Lucid by L. E. Fred Read Free Book Online Page B

“I’m going to bed in a hoodie tonight, so I can hide my face if I need to. I think disguising ourselves would give us more time to look around the ship. Maybe we could even find out where those people are being taken.”
    I didn’t know how to respond to that. The ship was scary enough, but the idea of going somewhere else was completely insane. If we did manage to sneak past that woman and get into some sort of headquarters, what would we do next? Should I try to dream my baseball bat into the ship for extra protection, too?
    â€œWhat do you think?” Mitch was typing again. “I mean, I think we should still help those people out. We’re the only two people who are conscious in the dream . We’re lucid for a reason, and we should use that to help.”
    Even through typing, Mitch was a persuasive speaker. It was no wonder the souls were so willing to write their names on his clipboard. He was a natural leader, and he wanted to make a difference .
    â€œI’ll sleep with my hoodie,” I assured him . “ A nd I’ll practice meditation.” I didn’t add that I doubted it would do any good .
    â€œ Well , hope to see you in your dreams.” Mitch signed off.
    I was glad I didn’t have to agree with that one .

Chapter 5
    Day 5
    Morning
    I woke up for summer camp, as usual. This time I automatically realized I hadn’t been on the spaceship. It didn’t really surprise me. Try as I might, meditation just wasn’t my thing. Also, Kyle had his friends over late last night, and I could hear their horror film marathon from my room. You try breathing calmly while there’s a girl screaming in the background .
    Still, I felt even better than I had yesterday. The encounter two nights ago took some time getting over, and I was just glad I could focus on my week at camp. We were taking the seven - year-olds to the zoo this week; that required days of preparation .
    I got dressed and exited my room. Kyle wasn’t waiting for me this morning. I guess seeing me semi-sane for one day was enough to put his concerns about me to rest. Part of me was glad he wasn’t being nosy, but the other part of me felt a little bad. I’ll admit it was nice to have Kyle concerned about my life .
    â€œYou’re up on time,” m y mom said as I entered the kitchen. I grabbed a bagel and put it in the toaster .
    â€œI feel a lot better today,” I assured her. “I know Kyle thought I was getting sick over the weekend, but I’m not.”
    My mother smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re not sick today. I have to get into work a little bit earlier. Will you be ready to leave in the next ten minutes?”
    â€œYeah . ” I had my back to her, so she couldn’t see my disappointment. Sundays were our family days. The rest of the week was work as usual. I heard my bagel pop out of the toaster, but my mom got to it first. She spread my favorite blend of cream cheese and blackberry jam on it.
    â€œI am glad you’re better . ” She smiled at me as she handed me the bagel . I smiled back. Maybe my mom wasn’t so bad on the weekdays, after all.
    *** *
    Summer camp was the same routine. I had to take crap from the senior counselor, deal with petty fights amongst the kids, and get my butt handed to me in four-square by twelve - year - olds .
    Yeah, it pretty much sucked, but I’m happy I had some sort of normal routine. The spaceship and woman from my dreams dominated my thoughts lately. I welcomed any distraction, even if it came in the form of bathroom duty .
    Even though I didn’t have any new concerns about the ship, I still wondered what the news would bring tonight. I bet there were more human shell victims. That was another thing; the number of victims slowly increased each day. The first time I was on the ship, there were a few empty rows. When Mitch and I encountered the woman, there may have been only one full seat empty