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The desolate landscape ahead was so at odds with everything else I’d seen in Dream that I shivered. “We’re going there?”
“Yes, Princess. The forgotten dreams are forgotten for a reason. Often, they bleed into nightmares and change location, but some are simply things humans no longer dream of for whatever reason.” Robby took a step onto the sand.
“What is this one?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out once we get into it.”
I followed the jester. The sand crunched strangely under my feet as if it were dried up and forgotten and not quite real sand any longer.
Nic came up alongside me, and Dio flanked me on the other. Casey and Ash trailed behind us. Geraint moved to follow and watch our backs.
“Do we have to worry about, like, sand worms or anything, here?” A few popular movies from years back surfaced in my mind.
“We’re in Dream, Princess. Those sorts of terrors are unlikely. If we were in Nightmare, yes.” Robby was a fantastic tour guide.
I shook my head and put my energy into walking and studying my surroundings. Ahead, the air seemed blurry, but not quite in the same way as the places that had been erased by the nothingness storms.
“That’s the boundary,” Nic explained. “Forgotten Nightmares, should they have enough strength to linger, have similar outlines. When Dream or Nightmare creatures enter these forgotten places, they risk being dissolved, as there is no belief left in the dream. It sucks the essence out of the creatures that enter.”
“Oh, great, so, like, us humans have to go in on our own?” Ash caught onto the implications before I did.
“No. Robby, Dio, and I can protect ourselves, and Geraint’s supply of belief is unlimited as long as he is around Ember. I suspect he is also nearly as mortal as you are and won’t have issues. If he does, I’ll make sure he gets out,” Nic swirled into shadow before solidifying.
I had to trust Nic, but I wasn’t feeling terribly reassured. Still, when Robby pushed into the blurry barrier between the living dreams and the forgotten ones I followed.
On the other side, I stopped and stared.
“What the fuck?” Ash breathed, giving voice to my thoughts.
I frowned, staring at what looked to be a perfect model neighborhood laid out before us. The houses were nearly identical, but different shades of cheerful pastels, and a few here and there had brick facade. Each house had an identical white picket fence, a perfectly manicured lawn, a single old-style sedan in the driveway, and most yards had evidence of children. Balls or bikes, or other toys laying in the yards. A few houses had front porch swings. The sky was blue without a cloud to be seen, and the sun shone overhead.
I didn’t see any people, but if this was a forgotten dream, that didn’t surprise me.
“It’ll take hours to search this,” Ash said.
“Then we’d best start.” Robby set off.
I glanced back at Geraint. He hastened to my side, rubbing his arms.
“You all right?”
“Yeah. The air feels dead. It’s better near you.”
I put my hand in his and we headed for the first house.
Casey paired up with Robby, Ash reluctantly took Dio as a partner, and Nic flitted from shadow to shadow. Though there weren’t many in this seemingly idyllic suburban neighborhood.
“This is creepy,” Geraint said as we walked up the driveway. “I can’t imagine what thoughts gave this sort of dream life, let alone forgot it.”
“Yeah.” I pushed open the front door. It wasn’t locked. The ghost of an echo of laughing children and the crackle of a static then a vaguely familiar music jingle teased my ears before vanishing into the dull silence that filled this space.
No birds called. No sounds or car noises or anything filled the background.
The living room had an old-style boxy television with tuning knobs and antenna. A green curved couch sat in front of the TV, and an armchair sat beside a large radio. The rest of the house was similar, really old-style appliances that looked brand new, an ironing board with an iron on it, white pressed collared shirts, a frilly flowered apron hung in the kitchen. One bedroom had bunk beds and pictures of old airplanes. Another bedroom had a small kid’s bed all in pinks, with stuffed animals everywhere. The master bedroom was laid out like it was from a sitcom.
“Sixties?” I guessed hesitantly.
Geraint shook his head. “Fifties, I think, based on the car out front and the radio.”
