Dream a Little Dream by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

begging, she walkedwithout looking back. She was very confused and didn’t know what to do. Maybe she was just seeing things. In fact, she was sure that she was just tired and overworked. After a long nap, this would all be over.
    Nola was about to turn onto the road when she heard a great commotion behind her. There was the sound of something heavy splashing in the water, then a sound similar to thunder. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, turned around and opened her eyes again.
    There, running toward her, was a huge black horse. He was galloping at such a great speed that he stirred up a sand storm in his wake. His tail flew behind him like a silk banner. His hide was deepest pitch and his gaze didn’t waver from Nola. His eyes were black, but glowed like stars in the night sky. Then the huge beast stopped on a dime, his nose only a foot from her nose.
    Nola felt no need to look twice at him. It really was her nightmare, minus the wings and horn, but she knew it was him. Her resistance to belief was crumbling. If this was insanity, then let it come!
    Spirit arched his graceful black neck and gently rubbed the palm of her hand with his nose. She stroked his long muzzle and threw her arms around his neck.
    “Where have you been?” she sobbed. “You’re even more beautiful than I imagined!”
    Mich approached cautiously. “He can’t talk with you here; it’s not our world,” he explained. “He’s just an ordinary horse here.”
    “Well, I want to talk to him. And what do you mean he’s ordinary here?” Nola took hold of Esprit’s mane and walked toward Mich. Spirit followed her and it seemed perfectly natural that they should be together. Mich wondered why she accepted Spirit so readily, yet did not accept him.
    Now she noticed how strangely he was dressed. His clothes were very unusual. It looked as if some of them had been washed away. He wore a pair of dirty, tan-colored trousers that had been torn aroundthe ankles. He also wore a belt and sheath with the hilt of a sword exposed. His bronze chest was partially covered by a dark blue shirt. The shirt was badly torn down the front, but looked as if it had once been held together by laces. He looked almost medieval.
    This couldn’t be happening! She pinched herself. “Ouch!” Then she got serious. “What happened to you?” she asked Mich. “Did you get in a fight or something?”
    “No,” he replied. “I’m trendsetting. You like it?” He did a sarcastic little half turn.
    Nola smiled. There was that sense of humor. “As a matter of fact, it is very sexy,” she teased. She could see that she had embarrassed him because his ears were turning red. That was typical of her dream man too.
    Nola tried to make herself believe that this was not really Mich, but he resembled her dream in every way. She had no choice: it was Mich.
    Yet if this really was Mich, then he should know everything about her; but he seemed to know very little. However, she could see a muted passion in his eyes when he looked at her. If this was all real, then all her dreams were real. What a wonderful thing that would be, if she could really believe it.
    She had to accept it, at least for now. This was really happening; she was not dreaming. If she wasn’t going crazy.
    Despite the feeling she had welling up inside her right now, she remained highly nervous. After all this time, all this searching, and all this dreaming and wishing . . .
    Mich told Nola why he had come and how she was the only one who could help save Kafka from being destroyed by the Fren. Nola listened, but remained unsure. She wished she could believe he was telling the truth. How wonderful it would be to live in a world where her dreams were reality. But this was utter foolishness. There would never be such a place. It was a fantasy and nothing more. But shewould humor him and herself for a while. After all, how could she resist the man who so resembled the love she longed for?
    “We should start right