Dream a Little Dream by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online

it’s you! I wasn’t sure, you’re so much more beautiful than the pic—” He evidently realized he was rambling. “Please forgive me. Thank you so much for saving me.” He extended his hand and Nola accepted it. “My name is Michael, but I am known by my friends as Mich. I knew I was supposed to arrivenear you, because the magic binds us to each other, but I didn’t realize that you would have to rescue me from deep water!”
    He paused, startled, as Nola fell into him. He caught her and held her in his lap while he tried to revive her. There wasn’t much else he could do.
    A few moments later she opened her eyes and looked up. She startled him again by suddenly bolting up and away from him.
    “I am sorry,” he called after her. “I did not mean to affront you. You fell into me, and I—I apologize. You saved me from the water, and—”
    Realizing that the last thing she wanted was a public scene, she composed herself quickly. “Excuse me,” she said, dusting herself off. “You are very welcome for the help, but I have to go now. I would suggest that you see a doctor before you go home.” Nola walked over to her beach chair and began gathering her things.
    “A doctor? What’s that? “
    Nola began to walk off. She knew she had to get out of here before succumbing to this craziness. It was just a silly coincidence of names and appearance. It had to be.
    “Don’t you recognize me, Nola?”
    “Of course not! I’ve never met you before! How could I recognize you?” She stuffed her towel into her bag and folded her chair.
    Where was Spirit? Mich prayed he hadn’t drowned. Right now, he had to convince her before she fled. How could he do that, when she seemed determined to go?
    He started to worry. This wasn’t working out at all. How could he satisfy her to who he was? She had already gathered up her belongings and was turning to go.
    Then he remembered the cross on its leather strap, tied to his
    belt. He walked over to her and gently took her arm. He put the cross in her hand. “Then, do you recognize this?”
    Nola looked at the cross. It was about one and a half inches wideand the same in length. It was silver and looked very old. Every detail from her drawings was there, down to the star sapphire in its center.
    “Where did you get this?” she asked. There was a hint of anger in her voice.
    He was startled by her snappishness. “It was a gift from a friend of mine, but it really belongs to you and your unisus,” Mich replied.
    Nola paused a moment and studied Mich’s face. The faint light of recognition flickered behind her eyes. She looked back at the cross. “You mean that this is from—Spirit?” Nola felt suddenly sad and then terribly happy. Did she dare believe? Or was someone playing a really cruel prank on her? If so, they had certainly found a way to score. Her eyes started to blur with wetness.
    “Yes,” Mich said.
    Nola clutched the cross in her fist and grabbed Mich’s shoulder. “Where did you get this?” she asked in a savage tone. “Is this some kind of vicious joke? Who are you?”
    Mich sighed. And tried to tell her again who he was.
    Nola studied him, looking for proof. She avoided looking directly into his eyes again, for fear she would not want to look away. He just seemed too good to be true.
    For she knew, through experience, that everything that seemed too good to be true was just that. Not once did she have something that made her happy forever. It was always a day or two, then it would disappear, crushing her inside. It took her a long time to learn her lesson, but she did learn. She trusted no one. Even though her heart begged her to believe, she knew that when she let her heart lead her, it led her into suicide.
    “I’m sorry, but I just cannot accept all this. I must be going insane! I must be seeing things. I’ve got to get out of here.”
    Nola started to walk down the beach. Even though this man was calling her name in such a pleading tone as to be