20. He was the first to arrive and felt alone and exposed standing outside the comic book store which had its grill down and locked over the store front. He looked around and wondered if anyone was watching him.
He stood there for a minute before he heard the sound of the girl’s moped approaching. It sounded like a chainsaw ripping through sheet metal. He figured all pretenses at secrecy were pointless now. But the sound faded away before he saw her and it wasn’t until a few minutes had passed that he could make out a figure of a shape moving down the street in his direction. It looked like a centaur or some mythical beast and as it approached he could see that it was the girl pushing her moped.
The girl and the store owner arrived at the same time. He hadn’t seen the store owner approaching as he had come up behind him while he was watching the girl push her moped. Suddenly the store owner was just there putting his key in the lock of the grill and pulling it open. The sound of it startled him and he felt his heart panic inside his chest.
She brought her moped inside so no one would see it and be suspicious. The store owner closed the grill from the inside but couldn’t lock it. He did lock the front door.
They gathered around the workspace where she took out her copy of the comic and the store worker took out his.
"Ok," the store owner said. "We don't know how this works. We don't know how long you will be in a trance. But if you go anywhere, I will come with you and I will bring the comics in case you want to return to the dream."
He had come up with the idea to enter the shrine as the mission of their dream journey. It seemed like he had heard about the summons in his last dream for a reason and now that there would be two of them they would be able to try.
Although he wasn’t sure that they actually would be able to try considering that they weren’t real as far as the dream world was concerned. But as soon as he had the idea to try it had felt right. And no one questioned it.
The store owner had to make sure to avoid looking at the comic. They couldn’t afford having all three of them trapped in a dream. Maybe someone would find the three of them sprawled out on the floor of the comic book store and somehow keep them from returning to their bodies.
"I really wouldn’t care," she said.
They had stalled enough and it was time for them to do what they had come for.
They closed their eyes, lifted the comic books upside down before them and opened their eyes.
next
He stood there for a minute before he heard the sound of the girl’s moped approaching. It sounded like a chainsaw ripping through sheet metal. He figured all pretenses at secrecy were pointless now. But the sound faded away before he saw her and it wasn’t until a few minutes had passed that he could make out a figure of a shape moving down the street in his direction. It looked like a centaur or some mythical beast and as it approached he could see that it was the girl pushing her moped.
The girl and the store owner arrived at the same time. He hadn’t seen the store owner approaching as he had come up behind him while he was watching the girl push her moped. Suddenly the store owner was just there putting his key in the lock of the grill and pulling it open. The sound of it startled him and he felt his heart panic inside his chest.
She brought her moped inside so no one would see it and be suspicious. The store owner closed the grill from the inside but couldn’t lock it. He did lock the front door.
They gathered around the workspace where she took out her copy of the comic and the store worker took out his.
"Ok," the store owner said. "We don't know how this works. We don't know how long you will be in a trance. But if you go anywhere, I will come with you and I will bring the comics in case you want to return to the dream."
He had come up with the idea to enter the shrine as the mission of their dream journey. It seemed like he had heard about the summons in his last dream for a reason and now that there would be two of them they would be able to try.
Although he wasn’t sure that they actually would be able to try considering that they weren’t real as far as the dream world was concerned. But as soon as he had the idea to try it had felt right. And no one questioned it.
The store owner had to make sure to avoid looking at the comic. They couldn’t afford having all three of them trapped in a dream. Maybe someone would find the three of them sprawled out on the floor of the comic book store and somehow keep them from returning to their bodies.
"I really wouldn’t care," she said.
They had stalled enough and it was time for them to do what they had come for.
They closed their eyes, lifted the comic books upside down before them and opened their eyes.
next