The Theory of Dreams

By A.R. German

About the Book
Years ago, as a little girl, Sasha Palmer was the sole survivor of a tragic car accident that left her traumatized with night terrors and insomnia. Today, during a summer visit to her grandfather’s, she stumbles upon an invention of his he calls - The Dream Machine - After secretly connecting to its interface, she learns to consciously manipulate and control her own dreams and creates a vivid dreamworld beyond her wildest expectations. Meanwhile, her repressed subconscious manifests itself as a trusted ally and guide throughout her dreamworld but unbeknownst to her, develops its own agenda of trapping her in her dreams so it may become free. As the battle of dueling conscious states ensues, we bear witness to Sasha evolving from a nerdy preteen to a raging uncontrollable force.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: May 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685376307

Book preview

Chapter 1

This Is Us

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It’s happening again…I can tell it’s happening because I can feel it with every ounce of my being. Plus, it always happens this way…I open my eyes after they’ve been closed shut tightly for what seems like an hour. My palms are sweaty and my head throbs from being slammed around like a soccer ball in a FIFA tournament. The smell of the desert air fills my nostrils, along with the smell of gasoline and smoke. It always begins like this…As soon as I open my eyes, I’m able to see myself as I start to panic and begin to wonder what happened. I look around and realize I’m alone while in total darkness. There’s this soft hissing sound coming from somewhere, but I can’t seem to figure out where. I can’t even begin to understand how I got here in the first place. Then, my eyes get heavy once again and they start to close. I panic more and try to remember where I was before all this. I close my eyes and even though I feel sleepy, I try not to sleep. Instead, I only focus on what I can last remember.

I remember seeing the sky becoming dark but still filled with beautiful oranges, reds, and purples. I saw Sarah sitting next to me in her seat while Ms. Cheryl, who’s my babysitter and Sarah’s mom, is driving us somewhere. Today is Sarah’s birthday which makes her about a year older than me. I remember my mom dropping me off earlier today because it’s also her and my dad’s anniversary and they have plans. Earlier, we were playing with her dolls and this huge doll house that has a garage, a car and a pool with a slide. I thought to myself, It’s such a beautiful day outside. The sun was warm, and a soft breeze softly flowed across my skin. As we were buckled into our car seats, Ms. Cheryl said, We won’t be long girls. I have to run to the store and do another errand and then we’ll be right back, okay? Ms. Cheryl is from Georgia and speaks with a strong accent. She has light blonde hair and very light skin. She usually turns red when the sun is out, and she always says how she feels like a lobster in the sun, then she chases me and Sarah around pretending to have lobster claws. While Sarah and I were in the back seat I played with a couple of toys and she stared out the window. We turned left and then right and then another right turn. Even though I didn’t really pay attention to where we were going, I felt the van making the turns. I remember looking up and seeing the mountains in front of us and gasping at how big they were. They were bigger than anything I’d ever seen before.

"WOW," I said aloud. The sun was setting behind us and it made the sky over the mountains look like someone painted it with a brush and a bunch of different colors.

Sarah, look! I cried. Sarah was looking out her window but when I called her name, she didn’t respond. She just kept looking out the window and humming. Her favorite song is, If You’re Happy and You Know It and she kept humming it over and over, like she was in a trance. I called out to her again and said,

Look at the sky, with a huge smile on my face. Instead of replying, she continued to hum creepily and slowly. I looked out the window some more at the mountains in the distance and some of the palm trees that were whizzing by us. It was in that moment I remember her saying something, but I couldn’t hear.

"HUH?" I asked. Sarah was still looking out her window, but she whispered it again

Sarah, I can’t hear you, I replied. Suddenly, she turned her head around and stared right into my eyes. She had this weird and almost scary look in her eyes and her face was totally blank. She’s not smiling or sad, it’s just a blank face. She repeated what she said to me twice before but this time, I heard her clearly. The look in her face gave me the chills and the tiny hairs on my left arm rose. There were goosebumps all over my skin as I stared into her darkened eyes.

"Don’t sleep!" she shrieks. Suddenly, there was a loud and scary noise and the glass from Sarah’s door explodes! Her hair was flying all over as she was thrown toward me. Glass flew everywhere while the screeching noise of metal and tires filled my ears.

I jump out of the bed and sit straight up and it’s in that very moment that I realize I was dreaming. Well, I guess you can say more like having a nightmare. I’m still breathing uncontrollably and sweating, so much that my sheets and pillow are all wet. It’s warm in here and the only light that’s on is coming from a small nightlight across from my bed next to the door.

Okay, okay Sasha calm down, it’s only a dream. Just a bad dream and there’s no need to panic, just...AGHHH! Suddenly, I squeeze my eyes shut and I grab the front of my head as I silently gasp in pain. I don’t know why but for the last month or so, I’ve been having really sharp migraines right after I wake up from a nightmare. The pain only lasts for a quick moment and then it’s gone. I usually have to talk to myself out loud to calm myself down after a nightmare. It’s the only thing that seems to work, otherwise I may have an asthma attack. After a minute or so, I calm myself down and feel some relief knowing I’m back in my room now, safe and sound. The thing about me is that I don’t sleep much. The reason why is, I tend to have these reoccurring nightmares from a very traumatic experience I had when I was younger, but I’ll get into that later on. As I look at my clock, I realize I was only asleep for about an hour just now. I’ll probably be up for the rest of the night which is actually normal for me. I don’t sleep more than a couple of hours every night, if that. Instead, I may take little fifteen or thirty-minute cat naps a couple of times during the night.

After splashing some water on my face in the bathroom, I proceed downstairs and sit on the couch next to my Dad who is fast asleep with the tv still on. I grab the remote from inside his cup holder, turn the volume low so I don’t wake him and change the channel to SpongeBob. As the night turns to twilight, the sun starts to rise and I hear the birds chirping as they wake and the crickets getting quieter. Early mornings around the house are very peaceful and relaxing. I’m usually the one who gets to enjoy them the most since I’m usually awake before anyone else is. Being that I don’t sleep much, I always get asked, what do I do all night long? Well, I love drawing and sketching and I have a few different books that I use for different things. One is for sketching, one is for drawing, and the other is for storytelling. I’ll take some of the characters in my books that I really like and put them into kind of a storyline. It’s kind of like a comic but not like a comic, if that makes any sense. I might also play some video games with the volume low so I don’t wake anyone. My brother Chance is the video gamer of the family and it’s his system and if he knew I played while he was asleep, I’m sure he’d have a mondo panic attack. If I’m not doing that, I’m watching TV or reading. Last night I mostly watched TV. I just needed to distract my mind with something funny after that nightmare I had.

Today is our last day of school for the year so I’m pretty excited about that. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love going to school, probably more than most things and most people. In fact, when I was in kindergarten while all the other students were learning their ABC’s and simple mathematics, I was reading at a high school level and teaching myself geometry and advanced trig. Two years ago, I was doing so good in school that my teacher thought I’d do better if I was in a grade ahead of my class, but my parents didn’t want me to be skipped. They thought I was doing just fine where I was, but I begged them and promised them I was ready for the challenge. After some time, they finally agreed but I wound up skipping the fourth and fifth grade. So, even though I’m about to be eleven years old next week, I’ll be going into the eighth grade in September. The weird thing about this is, it’s actually a lot harder now to be so young and be surrounded by so many older kids who really don’t seem to get me or what I’m about. So even though it’s what I really wanted at the time, I guess I have my doubts about it now.

 It’s now 5:30 in the morning and I’m hearing alarms going off in everyone’s room. I’m already dressed and ready and now, I’m having cereal in the dining room. I like it when I’m the first one awake. The mornings can be pretty busy around here and when it’s just me, I get the chance to just be alone and think. It’s actually really nice.

Sasha? Is that you? I realize the niceness is over as I hear a groggy voice coming from downstairs. Footsteps follow the voice as they slowly climb the steps to the top. Suddenly, the basement door opens slowly and a face appears. It’s my sister Summer and she looks like she just woke up after being in a coma. Her hair is stuck to the one side of her face, and she has one eye open with a little dried up drool stain on the side of her cheek.

Good morning, I say in a cheerful morning voice while crunching on my cereal. Summer just looks at me with one lip curled up and a confused look on her half-asleep face and says,

Oh my God, why are you even awake right now? School for you doesn’t even start for another two hours. Summer will be sixteen in a month and a half and she’s going into the eleventh grade. She’s only about an inch taller than I am but she has really pretty long hair that gets really curly when it gets hot outside. She’s also pretty skinny. Not super skinny like those models I see on those billboards in LA, but I’d probably say athletic. Summer plays a lot of sports at school like volleyball and tennis but one of her biggest pet peeves is, she hates being compared to a model. One day when we were downtown, a lady who worked for some agency was talking to our mom and asked if Summer ever wanted to do modeling and Summer said to her in kind of a snarky tone,

Oh yeah, of course! I always wanted to have a career where I was hungry 24/7. We never heard from that agency or that lady

after that.

Actually, school for me starts at 7:47, I correct her. "And you know why I’m up." Summer ignores the last comment and drags her feet into the bathroom. Summer’s room isn’t actually in the basement. She just moved down there because Mom and Dad had to re-model her room after a pipe broke and flooded it. I really love my sister a lot and I look up to her but in the morning when she comes out of the basement, I always think of her as the grumpy troll emerging from a cave who wants nothing to do with anyone or anything except for her iPad.

In the morning, things usually move pretty fast here. Everyone has a place to go and is always in a rush. As the rest of the family starts to wake up, the sound of running water and showers being turned on fills the atmosphere. Teeth brushing, doors opening and closing, and footsteps are overwhelming the silence. I can also hear Mom and Dad talking to each other about something in their room. If you walk up our stairs and look to the right, that would be my room. Chance’s room is on the same side next to mine and Mom and Dad’s room is further down the hall on the left. Summer has a room upstairs on the third floor. And yes, we have a third floor. It’s not like many houses in the area. Most have only one floor and some have two, but my dad wanted a house with a third floor, so he built one…just to be different.

At this point I can tell everyone is awake, even though I’m still downstairs alone. Suddenly, I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I turn to look at who it is, and I see its Chance.

Goooooooood moooooorning big bro, I say in a funny voice. I have this thing where I like to pretend I’m from another country and I speak in different accents. Sometimes when I call family, I’ll speak in an accent to see if they can recognize who it is. They usually can’t.

Gooooooooood Mooooooooooooorrrrrrrninnnnnng little sis, he says back in the same voice and extending his words even longer. Chance is my older brother and he’s thirteen years old. We have this interesting and kind of cool relationship that may seem kind of weird but, it’s how we are. For example; we’re both into science so we might go on a rock exploring expedition out back or collect slugs and analyze their slime under a microscope. If it weren’t for me, then Chance would be considered the nerd in the family for sure. When we’re in the zone talking about science and math logic or history, people leave the room right away. This is what I mean by weird although, it’s not weird to me.

School has a different effect on me and my sibs. I always hear Summer complain about her friends even though she still hangs out with them all the time. She gets pretty good grades, but I think she gets bored with the subjects. I can totally relate. Chance kind of keeps himself a mystery. He usually wears dark clothes, not all black clothes but just darker colors and always has a hat on. Some days he will wear some dirty looking sweatpants and an old beat up t-shirt and some other days he wears a tie and dress shoes. One time, he begged Dad to buy him a three-piece suit for assembly day and yes, Dad got it for him. He wore that suit that day and he was the talk of the school. Even the teachers and principal were talking about him. Chance is a little bit short and has brown skin, light brown straight hair, and light green eyes. I personally don’t get what the big deal is but all the girls in school always talk about how he’s sooooo cute. Ughhhh. Anytime a girl tries to talk to him in the hall, he recites a quote from Nietzsche or Voltaire, just to drive them away. It doesn’t seem to work but we both laugh about it anyway. I have mixed feelings about my school. It’s not a bad school or anything and it’s not public so we wear uniforms and have a different type of learning experience than most of the other schools around. Maybe it’s because I’m always the smartest kid in my classes and probably the entire school and I’m two to three years younger than everyone else in my grade. Don’t get me wrong, I do love going and I love learning but, it’s hard sometimes. My mom says I should always ask questions and that there is never a bad question, only bad answers, and it’s up to me to find the good ones. I don’t think my teachers share the same sentiments as my mom though. I’m about five feet tall and weigh exactly seventy-nine pounds (I checked this morning). I have dark brown hair, darker skin than Chance and Summer, and have a small birth mark on my nose. My eyes aren’t a nice green like Chance’s, or a light brown like Summer, they’re just regular old brown. I guess that’s okay though. Oh, yeah and I also wear glasses. One of the other reasons I’m not too crazy about my school, I’m the only one in my class who wears glasses so some of the other kids pick on me. Okay, maybe more than some. It’s been kind of a tough year for me. It was my second year in junior high and next year, I’ll actually be in the same class as Chance, which will be totally weird. Chance didn’t get left back he was just born in December and wound up starting school a year late. Chance and I are very close but I’m not too sure if this is something he looks forward to.

You ready for your last day of school Sash? Chance asks. We’ve been talking about this day for the last couple of months.

Ummmmm, yaaaaa what do you think? I reply in a sarcastic tone. I was born ready! What about you? Are you gonna miss your friends and your girrrrrrrl friends? I start blowing kisses at him and chase him around the kitchen. He turns around to counter-act the kisses with tickles. I’m very ticklish so I start to scream.

HEY! A loud voice booms from upstairs. It’s my dad. My dad’s name is Abraham, named after Abraham Lincoln of course but everyone calls him A for short. He doesn’t like his name and only uses it for official stuff. Daddy isn’t really a morning person and he can be super grumpy in the morning, like Summer. He’s a pretty tall guy, I think he’s 6’1" and has a lot of muscles. My dad is very strong too. One time, he picked me up over his head and pretended I was a set of weights and lifted me up and down with one arm!

It’s too early to be havin’ all that yellin’ and screamin! We immediately stop and just sit still at the table, even though we’re still kind of snickering.

Morning, Daddy

Morning, Dad. Aww man, Chance says as he snaps his finger. We continue to giggle under our breath as Dad walks past us in the kitchen. Chance tries to beat me in the good morning race by saying it before I can every morning. He almost said it before me this time, but he lost, as usual.

Morning you two, Dad replies as he starts to brew a cup of espresso.

I always thought it was expresso, Chance says as he’s reading the package. I sharply reply in a very informative tone,

Ummmm, espresso comes from Italy and Italian is one of the five romance languages of the Latin root and in this particular romance language, the letter X isn’t used, hello? Chance gives me the side eye look and says,

Okay, Encyclopedia Brown, it’s too early for all your genius-ness. I smile and tilt my head to the side and say,

Et numquam mane, then smile and walk away. As I leave the room and walk up the stairs, I turn for a second and glance back at Chance. Him and Dad are both staring at me with a totally bewildered look in their face. That means it’s never too early in Latin. I guess when it comes to smarts, Chance excels in science, math and English and I excel in history...and math...and science...and English.......as well as a couple of other languages I’m studying, and pretty much everything else.

Summer and Chance take the bus to school in the morning but ever since I started the sixth grade, I have been getting dropped off by my mom in the morning. My mom’s name is Toni with an I, not a Y and she is the same age as my dad. She isn’t as tall as he is, but she is athletic. She likes to workout at the gym a lot to stay healthy. She has darker skin than my dad and has the most beautiful curly hair I’ve ever seen! She spent the last six years finishing her bachelor’s degree in marketing and just started working for a new online startup who advertises on big social media sites. Mom works remotely and that’s the reason she can give me rides to school in the morning.

Now listen Sasha. You know this is the last year we’re doing this right? Next year you’re riding the bus with your brother, she says to me.

Yes, Mom, I know. I’m just a little nervous about it, that’s all. None of the kids seem to like me in my class and it’s been a hard year. Some of them pick on me and say I don’t belong there. I told my mom before about some of the difficulties I’ve been having this year, being younger than everyone else in the school.

I know, sweetie, and you know what I always say right? She always has this way of talking to me that just makes me feel so much better about everything. That’s why she drove me to school all year. Every day I had school, I would almost have an asthma attack because I was so nervous about going. She would drive me to school, get me a breakfast sandwich and talk to me. It was the only thing that could calm me down and prepare me for the day.

Yeah. You always say that they act the way they do because they’re afraid of me. That I intimidate them with my intelligence.

That’s right, she says.

Then you say, they’re just mad because one day they’ll be asking me if I wanna add fries to my meal. I always like when she says that.

That’s right, baby girl! My mom has always been in my corner. She always knows what to say and what to do to make it all better. She says that’s what moms are here for…to make it all better. Chance and Summer already got on their buses and now Mom and I are leaving to school. Dad left before anyone else did. My Dad owns a food truck business and has three trucks around the city. He goes out early and does breakfast for most people who are on their way to work. He usually goes to Anaheim or Santa Ana and on the weekends, he hits the beaches and just hangs there. One time, Robert Downey Jr. got lunch at his Truck! Yes, I’m talking about Mr. Tony Stark, Iron Man himself! He said the food was so good that he was going to make this a regular thing every weekend. Needless to say, the next weekend, I was there helping my dad, (secretly waiting for Tony,) and of course, he didn’t show. I helped my dad that whole summer every single weekend and he didn’t come back; until the one weekend I had a fever…of course! Go figure, I was so mad! But I did make a few hundred dollars that summer so it wasn’t a total bust. Anyway…

"MOM! I shout in a panic. You usually drop me off at the corner and I walk. What gives?" I know I don’t like riding the bus but if there’s one thing I like even less, it’s getting dropped off in front of the school by my mom.

Look honey, I have a zoom meeting this morning and I’m already running behind so this is what you get today. I huff and I grab my bag from the back and kiss her quickly on the cheek goodbye. As I close the car door behind me, I try and hurry into the building and away from the car before she does something embarrassing.

Have a good day munchkin! She screams from the car window. I stop walking for a moment and hang my head in a moment of awkwardness and shame before proceeding into the building. I can hear some of the kids snickering and making comments as I pass but I pretend I don’t hear it.

In school I have maybe a handful of friends and out of that handful, maybe three of them are honest and out of those three, only two have been to my house and of those two, only one I know without a doubt has my back no matter what.

Hey girl! I hear a voice from down the hall calling out to me. Sasha! I know who it is. It’s that one friend I was just talking about. Her name is Yu Shu Lien Fong, but I call her Julie or Jules for short. Me and Jules are best friends and have been since I was in the second grade. Her father is from Japan and her mother is from North Korea, if you can believe that. Her mom left Pyongyang when she was a little girl with her parents and lived in Taiwan for years until she was about twenty. Jules was born in China, and they all moved here when she was a baby. She actually acts more American than I do most of the time, unless you catch them at dinner time. Then, they’re all speaking Japanese or Mandarin at the table.

What up fool, Jules says out loud in a really deep sounding voice.

What’s up J. I didn’t get to see you this weekend what happened? I ask.

Ughhhh, she replies in disgust. My parents dragged me up to the bay this weekend to see family. It was the worst car ride ever! We drove like twelve hours to get up there, chilled for the day, and then twelve hours to get back home. Like, what was the point of that? She says as she smacks her bubble gum.

Yeah that sounds pretty lame, I reply, even though I would’ve loved to take a trip to San Fran.

Yeah, it was a total drag race. But I’m home now, Jules replies with excitement and a big smile. And today’s the last day of school sooooo, you know what that means right? Me and Jules have this tradition of having the most epic sleepover on the last day of school every year. It’s epic because I don’t sleep and Jules will actually keep up with me all night (one of the few people I know who can). Last year, we stayed up for almost three days straight! It was approximately seventy hours non-stop of Red Bull, video games, a massive make-up and nail session and non-stop girl talk, but then, J crashed at the very end. In fact, she slept for so long, my parents got worried and had to call her parents because they thought she went into a coma or something. Well, maybe they didn’t think that but they definitely thought something was wrong. Needless to say, her parents were pretty upset after that one.

Um, yeah about that... I was about to continue when she interrupts and says,

Don’t even say it. You’re gonna say it aren’t you? I just give her a blank look.

NOOO you can’t! You can’t flake out on me this year! she cries out.

I don’t have a choice. I’m leaving for my grandfather’s tomorrow first thing.

For how long? she asks.

Umm, for the whole summer, I reply in a low sounding voice. The bell rings and we start walking in opposite directions for our classes. I take all accelerated classes so all of mine are in the far wing of the school and she takes regular seventh grade classes in the main building. I can tell she’s a little saddened about me leaving so I say, Hey, maybe I can talk to my mom and convince her to have a significantly less epic sleepover tonight before we leave. Her face brightens a bit as she says to me,

Okay, it’s a gig. Let me know later. Bye! I wave back as I head outside to the east wing for my first class.

Usually, my first class of the day is pre-calc. I know what you’re thinking already…pre-calculus? Aren’t you 10 years old? Actually, I’m almost eleven in a couple of weeks. And yes, I like math. After math I have English then two periods of bio and then blah blah blah. However, today is different. It’s the last day of school, seventh grade in fact and that means PARRRTAYYY! And by party, I mean like snacks and cake and no class work.

Time is flying by today and its already fifth period, which is lunch. I’m sitting down at the lunch table when I grab my phone to text mom about the sleep over tonight with Jules. While waiting for a response, I begin to eat some of my lunch. I only get one fork full of ravioli in my mouth when Chance sits down next to me hard and bumps me, almost making me spill my milk.

As I rapidly chew and then swallow my food, I annoyingly reply,

Well thank you for shaking me and making sure I was awake…while I sit upright and am eating.

Well it’s my pleasure. Anything to help a fellow citizen, he says, in a trying-to-be-funny-but-not, kind of way. He continues to sit there next to me, staring while I eat so I get a little anxious.

Soooooo... I say in a rude and impatient way as I wave my hands indicating I want him to say something.

Sooo, you ask mom? I know you did because you had your phone out a minute ago and who else would you be texting? he says. I love my brother but sometimes when we’re in school, he can behave like a different person. Like he’s too cool to be around me for too long. Like I said earlier, Chance is sort of a mystery and I think people like that. He’s super smart but his friends aren’t. So, what he does is, he dumbs himself down to make them more comfortable therefore, he can have more friends and fit in easier. Me? Nope. I’m just me. Day and night no matter what, which is probably why I don’t have as many friends and usually sit alone at lunch.

Why do you want to know if I did? I ask.

"Oh, I’m just asking that’s all.

Oh…yeah, I think I get it. You want to know if I asked mom if Jules can come over, don’t you? I think Chance has a crush on my friend Jules, but he will never admit it.

"NOOOO, umm, what are you talking about? Wait, whaaaaa?"

You’re such a tool, I say as I chew my highly processed pasta meal that probably came from a can.

No, I just wanted to know because I was gonna have you ask her something for me. He quickly replies.

Oh, well in that case, no I didn’t. I was just checking my snap, that’s all. My reply dimmed the light I saw shining in his eyes. I was having a little fun with this since he almost made me spill my milk. But the fun was starting to end so I say, She didn’t reply yet. The light quickly returns to his eyes as he says,

Oh, well…okay let me know what she says. I gotta go. Chance jumps up from the lunch table and slaps me on the back, making me spill milk all over the place.

Great, just great, I say while I wipe the table around me. As most of the kids leave for recess, I get to finish my lunch alone at the table, in silence. Compared to the riot-like noise from just a few minutes ago, the lunch room is still, like fog during twilight over a lake. Despite the remnants of what seemed like anarchy just moments ago, the leftover lunch trays and puddles of spilled milk converging with juice don’t seem to bother me at all, as long as I have the silence.

Alas, I say to myself I get to spend the last few minutes of my lunch in total silence, just the way I like it.

After school, I actually decide to ride the bus home for the first time this year. I figure, why not end the year with a bang…as if riding the school bus is actually considered a bang but hey, I am proud of myself. The bus ride is about twenty-five minutes before we finally arrive on my block.

Sash, don’t forget to let me know about the post year activities, okay? Jules says as she gives me a big conspicuous wink. I still didn’t hear back from mom yet about the sleepover so I tell her,

I promise, I won’t forget. As soon as my mom lets me know I’ll DM you. I give her a tight hug as we approach my bus stop. Chance is sitting a few rows behind me, and he gets up first once the bus comes to a stop, gives us a kind of weird look, and then continues toward the exit. I follow behind down the row of tightly packed and slightly smelly green bus seats. As I step off the last bus step, it’s in that moment that I realize that I don’t have to go to school tomorrow. I have exactly ten weeks or seventy days of no homework and assignments, no anxiety of sitting in class and having to sit next to onion ring Bobby who smells like, yup, you guessed it. I don’t have to hear anyone picking on me for my glasses or my size or my age…I just get a break from it all! The warm sun is covering my skin and making me feel so refreshed and alive. I feel powerful, like I can do anything.

"Sasha! I hear a really loud voice come from the house. Come take this trash out!" All of my feelings of all mighty powers have suddenly been stripped away. Me, Chance, and Summer usually have light chores to do when we get home from school before we do our homework. I go inside the house and into the kitchen to grab the bag out of the can. Mom stops me and says,

When you get back in here, we’re going to talk. I don’t know what she wanted to talk about. Is it about the sleepover? Is it that I texted her from school and I shouldn’t have? I have no idea, but I nod my head and take the trash out to the side of the house. As I walk back around front, the sound of kids having fun outside in the summer sun makes me feel so nice. All I want to do is stay outside and play but mom has to talk to me about something. I don’t want to talk, I just want to stay out here in the sun and chill. I just want to be free. I stop and take a deep breath, ignoring the smell of garbage and bask in the sun for a moment, allowing it to recharge me, like Superman regaining his strength. After my moment, I head back in the house. My mom is sitting in her office at her computer, so I grab a chair and pull it close to her and say,

You wanted to talk to me, Mom?

Yes, honey I do. I know you were up last night, and I know it’s been a long time since you had a real good night’s sleep. Are you still having the nightmares? she asks as she leans in toward me.

Yeah, I reply.

Well, you know how your father and I feel about the doctors. They want to put you on meds, and we just don’t think that’s the right solution for you but, we have to do something. It’s been way too long, and we have no idea how this can be affecting you. She sighs after taking a deep breath and changes the subject with, Your grandfather is going to be really happy to see you guys tomorrow. He’s been waiting for this all year and hasn’t stopped talking about it.

Yeah, I am too. It’ll be a nice change to get out in the fresh air, I reply.

He also says he may have an idea about your situation, something he says may help. I just don’t want you getting too caught up in any of his crazy ideas, okay? Promise me you won’t.

Are you kidding me? I say. After the last time, I think I’ll be good. You remember what happened last time don’t you? Poppa (that’s what I call my grandpa) and I get along really well. We’re a lot alike in many ways. Poppa is a chemical and mechanical engineer, a chemist, a carpenter, and electrician and can build anything. That last time I referred to was when Poppa modified a drone to look like a UFO except it was about five feet in diameter with hundreds of LED lights attached to it. He modified the radio frequency to fly it even further than what it was made for and flew it into town at night. All I can say (legally) is that within a half hour, there were men with black suits and black SUV’s all around the house. They weren’t too happy when they realized it was a drone.

Mom and I continue to talk about not sleeping and how it can affect me and blah blah blah. Honestly, it’s been like 7 years that I haven’t been sleeping and nothing bad has happened yet so, I don’t see the need to see a doctor or anything else. But I politely listen and agree, mostly because I want to ask her if Jules can come over later for our less-than-epic annual sleepover.

I know mom I get it. I know I need to try something new, and I promise I will. And I promise I won’t get too caught up in any of Poppa’s shenanigans. I was pretty good at schmoozing over my parents to further my own interests. So, have you thought about it? I ask. "I mean, it is the day before we leave and all, but I worked really hard this year and I got all A’s and, this is like, my only friend so can we please, please, pleeeeeeeeeease have a less-than-epic annual sleepover tonight?" I bat my eye lashes and fold my hands together like I’m praying and poke my bottom lip out so I appear to be extra cute. Mom kind of rolls her eyes and says,

Did you hear anything I just said before?

Of course, I did. And I will be taking the necessary steps to make sure I am getting the proper rest, starting this summer vacation. I smile really big, making sure I show all of my teeth and then I say, By the way, have you noticed how white all my teeth are? Hmmm? Have you? Look again in case you haven’t…notice the shine on my enamel. I like to be silly and/or funny when I’m asking for something. It helps take away from the fact that I’m schmoozing them for my own benefit.

Yes sweetie, I see how good they look. Wait, they actually look very good, she says as she examines them closer. "Okay, I’ll make you a deal; I need to talk to your father about it and until I do, you can have Julie over for dinner. If and only if he’s okay with it, she can stay overnight but, she has to leave first thing in the morning since we’re leaving. OKAY?" she says sternly.

"YESSSSS! I say out loud while doing a fist pump. I mean, I absolutely concur with your decision on this matter," I say in a sophisticated deeper adult voice, pretending to adjust an imaginary necktie. Mom kind of rolls her eyes again and chuckles at the same time while I run upstairs and text Jules on snap. She responds right away, as if she was waiting for my message with the phone in her hand. Jules only lives around the corner and a couple of blocks down the road from me, about a 7-minute walk and I’m sure she already asked her parents, just in case I hit her with the green light. She said she’s leaving in about ten minutes so that means she’ll really be here in about eight to nine.

So, umm…what’s your plan today? Chance asks suspiciously out of nowhere. Doing anything? Anyone coming over?

Mmmmm…Maybe. Why? Do you want someone to come over? Someone in particular? I ask.

Psst, um, no, not really. Just asking…for uhhh, research purposes. Yeah see, I’m conducting an experiment, that’s all. Chance is being so weird, but I decide to play along.

Oh really? Is that so? And what is the purpose of this experiment? I ask.

Well, I’m monitoring the cause and effect relationship between adolescent pre-teens and their friends and their older brothers, He says.

Oh, you mean, brother? I say, correcting him. He kind of dodges that remark and continues to talk.

But don’t mind me. I’ll just be taking notes from a distance while engaging in limited but necessary social interaction, he says, trying to sound like some kind of scientist engaging in the scientific method.

Yeaaaah, if you wanna hang with us then fine, just don’t be weird and when we call ‘girl time,’ you have to leave, deal? I stick my hand out to shake on a deal. Chance meets me with his hand out as well.

You got it, sis, he replies with excitement.

A little while later while Jules and I are hanging out in my room, I hear someone downstairs. I poke my head out of my room and see it’s Summer. Summer got a job after school a couple of months ago. Her very first one might I add and she’s pretty excited about it. She’s saving to buy her first car next year. I’m pretty excited about that too! Probably more than she is. I grab Jules