Master Mind climbs out of the ocean and onto the small island Suzy and I live on, his robotic body dripping with water. His hands are inside his chest cavity. Madelyn is already standing again.
“I am sorry, robot,” she says again. “I could not watch you do it.”
“My evil side plots your death at my hands,” he tells her. “But only 1.5% more than usual.”
“Master Mind,” Joy says from the hammock. “Why are your hands there?”
He takes his hands out of his chest cavity. “I have protected your paper heart from getting wet. I was afraid the water would damage my only prized possession.”
“Good going, Master Mind,” Justin says. “Madelyn--”
But Justin doesn’t finish that thought, as, with a small sound of the air shifting, Charlie appears on the deck of Bonnie’s Revenge, docked right next to our home. The sky changes and becomes darker and a jungle appears right at the edge of our island, stretching into the horizon.
Charlie leans over the railing. “Joy, are you okay?” He sees the dripping robot and Madelyn in the middle of the garden and adds, “What’s going on?”
A man appears in the garden and jeeps appear at the border of the jungle. There are people in the jeeps and they are firing up their engines.
The man comes up to Madelyn and speaks to her in French, too fast for me to understand. Justin tenses up. A laser gun appears in his hand. Weapons come out from inside Master Mind’s arm to a firing position on top of it.
“Ah, guys?” Charlie says.
But we’re all staring at the man and the jeeps. Any dream could potentially threaten Joy - and Justin and Master Mind are ready.
The man and Madelyn walk together, crossing the garden, stepping over a small piece of ocean to stand on the new jungle. They walk up to the jeep and go in.
Justin gasps. He takes a few steps towards the opposite side of the porch. “Hey, Charlie, come here, I want to show you and Joy something. Want to see magic?”
“Yeah!” Charlie’s excited.
“Come here, quickly!”
“What about Madelyne?” Joy says.
“I want to show you magic,” Justin says. “Come on, Charlie. Quicker!”
Madelyn is the one driving the jeep. The man is sitting next to her. All the jeeps fire up their engines and start racing. Simultaneously with that noise, Justin makes fireworks appear on the porch between himself and the kids. I see what he’s doing. He’s making sure their backs are turned to the race.
Justin puts on a light show, trying to be as impressive as possible as the race goes into the jungle. He’s doing a good job. The kids are rapt, when I hear an explosion from the jungle. Justin explodes another fireworks, but Joy cries out, “It’s Madelyn! Something happened to her!”
We hear Madelyn far away, screaming in pain.
Justin waves his hands and a band appears in the garden, playing loud music. “Now listen to this!” he says.
“Madelyn’s in pain! We have to go help her!” Joy insists. Madelyn’s screams are heard even through the music the band is playing.
Justin walks up to Joy and takes her hand. “We can’t help her, Joy. It’s what she wanted.”
“She’s screaming, Dad!”
The band disappears and all we hear is Madelyn’s faraway chilling screams.
Justin shakes his head. “It’s what she wanted. She wanted to lose her legs. The only way for her to do it was to relive the day she lost them. She’s going through that day again. There’s nothing we can do and there’s nothing we should do. We should let her play out the dream.”
Joy puts her hands to her ears. Charlie looks down, saying, “I don’t know what’s happening, but this is awful.”
Rescue helicopters appear out of nowhere, approaching the smoke in the jungle.
And then the helicopters are gone. And the jungle is gone. And the ocean underneath can be seen again.
Madelyn has woken up.
I can see a small quantity of dust fall into the ocean and slowly blend with the ocean water. Madelyn has lost her legs again.
Suzy, Justin, Master Mind, Joy and I all take a moment to think, to understand, to accept.
“Guys, what is going on?” Charlie breaks the silence.
—Told by Grampa Walt