Fluorescent Dreams

By Mary Bowar

Fluorescent Dreams is a story about Jenny who has daydreams for her mental illness. The story is twofold, similar to The Wizard of Oz. The fantasies unfold throughout the novel, separate from a pleasant story of a wife and mother that runs parallel to the fantasies.

Jenny Sagal moves her family from Chicago to a quaint town in Kentucky, planning to raise her two boys in an old-fashioned way. Jenny discovers, through daydreaming, that an entity called Ludicrous Lucifer and his Island Voodoo Gang are set to capture Jenny.

Part I is set in Krack Krackle, the magical town south of Chicago. Part II changes the setting to a green-door asylum called The Winnipeg Health Hotel. Part III takes place inside the Trans-Home, because Jenny will have to reside there for one year after her release from the asylum owned by Ludicrous Lucifer and his Island Voodoo Gang. Part IV describes a playful, fun day ahead for Jenny. She meets a savant man named Monty, falling in love with him. Jennys final fluorescent dream in Part IV is a bold, sparkling, beautiful dream, leaving the reader to decide if it did come true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524587789

Mary Bowar

Ms. Bowar is involved in mental health recovery . She has written articles for the newsweek at friendship club, a mental health recovery facility. Also Ms. Bowar has given speeches especially during the month of may (mental health month each year. Also Ms. Bowar attended university of Wisconsin as well as De Paul university in Chicago majoring there in "communications. She hopes to touch the lives of those who read it and thoroughly create an atmosphere of delightment as the reader flips from page to page.

Book preview

PART I

JENNY’S GIFT

Chapter 1

LUDICROUS LUCIFER

The big moving event was to take place tomorrow. Jenny Sagal, an Eastern Byzantine cultured woman, decided to move her family, Carl her husband, and her two sons, Luke and Jamie, to a small town in Kentucky, where her cousins lived. Jenny’s cousins were also Eastern Byzantine cultured women raising their children the old-fashioned way. Family values instinctively prompted Jenny to follow her cousins to Bloomfield, at the southern border of Kentucky. Jenny came to the conclusion that she definitely wanted to raise her children with the other children in the Sagal family creating tighter bonds amongst themselves.

Jenny had a peculiarity of day-dreaming throughout the day. She lived in her own fantasy world every single time she drifted off. Jenny never went to see a psychiatrist, per her mother and father’s wishes. She was sweet and innocent. Her parents didn’t want to alter her lovable ways. Jenny had God’s love locked in her heart. No matter what she did for those long hours of dreaming, she always returned glowing and smelling like a rose. Jenny’s parents protected Jenny from the outside worlds since much of the time Jenny wore rose-colored glasses.

Jenny was so cute, highly creative, and a genius in lots of things, but Jenny stuck out in the world. Jenny had child-like behavior and naivety. For example, a bullet may pass directly in front of her, and perhaps Jenny would just close her eyes, hoping that she did not get hurt. That bullet just went zooming past me, like a bolt of lightning, geez!

Jenny had decorated her house creatively and now it was time to pack it all up. She had some stuffed animals laying around the house in different character poses. On the kitchen table sat Bugs Bunny holding an old-fashioned pink bubblegum cigar. On her leather couch sat Lucky Puppy wagging his tail at Jenny every time she turned on his backside switch.

Jenny loved to garden, too. But she would only grow green vegetables, like kale or cucumbers. Before the family left for Kentucky, Jenny picked all the kale, sneaking it into the fruit smoothies for the boys and Carl. She chuckled to herself each time she prepared them. Kale is loaded with vitamins, she thought. Camouflage! Carl and the boys did not particularly care for kale. Luke and Jamie would tease Jenny telling her she should pick leaves from an Oak or Maple tree because that’s what it taste like to them. Yucky.

Even though the move to Bloomfield tomorrow describes a more sedentary lifestyle than that of Chicago, Jenny refused to wear any baseball hats or blue jeans, the country look. Jenny loved to Glamorize, like the rich people in Chicago. She coordinated clothing, makeup, and jewelry like other Chicago women. Jenny decided once in Bloomfield she would mail order catalogs to keep her Chicago look. Jenny’s fantasy of movie stardom wearing funky clothes was all full of rainbows.

Jenny was busy tossing things in this box and that box without labeling any of them. Jenny believed she had a photogenic memory somehow, so she didn’t need to write on the boxes. Every room in this house in topsy-turvy! she thought. Gee look at all this mess! Suddenly Jenny became overwhelmed and laid her head down on the kitchen table drifting off into her dreams.

Wow! said Jenny. Look how much the sun and stars are glittering. This must be KRACK KRACKLE! That old feeble woman I met by the lakefront near Buckingham Fountain told me about this place. She said there were magical fountains filled with happy potions." She offered me some of magic water, but I didn’t believe her. By golly she was right. Look at all glittered scenery. I see Ludicrous Lucifer down at the farthest fountain. He’s jumping up and down! Now he’s twirling around in midair! I bet he drinks the happy potion from the fountains.

I see Ludicrous Lucifer talking to a group of people. They call themselves The Voodoo Gang. They conjured him up in a ceremonial drum beating fire. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! He looks ridiculous twirling up there in circles."

Little did Jenny know that all this chaos surrounding her was a foreshadowing of what was to come. Ludicrous Lucifer had been watching her! The move to Krack Krackle would be an ideal situation to capture cute little Jenny and brand her into his Island Voodoo Gang! He saw that Jenny was surrounded by God’s love. God had a special place in his heart just for sweet, innocent Jenny. This intrigued Ludicrous Lucifer. Not only would he create more chaos for Jenny, he decided to play games with her as well! He could hardly wait!

With Ludicrous Lucifer leading the Island Voodoo Gang, they would begin playing tricks on her as soon as they could. This town of Krack Krackle belonged to Ludicrous Lucifer. He was very intrigued by Jenny’s pure heart of gold. He wants brand Jenny. But Jenny could never be branded into his gang. Ludicrous did not understand this. Jenny glowed like the brilliant sun. No harm could ever come to her. Ludicrous Lucifer never thought for a moment that he’d ever be defeated. So the adventure to capture Jenny began.

Ludicrous Lucifer left Jenny for now. He flew towards Krack Krackle. There he would spend countless hours playing tricks on her. He got so excited that he twirled in mid-air! He stayed twirling all the way to Krack Krackle!

I’M SO GOOD. Yes, I am! echoed in the air.

Chapter 2

MOVE TO KRACK KRACKLE

The 2XL Mercedes Benz that Carl was driving seated four people: Carl, Jenny, Luke, and Jamie. They were driving across the border to Bloomfield, Kentucky, when Jenny was looking at the map. Bloomfield would be home for them in about two more hours.

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? fused the two boys.

Hush! said Jenny. "If you play your Donkey Kong, we will be there in less than two hours! Okay, mom," they said obediently.

And don’t fuss back there.

Carl kept his eyes on the road. As they approached Bloomfield, Jenny followed the street map.

There it is, said Jenny. Turn right at Pike Street, see it! It says Santos Villas Tri-Level Townhomes!

At last, they arrived.

Yippee, said the boys. Hurray!

Bloomfield, Kentucky is officially now their home. Bloomfield was a quaint town. It was unlike Chicago where the pace was very fast. Bloomfield’s living was slower and quieter. The police around town would stop if the car’s emergency lights were on; they would offer assistance. This was unlike Chicago. In Chicago, one learned to fear the police. This niceness with the officers leads Jenny to believe she was safe.

Also, in Bloomfield people kept their doors unlocked. Bicycles wee left on the front lawn. The streets were clean. In Chicago, the streets had garbage, sometimes.

Bloomfield was a great place to raise a family since the children in the Sagal family had good ole fashion values and mannerisms. The children would never call an adult by their first name. It was always Miss or Mister, respectively. Between 3pm and 6pm, there were hardly any children outside in the streets. They stuck around the homestead to do their homework. Luke and Jamie, Jenny’s two sons, fit right in! Bath and bedtime was early, like the other children of the Sagal family. Jenny decided on this town because of all these things. She too, was raised with old-fashioned ways.

Bloomfield appeared to everyone to have all these old-fashioned amenities. But it only appeared that way to others. In between all that loveliness of Bloomfield, Jenny was living out her fantasies about an ancient town of voodoos called Krack Krackle. It existed only for Jenny, though! No one else knew about Krack Krackle! In Jenny’s mind Ludicrous Lucifer held a population in Krack Krackle that exalted him. He was pleased with himself, even pompous, by the amount of people who followed him. He even owned a tower in KRACK KRACKLE called Eastern Bell Telecommunications or EBT for short according to Jenny’s tri-polar mind. Ludicrous Lucifer could break into any phone line or received feedback from microphones hidden secretly in houses. He placed the microphone where he wanted them! The kitchen and living room—both were his favorite places to hide the receivers!

It was the very first morning for Jenny’s family in Bloomfield. As usual, Luke and Jamie liked to sleep in. The boys were robust at playing. They liked wrestling. The brand new back yard was a perfect place to play extra hard. Jenny always let them sleep a little longer anyway. Jenny and Carl were always up early. They were sitting in the kitchen having coffee. They did this each morning.

Carl stated, I’m going upstairs to take my shower, Jenny. You know me, shower, shave and shine my shoes like I did in the Air Force. I’m predictable!

I know, said Jenny.

Jenny thought for a moment. Are you going to be predictable with all the electronic equipment? You know, the woofers, tweeter’s, all that stuff? Well, I have a lot of work ahead of me with all the electronic equipment. I’m planning to drill a hole in the living room floor. I’m going to drill another hole upstairs behind our bed. Then the wiring throughout the tri-level will be operational in the living room cabinet. I will even give you instructions taped to the inside of the cabinet door. I’ll make it look fantastic, dear! I know how you feel about all those wires showing. Only one will be seen. It will come down through a hole in the living room ceiling. How’s that?" said Carl.

Okay, said Jenny. I’ll trust you. Please, just make it look beautiful for me! said Jenny.

Yes, dear, said Carl. He proceeded to take his morning shower.

"Drill a hole in what…a hole in the ceiling? That means a big, fat cable wire will be hanging from the ceiling in the living room! Oh, my gosh! What will he think of next? Hanging a TV up there?! Jenny just chuckled.

Carl was an electronic genius! He was known all over the country as an expert. He was quoted in several electronic magazines. He even made a commercial for Sanyo Electronics. He truly was a super-star.

Jenny remained at the kitchen table, looking out of the window at the sunrise. She got up and put two pieces of bread in the toaster. She was making a quick, tasty breakfast. This jellied toast would give her the energy she really needed to unpack all of those boxes! Jenny went back to the kitchen table and continued to look out at the sunrise. About five minutes had passed. Suddenly, she turned around to see the toaster on fire! It never popped up! Jenny was in her usual day dreams as smoke perpetrated the entire kitchen!

Jenny began shouting, Carl the toaster is on fire!

Carl ran down the stairs dripping wet. There he saw the hot burning toaster! In an instant, Carl grabbed the toaster but it was hot! So hot, he dropped it right smack in the middle of their new kitchen linoleum floor. The linoleum melted!

Oh, my gosh! said Jenny. Look at the melted linoleum! exclaimed Jenny as she pointed to the burnt spot.

I’ll be darn, said Carl. Wouldn’t you know, the very first day in our new home and we have a major catastrophe! he added, looking puzzled. Well, I make enough money; we will just have to replace the linoleum. Have the hardware store set up a time with you to put in the flooring, said Carl.

Okay, said Jenny. I will do that this week. Thank you for spending money on the new floor for me, said Jenny. Jenny sat back on the chair in the kitchen. She began daydreaming…could this be a piece of a larger puzzle?"

"KRACK KRACKLE was a quaint town