Act II: Scene II
"As the children talked to other children, the troubling dreams spread among them like a plague."857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1AklXKWuO
Finder.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QjHAFzC0G
Rise and shine, Wenonah! the voice wakes me up. It's a surprise how I could hear the voice even in my sleep. Or how I managed to sleep in an alley, alone. With the occasional Are you cold? Can I do something to help? 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2o60tz0UM
I prop myself up from the makeshift cardboard bed.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jtGMKBuok
"Morning," I yawn. My hair was unwashed, teeth unbrushed and I smelled of garbage. The best morning I've ever had so far. "What's the plan?"857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUW4Xdse5I
That's the spirit! Just get to the plan, huh? For a reason I can't explain. The chirpiness in the voice annoys me more than it is supposed to cheer me up.
"Out with the plan," I demand.
The voice doesn't say anything. I wait.
"I'm waiting."
There isn't any, the voice finally responds. My first and only objective was to get you to safety. And here you are, safe.
My nerves twitch. "I slept all night in an alley, like an alley cat. This is not society's definition of 'safe'. Safe is being at home, minus the irregularities your brain can't comprehend."
You don't know what was going to happen, the voice repeats what he had said last night.
"I'd be killed for witchcraft?" I retort. "Have a hot iron brand me a W on my forehead?"
Wenonah, the voice trails. Those things happened in history. Not in the modern world.
I don't respond. I don't want to argue with the only person who is almost keeping me sane, the irony being- at the cost of my own sanity.
Wenonah, the voice starts. Tell me what happened last night.
I frown.
I won't ask again, the voice promises.
Reluctantly, I recite, "there was an earthquake. Dreamcatchers fell down. They glowed. End of story."
You sure?
What was to be so sure? "That's exactly what happened."
Wenonah. I have to ask you to be honest with me.
"I am being honest here."
You're not telling me everything.
I pause. "I am."
From the start, if you may.
I exhale. "So there was an earthquake. A bad one. I ducked myself under the bed. The dreamcatchers started falling in every room. I got scared. One of them," I pause. I take out the red dreamcatcher from my bag. "This one. It fell right infront of me."
This red one?
"Yes," I reply. "I picked it up. Held it." I close my eyes, trying to remember. "The next thing I know, the dreamcatchers were glowing."
There must be something you missed. Think again.
I strain my mind and go over it again.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXDXjHCSZp
"There was sudden burst of light," I say.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfM9esOqB30
What happened before that?
The memory hits me.
"I was scared. So I prayed." The event now clear in my mind. "I prayed for it to stop and there was that light."
Then the dreamcatchers glowed.
"Yes."
Wenonah, the voice says softly. There might have been a few things that your mother might have withheld from you.
"I started to suspect that much," I answer.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Hlzzf3Ugq
The voice clears his throat. Wenonah, do you know the difference between a dream reaper and a dream weaver?
What? "Never heard of either."
The voice sighs. Dream reapers are beings who feast on the dreams of others. Taking away good dreams, and returning nightmares in exchange.
"Like the bogeyman, you mean," I interject.
There's no such thing as the bogeyman. The voice pauses. May I continue?
I nod, not sure whether the voice could see me nod.
A dream weaver is someone who shields people from the dream reapers, a being who is quite dangerous if their kind go unchecked.
Centuries ago, they plundered the dreams of children, sicklings, and elders, as a result- the Natives were reduced to a dying race.
Until, Asibikaashi, a Native, the first dream weaver, the first of the first, the one whom we call the Spider Woman, made an instrument to chase the dream reapers away. Something we now know as a dreamcatcher.
"That was a nice fairytale ending." I scoff. "Why are you telling me this again?"
I'm telling you so you know. There are things in this world, far beyond you and I. Things we can see but do nothing about.
Like being the first row audience to a horror that doesn't end.
The voice pauses. Your mother was like Asibikaashi. She-
"Don't bring my mother into this!" I exclaim.
She's already involved.
"No, she's not. You're lying. Stupid bullcrap dream reapers don't exist."
Like the glowing dreamcatchers was a figment of your imagination?
"I'm pretty sure there's a psychological reasoning behind that."
The voice scoffs. Yeah, like how your mother had OCD.
"My mother-" I yell. "How did you know that?"
There is silence in the air. I hear the wind, the sound of traffic, the crows. But not the voice.
"I asked, how you knew."
Wenonah, the voice finally replies.Your mother should have told you.
"Told me what?" I spat.
I don't think you're ready for it yet.
"Then don't bring it up!" I pick up my bag, and turn to leave. "You sure can put up a show."
I cross the alley, into the street- walking hurriedly towards home. I wanted my old life back. I'd answer whatever questions the police had for me. I'd tell the truth. I'd apologize. I'd-
Where are you going?
I jump in fright.
I talk in your head, Wenonah, the voice says. You can't really escape me. I wasn't going to do this.
But you leave me no choice.
There's a burst of light. I shut my eyes in reflex. The light- it's like the one before the dreamcatchers started glowing. Before the earthquake stopped.
Welcome back, Wenonah.
I open my eyes. I'm back at the alley.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqDdUH58ch
