Joy had just asked Lukas, the man into whose dream we have walked for the first time just a few moments ago, to say ‘Dragon Father’, and now that he has, she’s excited. 

“You know the Red Dragon!” 

Lukas looks at her, still thrown for a loop over everything that’s happened. “Dragon? What… is… What do you mean?” 

I make sure I’m right behind Joy, protecting her. With Justin out of this dream, I want to get out of here as soon as possible. “Joy,” I put a hand on her shoulder. “How can he know the Red Dragon? She was in your father’s dream.” 

“Joy, what do you hear?” Charlie says with concern. 

“He talks just like Red! He makes words exactly the same way!” 

“You mean… his accent?” I try to understand. But Joy shakes her head. She doesn’t know what ‘accent’ means. 

“Lukas,” she tries again. “Have you seen a big dragon? Red? Very nice. Big wings. Lots of fire.” 

Lukas just stares at her.

“How would he know Red?” Charlie says. “Your Dad dreamed her!”

“I know, but he sounds the same!” 

“Sir,” I say. “Where are we? What city is it? What country?” 

“Leipzig,” he says. “Germany.” 

Master Mind steps forward. “The Dreamer is quite upset. The likelihood for danger is rising. We need to leave.” 

“No!” Joy raises her voice. “He knows something about Red.” 

“Joy,” I lean down and try to look into her eyes. “What you’re hearing is the accent. It means he’s used to speaking another language. So when he tries to speak English, he sounds a bit German. Everybody has that when they try to speak another language. What you’re hearing is not that he knew her, but that your Red Dragon also had a German accent.” 

“Why would she have a German accent?” Charlie says. “Was she a German dragon?”

“German dragon?” Lukas says. 

“Little Pirate, you must leave this dream now or I will pick you up and take you. The Dreamer grows more and more agitated.” 

“Okay,” Joy mopes, and I try to calm Lukas down. 

“Sir,” I offer my hand. “We must go. Nice to meet you. Enjoy your workout.” 

He nods. 

Joy, Charlie, and Master Mind are already walking out of the gym. I join them. 

“When I see Dad, I’m going to ask him!” Joy says.

(To be continued…)

—Told by Grampa Walt