A late arrival

My heart dropped as I listened intently to the loud sounds. I started walking toward the Factum Class, the strongest and most powerful class. Each step I took , my heart pounded stronger and stronger in my chest. I knew, logically that there was no way that someone like Earl had gotten in, I just had no idea what or who to expect.
As I walked closer to what I thought was the source of the sound, I started to also hear a very faint voice in between each loud boom. I stopped for a moment to really listen and decide whether I needed a more powerful object than the ice wand that I was still carrying. As I stood there listening, my husband's breathing started to get labored. I turned to him and asked, "are you okay my love?"
"Yeah, this is just a lot to take in, should I go get the sword that's hanging on the wall next to my side of the bed, I feel like I need some weapon or something." He looked around in dismay and his eyes seem to give away how scared he really was.
"you have a point," I said "Why don't you go back through the door and get the sword, or even my BB gun I think would help. Just say the words: Credindo Vides and think the word "open" in your mind."
"Credindo Vides? isn't that the phrase you used to open the door? " he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yes, that phrase has many uses, of which I will explain later. now go." he turned away to leave.
"wait, " I said, "I love you."
He looked back at me, smiled, nodded his head, blew me a kiss,  and turned back towards the direction of the once blue door.
I watched him for just a moment longer and turned back towards the sound and the very quiet voice. Truth be told, I didn't think the sword would do any good against whatever I would be facing. I just thought I'd take advantage of the situation and have Bob get out of harms way. I knew that I was the one that was better trained at handling these situations. This was what I had been trained for, memory or no memory. I hoped whatever it was I was purposely trying to find, my muscle memory would take over.
As I continued forward toward the sound,  I held the ice wand in a defence position close to my body. I listened to each boom echoing throughout the room, trying to make my footsteps as quiet as possible. The quiet voice was the thing that intrigued me the most. I couldn't figure out what it sounded like, but for some reason, I wasn't scared. It might have been the fact that my glass ring gave no hint of danger or it might have been that as I listened more intently to the voice, in between the loud booms, I thought I heard a child's laugh.
I rounded the next corner of shelves into the Animale Class. Suddenly the loud booms stopped. All was quiet and still as if nothing had ever happened. The tomb-like silence made my heart beat even faster in my chest. I took a breath and tried to reach deep within myself for the answer that I knew was on the tip of my tongue. I stood there for a moment longer with my eyes closed trying to go back into my lost memories. In an instant I felt myself awaken the ice wand as I opened my eyes and a small bouncing ball of light was coming toward my face.  I lightly touched the ball with the tip of the wand, it scattered like breaking glass as it hit the floor. A child's laugh was all I heard next.
Moments later, several more balls of light came from out of the darkness. I scattered each one easily and heard the laugh each time I did. The balls of light became frozen in mid air for a milli-second, then fell to the ground and shattered. Just when I thought the barrage of bouncing balls had stopped coming, I turned around and watched as each of the balls that I had just destroyed , glow and return to their previous shape. They came at me again.
"okay," I thought "let's take a different approach. what story are these balls of light from?"
It had been such a long time since I had been in this section, that I couldn't recall right away what I knew about the tale. My muscle memory took over as I searched my brain for the story that I would help me...
"okay,think" I told myself
The seven balls of light kept coming, and each time I would freeze and shatter one of them it would re-create itself and then gain momentum. Each time they reformed they changed their color they went from bright white to a pigment of blue.
As they changed, I thought they looked like the same color that my ring would glow to warn me of danger. "That's it!"I screamed as  I shattered the seventh ball for the eighth time.
I quickly laid down the ice wand at my feet and prepared for the next round of re-created light balls to attack. It didn't take long. I refocused my thoughts on a memory that I had resting in the back of my mind. I could see in my mind, The ring on my finger glowed blue again , but this time it was a different color of blue, the color was darker,  powerful and full. I took my stance as the balls of light attacked again, easily taking out each one in turn. As the balls lay shattered on the floor, I swung my ring hand around, palm up, and concentrated my thoughts on bringing the balls to me. The balls melted into an electric pool of blue plasma with the occasional electric bolt splitting the surface. The pool became a liquid floating mass as I willed it to return to me. My open palm glowed blue as the electric shape slowly dissolved into my glass ring and disappeared.
I heard a door echoing thoughout the hall and thought that it must be Bob coming back through the entrance door. Behind me, I heard the laugh again. The laugh sounded like a young child at play, and very friendly. As I turned a saw a small creature move into the shadow and up one of the shelfs.
"Aurelia! you have come for me?"
"Aurelia," I thought, "who's Aurelia?" "Yes, I have come to see if you want to play. I do so enjoy playing." I tried to sound confident as I talked to the creature that, in the shadows, looked like a purple chipmunk.
It laughed again and jumped to a shelf that was closer to my height. "oh joy, my dreamcatcher has come back to play."
"Dreamcatcher," I thought, "then he must be talking about me, why is it calling me Aurelia?" 
"yes, I have now come into the light so I can see ...my friend better." I only hoped that I was right to use the word friend. I turned my back and went to pick up the ice wand from where I had put it on the floor. As I turned around to face the shelf again, I came face to face with what can only be decribed as a dark purple, furry, squirrel. The only difference was it's eyes were more like a cats eyes, on the front instead of on the sides, and it's stomach was colored with patches of green and brown.
"I miss my Aurelia! Why you stay away so long and lock me in here? I thought we were having a fun time, are you still mad at me?"

Spector Class

"What the...?" Bob muttered.

As I held the wand in my hand I could feel a chill climb up my arm. I forced the feeling to retreat as I realized that I might need to explain the Spector I was holding.

"This was the wand from a book called "Victoria's Ice Pick", written in 1901. The soon-to-be queen in the story was given the blessing and curse of being able to use this wand to turn whomever or whatever she wanted into ice by the King of a beautiful kingdom, rich in magic. As long as she stayed away from the King's son, Aramis, this wand would work according to her every command, but if she even mentioned his name the wand would turn against her. The book became a bit of an obsession for some. The main character was Queen Victoria's namesake, and since her funeral was in 1901 people started to entertain themselves by fantasizing this story to be about the real Queen."  I stopped talking as Bob's eyes began to glaze over. I had forgotten how much I really did enjoy losing myself in the stories behind the objects.

"You still with me?" I questioned 

"Yeah, I'm fine love. This is just a lot to take in. The door itself is like something out of a

dream. Can you...can you just slap me please. Just to make sure I'm not dreaming. This place is too spectacular to not to be a dream." My husband slowly turned in circles as he looked around the room. "This place is a techno fiction come to life!"

I let out a sigh and gently took his hands and led him to a sitting position on the floor. "Okay, let me slow down." I whispered "But, you are on the right track. These things, in this area are part of the Spector class of Artifacts, are indeed, techno fiction brought to life. Each are created by a book or another form of fiction and brought to life by belief. Belief that is pure,simple and very very powerful."  

My husband gave a look of understanding and nodded his head as he said, "I'm listening."

I stood up, taking the Spector Ice Wand in my hand. I began to worry whether I could remember why I was chosen to be the "Dream Catcher" in the first place. I had nothing to worry about. I took the wand in my hand and, like old muscles waking from atrophy, felt the chill run through my body. This time, I didn't fight it. The resentment and bitterness grew until they threatened to consume me ; it took all my strength to keep my consciousness in control.

"Watch." I took the wand in my hand and turned toward one of the blank screens on the opposite side of the wall, I touched it lightly with the tip of the wand. Slowly, very slowly, the screen started to freeze. The screen turned light blue, then crystal clear, then as I focused the power of the wand, the screen split and cracked until it finally splintered into a thousand frozen pieces.

"Whoa" Bob murmured. "That was incredible!"

"Victoria was able to use this wand to turn anything into ice. The ice, when melted, could help to bring water to her Desert kingdom. She loved Aramis,but she wanted to help her Kingdom. The thought of being alone without the man she loved eventually made her decide not to take the King's deal.  That is until the King captured Victoria's father and promised to turn him into ice if she didn't take his "generous suggestion." Eventually her fear of the losing her father won out and she took the King's deal, but decided never to use the wand. Since Victoria could never be with her true love, she took to secretly watching him as he moved about the castle. The King found out, and flew into a jealous rage. He sent his spies to catch her in the act and capture her.  Startled, she flung out the wand and aimed it at her captors. Aramis, seeing his love in trouble, had sprung to her aid moments before. He lunged into the direct path of the wand's power, dropping to the floor a perfectly preserved iceman. The shocked silence that followed was shattered by the queen's screams. Victoria ran, pushing past her stunned assailants, Aramis' name trailing behind her in painful waves of anguish. She lived out her days in hiding, angry, bitter, and alone. The wand took its promised toll, slowly turning her heart and soul hard as ice.Victoria's kingdom soon became known as...”

Mid-breath, a huge crash echoed throughout the hall. Bob stood up from the floor and looked at me, "Is that supposed to happen?" 
"um, no. Let's..." gripping the ice wand tighter in my hand, "go check it out. It sounded like it came from the entrance door." 
I tilted my head toward the sound and said, "Follow me." 
As quietly as we could we started to jog toward the once blue door. I listened with my ear on the door for about a minute. When we heard the sound again, I turned around as I realized that the sound was not coming from the other side of the door but from inside the room. 

The Door Opens

My husband stared at the blank wall and openly asked, "is that it?"
"Someone's a little excited to see my secret." I joked. My husband did not seem amused so I stopped to make sure that he was still with me. "Are you sure you're okay?"
He shook himself, as if trying to wake himself from a dream, and assured me that he was fine.
I noticed he had a tie tack on him that was shaped like a strange  lion. "Where did you get this?" I asked him as I pointed to the tack.
"Oh, I don't know, I think you gave it to me a couple of ..." clearing his throat as he finished, "years ago."
"I don't remember giving you this, it's kind of ugly. I must have gotten it at one of the many garage sales I have been to over the years. Whatever, anyway, are you sure that you are okay?" He looked up at the ceiling as if searching for the right words and muttered, "I'm fine...honey...I'm just excited and scared about what all this has really been about."  
I wasn't quite convinced with his answer, mainly because he never calls me "honey", but I really just wanted to move forward with the truth so I could feel better about the secret that I had been keeping from him. I took a deep breath and turned back toward the door.
I took the blue, glass ring in my hand and turned it so the ball of glass faced my palm. I held out my palm and pressed firmly on the blank part of the wall. I closed my eyes and muttered, "Credendo Vides."
The blank door became clear as new glass and then fell away completely so my hand could move through what used to be the wall. As my hand entered the newly opened space I felt around for the latch that I knew  was on the opposite side of the door, just above the door frame. I finally found the latch and clicked it open.
"There," I said "that should make it easier."
I grabbed the door from the inside with my other hand and slid it straight up the wall. It moved effortlessly as if it was on a track. When the door was finally at my eye level I held my ring hand up again and closed my eyes and muttered, "magnus."
The door flashed blue as the whole wall glowed steadily, while the door began to increase in size. The symbol on the front of the door remained the same size and soon you could see within the center of the  symbol was a key hole. The door stopped growing when it became the perfect size to walk through. Once again the door was as solid as it was before. I stepped forward to put the key into the newly formed hole.
The door opened and the illumination quickly moved to light the room.
I stepped inside first and Bob stepped in a moment behind me. As I glanced back at him I noticed his lion tie tack giving off a faint orange glow. The newly formed shadow around the animal look like something I had seen before.
My heart jumped. I exhaled a deep, quick breath; I remembered where I had seen this animal before. It wasn't a lion! That animal on the front was a big dog called a Chow Chow. I wasn't sure who the tie tack really belonged to, but I knew that it wasn't my husband's, and I knew I needed to get it off without him knowing.
I quickly turned and faced him, hoping to cut off his vision from the rest of the room.
"What's wrong...honey?" he muttered as he continued to strain his neck to see above me.
"I just thought of something. I know how hard this is for you, so I just want you relax. Close your eyes for just a second." He closed his eyes as his right hand moved closer to his chest. I spoke calmly and softly, "Think about that first moment when we met, how I looked , how you felt about me the first time we kissed." He leaned his head slightly back as he started to remember. "Think about that moment that you first told me you loved me, when you accidentally asked me to marry you...." He chuckled a little at the word "accidentally". As he continued to remember, I watched his right hand move away from the tack.
I whispered, "abducto" and reached to grab the  tie tack. I could feel a dull force of electricity fighting back as I removed it. I quickly chucked it behind Bob and then commanded the door to close. The room filled with brilliant and beautiful bluish light.
"Ok, you can open your eyes now." I said.
"What was that all about?" Bob asked as he stood there shaking his head from side to side. I grabbed his hand and said, "I just wanted to remind you of how real and honest our love is before I show you what's in here." As I turned back around to lead him further into the room, I added, "Remember, don't freak out."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob took a exaggerated breath as he finally stepped inside. I must admit, I didn't remember the room being quite this big. I hadn't been inside for at least a couple of years, so my eyes gazed around the room in awe at how big it had become. 
At first glance someone would say that the room looked like Times Square. It was filled with screens of every size and shape, sitting on rows and rows of clear, blue shelves. Instead of advertisements for hair creme or the newest Broadway musical, you saw images from the world's most popular books, movies, radio shows, and any other idea that could create sparks of belief in people, bringing that idea here.
Each screen seemed to draw you in, giving you the distinct impression that you had fallen into a dream.The images on some of the screens were hazy, some were fading in and out, and others emitted nothing but muted white noise.
My husband followed me as I tried to explain, "These represent the collective hopes and dreams of the world. Things that usually, in your world, um , that is our world, do not exist; that is until they are believed in so much by enough of humanity that they are created and brought here for safekeeping."
My husband looked at me, shell-shocked and confused, "Love, what the freakity ho ho is this? Is there a credit card bill coming for all these TVs? How exactly did you get so many?"
I shook off my first reaction to be upset by his accusation and thought that it would be a better idea to show him rather than tell him.
"Okay...follow me." We walked together towards a group of artifacts. As we walked I ignored his bemused expression and carried on with the explanation. "We are heading toward what is called the Specter Class, or "S" Class. The items found here are slightly older, and therefore less powerful. I mean, an item draws its strength from the collective power of ...well, faith,...or belief. It is strong in nature, but weak in the energy that gives it life." I found my words were just confusing me as well. Bob let out a deep sigh of patience. I stopped and thought for a second, pacing up and down the aisle, "Okay, watch."
I took his hand and did my best impression of a "Darth Vader" walk toward "S" Class, row 19, section 78. I turned and faced a screen paused on the image of a three and a half foot crystal wand. I put my right hand up to the screen and commanded , "Crendendo Vides!" causing a flash of blinding light. When it cleared, I was holding the wand and staring at a grey lifeless screen.
My husband's pale face was frozen in shock. "Bob, breathe!" I shouted as I snapped my fingers in front of his face.

The Small Locked Door

My house was still  in shambles from the attack, but we did manage to have a new maroon door put on the next day . It was sort of funny how glad I was to have a door that looked more like something I would have chosen, rather than the copy and paste one that came with the house. It even had a smaller iron door in place of a normal keyhole.
The rest of the destruction was, miraculously, minimal. The chandelier was in pieces, which we replaced with a cheaper  garage sale version. The book shelves had been knocked over, but only one of the individual shelves had actually broken. Some of my favorite 99 cent store "dust collectors" had been smashed to dust, by what ever power Earl had been using. The only thing that I was extremely sad to lose was a bejeweled box that carried an authentic dream-catcher. It was said to be several decades old and was given to me by a kindred spirit that I met while visiting Colorado in 1999.
Even though the house was slowly getting back to normal, every thing with my husband was extremely strained. We used to be able to sit in silence quite comfortably, but now every moment felt awkward and painful. The only peace came when we had to go to work. We would mechanically kiss goodbye and we would go our separate ways, each wishing we could stay and talk but also glad there was no time for things that would remain unsaid.
I was sure the week was never going to end, as each minute moved forward I could swear another two minutes moved backward.
Through all the tears of the broken things, my husband tried to be patient, waiting for me to tell him the real story of what happened that day with Earl. I wanted to tell him everything...at least the parts I remembered. How do you gently say, "I'm not the woman you thought I was, here's who I really am" without a lot of potential screaming. It wasn't that I was afraid of him harming me, I just didn't want to lose him. I didn't want him to think my love for him was as fake as the person that I was pretending to be. Truth is, after 20 years with no contact, I've been wondering for a long time if this "calling" was really what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be. I just couldn't be sure anymore, but I also couldn't see a way out of telling my husband either. So, a week after "the incident" with Earl, I decided it was time to let him in on my...secret.
"Love, I have something to tell you." I said as I sat down beside him while he was reading (his favorite) book. He looked up from his book and let out sigh as if to say, finally, I have been waiting for this, as he said,
"I'm listening."
I took his hand and walked him over to a little picture frame with a key inside. The key was glued to a paper backing and above it had an inscription that said,"You Have The Key To My Heart" written in old style black script.
I pulled the picture frame off the wall and opened up the back, and gently pulled out the key. He looked at me, puzzled, but did not say a word.
"Okay so...what ever I am about to show you please remember that I love you with all my heart..." as I took his hand in mine I added, "and don't freak out." I tried to give him a confident, loving smile but I was pretty sure it just looked awkward and forced.
"just breath," I told myself as we walked towards on of the empty, extra, spare rooms. I opened up the mirrored closet door and started to clean up all the boxes that were strewn all over the floor. Finally after a little "digging" I uncovered a small, black door that was about the size of my hand. I turned my glass ring around in my finger and laid my palm gently on the door. My heart and mind became one as I thought of all the hopes and dreams that I had as a child. The ring sprang to life in my hand, and soon the door changed from pitch black to glowing blue. As the blue essence seeped within the door frame and the scroll work, the door turned a deep shade of red with gold filigree around the frame and a blue emblem in the middle of the door. The blue emblem, that looked like a blue pearl caught in a net, continued to glow as the rest of the door returned to normal.
I stole a quick glance at my husband who seemed not to be breathing as he stared at the door. I could see the wonder in his eyes and tried to envision how all of this new information was going to effect him. I wondered for a moment if he would faint, yell, or panic...or maybe he would do a mixture of all three. He caught me looking at him and whispered, almost inaudibly, "finally."
"Um...what," I said.
"sorry, did I distract you?" he questioned
"no, I just thought I would take this slowly...for you." I added "are you okay?"
He simply nodded as he looked back at the door. Maybe it was the way the glowing light hit my husband's square framed glasses, but he seemed to have this intense and somewhat sinister look on his face.
I mumbled, "okay, moving forward," as I took the key and put it in the middle of the emblem. The door had no hole, yet as I pushed the key in, the door gave way freely. I opened the door and my husband let out a deep breath as there was nothing but white wall behind the door.  

I hate waiting...

"So what brings you to my house, friend?" Kris asked.
"Oh just in the neighborhood, trying to get some exercise. You know me, I'm always trying to be a little healthier." I lied. The answer came so quickly that I knew she wouldn't hesitate to believe me.
"So, Kris can I use your phone? I think I need to call my husband." I'm not quite sure why I didn't tell Kris what had happened. I think I just didn't want to upset her. plus, I was unsure she would even believe me.
Let see: Kris a big man in a velvet duster attacked me with a violet flying bubble of energy, but don't worry I defended myself using my glass ring and knocked him out. Then, I ran here to your beautiful home and your two children, in the hopes that the big man would not find me. Yup, crazy nuts.
There was no way to explain it so I was not going to try. Unfortunately, I knew that I had to at least try and explain what happened to my husband.
Kris allowed me to use her phone and I stepped out on her shaded patio to call him at work. Bob only worked about 2 miles away so I knew it would be easy for him to come and get me from Kris' house.
Before I dialed on Kris' phone, I found my cell phone in my pocket. I decided to use mine instead in order to keep her out of any "drama" that might be coming.
The phone rang three times before a deep, gentle voice picked up.
"Thank you for calling the best husband in the world, how may I assist you."
I laughed. I always loved hearing my husband speak. His voice was so powerful, some said he sounded like the voice of God. I wasn't sure about that. I just knew he sounded like someone that could make the sun shine on a cloudy day, and make my heart skip a beat; even after 10 years of marriage.
"Bob, you are lucky that your company has caller I.D." I teased.
"I know, I know. What going on, Love?" he asked.
"When is your lunch break?"
"In about a half hour, why? "
"No reason, I just need you to pick me up at Kris' house. I think I got a little over tired on my walk here and I don't really want to walk home. Plus, I am sweating like a pig and it's gross."
"I'm sorry love, why don't you just ask Kris to take you home and I will meet you there in a half an hour."
"I would but Kris is leaving to take here son to ...soccer practice. She was planning on leaving in just a couple of minutes." I felt bad about such a brazen lie, but I really didn't want to involve Kris.
"Well, I'll ask Shelly if I can take my lunch early. Just stay there and I will be there soon."
"okay, sorry to be so annoying. I should just walk home. But to tell you the truth," I took a moment to look around to make sure Kris wasn't listening before I whispered, "I think our house got broken into."
"Well then...are you sure? Never mind. I will pick you up as soon as I can. love you." Bob hung up and my heart started to race again with worry. How was I ever going to tell him about a past that I couldn't remember much of myself. It had been 20 years with no contact from either side. I knew I wasn't even supposed to have a life, other than my given path. I knew the generalities of my task, but not the details. So, I worried about how I was going to explain about something that I didn't remember much of. I mean, who really remembers details of when they were 13 years old?
++++ ++++++ +++++ ++++

In about 15 minutes Bob showed up in his gold 1973' Cadillac that we had gotten off of eBay for a decent price. He loved that car, it gave him the extra leg room and head space that a man of his height required.
I had decided to wait outside, in front of her garage, since it would avoid any small talk with Kris (she was a gossip monger). As soon as I saw Bob I ran to the car, and then remember the broken staff and went back to get it. The staff was still laying on top of the bushes, but I had to maneuver a little in the branches to reach it. When Bob saw the staff, he gave me this "please explain" kind of of look. I still had no idea how to start so I just shrugged and threw it into the trunk, that I unlocked with my set of keys.
"are you okay?" Bob asked. I could tell he was very concerned about me and my proclamation on the phone. My body started to experience a little shock and all I could mutter was, "I'm unhurt, although we might want to call the police just to be safe."
As we drove towards home, all I could hear was the sound of the Cadillac engine. I stared out the slightly dirty window, secret hoping that when we got there all would be as it usually was. Calm, quiet, and with out a speck of Earl...or what ever his name was. Bob stopped the car a couple housed away from ours to call the police. After he was finished, we sat in the car watching the house and waiting. Everything seemed to look okay from the outside. My car windshield still looked broken and the garage was bent in at the spot Earl had hit it. I tried to see any sign of Earl, but then seemed to be nothing.
"I'm sorry Tiffy, but I really need to know what happened?" Bob looked at me, his blue eyes were so empathetic. I could tell he was ready to believe what ever I would say. But, I couldn't have this conversation now. I just turned my head and glazed my eyes as I looked out the window," I told you, I was just relaxing when someone broke down the front door and broke into the house." His caring face fell and was replaced by a look of disappointment. After 10 years of marriage, he knew there was more to it than that.
"Okay, " I said " let me start from the beginning."
As I started to explain a cop car pulled up in front of our house, I took a breathe and mouthed the word, 'later". He nodded his head, and we both opened the car doors and introduced ourselves to the cop.

The Past returns

"Nice shot" I yelled, "but you missed."
I turned the glass ring around in my finger so the the ball of the ring looked like it was being held in my palm. The pulsating grew stronger. As I flicked my wrist, a white bubble started to form. I could feel my hand tingling as the bubble grew.
The memory of me standing in front of the man with the blue robe flashed. I had the feeling that this was my favorite training game. Only this was not a game.
"Here it goes," I thought.
"My turn" I yelled as I pitched the white bubble underhand, now burning cold in my hands. The bubble quickly picked up speed and blasted into tiny pieces before targeting Earl. After being hit by the blast, Earl lost grip of his staff and sailed backwards into my garage door.
I moved to where his staff had fallen and hit Earl again with another white bubble of energy. This time I used a flicking motion so it would hit Earl and return to my hand. When the bubble returned to me I felt a surge of confidence. I grabbed Earl's staff and ran as fast as I could. I didn't think. I just ran. My heart was pumping so fast and I was having trouble breathing, but I didn't care; I knew I had to get as far away as possible. My thoughts flashed, for just a moment, to Mugsy who was still locked in the car. I was sorry that I had forgotten to let her out but there was nothing I could do about it now. Suddenly, Earl's face came to my mind. I stopped running, as I thought, "I know him, but how do I know him?" I turned around and saw nothing but the eery quiet street. My face started to sweat in the afternoon sun as I headed towards a friend's house that lived across the street, past the park. Maybe I had lost Earl, "no, not Earl, his name is...is.." It was so frustrating that I couldn't find the information that I was desperately searching for. I continued to look around me and spotted the same green-looking squirrel cross my path. My body flinched as I made a break for it and headed towards the path through the park.
Was exactly is that green squirrel creature, and was it a friend or an enemy. I tried to access any twinge of memory; but couldn't so I bit my lip and moved into a sprint.
+++
I banged on my friend's door, my chest burning inside from the lack of oxygen. I waited in the corner of her shaded porch, trying to will her to be home and answer quickly. I paused for a moment to listen through her door, I could hear footsteps coming down the staircase. I remembered that I was holding the cracked staff and thought there was no way to explain it so I threw it into her block shaped bushes a millisecond before the door opened.
"Hey friend, what's going on?"
'Um...hi Kris. I was wondering if I could come in for just a minute." I stammered
"Sure friend, come in." Kris welcomed me into her beautiful three story redbrick home. Every time I stood in her house, I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. I glanced at the black chandelier hanging above the Baby Grand piano in her sitting room as I followed her to the kitchen.
"you look like you need a some water. Jack!" Kris yelled upstairs to her twelve year old son. "Miss Tiffany is here, make sure to get some pants on before you come down." We looked at each other as Kris commented, "Maken sure we avoid any embarrassment, for you I mean." I took the plastic water bottle Kris offered and leaned on the counter. Kris started talking about the new Cordell Wide Oak hard wood floors they were going to have put in next month. I tried to sound excited but I all I could manage was a couple of ohs and uh-huhs, here and there.
As I sipped the water, I glanced down at my glass ring now and again. I knew that it would flicker to let me know if Earl had followed me here. I doubted that he had, since he looked quite unconscious before I took off toward the park.

Some pent up energy

As I squatted next to the side fence with the car keys clutched in my right hand and holding Mugsy in my left, I listened very closely for the right moment to move. I could feel my heart beating wildly out of my chest and thought that Earl could probably hear it too. I strained to hear a sound as everything suddenly went silent. The moment seemed to slow to a crawl and all I could hear was the beating of my heart pounding in my ears. This moment was going to last forever, I just knew it.
The quiet was suddenly split by Earl. I could hear glass breaking from what sounded like my sitting room. "I WILL FIND YOU DREAMCATCHER AND I WILL TAKE THE STORY RELIC I NEED!" Earl yelled as the destruction continued. "All my beautiful collectables!" I thought. "He better not break the crown of Aurastar." That was my favorite crown. I listened to what sounded like a fire being started in my living room and decided it was time to go. The noise of my bookshelves crashing and my chandelier coming down would hopefully hide any sounds I made.
I crept toward the car and unlocked it as quickly as I could. I threw Mugsy into the passenger seat and apologized as she yelped in pain. I took one last glance at the front door as I jumped into my blue Chevy Tracker. As I closed the door, the destruction noises stopped. I didn't want to start the car or even lock it until I heard some movement that would mask my departure.

Minor mistake.

A moment later a violet bolt hit my windshield, blasting the glass into a million pieces. Mugsy ducked under the passenger seat as the glass headed towards her. I wished that I could do the same thing. As the glass started to settle, I saw Earl in front of me wearing a ghoulish leering grin. At least the voice sounded like Earl; he was wearing different clothes...very different. He was wearing a ragged looking velvet red duster. Around his neck was a silver pendant in the shape of a lion. In his right hand he had a old staff split in half at the top. He laughed as he beckoned me to get out of my car and face him. I decided that was not a good idea and tried to make a break for it, but the car would not start. Suddenly, the glass ring started to make a pulsating "whirrr" sound and I noticed my fingers were tingling. I stepped out of the car, slammed the door, and never took my eyes off Earl.
"You want me, you got me!" I yelled unflinchingly. I may have sounded fearless but my mind was yelling something completely different. My thoughts went something like, "oh crap, oh crap, oh God, oh God. please help, please help! "
"What do you want?" I demanded "Oh crap, stop talking just stop talking"

"You knows what I want. Give me the chamber key." Earl demanded and moved forward.

"I don't know about any chamber key. Look I think you've got the wrong...person...um dreamcatcher." I stammered as I took a step backward. My plan was really simple...throw my keys at his head and run.
"Oh nope I don't, I can tell by that little glass ring that you're wearing. You think I wouldn't recognize the symbol of your people?" "Plus, you have a different...light about you, sews I could tell. I must admit you are not like I pictured you would be. you got a little.." he gave a mean spirited laugh "fat."
"That's something coming from a guy who looks like a Biggest Loser reject. what do you weigh under that velvet duster ? 425..450?" I criticized and took another step back. "what are you doing? stop making him mad. shut up shut up, shut up."
"Let's see how out of practice the little Taloa Dreamcatcher is." As Earl grabbed his staff with both hands and started chanting, a violet bubble began to rise out of the top. I rocked back and forth, not really knowing what to do, and hoped that I would soon wake up from this obviously terrible dream.
Earl gave a final yell and sent the violet bubble racing toward me. I instinctively moved to the left as it barely sailed past my face at a breakneck speed. As my driver's side mirror shattered, I caught a glint from a piece of broken glass. In this moment I felt my past returning to me. I knew what I had to do.