When the door opened finally, Peter was standing outside of the closet, smiling at me. Micky was standing behind him.
For the first time in a few days, Micky wasn't holding his ragged stuffed puppy. I was about to say something about this when Peter interrupted me.
"Was that you who screamed, Davy?" he asked. I stopped. "At the same time as me, I mean?" he asked.
I thought for a moment, my thoughts diverted. "Yes," I said. "You were the other one, I assume?" I asked. He nodded.
"Tell your version of the story, Davy," he said. "Why did you scream?"
"Well," I began. I recalled for Peter and Micky how I had been awakened in the middle of the night because of an untold horror in my dream. How I'd later been frightened by a large crash, and how I had been afraid of what had happened, and of the panic I had felt as I'd gone through the possibilities. I told how surprised I'd been when Mike had come downstairs and how I'd decided to try to reach him through thought instead of words. "And as I was trying to get to Mike, I reached something within myself," I continued. "I remembered what the dream was about."
Peter nodded. "And that was when you screamed," he said. I nodded. "That must have been at the exact moment as I remembered." I sensed confusion at this point coming from Micky, and I could understand why. Probably he was wondering what the dream was about.
"And then, I managed to reach Mike," I said. "I don't know if he knew it was me, but I told him to go upstairs and help you. Now I'm not sure if that was a wise idea." Peter hadn't told me about Mike, but I'd had a feeling of doom at the mere thought of his name ever since I'd sent him upstairs. I knew that meant that there was something wrong.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked, and Peter told me what he'd seen.
"I went over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Then he turned around and looked at me with the strangest expression in his eyes. Of fear. Then he ran and jumped into the bed and pulled the covers over his head. Then he said something like 'make it stop.' I didn't know what he was yelling about, so I asked, and he said 'the banging.' I hadn't even heard it. Then I went downstairs to see you, since I figured the banging was you," Peter explained.
"Well somebody should go and see what's wrong," I said. Before Peter or I could say anything more, Micky ran up the stairs, obviously volunteering himself. I looked at Peter.
"Peter, did you notice....?" I began. Peter nodded. "Do you think he's back to himself again?" He shrugged.
"I'm not sure," he said. "I was kind of afraid to say anything to him." I looked at Peter. So many things were happening at once, my head was starting to spin.
"Did you have the same dream as I did?" I asked Peter. He shrugged.
"I don't know. What was yours about?" he asked.
"Well, I was in a snowy place, Alaska I suppose, and we were all there. It was very cold and snowing, and we were all standing out in the snow. Then I saw Micky. And he started to change. He sort of, well, shrank, and then he was very small. Not short or anything, but a child." As I told Peter the dream, I closed my eyes and pictured what I'd seen in my head. "And then Mike saw him do that and he became very upset. He picked up a blanket and put it over his head. And after that all I remember is feeling afraid. More afraid then I'd ever been in my life, I think. Though I don't know why. " I stopped and looked at Peter. "What was your dream about?" I asked him.
"Well, the first part was the same except that we weren't in Alaska. We were here. And I saw Micky turn into a child, and Mike become very afraid. Then they changed back into normal. And I saw you. You were sitting in the corner, hunched over, and looking very sick. Weak and pale. After that all I remember really is being sad. A little bit scared, but mostly depressed."
