Just then, one of the walls of Tum Tum's breathing prison opened, revealing an exit for him. The young boy cautiously crawled out of his slimy cell and nearly ran back in; feeling a gust of freezing-cold wind from outside that instantly chilled him to the bone. A large, forked tongue slid from somewhere in the living prison and forcefully threw Tum Tum out, pushing him into a snowdrift. As Tum Tum pulled himself out of the hill of snow, he saw what looked like a giant lizard crawl away. On the lizard's side were a set of miniature "mouths" that opened and closed whenever the gigantic reptile wanted them to. However, these "mouths" were actually tiny cells where the lizard kept its eggs. When it figured out that Tum Tum was not one of its eggs, it simply threw the little human out into the frozen wasteland it was traveling through.
His head spinning, Tum Tum stood up in the middle of the snow-covered area and looked around frantically for something to keep himself warm. Poor Tum Tum was only wearing his thin, short pajama bottoms without the top, and he was barefoot as well (it's extremely hot at night in California). His fingers and toes were already numb, and he was quickly losing feeling in his arms and legs. His ears felt like they were coated in ice! Luckily, Tum Tum spotted some lights in the distance.
"A city!" he cried, "If I can make it all the way there, maybe I'll be okay!"
With that, Tum Tum began to run as fast as he could towards the lights he saw in the distance. Soon, the wind began to pick up, and a blizzard was quickly forming around the seemingly endless desert of snow. Tum Tum looked behind him and was shocked to find that he was leaving a trail of bloody footprints in the snow. Most of Tum Tum's body had become numb by now, and he was beginning to feel very tired and dizzy.
"Oh, no," he thought to himself, "I'll freeze to death if I don't find that city and get warm soon!"
The little boy trudged onward, finding himself chest-deep in the ever-rising drifts of snow. After a long while, Tum Tum found that he had lost track of time all together, and that his condition was steadily getting worse. Finally, Tum Tum could go no farther. He collapsed in the snow, lying motionless as the swirling winds of the blizzard whipped around his tiny body, beginning to bury him in snow. As he lay there, Tum Tum realized just how dangerous his situation actually was. He remembered going to sleep in his soft, cozy bed, and waking up inside a giant lizard.
"I'm in a dream!" Tum Tum gasped, his eyes opening wide.
Then, he remembered how everything that happened in his dreams over the last few nights actually took effect in the real world the next day. Tum Tum realized, a wave of fear and despair flowing over his mind, that if he froze to death in this dream, he would die in real life as well. Frightened beyond belief, the little ninja began to cry. His tears froze on his cheeks almost as soon as they were shed. Then, a miracle happened. Tum Tum heard a voice, a little boy's voice, calling his name.
"Tum Tum! Where are you? Tum Tum!" a familiar voice called.
"Joey?" Tum Tum called out weakly, "Joey, is that you?"
"Tum Tum? Oh my god! You're bleeding!" Joey cried, running up to his nearly frozen best friend.
"Joey???"
"Shh. Don't talk," Joey said, wrapping Tum Tum's body up in some warm electric blankets and placed his freezing body onto the large wooden sled he rode in on. Calling his dogs to "mush" (hurry, go, etc.), Joey rode with Tum Tum all the way to the bright lights of the city Tum Tum saw earlier, a city called New Eden…
