A Dream Come True
"Do you like it here?"
An eight year old Michael looked up at the small Maria. "Yea it is nice
here."
"No mean monsters chasing us, and trying to put us in the big white rooms.
Do
they try to put you in the white rooms too?" Maria asked him casually as she
picked at the plush green grass that she sat on.
"Yea. Do they ever catch you?" Michael asked from the ground that he was
sprawled out on.
"Sometimes." The little girl admitted and frowned.
"Me too." Michael said and nodded.
Maria looked him in the eye seriously for a moment then smiled. "Your hair
is
spiky." She reached out and roughed it up with her hand laughing the whole
time. Maria continued to smile, even at the curious look he was giving her.
She grabbed one of the flowers that sat in her lap and placed it behind his
ear and began to laugh.
The small Michael raised his eyebrows a little amused. "Does it bring out
the
color in my eyes?"
That set Maria off and she fell into a fit of giggles. She fell to the
ground
and rolled onto her back laughing. After the laughing subsided she let out a
soft, contented sigh and turned her head to face him. "When you're here the
monsters go away."
"I know." Michael said and nodded taking the flower from behind his ear and
studying it. When she was there with him the monsters were gone too. And so
was the burning. He didn't like seeing everything burn. But she didn't see
the burning so he didn't tell her about it.
"But they are outside of here to, and you can't keep them away outside of
here." Maria said sadly.
"I know." Michael responded softly. He didn't know what they were like
outside of this place. But he feared them more outside. And for some reason
he couldn't figure out, he hated the fact that outside of here he couldn't
keep them away from her and she couldn't keep them away from him.
"No!"
Michael turned to face Maria and found a distraught look on her face.
"You're going again!" Maria said as she began to cry in fear of leaving
again.
Michael sat up and looked down at himself, well what was left of himself. He
was beginning to fade. He looked around wildly in hope of finding something
to keep himself there. But there was nothing.
"I don't want you to go." Maria whined.
"I don't want to go either." Michael said, and for some reason there was
fear
in his voice.
Maria launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his slowly fading
form, but there was still enough of him left to be able to hold onto. "Don't
leave me. Can't we just stay like this?"
"I wish we could." Michael said and wrapped his arms around the small girl
tightly, hoping she would anchor him down and prevent him from going to
whatever place that was outside of there.
"I wanna stay like this." Maria said softly.
"Me too." Michael said. But soon he saw Maria fall through him and land on
her
arms. He heard her crying for him to come back, but her voice seemed smaller
and further away, then soon everything became black and empty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael groaned as he pushed himself up from his sofa. The loud sound of a
truck across the street continued to roar and he cursed silently at the
idiot
driving it for waking him up.
He threw his legs over the side and walked slowly towards the bathroom.
Michael rubbed his eyes trying to wake up, everything looked weird to him.
When he reached forward for the knob his hand hit nothing but the door.
Michael dropped his hand away from his eyes and leaned forward as he stared
at the doorknob, which oddly enough was just a little lower then him.
Michael
reached forward and turned the doorknob cautiously and opened the bathroom
door slowly. When he stepped in he looked around carefully: everything
seemed
higher to him. He walked forward carefully towards the sink which was much
higher then it usually was. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was
when he looked into the mirror. His mouth fell open as he found a little boy
staring back at him. "Oh shit." Michael whispered. His face twisted in
confusion at the odd voice, which was a few pitches higher. "Oh shit."
Michael repeated, unable to form any other words. And the same boyish voice
came from his mouth. Michael leaned forward towards the mirror and touched
at
his face carefully. It held none of the stubble that he was used to waking
up
with in the morning, and his face felt much more smoother then it usually
did. Michael grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. He
cringed at the tall lanky body in the mirror. Tall for an eight year old of
course.
Michael continued to stare at his now changed reflection when he realized
all
of a sudden that he wasn't in his sixteen year old body anymore and looked
more like eight now. And the repercussion of that fact began to bombard him
automatically and he ran to the phone. He cursed softly as he had to reach
up
to retrieve it from the counter. He dialed quickly and waited impatiently as
the phone rang.
"Hello?" a tired voice answered.
"Max!" Michael exclaimed in relief.
"Who is this?" a confused voice asked over the phone.
One though hit Michael, it was only him, Max obviously wasn't in an eight
year old body, his voice was deep. "It's Michael."
"Michael? It doesn't sound like you."
"Yea I know. Max just get your ass over here, something kinda happened."
Michael said. That was the least of it.
"Is everything okay?" Max asked as he awoke suddenly.
"Yea, kinda, look just get over here. Because I can't really leave." Michael
didn't wait for a response and hung up the phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isabelle jumped out of the jeep and walked around it quickly and had to run
to catch up with Michael. "Do you think we are being set up?" Isabelle
asked.
"You said it didn't sound like him."
"Yea I know, but you know we have to go in anyway." Max told her. She didn't
respond. She knew they would go in anyway.
Max knocked hard on the door and continued to do it until the door opened.
But where Max expected to see Michael, there was nothing. When he lowered
his
field of vision though he was presented with a scowling little boy with
spiky
hair.
"Don't say anything at all." Michael said angrily and turned to walk back
into the apartment. "I woke up like this. Now fix it."
"Michael?" Isabelle asked unsurely and walked towards the boy cautiously.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Yes Michael. Look you know what I looked like at
eight. You know this is me. Now fix it. Because I do not like this at all."
Max looked at Isabelle who was still staring intently at Michael. But he saw
her purse her lips together, then she turned to him and he knew what the
look
in her eyes mean. Max tried to contain it, but he only succeeded in
releasing
a choked sound. Which set Isabelle off because she began to laugh loudly.
Max
had a little more control, but he knew that it was evident on his face.
Michael sighed angrily and glared at the two of them who were now much
taller then him.
"Okay," Max said as he tried to keep his voice in control, "you woke up like
this?"
"Didn't I say that?" Michael asked irritably.
"All right, but you are still sixteen, you’re just a smaller version of
yourself right?" Max asked his voice started to get serious again.
Michael nodded.
"Do you remember anything happening last night? Like someone maybe
dreamwalking in your dreams, or someone maybe being here while you were
asleep?" Max asked hoping to get some answers.
"Look I don't remember anything! I had no dreams last night, and no one was
here. Who cares anyway, just fix it." Michael told him angrily.
"Fix it? Michael I wouldn't know where to begin!" Max exclaimed.
"Look Max, if I am stuck like this we are going to have serious problems. I
don't care if you know how to fix it or not. Just try something." Michael
said seriously with a little pleading in his vice.
"Max, you might as well try it. He's right, he can't stay like this."
Isabelle
spoke up on Michael’s behalf.
Max nodded and stepped towards Michael. He kneeled down slowly and placed a
hand on Michael’s chest. Once he was inside Michael, he began searching
around
for any lead as to what had happened, or what would fix the problem Michael
seemed to be in. As he went further, things seemed to get darker. There were
odd looking monsters that would only be created by a child’s mind, and he
could see a raging fire in the background. But ahead he saw a light, and as
he got closer the light became brighter. And he soon caught the faint sound
of giggling. But just as he heard it he was pushed away and out of Michael’s
mind.
"Max!" Isabelle exclaimed and ran towards her brother who was sitting on the
floor. She helped him up off the ground as she studied him over. "What
happened?"
Max turned away from her and looked at Michael. "I think I was finding
whatever made Michael the way he is, but just as I was getting closer I was
pushed out."
"What?!" Michael exclaimed at the fact that Max may not be able to find out
what happened or worst of all put him back in his sixteen year old body.
"What do you mean? What did you see?"
"I don't know, it was dark, and there were these weird monsters, almost like
from a cartoon, and there was fire, then I started nearing a light and I
started to hear laughing, then I was suddenly pushed out. Michael I think
you
did it." Max said as he looked down at Michael.
"What? No Max I don't think so." Michael denied.
"No, I mean you unconsciously have done it. Just like you made yourself
younger without even knowing it. But for now, I think you should stay here,
and not tell anyone else."
"Won't work, Maria is coming over here when she gets off of work. And she
will most likely freak out and open her big mouth to Liz and Alex." Michael
revealed to him.
"Then we tell them." Isabelle said immediately. She noticed the weird looks
that came from the two of them. "We might as well. I doubt we will be able
to
keep this a secret. Especially from Maria."
"Alright, Liz and Maria are at the Crashdown, we are going to go let them
know." Max said and turned towards the door.
"Wait." Isabelle said suddenly. "They won't believe us. We need to bring
Michael."
"Oh no. I don't think so." Michael said and backed up.
"Isabelle-" Max started to disagree.
"No Max. They won't. We didn't even believe it when we saw him. And out in
public no one would even dare guess it was him, so there is no danger. He
can't hide in here forever."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Max." Liz said happily at first but she became confused as she noticed
the little boy with them. "Are you going to introduce me?" she asked kindly.
"Liz, I think we should go in the back." Max said and began leading her
towards the back.
Michael frowned as he walked with Isabelle to the back.
"Where's Maria?" Max inquired.
"Oh she doesn't come in for another hour. I shouldn't have been working for
another hour, but they needed help. Is there something wrong?" Liz asked as
they stepped into the break room.
"You could say that." Michael said.
Liz gave Max and odd, confused look.
Max sighed. "Liz something happened to Michael, he woke up this morning like
this." Max said as he motioned to the shorter boy next to him.
"You’re joking." Liz said and laughed.
"Look at him Liz." Isabelle said.
Liz looked at the boy intently. He had the same obvious spiky hair, he was
tall, too tall for someone with that young a face. And his face looked
angry. A few other features gave it away, but it was mostly the scowl, the
height, and the hair that did it. "It is him." Liz said, the amazement
evident in her voice.
"I'm standing right here Liz." Michael said with a touch of anger.
"Michael shut up." Isabelle said and smacked the boy on the back of his
head.
Michael looked up at Isabelle angrily but didn't say anything.
"How did it happen?" Liz inquired.
"We don't know. I went into his head to try to find some answers, I saw some
odd looking monsters though and fire, then I got near a light and I heard
laughter then I was pushed out. And I think the answers were where the light
was." Max explained.
"Liz, get out front!" Liz’s father yelled.
Liz sighed and looked at Michael. "I need to get out there. If you want to
get in touch with Alex and Maria call them at home. Come out front when you
are finished." Liz said as she walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What did they say?" Liz asked as the three of them walked out from the
back.
"Alex is on his way here, but we couldn't get in touch with Maria." Isabelle
said to Liz.
"Hungry?" Liz asked them. "I'm guessing things have been kind of hectic this
morning."
"Yea kinda." Max admitted.
"Alright have a seat, I'll be right back." Liz said, but before she turned
away she looked up at the sound of the bell ringing at the door, and a
confused look came over her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz surveyed the small girl in the door way. Her face was cute and she had
long blond hair. But the look on her face was anything but cute. She looked
angry as hell. Not only that but her clothes were odd. She wore a pair of
loose gray pants and a strappy shirt, but she was barefoot. There was
something about the girl that struck Liz, but she couldn't figure it out.
But when the little girl’s eyes caught sight of them, pure fury seemed to
take over the girl. And the words that escaped her mouth shocked Liz.
"You asshole!"
All eyes flew to the petite girl, even the few people who littered the
Crashdown. And they watched as she ran towards three teens and a little boy.
Michael eyes widened as the girl launched herself on him and began punching
him mercilessly.
"You bastard! I am going to fucken kill you!" the girl screamed.
Max quickly lifted the girl off of Michael and placed her on the ground, but
she didn't stop and tried to attack Michael again. Luckily Max was able to
grab her and hold her back.
"Max let me go!"
Isabelle eyes flew up at Max from the little girl. "Max you know this girl?"
"I don't know her!" Max exclaimed. He wasn't able to deny any further as the
girl kicked him in his shin with her bare foot. Max let her go in surprise
and
when he tried to grab her again she turned on him and pushed his hands away.
"Max grab her." Isabelle said and tried to move in-between Michael and the
furious blond girl.
"Oh no you don't." Maria said and moved out of Max's way. But he had an
advantage with his longer arms and grabbed her again. "Don't think you
aren't
going to die Michael Guerin!" Maria screamed.
"Max take her out of here." Isabelle said as she tried to avoid the girl’s
kicking feet.
"No!" Liz yelled and lunged forward yanking the girl from Max's arms.
"You know her?" Isabelle asked as the girl seemed to stand still next to
Liz.
"Of course she knows me!" the girl exclaimed, but she also saw an opening
towards Michael. She lunged forward onto the seat of a booth and jumped onto
the table in an effort to get to him, but was soon grabbed by Liz.
"Maria no!" Liz exclaimed as she grabbed her and pulled her back.
"Maria?" Max asked surprised.
"Duh." Maria said as she looked up at Max angrily.
Liz looked around nervously. "Let’s go in the back." she said and pushed
Maria
in front of her.
"I swear all three of them are going to die." Maria said as she walked
towards the back. Once in the break room, Maria spun around to all of them
and watched them as they walked in. "Now what the hell is going on here?"
"Maybe you should have asked that first before you tried to practically kill
me!" Michael blew up and stalked forward and stop right in front of her.
"Oh no, don't try using that whole height thing to scare me." Maria said and
pushed him back. "Because this is your fault."
"What you think I wanted to be stuck in this eight year old body! Give me a
break. This was all done to inconvenience you. Because you are of course the
center of everyone's universe. Get off of it Maria!" Michael yelled at her.
He was irritable and cranky and stuck in a really bad situation, or more
precisely an eight year old body.
"I don't care what you wanted. You are the one with alien powers, not me!"
Maria yelled back at him.
"Just broadcast it to the whole world why don't you! Then we can all get
stuck in nice little white rooms!" Michael exclaimed. But as soon as he said
it he noticed as the anger pulled away from her face. And he also felt his
own shut down. A sense of fear was brought on, and from what he could tell
she felt it to. But it wasn't evident to the others. They just took that
moment to interrupt.
"All right enough." Max proclaimed. "Whatever I saw in Michael's head
involves Maria to."
"Wait, what did you see in Michael head?" Maria asked.
"It was dark, but there where these monsters, like a child’s cartoon
version.
There was fire too. Then I saw a light and I heard laughing, but right after
that I was pushed out of Michael's head." Max explained to Maria.
"All right so let me get this straight, you can't figure it out, and you
have
no idea of how to fix this?" Maria asked.
Max nodded.
"Wonderful." Maria said and threw her hands in the air. "Okay so why don't
you explain to me why he changed me. I mean I obviously didn't do this."
"What, you think I did this to you?" Michael asked taken aback. "I don't
think so. I didn't do this."
"Well who the hell else did!" Maria yelled.
"Look!" Isabelle yelled. "This isn't anyone’s fault. What we need to do now
is
find out what is going on. Max, try Maria, it is a common known fact Michael
is more closed off then anyone else," Isabelle ignored the angry look that
she was getting from Michael, "Try Maria, maybe you'll have more luck."
Max looked over the small blond. "Do you want to?"
"What do you think?" Maria snapped.
Max nodded. He stepped towards Maria and placed his hand on her head. When
he
shut his eyes he began the process of traveling through her mind. He pushed
on and it began to become dark again, and he surprisingly began to see the
monsters again. They were different from Michael's. Michael’s seemed bigger
and scarier, but these weren't exactly nice. The fire was missing though.
And
as before he saw the small white light which continued to get larger, then
he
heard voices followed by giggling. And as before he was pushed out roughly.
When his eyes opened Max found himself thrown on the floor.
"I'm guessing it didn't work?" Maria asked.
Max shook his head and allowed Liz to help him up. "You had the monsters to.
Although they were slightly different, they weren't as bad as Michael's. But
you didn't have fire in your dream. I heard voices this time though."
"But we are still stuck and have no answers." Michael spoke up. They were
getting no where.
"Hey." Alex said as he stepped into the room. He slowed down as he caught
sight of two unfamiliar faces. "Who are these two kids?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I knew you looked familiar." Alex said to the little girl.
"Very swift Alex." Maria commented.
"Yea I try. So we know of no way to fix this?" Alex asked wanting to be
sure.
No one answered, but he saw a few heads shake.
"What if we have to go back to elementary school?" Maria asked fearfully.
"All those little kids, doing little kid things. I will freak out."
Michael let out an exasperated sigh. "Maria I think we have more problems
than that. Like what is going to happen when people find out that we
magically
were turned into eight year olds. People like your Mom."
Maria mouth fell open. "I never thought of that."
"Look, I'll cover for you Maria, but you can't go home and you can't stay
here just in case my parents do recall what you looked like at eight." Liz
said as she looked down at her friend. She then turned to Max. "Can she stay
at your house?"
"No, our parents are home. I don't know how we would explain keeping an
eight
year old little girl over at our house." Max responded to Liz.
"Then that leaves one other place. Michael's." Liz said and looked towards
him. But Maria’s loud voice caused her to turn.
"Oh no. I don't think so. If I am in the same room with him I will kill
him."
Maria protested.
"You never seemed to mind before." Michael said with a smirk that seemed to
fit his boyish face.
"That was before you turned me into an eight year old girl!" Maria yelled.
"Look!" Max yelled. "Liz is right. Your apartment is the only place. I don't
care if you two don't want to be around each other. Right now we have to
keep
you away from any suspecting eyes. And Maria obviously cannot go home. Now
stop being petty and actually try solving a problem." Max scolded them.
"Fine." Maria agreed.
"Whatever." Michael mumbled.
"Alright. Isabelle and I are going to drop them off. We'll be back later and
try to decide on what to do. To everyone else Michael and Maria are just
sick." Max told Liz. Max looked down at the two kids that used to be an
older Michael and Maria. "Lets go."
Liz watched as the four of them filed out of the room. She let out a soft
sigh. "This isn't good."
"No not really." Alex agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maria frowned as she followed Michael into his apartment. If she actually
thought about it, it would seem odd to her. The eight year old boy walking
through this apartment as if it was his own. Which it was. But the simple
fact that he was eight now threw her for a loop. "You know you're lucky."
Maria said as she watched him take off his jacket.
"Why?" he asked and threw his jacket on the arm of the sofa and sat down.
"Because for once your lack of hygiene paid off. You slept in your clothes,
meaning they shrunk with you. Instead I get to walk around in pajamas."
Maria
told him and took a seat on the sofa.
"Hilarious." Michael said obviously unamused.
The most uncomfortable silence filled the room and made it unbearable for
Maria. She wished for something that they could fight about. Usually they
filled their silences with lots of making out. But that was defiantly out of
the question right now.
Michael took the time they had right now to actually look at Maria. He had
gone to school with her his whole life, but he had never really noticed her.
Her hair was just below her shoulder and it seemed lighter than it was now.
All the developments that she had gained through her teenage years were
stripped away leaving a flat stick thin girl. She was also tiny. Even with
him being eight two, she seemed a lot shorter than she did when they were
sixteen. But even with all the differences she still looked cute. Everything
abut her seemed cute. Even the way her small bare feet hung over the couch
without touching the ground.
"You’re too skinny." Maria stated breaking the silence.
Michael frowned at her. "You don't have that much of a figure yourself. And
who cares, I got bigger than everyone else anyway."
"But you’re so skinny. I mean you look like skin on bones." Maria commented
as
she studied him.
Michael groaned. "Maria shut up."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isabelle began the conversation. "Okay so we dreamwalk." she stated.
"But Max went into their heads. It didn't do any good." An unhopeful Liz
spoke
up.
"But when they're sleeping wouldn't their guards be down? That's why Max
couldn't get in right?" Alex stated more then questioned, trying his best to
lighten the situation.
"Yea, but Michael and Maria weren't doing it on purpose. It was their
subconscious. So they would most likely still be blocking us." Max
explained.
He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but it was true.
"Why though? Why are they blocking us?" Isabelle questioned.
"If I knew that then I could most likely get past it." Deep down Max knew
that neither Isabelle or him would be able to help.
"Okay why don't we try to decipher what you saw Max." Ever the logical one,
Liz was trying to make the best of the situation. "You saw monsters, and you
said they where kind of cartoonish. Why would they be like that?" Liz asked
but she knew the answer, and she noticed the realization dawn on Alex.
"They’re eight. Or about eight. The impression of the monsters I am getting
could only be created by a child." Proudly, Alex looked at the others making
sure they got it to.
"All right," Isabelle nodded her head in understanding, "Michael's monsters
were worse though."
Max caught on easily. "I think it is pretty easily determined that Michael
would have scarier dreams than Maria, his monsters would be scarier."
"Right, that leaves the fire," A thoughtful Liz brought up, "And that was
only in Michael's head. Why fire and why just him? The dreams had been
similar up to that point."
"That's easy." Isabelle stated. "Crash and burn. Michael is remembering the
ship burning."
"Yea." Max said softly and nodded his head.
"Okay." Pausing for a moment, Liz tried to piece together why those things
would cause Michael to make them eight. "Now the light, I'm getting the
impression it was a little more welcoming then the monsters and the fire."
Max nodded.
"Was it like kids voices you heard?" Liz inquired.
Max thought for a moment recalling the laughter and the voices he couldn't
make out. "Yea I think so."
"Okay, then we can conclude that this whole dream is being dreamt by a
child." Liz stated.
Isabelle couldn't help but role her eyes. "Obviously."
Liz felt her patience slip. "Well then if you know it all then why haven't
you told us that Michael changed them into children because in the dreams
they were children and they were happy. Michael changed them to be happy,
and to be happy that meant changing them into children." Not being able to
hold back the glory of her discovery Liz sent a questioning glance towards
Isabelle waiting for her to challenge her discovery. Isabelle of course sent
a nasty look Liz's way, but not a word passed her lips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is ridiculous." Maria stated breaking the silence.
"What?" Michael asked as he turned to face the annoyed little girl.
"Us sitting here. How can they help us if we are here and they are there?"
"Then what do we do, all knowing one? We can't leave." Michael stated.
"Oh no?" A challenging face stared at Michael. "You watch me." Without
another word Maria hoped off the couch and walked quickly through his
apartment.
Michael opened and closed his mouth a few times, but by the time he even
came
up with a complete sentence she was out the door. He glared angrily towards
the gaping door and jumped up to follow her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ow!"
Michael turned around to the girl that he was quickly leaving behind. "What
now?" Michael inquired to Maria who was now standing on one foot and holding
the other up for inspection. If he was in a better mood he would have
laughed. She looked kind of cute.
"Nothing." Maria said evenly and dropped her foot.
"Fine." Michael mirrored the flat angry tone and continued towards the
Crashdown. He stopped again as a hiss came from Maria. Michael turned again
and did nothing to hide his annoyance. But it most likely wasn't that
intimidating in an eight year old body. "We are never going to get to the
Crashdown with your complaining. It isn't my fault you fell asleep without
shoes on."
"Shut up." Maria ground out. She turned towards the street and walked
slowly towards it, stepping on the toes of her left foot. Once to the curb
she sat down and propped her left foot on her knee. Touching the heel of her
foot softly, she felt a small pinprick. "I hate glass."
Michael sighed a she mumbled and sat next to her on the curb. "You big
baby."
Even though the words were spoken with little patience, he gently grabbed
the heel of her foot in one hand. A moment later Michael released Maria’s
foot
and stood up hurriedly. "Lets go."
Maria stood up and carefully aloud the pressure to set on her left foot, but
to her surprise she felt nothing. Turning to face Michael, who was staring
down at her, she smiled knowingly.
"You would have slowed us up." Michael said and started walking again.
"Riiiiight." Maria nodded and followed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look." Isabelle spoke up and pointed towards the ringing door.
Max let out an annoyed sigh. "You were supposed to stay at your apartment."
"Well someone insisted on walking here and giving a piece of her mind."
Michael said and nodded his head towards Maria.
"Look, I just don't see the point of it. How the hell are you helping us
when
we are there and you are here? I think it would make more sense for us to be
here and help solve the problem." Maria said trying to back herself up since
no one else was supporting her decision.
"And what are you going to do?" Michael challenged. "Use your unearthly
powers to change us back?"
"It won't make any difference!" Maria shot back. "Yours aren't doing us any
good anyway! So get off the whole 'I have powers so I can solve everything'
thing! Give me a freaking break!" Maria exclaimed. Being cooped up in this
tiny body, and having everyone around you larger then yourself was wigging
her out.
"Oooookay." Alex broke the stunned silence. Well Isabelle and Max were more
then stunned. Their eyes were flying around the whole diner at the people
that just heard the whole commotion. Luckily Maria only looked like a kid
and
wouldn't be taken to seriously. "Why don't we go to the back where there
aren't so many pairs of ears?"
Liz nodded eagerly. "I agree."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Is there a reason for that outburst?! I mean I wouldn't want to keep our
secrets hidden from the public!" Isabelle exclaimed as they stepped into the
empty break room.
Maria spun around and looked up at Isabelle who now loomed over her. "I
think
right now you may not want to try the dripping sarcasm. I am in no mood for
it."
"Who cares if you are in the mood for it. Do you think I am enjoying this?"
Michael didn’t back off, even though she looked like a force to be dealt
with.
His control was a thin line anyway and he was about to snap. "Believe me I
didn't want you to be dragged into this situation with me." And for some
reason, to make sure she wasn't thinking it was because he wanted her safe
he
continued. "Because you have been a pain in my ass the whole time."
Maria opened her mouth to shoot another snide remark at him. But he was on a
role now.
"You might even be getting the wrong impression here. Like maybe because I
changed you it means something. It was a mistake believe me." At this point
Michael was shooting blanks. Empty words that seemed to hold no meaning.
They
were just angry words that happened to be directed at her because she always
seemed to get under his skin. And so the words seemed to flow easier to her.
"No!" Maria screamed. "It was supposed to make it better!" Maria wiped at
her
eyes with little care. She knew she had to have been the saddest sight ever.
"What?" Max asked, the first to realize that what Maria said made no sense.
"What was supposed to make what better?"
Maria turned and looked up to Max. "I-I don't know."
"Michael?" Max asked hoping that Michael could add to what Maria was saying.
"I don't know what she is talking about." He tried to say it smoothly, but
his voice was still strained.
"Liar!" Maria yelled and pushed him. It didn't have much affect and she soon
felt herself being grabbed from behind by someone. But that didn't stop her.
She yanked herself away and began beating on Michael. "You did it to make it
better!"
Michael didn't try to move, something inside of him knew it was true, he had
done this for a reason. And it was his fault they were put into this
situation.
"Maria." Liz said and grabbed her friend.
"No." Michael spoke up and pushed Liz’s hands away. "She's right. I did do
this, on purpose. I don't know why. But I did it for a reason." Michael
looked away from the people that he offered the explanation to and looked
back to Maria. "I don't know what to say."
"Just say that you did it to make it better. Right?" Maria asked him
hopefully.
Michael looked into her face and even if it wasn't true he would have told
her yes. The widened eyes of an eight year old girl broke practically had
him
mesmerized. But he didn't have to lie because it was true. Michael nodded.
"It was supposed to be better."
Maria smiled slightly. Sure he had put them in this mess. But at least she
knew he did it because he wanted them to be happy.
"Are we going to dream walk now?" Isabelle asked. "Or does this not qualify
as them sharing dreams?" Isabelle asked and pointed to the two kids.
All Max could do was nod. They had no other choices. And there was a
possibility it would work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know there’s trouble."
Michael looked over at the small blond head girl sitting next to him. Her
face was worried. Not just for herself, but for him. "I know. I did it." The
immediate change of expression of her face told him that she felt other
wise.
"No you didn't! You wanted to help!" Maria refused to let him think that it
was his fault, he just hadn't known that outside of their world it would
change. Sighing, she settled back down into the plush green grass and looked
out ahead at the beautiful pink sky that they both created in their
imagination. "Is it going to go back to how it was before?"
Michael nodded solemnly. "I think so." It was better if they went back to
the way before. Whatever that was. He really wasn't sure what had really
happened outside of their dream world. But he knew that he had done
something in an attempt to create whatever they had there.
"But we can still come back here." Reminding him did little good though. He
seemed more aware that things still wouldn't improve.
"I know." He listened to the annoyed sigh that came from her at his lack of
enthusiasm. But for some reason he felt more aware of what was going on
around them. She continued to look at the bright side of things. Which is
exactly why he needed her there with him.
"Michael."
Michael turned to the strange cold voice. Jumping up, he tried to gain some
height to her tall form. But it did little good. "You can't get in here."
"Right." she said as she looked around at the dream they had created. Her
eyes stopped on the little girl who had at some point stood up and was
standing slightly behind him. What surprised her, was that they held no
recognition of her on their faces. "Look Michael, you have to fix what
you’ve done."
The stone look the little boy had put on his face faded away and was
replaced with curiosity. "Wha-what did I do?"
Isabelle felt reluctant to explain something that they seemed to know
nothing about. "You changed something outside of this place. Speaking of,
what is this place?"
Maria stepped out from behind Michael. Her reproachfulness at the tall
girl’s question caused her to speak up. "It isn't just a place. When we're
here the monsters can't get us."
Beginning to understand the situation Isabelle went on. "And the monsters
are outside of here?"
Maria nodded.
"And you like being here better?" Isabelle asked.
Realizing that the tall girl was no threat, whatever force that had
held little Maria mouth closed released it. "Yea, because they can't get us.
Outside of here there are bad monsters. But we always have to leave. We want
to stay here, but then one of us always fades away." Halfway through the
explanation the excitement in her voice lessened and her tone became quieter
as she realized the impending disappearance of one of them.
"You can't stay like this though." Isabelle said in a comforting voice
hoping to make them realize it was true.
"Why not?" It was more of a whine than a question that came from Maria.
"Because outside of here Michael did something. He made you just like you
look now." Isabelle tried to explain to them. Here they actually did seem to
be eight years old. In body and mind.
"So." Michael spoke up reproachfully.
"You aren't supposed to be like this outside of here."
Maria eyes widened in wonder. "How are we outside of here?" her curious
voice questioned the girl with the information.
"You’re a big girl." Isabelle told her. And she almost laughed as the little
Maria’s eyes opened up in surprise.
"As big as you?" Maria asked the hopefulness evident in her voice.
"Just a little shorter." Isabelle informed her.
"And Michael? Is he a big boy to?" Maria asked hopefully. "He isn't scrawny
is he?"
Isabelle couldn't help but snort, or notice the annoyance on little
Michael’s face. "No he is bigger and very tall."
"Taller then you?" Maria asked surprised.
"A lot taller." Isabelle told the amazed little girl.
Maria turned to Michael with shock. "You big idiot!" Maria told him and
shoved him. "You are way taller then me!"
Michael turned to her still recovering from the sudden outburst. "It isn't
my fault!" he exclaimed.
"Look Michael, you have to fix it. Because if you don't there could be more
monsters then there are already." She seemed to have chosen the right words.
Fear seemed to be etched on his face.
"More?" Michael asked worriedly, he had wanted to help, not make it worse.
"Yes, there could be. But if you change everything back to the way it was it
will be better." Isabelle said trying her best to reassure him.
"But then we can't be together like in here!" Maria yelled, all thoughts of
being a big girl had suddenly disappeared from her head.
"Nooo." Isabelle said and shook her head. "You are together outside of here.
You’re together a lot."
"We are?" Maria asked hopefully.
"Yes. Now you have to go back to the way you were before. Okay?" Isabelle
asked, looking at Michael.
Michael nodded but didn't look either of them in the eye.
Isabelle let out a sigh of relief. She paused only for a moment as she
looked at the two solemn children. A moment later she released the dream and
faded away back to reality.
Once the big girl had faded away Maria turned to Michael. "We have to go
back?"
Michael nodded but still didn't look at her. "I think so."
Maria threw her arms around him. "I'm scared though."
Michael quickly regained his balanced and unsurely wrapped his arms around
her. "But we're together remember?" He felt her nod slowly into his
shoulder. Michael squeezed his eyes shut and held her tighter. Soon though
she seemed to move. Her head was no longer resting on his shoulder, but was
laying against his chest. When he opened his eyes he found himself staring
down at a blond head. But the color was darker, and it no longer flowed down
to her waist. It instead ended at just above her shoulder. "Maria?" Michael
asked confused, and his confusion went further as a deeper voice escaped his
mouth. She seemed to notice too, because she jumped away from him suddenly.
What he saw wasn't what he expected. She was still shorter, but was far from
the straight thin girl that he had been looking at moments before.
"I remember." Maria said with amazement.
"What?" he asked confused, but he knew what she was talking about.
"Everything. What happened outside of the dream, and I remember the dream
too." The amazement at what had happened faded from her mind. "I'm sorry."
Shocked, Michael stepped closer, "For what?"
"For being mad at you. You had just wanted us to be happy like we were in
here."
"It wasn't your fault." Michael reassured her. "You didn't know. Neither did
I."
"We're going to wake up like this right?" Maria asked him. As much as she
knew she had liked being with him in the dream, she did want to be back to
normal.
"We should." Michael said softly. For some reason being back to normal and
knowing the truth really made him feel guilty.
Maria frowned at Michael. Reaching up, she pulled his face down with her
hands so that he was looking straight at her. "What's with the sulky look?"
"This is depressing." Michael admitted. "What we had here was perfect, now
it's ruined because we know the truth."
Maria slid her hands to the back of his neck and pulled his head down till
their foreheads met. "But we can't stay here anyway. I don't need everything
to be perfect, I just need you."
Michael opened his mouth to respond, but the fact that he could see through
her brought him out of the moment they were in.
"They're waking us up." Maria realized too as Michael became a little see
through himself.
Frowning, Michael responded, "Unfortunately."
Maria didn't waste any time making this last moment perfect. She tilted her
head back slightly and met his lips with her own as they faded into
darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End