“Oooh, I’ve seen those!” Joy looks at the strange, small glowing thing that’s flying in front of Charlie’s face.
Justin, standing to Charlie’s right, leans in to get a better look. I do the same, to Charlie’s left. My eyesight is not as good as it used to be.
“What is it?” Justin says.
“It’s like a tiny fairy with really big teeth,” Charlie says. “Is it going to eat me?”
“It’s just a fly,” Joy waves at it dismissively. “General Hawk and I saw a cloud of them. They don’t do anything.”
Justin reaches out with an open palm, inviting the creature to land on his hand. But the creature flies up, circles around Charlie’s head, then flies towards the stem behind us. The Shroom’s stem is thick, thrice as thick as Justin’s body. And I can see a handful of these glowing creatures are already resting on the stem.
“They’re are quite cute,” Master Mind says with his robotic voice. “Petting them would bring me pleasure. As would crushing them between my fingers.”
“Yeah, well, none of that,” Justin gives him a look, but doesn’t seem to take Master Mind’s words too seriously. “Where do they come from? Not my dream. Joy, do you remember if you touched these creatures in our dream?”
Joy shakes her head.
“Huh,” Justin says, looking closely at the small fairies which are clinging to the stem and ignoring him now. “Is it possible that the Dream has creatures in it? Creatures that are from here? That belong here? That were born here?”
He’s asking himself, but he’s looking at me, the scientist. “It’s possible, Justin. This is a huge environment that we know nothing about. There could be life that’s growing here. Or not. I have nothing to go on so far. Something is creating oxygen, at least, that’s for sure.”
“Hmmm…” Justin says. “Look out for other creatures of the Dream, everyone. It could be that the inside of dreams is not the only danger out here.”
Joy nods. Charlie looks around, worried.
Joy points at the creatures. “I name you Fairy Flies!” she tells them, then looks at Charlie. “I get to name everything here! It’s so awesome!”
Charlie laughs. “I want to name something, too!”
“Okay. Next time you name something! Dad,” she spins around. “Let’s go already!”
Justin presses the button on his jetpack and rises into the air. “Let’s go, slowpokes! We’re off to explore a new dream! Be careful and remember that anything can happen!”
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt