Wake the Dream: Book One

By Jennifer Kimberly Carberry

Being a kid is hard work. You have to brush your teeth, go to school, do homework, go to bed and each day you have to hit the repeat button and do it all over again. But one day Lane forgets to hit the repeat button and changes her life. She skips school and runs into a really strange kid named Night. She's pretty sure he's an alien; he's really weird. And he is. Night lives in and out of dreams and now he has ever intention of taking Lane with him to find something really important he lost in a dream. But Lane must be careful to never wake the dream.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jennifer Kimberly Carberry
• Release date: Jan 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310283727

Jennifer Kimberly Carberry

I've taken a break from writing more adult books to focus once again on my middle grade reader Wake the Dream Series. Keep an eye out for Book 2. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Book preview

Wake the Dream – Book One Jennifer Kimberly Carberry

Wake the Dream

Book One

Jennifer Kimberly Carberry

Copyright Jennifer Kimberly Carberry 2013

Published at Smashwords

Night

Don’t EVER wake the dream!

Lane was never a big fan of small towns with rolling hills and many cows; she likes the City where she grew up instead. She never got over her parents stealing her away from the mall and the museum with the funny looking square people. Lane is a city rat; not a cow.

Every day is the same in the town of Elm. Get up, brush teeth, go to school, do homework, hang out with Tommy and go to bed. Repeat… But, ‘repeat’ stopped when Tommy, Lane’s best friend (the only one in the entire world) moved to the City a thousand miles away. No more Tommy. Delete. Get up, brush teeth, go to school, do homework, stare at the wall and go to sleep.

Life is pretty boring for Lane.

But…

Thirteen days after Tommy left, on a Tuesday, Lane ditches brushing her teeth, and ditches school and ditches homework and ditches staring at the wall and ditches sleep. No more repeat.

Lane pulls on her favorite pair of jeans and shirt, brushes her mousy long brown hair and gives her sky blue eyes a once over in the mirror before sneaking out of her house without brushing her teeth and skips down the sidewalk. When Miss Time says, ‘good morning’, she pretends not to hear her. Waving to Miss Time was part of her old schedule. She ignores everyone who waves ‘hi’ and greets her.

Half way down the block of the quiet boring street of Peanuckle, Lane stops, looks both ways, than turns around. She’s not going to school today – school is BORING! No more teachers talking at her, not today; not anymore.

Lane dances down the sidewalk backwards, passing her house, then her neighbors then their neighbors until there are no more neighbors left.

And right where there should be a gravel road, Lane steps down into brown mushy water sludge.

Lane? His voice is a mixture of surprise and excitement all smashed up into one.

Turning on her heals too fast; she knocks foreheads with the boy. He licks her cheek; she shoves him in the muck.

The boy – a kid with strange orange-red hair and two different colored eyes – smiles as wide as a clown up at her; giggles. His plain jeans and boring black shirt are now covered in brown globs and water spray.

Lane backs away and trips on a rock, landing on her butt. Laughing hysterically, the boy grabs a handful of sand and drops it on the top of her head and starts building a sandcastle. Annoyed, she pushes him, sending him flying backwards.

Why did you put in two different colored contacts this morning? Lane splashes him again; giggling.

Appalled, he throws sand; hitting Lane square in the face. My eyes ARE this color. I’m NOT wearing contacts! You’re mean.

Rubbing the sand from her face, Lane stares at him cross-eyed. You really have one blue eye and one green eye?

Yes. The boy doesn’t seem to care.

Lane pokes him in the chest. Who are you? Are you visiting family? I’ve never seen you before.

The boy smiles like the scariest clown Lane has ever seen. I have a strange name. My name is Night and I’m not visiting family. I ran away.

Do you need me to take you back? Lane isn’t sure if she wants to, that would mean SHE has to go too.

I DON’T WANT TO GO BACK! You can’t make me! I’m nine years old; I can take care of myself just fine, Lane. Pouting, he hugs his chest; mad.

Lane is shocked. She does NOT know this strange mean boy so there is no way he would know her name. What are you talking about, my name is Patty and I’m in fourth grade.

It’s not, it’s Lane. We were both born on Halloween and we are both nine. Want to be friends? Excited, he bounces up and down, spraying gross brown water all over Lane’s face and clothes.

NO! You’re weird! She sticks her tongue out at him and laughs.

Whatever, He snarls. Give me your hand.

Lane doesn’t, he might have boy germs. He takes a step towards her; she steps back and shakes her head no. Sighing, Night bends over and picks up a sharp rock from the bottom of the puddle and pushes it really hard into his thumb, it bleeds a strange blue color like the sky on a bright sunny day.

Holding his bleeding thumb up, he hands Lane the rock and says. I dare you.

NO boy is going to get the best of Lane. You’re on! She grabs the rock. She has to rub it ten times across her thumb before a little dot of red shows up. What now?

With lightning speed, Night grabs Lane’s hand and shoves their thumbs together, laughing. Now, He smiles wide. We are ONE!

Did you just poison me? Lane screams. Her hand is tingling and her arm stinging.

Night shakes his head no, dropping the rock into the sludge with a loud plop.

Are you an alien?

This time Night laughs; still shaking his head no. And no, no spaceship, promise…

No, Lane is unconvinced. You’re an alien.

Want to be friends with an alien? Night blinks at her with his two different colored eyes.

Lane always wanted a dog or a fish or a hamster for a pet but now she’s starting to think that an alien for a pet might be a lot more exciting. Ok, FRIENDS!

Lane grabs Night’s hand and leads him away from her street but Night steers them back. But he doesn’t take her towards school. They pass by the old stone mansion and the dirt hill before they climb the tall rock wall.

Lane and Night hop off of the rock wall into the parking lot of the town’s