I’m chaperoning Joy again in Charlie’s dream. Chaperoning Joy in another dream is hard, because I have to rely on Master Mind to hold me when he jumps from Shroom to Shroom, when below us is what seems like an endless abyss. 

Well, thank goodness for Master Mind. He’s the actual chaperone. I’m just there for the, um, kicks. Just to learn more about my granddaughter and her best friend. 

Master Mind stands far away while the kids sit with me on a small grassy mound. Usually, they play by themselves. This time, they sit down with the grandpa and enjoy talking to me. 

“Where are you from?” Charlie asks me. He knows but he forgot. 

“I was born in Toronto and that is where I live,” I say. “You’re in New Jersey now?” 

“Uh huh. I live there with my mom.” 

I sense some tension from both Charlie and Joy. 

“Huh. What about your dad, Charlie?” 

Now they both tense up. It’s not subtle. I’m missing something. They’ve said quite a few things over the last few weeks about Charlie’s father, but I’m not sure if any of it was about the real world.

“My Dad… he… he died. Because of me. And then we moved. And then every time I dreamed about him he ended up killing me.” 

“Really killing him!” Joy adds. 

“Really?” I raise my eyebrows. I’m not sure what she means by that.

“And then… I couldn’t kill him for real,” Charlie adds. 

“I tried to kill him,” Joy says simply. 

“Yeah, but the angel guy killed him.” 

“That’s right,” Joy nods. 

What did those kids go through?! 

“You know,” Charlie tells Joy. “It’s been a few weeks or something and he hasn’t come to kill me yet.”

Joy stands up. “Bring him back!” 

Charlie stands up next to me, too. “Bring him back?” 

“You miss him, right?” 

Charlie nods. 

“Then dream him up nice. And you know how to make dreams disappear now, right?” 

He nods. We both know he’s been getting better at it. 

“I promise I won’t make him stay!” Joy says. “Bring him back. We’ll be fine.” 

Charlie looks around. “I do miss him. I want to play with him.” 

“Go ahead!” Joy assures him. 

“Are you…” there are tears in his eyes. “Do you want to leave, Joy?” 

“I’ll be fine!” she waves dismissively. 

“Your grandpa?” 

“He’ll be fine, too!” she speaks immediately. I sense danger, but… if she can handle it, I’ll stay by her side. 

“Master Mind?” Charlie looks at Master Mind, who has come closer. 

“We will be fine,” Master Mind says with his really strange metallic voice. “We can handle anything for a few seconds. Should worst come to worst, I will kill you, child,” a big sword appears from inside his arm and he grabs it. 

Charlie gulps. “Ah… Thanks!” They both mean that if Master Mind scares Charlie enough by killing him in the dream, he will wake up and what he has dreamt of will also disappear. 

Master Mind nods. “It would be my pleasure to kill you.” 

Still not used to that guy. 

Charlie nods. “Okay. Let’s do it.” He closes his eyes. “I want my Dad.” 

(To be continued…)

—Told by Grampa Walt