Blog — The Lost In Dreams Universe

‘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.

All in Age: 6.5

Jul 14
Jul 14 S02E250 Meet Justin’s Family, Part 5, Take Two

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“I don’t want to do it!” Joy crosses her arms.

Once we’ve all gotten over the shock of who Ethan is, Justin suggests we try meeting his sister and her two sons. Again. He wouldn’t be able to summon Ethan again, because Joy made sure to turn him permanent before killing him. But at this point no one wants to see him anyway.

“It’s not up to you,” Justin tells her. “She’s my sister. She’s your aunt. She’s family. You’re going to meet Angela. And you’re going to meet your two nephews, because they’re super cute.”

“I won’t do it! I’ll kill them!”

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 14
Jul 14 S02E249 Meet Justin’s Family, Part 4, Ethan

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“Ethan can’t be evil,” Suzy says. “You got that wrong.”

“I looked into his eyes,” Joy says. “I looked into his eyes when he tried to kill me once. Then twice. And I looked into his eyes when he killed Charlie’s dad.” Charlie looks down with sadness in his eyes. “He was happy to kill. He wanted to kill everyone in his dream!”

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 13
Jul 13 S02E248 Meet Justin’s Family, Part 3, Angela

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“What the fuck is going on!” Angela demands from Justin.

“Angela, Angela, calm down,” I tell her.

“Dad, shut up!” Angela shouts at me. “Justin, your daughter stabbed Ethan! He turned to dust like a vampire! You high fived her! Justin!”

Justin is thinking. So much has happened.

“Your husband is a killer!” Joy shouts at Angela. Joy doesn’t need time to think. “I killed him like he deserved!”

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 13
Jul 13 S02E247 Meet Justin’s Family, Part 2, Psycopath

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

I am so staggered by the fact that Joy, my granddaughter, just stabbed my son-in-law in the heart that I can hardly think.

Tommy is screaming. Grace is crying. Angela keeps whispering, “Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.” And I can’t see any of the rest, since my eyes are blurry.

“Joy-what-Joy-what-Joy-what–” Justin is saying.

I try to look at Joy with the long kitchen knife, the murder weapon, as she stands there in the door to our home, framed in that door.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 12
Jul 12 S02E246 Meet Justin’s Family, Part 1, Death in the Family

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“This is exciting!” Suzy says, as excited as I’ve seen her since we met Joy six months ago. “I’m so excited! Walt, aren’t you excited?”

We’re all standing in the living room in Suzy’s and my home: Suzy, me, Joy, Justin, and Charlie. Master Mind is waiting outside on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge, docked just a few meters away.

“Very excited.”

“Right,” Justin claps his hands once. “We’re going to do this the way we do it in the real…I mean, in the waking world.”

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Oct 31
Oct 31 S02E136 Special Delivery

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

With Justin and Charlie both awake and gone from the dream, it’s time for Master Mind and Joy to do their special delivery to Charlie’s dream. As always, I join them. Just in case something happens. Just in case something should be reported back to Justin.

Joy has gathered on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge ten permanent jetpacks that Charlie has left in Justin’s dream, having used them to come over. Once he’s here, he wakes up from here and the jetpack gets left behind.

So, once a week, Joy and Master Mind bring them back.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Aug 15
Aug 15 S02E93 Outside the Dream, Part 8: Real Vs. Unreal

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

Justin stands up and bends his head, since he is taller than the tunnel. “Joy, let’s just get out of here.”

“We have to save the baby. Right, Charlie?” she looks for help from her friend.

Charlie hesitates, though.

Justin reaches out with his hand. “Joy, it’s just a dream. The baby will disappear in a few minutes. I don’t want to let you touch it or suddenly we’ll have a real baby that we can’t get rid of.”

Joy looks like she’s going to cry again. “And what’s the matter with that?”

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Aug 15
Aug 15 S02E92 Outside the Dream, Part 7: Saving the Baby

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“She left the baby!” Joy is jumping in place hysterically. “She left the baby!”

Justin puts his hands on her shoulder. “It’s just a dream, Joy, it’s not real.”

Madelyn turns her super wheelchair to face Joy. “There is a lot of sadness in the world. There are mothers that can’t take care of their babies--“

“No, there aren’t!”

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Aug 11
Aug 11 S02E91 Outside the Dream, Part 6: The Baby

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

The six of us crowd together at the edge of the tunnel as we look in on this new dream. Madelyn sits in her super wheelchair in the middle, and we all try to squeeze in around her. All except Master Mind, who takes one peek then moves back.

“Our first rule, Madelyn, is safety.” Justin tells her. “We’re Dreamers. We can wake up if something happens to us. Joy can really get hurt. We have to protect her at any cost. Do you understand?

She nods, her face serious. “Protect Joy. Of course.”

“My dad, Grampa Walt, can also get hurt. But protect him second. First Joy.”

I notice he didn’t explain I was a dream made permanent. That’s wise for now.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Aug 9
Aug 9 S02E89 Outside the Dream, Part 4: Charlie’s Laughter

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

As we walk through the tunnel back towards Justin and Master Mind who are waiting on the surface of Madelyn’s Shroom, Charlie can’t stop looking at Madelyn’s super-wheelchair and laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Joy asks.

Charlie shakes his head and laughs.

Madelyn looks at him, and continues.

“Charlie, what’s so funny?” Joy insists.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Aug 6
Aug 6 S02E88 Outside the Dream, Part 3: Madelyn’s Wheelchair

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“I can lift you and walk you back through the tunnel, invalid,” Master Mind volunteers.

“Master Mind!” Justin and I both shout at him.

Madelyn raises her hand at Master Mind. “I can walk by myself, robot. Zhoy, you are coming with me?”

“Me, too!” Charlie says.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Aug 6
Aug 6 S02E87 Outside the Dream, Part 2: Madelyn in the Dream

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“What is this, uh, this, uh, place?” Madelyn looks around in shock. She clearly finds it harder to speak English under the circumstances.

“Hold on to your butt,” Joy tells her. “You’re going to love this!”

“My butt?”

Justin waves at Madelyn dismissively. “It’s an expression. Ignore it. This,” he motions with his hand at the Shrooms, “is the place where everybody goes when they dream.”

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Aug 3
Aug 3 S02E86 Outside the Dream, Part 1

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

I follow his gaze and realize I’m looking down two meters at Madelyn’s Shroom. We’ve been to her dream four times now. But now… Madelyn sits on the shroom, right at the tunnel entrance, her hands holding the ground underneath her tightly.

I have never seen another Dreamer outside their dream!

“Whoa,” Joy says.

“Oh, my god!” Justin says.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 25
Jul 25 S02E80 The Spat

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

“Stay away from her, Mom!”

Joy explodes in anger, “I won’t stay away! Not from you and not from her!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Justin grabs hold of Joy as she tries to run towards Charlie. He holds her in his arms. “Whoa, Joy, hold on.”

A tank appears behind Charlie. Justin turns his attention, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You too! There’s no need for that! Make the tank go away!”

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 24
Jul 24 S02E79 Charlie’s Secret Dream

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

One of Charlie’s glass elevators waits for us at the end of the tunnel into his dream. Joy has made this one permanent way back a couple of days after their big adventure.

As we descend down to the park that was always there, we see a new beach nearby.

“The Child is there,” Master MInd points at a small dot on the beach.

At the park we activate our jetpacks and fly towards the beach.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 24
Jul 24 S02E78 More Important than Killer Grandmothers

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

Justin flies Bonnie’s Revenge to Australia, apparently. This is an Australia that’s in his dream. Although I feel it is exactly like Australia, a little bit of my scientist mind is certain that this is because I am a dream creature. I have never been to Australia and I would not know whether this beach is authentic or not. Nor do I remember at present if Australia has a big volcano, like the one that is next to us.

A part of me feels like this was always true. But it could be that I was created in a way that makes me easily believe the logic of dreams.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jul 8
Jul 8 S02E73 The Tennis Match, Part 1

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

And here we are again, entering Madelyn’s dream.

As the glass elevator descends, we see that we are above a tennis court.

“What’s tennis?” Joy asks.

I look at Justin, almost horrified. “Justin, have you never shown Joy what tennis is?” Justin looks away from me and shakes his head. “But it’s such a big part of your life! Even now!”

He shakes his head again.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jun 7
Jun 7 S02E44 The Falling Shrooms, Part 4: A Shroom Falls

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

Joy hugs the stem of the Shroom for an hour before something happens. The stem leads to the Shroom, which holds the tunnels, which lead somehow, impossibly, into Justin’s dream which seems to be infinite in size and in which anything can happen. And yet the stem has only enough room for ten people at most, and that is if they stand uncomfortably close.

After about an hour, Charlie’s Shroom falls.

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Jun 7
Jun 7 S02E43 The Falling Shrooms, Part 3: Charlie’s Life

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

We wait for hours, but the Shrooms don’t fall. Joy and Charlie insist on not letting go of the Shrooms’ stems in all that time. Joy is holding on to the stem of Justin’s dream, and Charlie holds on to the stem of his dream.

At some point I decide to sit down on the small surface of the Shroom. I still hold Master Mind’s hand. I am still afraid I might fall when the Shroom collapses.

They spend the time talking to each other by yelling from Shroom to Shroom.

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]

Jun 6
Jun 6 S02E42 The Falling Shrooms, Part 2: Riding the Shrooms

Age: 6.5, Told by Grampa Walt

I ask Master Mind to hold my hand. I am really afraid. I’m the only one who is.

Joy, Master Mind and I, are standing on top of Justin’s Shroom. The tunnels that lead back inside are on two sides of the stem and Joy is hugging the stem between the tunnels.

Joy has to be sitting down while hugging the Shroom since the Fairy Flies have taken Justin’s stem to be their home. Over the last few months they have gathered and come to rest on the stem at the height of Joy’s head. Possibly this is their nest, but who knows. They don’t talk.

Two meters below us and ahead is Charlie, standing on his own Shroom, hugging his own Shroom’s stem.

“Ready, Joy?”

[Click on the title to read the entire diary entry!]