“No.” Brendan groaned inwardly. “I just fell asleep last night. I didn’t get to it. I’ll try and do it during my free period. Is it hard?”
Dmitri pursed his lips. “You can copy mine if you want to.”
They walked in silence for a couple of blocks. Brendan was wrapped up in his thoughts of last night’s dream. It had seemed so real. Deirdre D’Anaan sitting in his living room with the vines choking his family. Then there was his parents’ revelation, and the weird visitor. Had the woman at the door been Deirdre D’Anaan? No. Not likely. She was onstage at the time. So now there were two strange women to deal with. It was all too much. He needed help.
“D,” he said finally, “what do you think about dreams?”
“Dreams? Like while you’re asleep?”
“Yeah. What are they? Do you think they’re important?”
“Important?” The smaller boy shrugged. “I don’t know. Some people think that your dreams are your subconscious mind processing what your waking mind takes in. Your brain is like a computer, and when you go to sleep it continues to process data in a random fashion.”
“Huh,” Brendan grunted. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Then there’s my babka’s point of view,” Dmitri said.
“She believes in all sorts of crazy things. She says dreams are a way for spirits to speak with us directly. It’s a kind of teleconferencing for the spirit world.” Dmitri tossed his head. “She also believes her cat gives her stock tips.” 44
“Is she crazy or what?”
“Well, she has a fairly healthy stock portfolio… but I can’t say I share her point of view. The human brain is a pretty amazing thing. We understand very little about how it actually works. Who can tell what dreams actually mean?” Dmitri looked sideways at Brendan. “Why this interest in dreams? Had any interesting ones lately?”
“Naw. Just curious. Some reading I was doing.” He changed the subject. “Are you going to the field hockey game after school? We should support Kim.” And maybe I can finally corner her and make her talk.
“I wouldn’t miss it. All those girls in short skirts beating each other with sticks? Is there any finer entertainment?” Dmitri grinned.
“You are truly creepy,” Brendan said, laughing.
“I won’t argue with you.”
They were walking past the elementary school and the huge rock when Brendan heard snoring. Heavy and ponderous, it sounded like the wheezing of an elephant. He stopped and looked around. It sounded as if someone was sleeping nearby but there was no one around.
“Who’s snoring?” Brendan asked Dmitri.
“What?” Dmitri asked in return.
“There’s somebody snoring right here. Can’t you hear it?”
Dmitri looked at Brendan like he was a little nutty. That was happening a lot lately. “I can’t hear anything.”
“Well, I can.” He looked around once again and saw that there was no one around, just him, Dmitri, and the huge black rock.
Brendan stepped over in front of the large stone. The snoring seemed to be coming from behind it.
“Come out of there,” he demanded. “You can’t sleep there.”
“Brendan?” Dmitri came and stood beside him. “Are you okay?” Dmitri laid a hand on his arm.
“I hear snoring. I think somebody’s sleeping behind the stone.” Brendan shook off his friend’s hand and stepped over the short white fence that surrounded the stone. “Come out of there, right now.” He had to prove to Dmitri that he wasn’t crazy. He walked around the stone and looked down. There was nobody there.
Now he felt foolish. He had been sure he would find someone. He scratched his head and leaned on the stone. Suddenly the snoring was very loud. With a snort like someone stirring in his sleep, the rock under his hand shifted almost imperceptibly.
Suddenly, a loud deep voice rumbled in his ear. “Who is there? Who disturbs my slumber?”
Brendan jumped away from the stone, jerking his hand back as if he’d been stung. He staggered backward and fell over the fence at Dmitri’s feet.
“Brendan! What happened?” Dmitri helped him to his feet.
“D-didn’t you hear that?” Brendan stammered. “It was the rock.” He pointed at the stone, inert and stone-like as ever. “It yelled at me!”
“Brendan, I didn’t hear anything.” Brendan looked into his friend’s face and saw only worry there, the same worry that had been on his parents’ faces last night and at breakfast this morning. He decided to change the subject.
“Never mind.” Brendan waved Dmitri away. “I’m fine. Just a little tired, I guess.” Dmitri didn’t look convinced.
“C’mon,” Brendan said. “We’re gonna be late.” He took a final look at the now-silent rock and strode up the street.
Dmitri had to hurry to catch up with Brendan. The scowl on Brendan’s face pre-empted any attempt at conversation. Dmitri was worried. He’d never seen his friend behave this way before.
Brendan was scowling to cover up his bewilderment. He was sure he’d heard someone speaking to him and was terrified he was losing his mind. What made it worse was the fact that the world just seemed so noisy all of a sudden. The birds seemed louder. Every car driving past sounded like a freight train. The leaves in the trees rattled in the wind and the sound was so acute that he felt they were speaking. If only he could listen to them more closely, he might catch a word or two of their conversation. He clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to clap his hands over his ears.
They reached the park and started along the path that would carry them diagonally across the green to the school. The wind was gusting strongly, plucking at his jacket and keening in his ears.
“Winter is coming.” The wind’s whistling resolved into a haunting voice. Brendan stopped so suddenly that Dmitri ran into him. The wind spoke again. “Smell the snow. The devouring winter comes.”
Brendan whirled and grabbed Dmitri. “What did you say?”
Dmitri stared into Brendan’s eyes, inches from his own. “I… I… didn’t say anything.”
“Are you trying to freak me out?” Brendan’s eyes were wide and wild, white showing all around the pupil. “I heard someone speaking. I heard a voice. How are you doing this?”
Dmitri didn’t know what to say. He stepped back in confusion. Brendan saw how frightened his friend was, and with a great effort, he reined in his own terror. “I’m sorry, D. I didn’t mean to scare you… I… I don’t know what’s going on. I’m just feeling really weird. I can’t explain it.”
“It’s okay. I understand.” Dmitri smiled to reassure Brendan, but his eyes said that he clearly wasn’t comfortable.
“Why don’t you go on ahead,” Brendan suggested. “I need a minute to myself. To clear my head.”
“Are you sure? You don’t seem well.”
“Yeah, yeah. I just need a minute. I’m tired, that’s all.”
Dmitri didn’t need much convincing. “All right. I’ll see you in homeroom.” He quickly set off across the park but not without a worried backward glance.
Brendan sank down onto a park bench. He’d lied when he said he’d felt tired. Quite the opposite, he felt completely wired. His nerves were jangling, he felt more acutely aware of everything around him. He could sense each blade of grass reaching for the weak rays of the sun. He felt their yearning, their despair as they seemed to know that autumn was ending and they were doomed to die.
What is happening to me? Am I losing my mind? He felt close to tears.
“Food? Food? Food?” sang a chorus of tiny voices. They were high and silly sounding like when he swallowed helium out of a balloon or when his dad sped up recordings of his voice to make him laugh.
Brendan looked around in confusion. There was no one nearby. “Hello?”
“Food? Food? Food?” the voices repeated, more insistent this time.
Brendan looked down and gasped.
A gang of chubby grey squirrels had gathered around the bench. Not unusual, for they congregated whenever a person stood still, hoping for scraps of bread or potato chips. Their beady black eyes fixed Brendan with fevered intensity.
Suddenly, their tiny mouths opened in unison. “Food? Food? Food?”