4: Managing Fear

High above the mountains of Mars, Dragon Little stood on the railing of Bonny’s Revenge holding her hang glider. Keeping her balance perfectly, she looked down.

Dragon Father looked at her from the wooden deck, holding his own hand glider. He had an amused smile on his face.

“Are you sure you’re okay doing this, Dad?” he asked his daughter.

She tried to hold her hang glider correctly, but it was awkward.

“I’ve done this maaaaany times, Joy,” she said. “Trust me.”

She held on to it correctly. “Are you coming, slowpoke?” she said.

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Sep 4
Sep 4 #321: Joy’s Fourth Birthday, Part 3: Joy the Father

Bonny’s Revenge arrived at Mars.

“Look, Joy, over there!” Dragon Little told Dragon Father. She was now playing as Dragon Father, and he, apparently, as Dragon Little.

“That’s the base of the Martian Space Pirates!” Dragon Father said. His headache was mostly gone now, and he seemed to be willing to play along with his daughter on this adventure.

In front of them, mountains appeared out of a mist. Dragon Father had created them - his subconscious did, at least.

“Very good, Joy! Very good!” Dragon Little told her father. “You’re getting really good at this!”

Dragon Father smiled and covered his mouth with his hand.

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Sep 2
Sep 2 #320: Joy’s fourth Birthday, Part 2: Joy the Leader

“Martian Space Pirates? Joy, they’re a tough group. You can’t take them alone.”

“I’m Justin the Pirate! You’re Joy!”

“Ah, right.”

“Don’t be such a lily-livered wuss, Joy!”

“What?” Dragon Father looked up in surprise. That was not a phrase Dragon Little or Dragon Father had used on each other.

“Don’t be a wuss, Joy! Get up!” she commanded. “We’re going on adventure, not vacation!”

Dragon Father collapsed on the deck, laughing.

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Sep 1
Sep 1 #319: Joy’s Fourth Birthday, Part 1: The Hangover