Revised verson August 1

Big changes for the beginning of the novel...

Chapter 1
Lawrence Nolet

Waves curled over one another, scrambling to crash and rejoin the vast depths from which they arose. Bleached light from the early afternoon sun filled the vast arch above and shimmered off the display of spattering water.

I stood on my red sandy cliff, not far from where she sat. I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh scent of the ocean below. Faint melodies resonated, rising and falling with the breeze.

I was well aware that I had the ability to transport my mind, soul and body to this place, this Themura. I knew I could take anything I touched with me. I didn’t know I could take something that wasn’t tangible, something like her subconscious. Until now.

I needed to learn why I was so drawn to her. I wasn’t brave enough to talk to her at school. I had barely been brave enough to speak when I transported into her dreams. This time I brought her with me. [Even though she still thought she was asleep, I would try to explain. Then maybe, just maybe she would remember, maybe she would know...when she woke up.] [take this part out?]

I knew my voice would be familiar, but spoke softly so I wouldn’t startle her. I had no tact, my thoughts flowed, a torrent of words, as though I was afraid I’d lose my courage again. “This isn’t a dream, Dawn.” I approached and sat beside her. She smiled at me, like I was an old friend. “I brought you here to this world—a dimension beyond your subconscious—because I needed to find out if you felt it too...the connection there is between us.”

I shook my head and shrugged, helpless. “Having you here, being with you...I’m not afraid. I want you to know it’s not a dream. I have deviated from all the rules in bringing you here, so even though you probably won’t, even though you shouldn’t...please remember.”
My eyes pleaded with hers as I tried to hang on, but her face became fuzzy, and then she slipped away.

Chapter 2
Dawn Buchanen

I awoke and wished I could linger under the warm sheets for hours longer than I was able. Instead, I flung my legs quickly over the side of the twin bed into the cool air hoping, as with a band-aid, that getting it over with quickly would make it easier.

Autumn air had chilled the house overnight, and I stumbled, frigid, to a mercifully warm shower. It was while the heated water pelted down that the memory of the dream from the night before washed over me.

I vaguely recognized the boy from school, from French class, to be exact. How I knew that, I couldn’t be sure since I had never thought much of him before. The details of our conversation eluded me, yet somehow in the midst of my slumber he had captivated me. I felt oddly connected to him.

Not straying from routines I had set in place a month and a half before, I emerged from the shower and swiped at the sweaty mirror. Reflected there were imperfect features--nothing like those on his flawless face. My nose appeared slightly bulbous in the middle of my narrow face. High cheekbones met my angular jaw line which cut down, accentuating a sharp chin. Hazel eyes were framed by dark eyebrows. My one saving grace was my long eyelashes. Still, there was no way he would find me attractive enough to talk to.

As idiotic as I knew it was to entertain the yearning I felt for this boy who before this past hour had never caught my eye, I felt an urgency to be at school and to see him, as though he would feel this same connection due to a dream I had had, by myself, without him.

Once dressed in my most comfortable pair of jeans and favorite plum knit sweater, I opened the bathroom door. Cool, dry air from the hallway rushed in. I went to eat breakfast before trying to dry my hair in the humid bathroom, dampened by my hot shower.

The kitchen was empty, as usual. My dad had already eaten and gone, most likely after a brisk jog. I hadn’t joined him for a morning run since school began and my muscles longed for the exercise they missed. As if in sync with my thoughts, our black mutt, Zodiac, padded in and poked his wet nose at my fingertips, whining.

“Not today, pup.” I caressed behind his ears, a bleak attempt at an apology. My dad never included him on his jaunts. Zodi was the closest I had to a sibling in the house, and while I appreciated his company, I would have preferred a brother or sister to accompany me in my mundane life.

From the living room, just off the kitchen, an anchorman was droning on about taking precautions due to the flu that was affecting large portions of the city’s population. It had been the same every morning as of late, so I pushed the power button on the television remote to silence him.

After pouring a bowl of Rice Krispies, I delved into the book I kept on the counter to read while eating. However, the Katherine Patterson novel I was currently engaged in dredged up the foreign emotions my dream had awoken in me. While my eyes continued to follow the words, my mind was lost to the one hazy image I remembered from my sleep—his face. I couldn’t shake the romantic feelings the dream had awoken in me for him.

Walking back down the hall I reminded myself that it had only been a dream and it would affect no one else but me. Nonetheless, as I pulled my fingers through brown, blow-dried hair and curled the final strands with a curling iron, I couldn’t shake my unusual excitement for a school day to start.