"You know what I hate, Tammy whispere...

Prologue:  "It was all a Dream"

    "You know what I hate?" Tammy whispered across the library table to Matt, "I hate it when you get to the end of the book and it says, 'and then they woke up and it was all a dream.  That's so stupid."
    "I know it," Matt agreed.  "It ruins the whole book.  Why do they do that?"
    "I hate it when people tell me their dreams, too," Tammy said, with a faraway look in her eye, "They are so rambling and long and pointless."
    "Okay, I'll remember not to tell you my dreams,"  Matt said.
    "My dreams are pretty stupid.  I'm either being chased through a long dark alley or falling through the sky.  I always wake up just before i hit."
    "I can't tell you this, but I just fly.  I love to fly, it's so much fun.  But I won't tell you about my dreams, because you think they're boring.  Only mine aren't.  They are wonderful  They are like continuing stories.  Always an adventure.  And I'm magic."
    "Magic.  I don't believe in magic."
    "I don't believe in magic either.  Not in real life.  But dreams are dreams, they're not exactly real in the ordinary way.  You can be magic in dreams, why not?  You can do anything in a dream if you want to."
    "Anything?"
    "Sure, why not?"
    "Well, for one thing, I don't control my dreams.  They just happen."
    "I let mine happen too, most of the time.  It's more interesting and fun that way.  But I pay attention, and any time I need to or want to, I can take charge and shape the dream."
    "You're full of bull dunky," Tammy said, a little too loudly.
    Mrs. Weinhart looked over her half glasses and frowned.  She was pretty lenient most of the time, as long as kids didn't get carried away.  Tammy poked her head back into her book, but Matt gave her a little kick.  "I'll show you," he whispered extra quietly, "I'll take you to Mearddth."
    "Mearddth?  Is that like laughter?"
    "LOL.  Sometimes!  No, it's a dream world, one of many.  It's my favorite one.  I'll come get you tonight.  Wherever you are, I'll find you and show you.  If it's okay, only if it's okay."
    "Well, I don't believe you a bit.  I think you're teasing me.  But if you can really take me someplace fun, that would be better than my stupid dreams.  And then, we'll write a story about it."
    "Yeah, and at the end, we'll say, 'and then they woke up, and it was just a dream.'  All the kids will hate us."
    "But it will be okay, because it was true."  Tammy laughed out loud."  Mrs. Weinhart looked over her glasses and down her nose at Tammy, who pretended to be reading her book.  And then really was reading her book, until the bell rang.  Matt winked at her.

1.  The Thugs

    Tammy was running down a dark alley.  She was out of breath, her legs hurt, and the two men chasing her were gaining on her.  She tried to run faster but couldn't.  On and on she ran, scared, with no real hope of escaping.  She was close to tears.
    Suddenly, a boy dressed in a superhero suit jumped into the alley in front of her.  "Halt," he said, handing her a sword.
    "They've got guns, Matt," she said.  "You can't sue a sword against guns."
    "Sure you can," Matt said.  "This one shoots rubber bullets.  They hurt, but they don't kill anyone."  He turned the sword sideways, sighted down lts length, and fired a couple or warning shots at the two thugs who had ducked behind a trash can."
    "A sword that shoots rubber bullets?  What are you nuts?"
    "Sure I'm nuts, hadn't you noticed that before?"  Matt strode toward the two men.  "Who are you guys?  Stand up and tell us who you are."
    The two men stood up and stepped out from behind the trash can.  Tammy gasped, "Mr. Sorensen, Mr. Beakley, what are you doing here?  Why are you chasing me?  You've been chasing me for months.  I was really scared of you.  Why are you carrying guns?" 
    Mr Sorensen lifted his gun, pointed it directly at Matt, and pulled the trigger.  A stream of water hit Matt in the chest.  Matt fell on the ground kicking his feet and laughing.  Then he hopped back up.  "These are spirit guides," he said, pointing to the two teachers.  Science and English.  They help navigate the dream world.  You need good balance.  You need to know black holes.  And you need to understand poetry.  They've been trying to tell you how to dream."
    "Black holes?  POETRY? What are you talking about?"
    "Metaphor," said Mr. Beakley.  "Dreams are the ultimate metaphor.  Or, at least can be."
    "You guys aren't making any sense."
    "Who said we needed to make sense?" asked Mr. Sorensen.  "Do black holes make sense?  Do quarks?"
    "Look," said Mr. Beakly, pointing to a large puddle, an old Model T.
    Matt reached into the puddle and tugged on the car, pulling it out.  It was old, dilapidated, rusty and looked as if it would soon collapse into a heap of rubble.
    "Our ride to Mearddth," Matt said, "We're going to Mearddth, want to come?"
    "Nah, we've got other fish to fry right now.  We're going to see if we can catch some of your friends and if so, we'll bring them along later." said Mr. Sorensen.
    "I hope they aren't as slow--and fast--as you were, Tammy.  We were getting worried."
    "come on, Tammy, get in," Matt said.  "Let's get going,"
    Tammy looked skeptically at the old rust bucket, but it wasn't old any more, it was shiny and new and with fresh rubber on the tires and highly polished brass appointments.  It wasn't a Model T any more, but a --- .  She wasn't sure how she knew that, but decided not to worry about it.  She opened the door on smooth well-oiled hinges and sat down on plush leather seats.  Matt drove down through the alley, then pulled the gear shift hard toward him and the car took to the air.  "Wheee," Tammy shouted, looking down as the alley and city building fell away.  She was full of happiness and excitement, happier than she every felt before.  They were going on an adventure.  And it was fun.
    The city faded into the distance behind them and they flew for the simple joy of flying.  "We don't really need the car," Matt said, "that was just to give you confidence."  He dove out the door and flew along beside the car, which kept going.  "Come on out, the air is fine."  He took her by the hand and the car was gone.  They were flying.
    "This is just like Peter Pan," Tammy said.  The she looked down.  She immediately began to fall, plummeting toward the ground. 
    Matt tugged on her arm, "Fly!" he said.
    "I don't know how."  The ground hurtled closer. 
    "Come on, follow me."  she continued to fall.  He yanked a little folded piece of plastic out of his pocket and it inflated into a white life preserver.  He handed it to Tammy. 
    "Thanks," she said, floating skyward.  "Phew.  I was about to crash.  You saved me.  Again."
    "Again?"
    "Yeah, remember those thugs?"
    "Mr. Sorenson and Mr. Beakley?  They're our teachers, remember?"
    "Only after you came.  Before that, they were trying to kill me."
    "Not exactly.  Listen, you need to learn to fly.  It's an important skill.  But I guess I was stupid to try to teach you way up here."  They got back in the old car, which was suspended in space and had started to rust again and disintegrate.  Immediately, the rust started fading and the paint got shinier and blacker.  Matt drove it down to a grassy meadow full of wildflowers.  There were snow-covered mountains around the sides of the meadow.  A little stream wound through the meadow.
    "This place is totally perfect.  Almost perfect.  It'd be perfect if there was a little waterfall just there and a grove of trees just there."  As she pointed, a waterfall appeared, a thin cascade with a long drop at the bottom.  And beside it, a grove of baobabs.  "Perfect," she said.
    "OK, look, we're going to fly just one foot off the ground, float.  If you lose confidence, you can just drop down."
    "But how?"
    "Just step up.  You just have to know you can do it, and you can."  He held out his hand and she stepped into the air and floated.  They floated over the grass and through the baobabs.  The baobabs were full of monkeys who swung from branch to branch, following them.  One held out a banana at the top of a tree and Tammy floated up and took it.
    "Can I eat it?"  She asked.
    "Sure!  What does it taste like?"
    "Rainbows.  Sherbet.  Lemon meringue pie.  Like a symphony.  Here, try it."
    "Hmmm, pumpkin pie.  Chocolate milk.  hey, it tastes like a banana, only sweeter.  Don't look down." 
    Tammy immediately looked down.  They had drifted far above the baobabs, and Tammy began to fall toward their jagged branches.
    "Fly," Matt shouted, "Fly!  Float.  Let go, you can do it."  But Tammy continued to fall.  Matt flew below her and broke her fall with his arms, slowing her fall.  The monkeys gathered in the branches below her and caught her as she fell, passing her from one to the next.  Several of them tossed her into the air again.  "Fly!" shouted Matt, and she did.  She flew up and down and did a couple somersaults and loop-de-loops and back flips. 
    "I think I've got it!"
    "Good, is it fun?"
    "Yeah, it's fabulous, never anything funner ever!  Wheeeee!"
    Matt flew along beside her.  "Remember what this feels like.  Remember how fun it is.  Remember how easy it is.  One of the difficult things about Mearddth is remembering.  It's hard to remember.  You have to pay attention."
    "Yahoo, whooopeee!" shouted Tammy.  "How could I forget this?  It's the opposite of falling.  Falling is scary and horrible.  Flying is exhilarating and fun.  Yahooooooooo!"

    "I thought you said dreams were boring and you didn't want to hear about them," Matt whispered to Tammy during Math.  Miss. Wingsley was writing some algebraic formulas on the board.  She had her back to them.
    "I just asked what you dreamed last night.  I was wondering if you had the same dream I had."
    "About the flying car and the monkeys that tossed you out of the baobab?"
    "Yeah, that one, was it real?"
    "Real, what's real?  Whadddya mean?"
    "I mean did you and I really have the same dream about flying and stuff."
    "I dreamed about you.  And a field with mountains and a waterfall.  Did you dream about me?"
    "Yeah, I think you were wearing a superman suit, at least in the beginning."  When Tammy said the word "Superman," her voice squeaked incredulously and Miss Wingsley spun and winged her in the head with an eraser. 
    "No talking--or squeaking--in class, Miss Wilson," she said to Tammy, as Tammy rubbed the spot on her head where the eraser had hit.   She was coughing in a cloud of chalk dust.
    "Yes Miss Wingsley, I'm sorry Miss Wingsley," Tammy said automatically. 
    "Another peep out of you and you're going down to the office.  Mr. Martin too."
    Miss Wingsley turned her back and began writing on the board again.  "If Two a plus three b plus 4 c equals y, and y equals 2x divided by n, and n equals a plus b plus c and x equals . . . "
    "Peep!" Matt said is a high squeaky voice.

    "Matt!" Tammy said, "we're gonna get detention now!"
    "It's our ticket out of there," Matt said.  "And besides, Sorenson and Beakley run detention.  We might learn something.  Come on, it'll be fun."
    "Detention is not my idea of fun."