Lucid by L. E. Fred Read Free Book Online

that?”
    â€œOf course; I’ve been trying to do it myself.” There was a long pause before Tiff typed again . “I mean, I haven’t had any luck, but since you and Mitch can do it naturally, you might be able to master it quicker. I’ve been looking up some ways to do it. The best I’ve found is meditation . ” S he stopped typing. I patiently waited for her to continue, because I had no idea how I was going to go about meditating. I could only sit still if I was working on something interesting, like chemistry or a drawing. Sitting still with my eyes closed muttering some phrase was going to be torture .
    By the time Tiff responded, my mom came home. She knocked on my door before poking her head in. I never had time to say “Come on in!” in my house .
    â€œI’m back with breakfast!” s he announced. “Did Kyle wake up to tell you I got your favorite?”
    â€œYeah, he did, thanks, Mom.”
    My mom looked surprised that Kyle had gotten up to talk to me .
    â€œHe went back to sleep, though,” I explained before she was too disappointed to find her eldest son still doing nothing with his life.
    â€œOh, well, that’s more like him.” She smiled a little. I liked my mom best on Sundays. She didn’t have work or errands, and she never made plans with her friends. She was much more relaxed and smiled a lot more often. Sundays were our family days and we often did something together .
    â€œYeah, I don’t know why he talked to me , ” I said, though I knew it was because of those crazy dreams .
    â€œI guess he was worried about you . ” Now my mom was looking concerned. “Apparently you looked really sick yesterday when you got up. Kyle also told me how the ‘human shell’ business on the news really upset you.”
    â€œOh . ” I hadn’t realized Kyle was worried enough to tell my mom anything. Usually, Kyle and I kept our problems to ourselves. It had been that way since our father left.
    I don’t really remember my father, but Kyle was old enough to recall when he left. I just know that my mom was really upset after he left ; she still had brief periods of that sadness. Kyle and I made a silent vow to not upset Mom if we could avoid it. The fact that he broke that vow must’ve meant he was really worried about me. I had only visited the ship three times. What would I look like after seeing it for weeks? Would my family be even more worried about me? I was beginning to think that not dreaming of that place was a better option. It wasn’t my fault those people were turning into shells. Besides, I was practically useless compared to Mitch. He was a better hero.
    â€œI’m fine, Mom,” I assured her .
    â€œWell, if something’s really bothering you, promise me you’ll let me know, okay ?” m y mom asked, raising her eyebrows in concern.
    â€œI promise , ” I told her. “I’l l be right down for breakfast.”
    â€œ Good . ” M y mom smiled before closing the door. I heard her pounding on Kyle’s door, telling him to get up .
    I turned my attention back to my computer screen and saw Tiff had sent me several more IMs. A few of them described meditation.
    â€œSo, I gotta practice these steps before bed?” I typed back.
    â€œFinally!” Tiff immediately typed. “I was beginning to think you’d been kidnapped by the lady in the blue suit in real life or something! You have to meditate a couple of times a day to get used to it.”
    â€œWhere’d you read this stuff?”
    â€œI didn’t . ” Tiff added a ticked- off-looking emoticon. “My mom came in and saw I was talking to you about meditation. She added most of the stuff, because she and my dad have been taking these deep calming classes. She naturally thinks she’s a meditation master now.”
    I smiled to myself. That sounded like something Tiff’s parents