PART II; LEAVING THE DREAMSCAPE

 

This time my brother and I awoke up the street from our connections home. We walked toward their house. I stopped at the home of Lurka, told my brother “hey I’ll catch up tell Cora and Zora I said hi” he said “sure thing” as he continued to walk down the hill and I headed to the front door of the house where Lurka resided. I knocked on the door and it opened nearly instantly. I said, “hi is Lurka home?” A skinny guy who looked slightly older than myself responded “ahh ya, who are you?” I replied, “I’m Cor” he then Hollored down the hall “Lurka Cor is here to see you” I heard Lurka's voice yell “WHO?” “COR” he yelled back. She walked up the hall toward the door, she had grown taller and thicker. It made me wonder how time passes here. It has only been a few days for me, although anytime away from her feels like years, could it actually have been years for her? That thought hardly lasted as I began to admire her stunning beauty and grace just as stunning as ever, possibly even more so. She said “ok thanks Dirk” “you got it” Dirk responded as he walked away. Lurka smiled at me and I smiled and blushed, before she said “sooo who are you?” Damn I thought she still doesn’t remember me, I kinda figured since she said who but was still hoping. I then said “I’m Cor. We met a few da- year- sometime ago. We used to play with your neighbors Cora and Zora at their house” She looked puzzled and responded in an awkward voice “ohh ok” I continued “we talked a lot. Do you still want to study education at the Ol’ University?” She looked even more puzzled and a little frightened and spoke hesitantly “ahhhh yaa, how exactly do you”- I interrupted “I told you we talked a lot” then realized I shouldn’t have interrupted, I began to worry that I was coming on too strong, but then thought fuck it, took a deep breath and began to explain “This isn’t the first time we’ve met or the first you’ve forgotten me, I’ve introduced my self to you multiple times and each time we talk more and more I remember everything but somehow you forget, but we have talked for hours and hours about our future and l..l..ov”- She interrupted me and said “love?” with a confused smile. I smiled and responded “ya, Love” at that moment. She yanked my arm into her house, slammed the door and took me downstairs to her room. Inside her room she closed the door and giggled as she said “so tell me more about our future and our love” Now I looked puzzled and said “ok, wait do you remember me?” “No, but I have a good feeling and I believe you for some reason” she said. Fair enough I thought before telling her everything. For the first time I told her our entire story, monsters and all.

After I finished telling her the story, she kissed me before the door opened. “Dirk” she said “what are you doing?” “What am I doing? What are you doing? You know your not allowed to have boys in your room, mom and dad will be pissed” Dirk responded “Well then don’t tell them” Lurka said in a mocking tone “Well then at least leave the door open so I don’t get in trouble for not” Dirk responded mocking her tone. He continued, “what are you doing in here anyway?” “Nevermind that we’re going over to Cora and Zora’s anyway, c’mon” Lurka said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. On the way out after Dirk left I asked “wait, do you remember me?” She said “no, sorry” I said “it’s ok but what was that kiss about?” She smiled and exclaimed “it felt like our second” I smiled and blushed silently, I didn’t know what to say but was overjoyed, for the first time but certainly not the last I had the thought that if anything, the power of love is underrated as she said “c’mon” still holding my hand as we ran out the back downstairs door and went to Cora and Zora’s backyard.

My brother was leaning on the poll of the swingset as he talked to Cora and Zora about some video game he was playing. Cora and Zora swang as they listened before seeing Lurka and I. “Hey Lurka” Zora said “who’s this?” My brother hopped in and said “that’s Cor, my brother, remember I told you about him” as he walked over and gave me a high five. I noticed Cora and Zora looked the same as they did last time I saw them. That made me wonder again about how time might pass here, Lurka looks to have grown a few years and Cora and Zora appeared to have not. As Cora, Zora, and Lurka walked over to the swingset I pulled my brother aside and asked, “Why do you think Cora and Zora look the same as the last time we were here?” He said “ahh cause that was only a few days ago” I replied “Ya but Lurka appears to have grown a few years” Zor looked puzzled before saying “not really” now I looked puzzled and said “what? You don’t think she looks a few years older?” He said “no, I think that’s just you” then headed toward the swings. I stood frozen in space, my mind still reeling. Could it really just be me? The few days since our last visit felt like mere moments away from Cora and Zora, yet to me, every second away from Lurka felt like an eternity. Could it be that the inhabitants of the dreamscape age in tune with the perceptions of outsiders like us? That thought was dizzying and intellectually exhausting. Perhaps here, in this realm of dreams, connections, love, and monsters, time was as fluid and personal as the emotions it evoked. I continued having these thoughts until I heard Lurka call out “Cor come play with us” with her trademark contagiously awkward smile that made my thoughts melt away as if entirely irrelevant. I smiled back and said “coming”.

This time we actually spent the night. Don’t ask me how you spend the night in a realm of dreams, I have no idea. But for the first time the monsters didn’t show up all day and we woke up the next day, Monday still in the dreamscape. Cora, Zora, and Lurka had to go to school. We waved and said “bye, see you later.” My brother and I walked around the neighborhood and went into town to get some ice cream. We talked as we ate our triple scoop waffle ice cream cones. “What do you think of this place?” I asked, “I like it,” my brother answered. “Ya, but like what is this place? Like how do you think it works?” “My brother said, “I don’t know, like some sort of alternate universe or something.” “Ya but why do you think I seem to see Lurka as if she had grown a few years while Cora and Zora look no different, and you don’t notice a difference in any of them?” “I don’t know, maybe it’s just you” he replied, “ya but why and like how?” “I don’t know man, maybe it’s just like a dream, but a world of dreams, like a sort of shared unconscious”.

A shared unconscious, that thought stuck with me all day. Cora, Zora, and Lurka got home at about 3:15pm. Lurka told me “I want to show you something”. My brother went to play with our connections in the yard as Lurka took me to her house where nobody was home. At her house she showed me her new bikini, it was a beach themed g string and strapless bra like top. She asked, “How do you think I would look in it?” Shocked and excited I stood silently with an awkward gasp before finally speaking “go-good, really good”. She smiled and said, “ok I haven’t tried it on yet, but I will now” she then began to strip I turned around to give her privacy, but she said, “it’s ok you can look”. At this point my hormones were going crazy, topped only by my emotions. The most intimate moment I have ever had with another person, and it was the person I loved the most. The greatest moment of my life was about to get even better. I stood silently gazing at Lurka as she posed suggestively, “so, how do I look?" she asked and I replied awkwardly “you are the sexiest, most stunningly beautiful girl I have ever seen”. She smiled as she approached me and kissed me passionately. I had never made out before, but it felt so natural with her. Soon we were wrapped around each other. At some point, without us even noticing our clothes came off and we were in each other's arms, naked. We both moaned simultaneously as we fell on to her bed still entangled.

A little while later, as we lay in her bed stroking each other's hair and face Lurka looked at me, smiled and asked, “how was it?” I answered “it was amazing, I have never done that before. She smiled and said, “me neither, but I really enjoyed it”. After that we kissed and fell asleep still holding each other. After a couple hours we woke up to the sounds of screams. We both quickly put on our clothes and headed outside to the sight of Triface chasing Zor, Cora, and Zora around the yard. It was frightening, but my brother and I had prepared for this. I hollered “Zor, remember the plan” He hollered back “ya” as he picked up a branch and ran over to a tree. I picked up another branch and ran to the tree across from him. As Triface chased us approaching the gap between the trees my brother and I extended the branches between them at a low level as Triface ran through, tripped over the trees and hit the ground as the dirt flung up like a dust storm. After the dust had cleared, he was gone, an indent in the ground, but other than that, no trace of Triface. My brother and I high fived as the girls smiled and clapped. “I think we did it, I think we defeated the monster” I said as my brother smiled and said, “ya we did” and we high fived once again out of proud arrogance of what we thought was victory.

After this encounter we were all tired and decided to go to sleep. Me and my brother slept in an RV parked in the driveway of our connection’s home. My brother fell asleep nearly instantly, but I couldn’t sleep. Even though I was tired I couldn’t stop thinking about Lurka, I missed her even though she was right next door. I missed her. Even when we were in each other's arms I missed her. I always missed her and that’s when I had the epiphany that love is that genuine feeling of miss, like missing someone no matter how close they are, as if no matter how close you are it can never be close enough. It seems Lurka felt similarly as I saw her outside. I smiled at her and waved as we walked toward each other. I asked, “hey what are you doing out here?” Lurka smiled and said “I couldn’t sleep, I missed you” I smiled and said “same here” as she took my hand, and we walked to her room where we fell asleep instantly once again in each other's arms.

The next morning, we awoke, Lurka kissed me goodbye as she headed to school. I snuck out the back door so her parents and brother wouldn’t see me. As I approached the bus stop where my brother was waving goodbye to Cora and Zora he asked, “hey where were you this morning?” Awkwardly I just shrugged and said, “I had some trouble sleeping, got up early, couldn’t get back to sleep and decided to walk around”. My brother just nodded and said “I get you, last night was quite intense” before I jumped in and said, “what do you know about it?” My brother looked confused before I realized he was talking about our alleged defeat of Triface and said “oh ya, sorry, just a little tired” my brother brushed this off as me just being cranky as he turned toward the house, the bus drove by and Lurka looked out the window and blew me a kiss as I blew her one right back.

When Lurka got home she and I went out to the local ice cream parlor. We shared an ice cream cone and walked along the road holding each other's hands, gazing into each other's eyes. To this day it was the greatest moment of my life. Followed immediately by the worst. When we arrived back at the house, we saw Trihead flying around breathing fire on everything in sight and Triface returned angrier than ever smashing everything he came across. I didn’t see my brother or our connections as Lurka and I ran to her house. There her brother Dirk was waiting and said with a surprised and frightened tone “what the hell is going on?” I responded, “I don’t know but I think it might be my fault, I’m sorry, I should leave and never come back” Dirk “said Well damn straight if you’re causing this then get the fuck out” Lurka said “no, don’t leave” as she began to tear up. I said “I have to I’m putting you and everyone else in danger” Lurka said “I don’t care, I know that sounds selfish, but I don’t care, I want to be with you, always and forever” I responded I know I feel the same, but if something happened to you I couldn’t live with myself” Dirk stood there silently, he didn’t know what to say, but he knew our feelings were genuine. At that moment Triface smashed through the roof of the house. Dirk was covered in rubble. I ran over to help him out as he yelled “NO, my sister, help her” I looked over and realized Lurka was also covered, I ran to her and dug her out of the rubble. I held her in my arms, as she smiled at me and said, “I love you, always and forever” As Triface smashed again right at us and Trihead blew fire toward us I shielded Lurka with my body and whispered in her ear “always and forever” ...