“Nightmare Man is in one of the tunnels,” Master Mind says suddenly, standing on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge. 

Suzy and I are on the porch. Joy is asleep. Justin and Charlie should fall asleep and appear in the Dream still a few hours from now. Colin lives in London but falls asleep around 1 or 2 AM his time. Madelyn, Amahle, and Yumio often appear in the Dream before him, living in South Africa, France, and Japan. 

“I will ask him what he wants.” 

I get up. “I’ll join you.” I’m always glad to join whatever’s going on. This dream world is the New World for me. I can’t get enough of it. “Suzy?” 

Suzy nods and we board the ship. 

Master Mind helms the ship and flies to the tunnel.

Colin is adhering to what Joy calls ‘The Colin Rules’. They say that Colin, even though he has far fewer nightmares than before, is not allowed into Justin’s dream without Justin there, and only after Justin has made sure that Colin is not going to have a nightmare or be an obsessed Dreamer. 

His nightmares present too big of a danger to Joy’s life, and Colin, now that he knows us, adheres to those rules.

Master Mind docks the ship kilometers about the ocean, near the sun and the way out of the dream. He doesn’t bother to have the plank almost touch the tunnel. 

“How are you doing?” Suzy asks him. 

“Perfectly well, thank you,” he says, remaining within the tunnel. “I have been told, by, uh, uh, a very close and personal, uh, I have been told, that I should invite more people to our home,” he says. “Back in London. And I would, uh, I would like to, uh, try a test run, as they say, here in the Dream, where it would probably do no harm. I would like to invite you two, Justin, Joy, Charlie I guess, and whichever of your friends seem to be here at the time, to, uh, our apartment for, uh, dinner.” 

“ ‘Our apartment’?” Suzy says. 

“Yes.”

“Plural?” she asks. I noticed he used that word, but just assumed he meant his and his wife’s. I never thought to ask.

“Yes.” 

“That sounds lovely,” Suzy smiles.

“Sure,” I say. 

“Brilliant!” Colin says. “We’ll wait for Justin. And then, uh, maybe I’ll recreate my home and you can come. I’ll just wait on the Shroom, looking at the view.” 

I look at Suzy. She’s smiling happily to herself. 

I think she’s picked up on something and I have no idea what it is.

Still, I don’t want to ask her. I’ll see if I can figure this puzzle out for myself.

(To be continued…) 

—Told by Grampa Walt