Reality is Insanity

Whoo welcome back for those of you who decided to. So we’ll officially be getting into the story now and if you were disappointed in the length of the prologue, I assure you, you won’t be with this. Have fun!

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“…Joshua…Joshua.”

The boy groaned and curled up under his blanket, trying to block out the annoying voice. He didn’t want to wake up, not just yet. He wanted to stay in his magical dream world just a little longer.

“Joshua!!!” the voice screamed at the boy, making him jump and sit up.

“Gah! What!? What!?” Joshua cried out, looking around frantically. He saw his mother in his bedroom doorway. Arms full of clothes and a scowl on her face.

“It’s about time. If you don’t get a move on you’re going to be late for school,” she told him. Joshua groaned and fell back onto the bed.

“You scared me half to death for that?” he asked. Joshua heard his mothers heels click against his wooden floor. He then squeaked when the pile of clothes landed on top of him.

“Yes, now get dressed and come eat breakfast before I drag you to school in your underwear,” she threatened before walking out of the room and closing the door, giving the boy his privacy.

Joshua grumbled as he pushed his fresh, clean clothes off of him and sat back up.

“Mornings suck,” he grumbled as he kicked his covers off and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Joshua yawned and stretched, his joints giving a few pops in protest. Shaggy, sandy brown hair was tossed about as the boy shook his head vigorously to wake himself up. Even though Joshua had had a full nights sleep, his body felt exhausted.

“Sleep is supposed to refresh me, not make me even more tired,” the boy complained as he got up and started to get dressed. Faded blue jeans and a red T-shirt with a black dragon design wrapping around it was all he needed to feel well dressed. He topped off his look with a dark blue sweatband that had ‘Dumbledore lives’ stitched into it on one wrist then he put his watch on the other. He was rarely seen without the two.

“Wha…?” Joshua said in confusion when he looked at the timepiece. “It stopped again.” The digital numbers that stared back at him read 11:45 pm, around the time he had gone to sleep. “Stupid, cheap piece of…” he trailed off as he reset it for the hundredth time.

Lately the watch had been stopping for no apparent reason. Joshua had taken it to a local clockmaker to get it fixed. Only to find out nothing was wrong with it, it was perfectly fine…and Joshua still had to pay for taking up the man’s time.

“Nothings wrong with it my ass. I have half a mind to march down there and kick that ‘Watch Master’s’ ass!” he huffed as he walked over to his dresser.

Joshua ran his brush through his short hair a couple of times before picking up a small silver hoop earring. He carefully set it in place in his left earlobe then checked himself over in the mirror. Joshua grinned and gave his reflection a thumb’s up.

“A picture of perfection,” he praised his smirking image.

“Joshua! Get your butt down here before your breakfast gets cold!!!” his mother yelled from downstairs.

“I’m coming!” he called back before dashing out of his room.

The door closed with a snap and the boy’s messy room stood empty. The light pouring in from the window glinted over Joshua’s dresser mirror. Suddenly the image morphed and changed. It reflected a gloomy, stone room and a silhouette of a person appeared. The glass surface glinted again and the image vanished.

Downstairs Joshua stood at the kitchen table, staring at his breakfast.

“Mom?” he said to get her attention.

“Yes?” she asked, putting away clean dishes from the dishwasher.

“You told me to get down here before my food got cold,” Joshua told her and his mother glanced back at him.

“And?”

“…Mom, its cereal! How can cereal get cold!? It’s already cold!” he exclaimed, waving his arms around.

“Well, it got you down here faster, didn’t it?” his mom asked him with a chuckle. Joshua’s shoulders slumped and he glared at her before taking his seat.

“Sneaky, underhanded, parental unit…” he grumbled as he picked up his spoon.

“Will you refrain from bitching this early in the morning?” a voice asked him. Joshua looked up at his older sister, who was sitting across from him.

“Oh, are you the official bitcher of the family now, Lilah? I didn’t get the memo,” he remarked before starting on his cheerios. Lilah rolled her eyes as she brushed her long, dyed black hair behind her.

“Don’t even start with me today, brat. I will so fu-ow!” Lilah cried out as something hit her head.

“None of that language in this house, Missy,” their mother scolded her, holding the spatula she had grabbed from the dishwasher threateningly.

“Ah! Okay, okay, back crazy woman,” the girl said, covering her head with her arms for protection. Joshua snickered at the antics, earning him a glare from his sister.

“You might want to wash that again, Mom,” he suggested. “Who knows what chemicals from her head got on it.” Lilah growled at him and tried to resist the urge to throw her spoon at her brother.

“That’s enough out of you too, Joshua. Can’t you two sit through one meal together without going at each others throats?” their mother asked in exasperation.

“No,” the siblings replied in unison. Their mother sighed as she went back to putting away the dishes.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you two,” she muttered.

The three fell silent after that. Lilah ate her food while she read one of her many vampire novels. Their mother went about the house, seeing if there were any other chores she could get done quickly and Joshua was lost in his thoughts as he ate. *That last dream was pretty fun,* he thought. *Who knew riding on a flying sting ray could be that thrilling.*

For the past several weeks Joshua had been having very peculiar dreams. They were of some strange place that was like nothing he’d ever seen before. Bizarre creatures and people lived there, each weirder than the next. Even normal things like trees and inanimate objects seemed to have their own life and odd uses.

At first Joshua had thought that they were all random dreams, but they were all somehow connected. The most he could conclude was that they were all about the same world, even though he had no idea what that world was.

In his last dream Joshua had been in a vast desert. Sand as far as the eye could see. Someone else might have found that disconcerting, but luckily Joshua hadn’t been alone. The boy had sailed through the desert at a remarkable speed on the back of a massive, tan colored sting ray. It glided over the sand like it was water and the beast would occasionally become airborne and soar through the sky for several minutes before touching the sand again.

The ride was extremely exhilarating and Joshua enjoyed every second of it. The boy then remembered something else. He had to reach to grasp it, but he was sure he wasn’t the only one atop the sting ray.

Someone’s arms had been around Joshua’s waist, holding him so he wouldn’t fall off. The person had also been whispering in his ear. Telling him that the creature was called a sand ray and also the name of the desert, but Joshua couldn’t remember what it was. But the voice he definitely remembered. It had been low and soothing, like a warm breeze, and it sounded strong and masculine.

Joshua blushed as he thought about it, just the memory of the sound of the man’s voice – he assumed it was a man – sending a shiver up his spine. He quickly looked up to make sure Lilah was occupied with her book. He didn’t need her asking why he was suddenly blushing.

But as Joshua replayed his dream in his head it made him aware of just how tired he was. Joshua loved the new dreams he was experiencing, they took him away from his dull, mundane life, but they were exhausting. It was like he was actually doing them and not sleeping at all. He had started sleeping during school, at lunch, anywhere he could get just a few minutes of Z’s and it was really starting to wear on him.

The boy yawned as a familiar drowsiness overcame him. *Maybe I need to see a shrink or something. Things are definitely not right,* he thought, staring down at his bowl. It was now just mostly milk and Joshua watched a stray food piece leisurely spin around the liquid. His eyelids got heavier and heavier until they finally closed, encasing him in darkness.

“Joshua…Joshua! Get that sail up already!”

The boy bolted upright, looking around for the one who had called to him. He quickly realized he was no longer in his kitchen. Joshua was lying in a heap of ropes on the deck of a very large ship.

“Will you stop sleeping and help us?” a voice asked. Joshua looked up at a man that was standing over him, only it wasn’t an ordinary man. His skin was covered with light blue scales and fins were coming out where his ears should have been. But for some reason, Joshua didn’t find that weird at all.

“Oh, uh, sorry, sir!” Joshua apologized, scrambling to his feet. The scaled man just laughed, amusement apparent in his piercing yellow eyes.

“Just hurry up and go help the others. We have to take off soon,” he said and Joshua saluted him.

“Yes, sir!” he said before dashing over to a group of people that were pulling on some ropes to get the sail up. Joshua grabbed onto the end of one and began helping to heave the massive sail up into place. The boy was quick to notice that all of the other people around him didn’t look human either. Some had horns, others claws, odd ears, or no ears at all, or had different colored skin, but again he didn’t find that weird.

After a few good tugs the sail was in place and the people quickly rushed around making other preparations. Joshua wasn’t sure what to do so he helped anyone that needed it.

“Sir, we’re ready for take off!” a man shouted to the fish man that was obviously the captain of the ship.

“Good, good, let’s get her in the air!” the Captain called to his men and everyone cheered. Joshua jumped when he heard a loud creaking sound coming from either side of the ship. He quickly ran to one of the edges and his eyes widened as his mouth dropped open.

Protruding from the side was a large, feathered wing and Joshua watched as it slowly started to rise and fall. He looked over to the other side to see a similar wing doing the same.

“Come on! Put your backs into it!” a woman yelled into a hole near the back of the boat and Joshua looked over the edge when a strange blue light engulfed the bottom of the ship, illuminating the water.

The wings started moving faster and faster and Joshua saw that they were starting to head out into the ocean. The ship simply sailed in the water as the wings flapped. Joshua then cried out and held onto the side of the boat for dear life when it suddenly jolted.

The boy watched with wide eyes as the huge ship began to take off, slowly rising out of the water and into the air. All the crew members let out a cheer as the ship rose higher and higher, the wings beating furiously until the mast almost touched the clouds.

Joshua looked out, able to see for miles and miles. He could see where land met water and where the water met the horizon, almost becoming one. The wind played with his hair and danced across his skin.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” a voice asked behind him and two hands were placed on the edge of the ship on either side of the boy. Joshua immediately recognized the voice as the same one from the man on the sand ray.

“Yes, this is incredible,” he replied to the man, he wanted to look back to see what the stranger looked like, but for some reason he couldn’t.

“This world has a lot to offer, more than you could ever imagine,” the man whispered and Joshua could hear him perfectly, even over the wind.

“Yes, I want to explore every inch of this place. I want to know everything about it,” he told the other.

“And you will,” the man replied and Joshua saw the hands disappear only to feel them on his shoulders. “But not yet. You’re almost ready, but not quite yet.” Joshua furrowed his eyebrows at that.

“What do you-ah!” Joshua let out a cry as the hands on his shoulders suddenly shoved him, pushing him right over the edge of the ship. The boy screamed as he plummeted through the air, the water rising up to meet him. He heard the man’s voice in his head before he landed in the water.

“Soon you will be able to come to our world. Just be patient.”

Then he hit the water with a giant splash. Even though Joshua was submerged, he kept falling, sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean. *I can’t breathe! I’m going to drown. I don’t want to die…* were his last thoughts as the depths of the sea engulfed him.

“Joshua!”

The boy’s body was suddenly jerked back and he took a deep gulp of sweet air, coughing out the liquid that had tried to flood his lungs.

“Oh God, are you okay?” he heard his mother’s voice say and something soft was rubbed against his face. Being used to wipe off what he thought was the water. Joshua was finally able to open his eyes and looked up at his mother.

“Wha-what happened?” he asked, giving one last cough.

“You tried to drown yourself in your cereal bowl,” Lilah answered casually, not even looking up from her book. Joshua blinked at her then looked down at his bowl, realizing that he had been choking on milk, not water.

“Are you okay, Joshua? Why did you do that?” his mother asked as she wiped away the rest of milk from his face and neck with a dishtowel.

“I-I think I fell asleep,” he replied, pulling away from his mother’s hands. “I think I’m good, Mom,” he told her, dodging the towel. His mother sighed and put her hands on her hips.

“You’ve been doing that almost nonstop lately. I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve gotten from your school about you falling asleep in class. You need to stop going to bed so late,” she scolded.

“But I haven’t!” Joshua argued. “I’ve been going to sleep earlier than normal and I still fall asleep during the day.” His mom stared at him then suddenly put her hand to his forehead.

“Are you coming down with something? Maybe you’re sick,” she said and a snicker came from the other side of the table.

“I’ve been telling you that for years,” Lilah sneered and both Joshua and their mother glared at her.

“That’s not funny, Lilah. He could have seriously hurt himself,” their mother told her.

“Yeah, you jerk,” Joshua muttered and Lilah just shrugged.

“Not my fault if you decide to do a face plant in your bowl, Little brother,” she said then looked at her watch. “Are we going to go? Time’s ticking away,” Lilah pointed out. Their mother looked over to the clock on the oven and sighed.

“You’re right,” she agreed before looking down at Joshua who was trying to dig some milk out of his ear. “Are you going to be all right?” she asked, giving him silent permission to stay home if he wanted.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he replied, dislodging his finger from his ear canal with a pop. “We’re going to be choosing partners and subjects for a project in English and I don’t want to miss it,” Joshua told her before standing up.

“Okay, you two go out to the car while I gather some things,” their mother instructed before leaving the kitchen. Lilah sighed and closed her book with a snap.

“And off to another rousing day of school,” she grumbled as she stood up.

“Don’t complain. At least you get to go to college while I’m stuck at Drama High,” Joshua told her as he put his killer bowl in the sink. High school was way overrated and he couldn’t wait to graduate. Only he still had another year to go after his current one.

“True, true, I’m so glad I got out of that hellhole,” Lilah said as she followed his example and put her dish away.

The siblings walked out of the kitchen and went to the hallway to grab their backpacks.

“But what a way to start the morning. My dimwitted little brother tries to drown himself in a bowl of milk. I don’t think anything can top that,” she teased and Joshua glared at her.

“Ha ha very funny. Are you going to put it into one of your emo songs?” he asked and grinned when it was Lilah’s turn to glare.

“They are not emo songs,” she snapped. Joshua shrugged as he walked to the front door.

“Oh forgive me. I just thought emo people wrote emo songs,” he said innocently and bit back a snicker when he heard Lilah growl.

“I am not emo!” she yelled at him as she followed Joshua out the door.

“You could have fooled me with the makeup and the clothes or are you trying to go for gothic then?” he asked her. Lilah liked to dress in dark clothes and that day was no exception.

She was wearing a black sleeveless shirt that said ‘stop staring’ across the chest and fishnet stockings went up her arms. A spiked collar adorned her neck and her face was accented with dark purple lipstick and matching eye shadow. It was a strange contrast to her hazel eyes. Below she wore a red plaid skirt that touched her knees and brushed against her knee high boots that Joshua affectionately referred to as her hooker boots.

“I’m not emo or gothic! I don’t do labels,” Lilah told him through clenched teeth. Joshua shrugged as he walked across the pathway towards the driveway.

“Okay, fine, you’re just a freak then,” he said. The boy then heard an odd whistling noise before something hit the back of his head. Joshua fell to the ground from the blow and stars danced in front of his eyes.

“Lilah, don’t throw rocks at your brother,” he heard their mother chide followed by the front door closing.

“He started it,” Lilah defended herself.

“Ooooowwww,” Joshua groaned pathetically from the ground.

***************

“I still can’t believe you threw that at me! What were you trying to do, kill me!?” Joshua questioned from the back seat of the car, rubbing the spot where the rock had hit him.

“No, that would have been too much to hope for,” Lilah replied from the front seat.

“Why you-”

“Stop it, both of you,” their mother interrupted before Joshua could make a grab to pull his sisters hair. “Save it for when you both get home. That way I won’t have to be there to hear it or get blamed if you kill each other,” she told them.

“What do you mean, Mom?” Lilah asked.

“Yeah, aren’t you picking me up from school?” Joshua questioned and their mother looked surprised.

“I didn’t tell you?” she asked and the siblings shook their heads. “Oh, well I have to work late tonight so you’re both on your own,” she said and their jaws dropped.

“You’re telling us this now!?” Joshua exclaimed.

“Well, I meant to tell you sooner, but what with getting you two up, making your breakfasts, getting my stuff together, and your milk incident, it slipped my mind,” she answered.

“I hate it when you work late,” Lilah grumbled and their mother chuckled.

“How do you think I feel? But will you two be able to get home all right?” she asked.

“Yeah, I can hitch a ride with one of my friends after work,” Lilah said and Joshua nodded.

“I can get Ellie to give me a lift, but if not I can always walk, it’s not that far,” he said and their mother smiled.

“Good, that makes things easy. Oh and here we go for the first drop off,” she said and she pulled the car to a stop in front of Joshua’s school. “Have a good day, Joshua. Love you lots,” she told him as he opened the door.

“I’ll try. Love you too,” Joshua said as he got out. He lifted an eyebrow when Lilah rolled down the window.

“Make sure to stay away from any milk. You might get those suicidal urges again,” she sneered and Joshua scowled at her.

“I’ll make sure to save it to drown you in it,” he shot back. Their mother shook her head as the siblings stuck their tongues out at each other.

“There is no way I gave birth to these two,” she mumbled before pulling away and Joshua watched the car disappear into traffic.

“If I were to kill her no judge would convict me,” he muttered before walking towards the building, joining the sea of students.

Joshua walked through the halls of the school until he found his locker. After getting what he needed and putting it into his backpack he closed the locker door and zipped the bag up. Before he could lift it back up he heard the sound of running feet coming towards him.

“Oh Joooshuaaaa!!!” sang a female voice and his stomach dropped to the floor.

“Oh shit,” he muttered before turning around. Joshua hardly had time to focus on the blur coming towards him when it socked him right in the gut.

“Hiya!!!” the girl’s voice yelled and Joshua’s world spun around as his arm was grabbed and he was tossed over the person’s shoulder.

“Ow…today is so not…my day,” he wheezed from his position on the floor. Joshua heard many people snicker and giggle around him. If he hadn’t of been used to this sort of thing he would have been extremely embarrassed.

“Hey, Joshua.”

The boy looked up into sparkling green eyes that belonged to the grinning face of a girl. She was bending over him and still had hold of his arm.

“Hi, Ellie,” Joshua greeted weakly. The girl’s smile abruptly turned into a frown and she sighed as she pulled Joshua to his feet.

“I’m disappointed in you. You didn’t even try to dodge. I gave you a warning and everything!” Ellie huffed as she put Joshua’s arm around her neck, helping him stand until he got his wind back.

“Well, let’s put it this way. I know that you’re going to try and get me at some point during the day so I just like to get it out of the way first thing,” he told her with a half smile.

“Hmm I guess I see the logic in that, but that’s no fun for me,” she pouted. Joshua chuckled and shook his head.

“Sorry to ruin it for you,” he apologized sarcastically and tried to stand on his own. “Have you been working out? That seemed harder than usual,” he observed, holding his hand to his stomach that twitched painfully.

“Awe you noticed!” Ellie said happily, clapping her hand together. “That new wrestling arena my dad installed in our basement has been a big help,” she told Joshua, flexing her arms.

Ellie was the most interesting, and violent, person Joshua had ever met. They had been best friends since their freshman year when Ellie saved him from a group of senior bullies. Joshua had been a bit ashamed from having a girl save him, but he got over that soon enough. Not only was she a handy bodyguard but her hyperactive, out there personality never failed to make Joshua smile.

She even managed to do the impossible and be on friendly terms with Lilah. Joshua didn’t think it was possible for anyone to be friends with both of the siblings, but Ellie had pulled it off. Lilah was actually responsible for Ellie’s latest hairstyle.

Her natural hair color was dark brown, but Lilah had dyed the tips vibrant blue and put dark blue streaks in the rest of it. Bangs framed Ellie’s face while the rest of her hair brushed just below her shoulder blades. But no one could touch Ellie’s fashion sense…or lack there of.

The girl was wearing her favorite autographed Korn T-shirt she had gotten at a concert. Many plastic bracelets hung off her wrists and ones eye was directed right at her fingernails. Each was painted a different color that ranged from neon pink to deep red. Ellie wore a regular pair of blue jeans that she had covered in patches. Some were band names like Korn, obviously, while others were cartoon characters like Hello Kitty.

Then Ellie wouldn’t be Ellie without her steel toed boots. You could always hear her coming by the thunk of her boots and not only did she wear them for looks, but she knew how to use them. Joshua had lost track of how many times Ellie had introduced her boots to a guy’s crotch.

Joshua once asked Ellie why she acted the way she did and that’s when she introduced him to her family. The girl was the youngest in the house with five older brothers who were all obsessed with wrestling. It all became clear to Joshua the moment her brothers decided to include him in a family dog pile. Ellie needed to be the way she was just to survive! But no matter how many times Ellie used Joshua as a practicing dummy for a new move she saw on TV; he wouldn’t trade her friendship for the world.

“So anything exciting happen to my little Josh-Josh this morning?” Ellie asked Joshua cutely. She tossed the boy his bag that happened to hit right where his friend had delivered her punch. Joshua gave himself a moment to whimper before pulling himself together.

“Erk, um, nothing too exciting,” he told her as they began to make their way through the hallway. “Unless you count Lilah throwing a rock at my head and almost drowning in my cereal.” Ellie stopped at those last words and Joshua turned to look back at her.

“I’m sorry, what was that part at the end?” she asked.

“I, uh, almost drowned in my cereal this morning,” he murmured, looking around to see if anyone was listening in. Ellie continued to stare at him before breaking up into hysteric laughter. Joshua felt his face heat up and he crossed his arms as he waited for her to calm down. Many people that walked by stared at Ellie oddly as she bent over in laughter.

“Okay, ha ha, I get it, it’s funny, now knock it off!” Joshua yelled at her and Ellie finally tried to stop.

“I-I’m sorry, but that, heh, that has to be the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” she snickered.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t be saying that if I had actually died,” Joshua said, glowering at her.

“Oh, but think about if you had!” Ellie put her arm around his shoulders and grinned at him. “Could you imagine what the doctors’ would say?” She then changed her voice to imitate what a couple of doctors might sound like “‘How did the boy die?’ ‘Apparently he drowned in his cereal’ ‘…so Natural Selection really does work.’”

Joshua rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help smiling a little.

“Guess that really would give them something to talk about,” he muttered and Ellie chuckled.

“You bet, so what happened?” Ellie asked as they continued on their way. “Did Lilah try to off you again?”

“No, even she wouldn’t sink that low. Her plans are much bigger than that,” Joshua told her and Ellie nodded.

“Yeah, that does sound too simple for her to try,” she agreed. “So what happened?” she asked again, bouncing up and down excitedly.

“I just fell asleep, nothing too special,” he replied with a shrug.

“You fell asleep? Again? Man you really are out of it,” Ellie said and Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean ‘out of it’?” he asked.

“Do you even have to ask?” she questioned. “You’ve been sleeping all over the place and it doesn’t seem to be doing anything for you because you look like hell-”

“Thanks,” Joshua muttered sarcastically.

“-and even when you’re awake you seem to be in your own world! What’s going on with you?” she asked.

“I’ve already told you, it’s these crazy dreams I’ve been having. Ever since they started its like I don’t actually go to sleep, but go to where I’m dreaming. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s really starting to irk me,” he explained and Ellie sighed in thought.

“Hmm, well I’m sure there’s something that can be done. Have you thought about going to go get your head looked at?” she asked and Joshua nodded.

“Yeah, this morning actually. I’ll talk to my mom about it later,” he said and Ellie clapped her hands.

“Oooh goodie! Now I can say I have a crazy friend!” she squealed in delight, making Joshua laugh.

“Yes, because I have so much fun telling people about mine,” he teased.

“Meanie!” Ellie shouted and punched Joshua’s arm.

“Ow!”

***************

Joshua sat in his math class, tapping his pencil against his paper as his teacher yapped about some equation he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. The boy let out a big yawn then slapped his cheek lightly with his hand. *No, I can’t fall asleep. I just know I’ll do something embarrassing if I dream,* he thought.

Lunch was after Math and Joshua was itching to get out and feed his growling stomach. He sighed as the teacher’s voice became an annoying buzzing sound and he looked down at his watch to check the time.

“What?” Joshua whispered, his pencil falling from his fingers. The numbers he was looking at told him it was 7:38 am. *That’s not possible.* He looked up at the clock on the classroom wall and it read 12:23 pm. *Why does this stupid thing keep stopping?* Joshua wondered as he reset it. *This is really starting to piss me off.*

“Joshua…”

Joshua straightened up and looked around. He could have sworn he heard someone call his name. When he tried to brush it off he heard it again.

“Joshua…”

He looked over at Ellie, who was sitting next to him, but saw she was engrossed in doodling on her paper. That ruled her out.

“Joshua…”

Now Joshua was starting to freak out. A voice was calling out his name and no one else seemed to hear it. The teacher kept on lecturing and the other students were either asleep or looked bored out of their minds.

“Joshua…”

The voice sounded familiar for some reason. It reminded him of a warm breeze. Joshua’s eyes widened and his heart almost stopped cold. *That voice belongs to the man from my dreams!* he realized.

“Joshua…”

The boy’s body had completely frozen; he didn’t know what to do. *They were only dreams. Dreams! The man can’t be real…and besides he pushed me off a freaking flying ship! What the hell is he expecting after that?* Suddenly Joshua saw something out of the corner of his eye. He gulped before slowly turning his head and looking out the window. A look of complete shock crossed his face at what he saw.

Sitting outside, in a tree near the window was a man. He was sitting perfectly still and his eyes were covered by a blindfold, but Joshua somehow knew the man was looking directly at him. The man’s hair was a creamy white color and most of it stopped around his chin, but two long locks went down to his chest and were tied at the ends.

His clothes were of various tans and whites. A long shirt went down to his knees and a cloth was tied around his waist, keeping the shirt closed. Tan pants clad his legs until they stopped where some bandages were tied from his calves down. Then brown leather boots were on his feet with odd designs on them.

Joshua stared at the man with an open mouth, not believing what he was seeing. The man gave a soft smile and waved at him. The boy heard an odd jingling sound resonate through the room, but still no one else seemed to hear it. Joshua looked at the hand the odd stranger had waved with and saw that he was wearing a wristband. Dangling from it were two golden bells that jingled each time the hand moved.

Joshua shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his hands. *I’m not seeing this, I’m not seeing this,* he chanted over and over. The boy then slowly reopened his eyes and he was surprised, and relieved, to see that the man was gone. The tree stood just as it had, like the man had never been perched in its branches. *Ooooookay, I think I’m definitely cracking up. I’m starting to see things and that is never ever good,* he thought.

Suddenly something struck his head and he winced, more from surprise than anything else. He looked down at a crumbled piece of paper that had bounced off his head and onto his desk. He looked over in the direction it came from to see Ellie was staring at him. Joshua picked up the paper wad and carefully opened it. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” it read. Joshua picked up his pencil and wrote below her message. “Nothing. Just spacing out.”

He crumbled the paper again and tossed it back to her. After Ellie undid it and read the note she gave Joshua a concerned look and he reassured her with a thumbs up. Once she turned away the boy sighed and looked back out the window, making sure the tree was still empty. *Nothing’s wrong. I’m just starting to hallucinate, seeing weird men in trees. Yeah, that sounds noncrazy,* he thought. *Not to mention that guy was kind of…hot.* Joshua’s face immediately flared up and he buried his head in his arms. *Yep, I’m definitely going crazy.*

***************

“What the hell are they trying to feed us at this school?” Joshua asked as he and Ellie walked out onto the school lawn. “I mean, I know sloppy joes are supposed to be…sloppy, but this is ridiculous,” he said, poking at the bun that seemed to have absorbed all of the sauce. Joshua gagged when meat sauce oozed out of the place he touched.

“I hear the school made a deal w sighed and looked back out the window, making sure the tree was still empty. *Nothing’s wrong. I’m just starting to hallucinate, seeing weird men in trees. Yeah, that sounds noncrazy,* he thought. *Not to mention that guy was kind of…good looking.* Joshua’s face immediately flared up and he buried his head in his arms. *Yep, I’m definitely going crazy.*

***************

“What the hell are they trying to feed us at this school?” Joshua asked as he and Ellie walked out onto the school lawn. “I mean, I know sloppy joes are supposed to be…sloppy, but this is ridiculous,” he said, poking at the bun that seemed to have absorbed all of the sauce. Joshua gagged when meat sauce oozed out of the place he touched.

“I hear the school made a deal with the government and their testing to see how strong our stomae chips.

“Well, our teacher said it had to be on some sort of tragedy. Whether it be a famous one or nonfamous, like murder, suicide, car crash blah blah blah. So, with something like that how could I not get into it?” Ellie asked.

“I guess I see your point,” Joshua agreed, nibbling on a chip. “So what did you pick?” he then asked. Ellie grinned at his question and clapped her hands together.

“Glad you asked. I found an article on a really cool plane crash-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold it right there,” Joshua interrupted her. “If you chose something on 9/11 count me out. I’ve already done enough essay’s on ‘how it made me feel’ to make me puke,” he told her and Ellie shook her head.

“No, no, no, it has nothing to do with that,” she assured him. “Plus I already know about half the class is thinking about doing something on 9/11. The plane crash I’m talking about happened over twenty years ago,” Ellie told him.

“Oh, okay. So what’s so special about it to make you so giddy?” Joshua inquired and Ellie grinned widely.

“Because it’s also a mystery! You see when it went down…it’ll be easier if I show you,” she then decided, getting up. “The stuff is in my locker so I’ll go grab it,” Ellie said before running off. Joshua watched her go and scratched his cheek.

“This is a day to remember. Ellie getting excited over a school project. Never thought I’d see that one.” The boy’s eyes then glanced down and he smirked.

“And while she’s gone I’ll just help myself to some cookie dough.” Joshua reached for the package when something suddenly grabbed his shirt and yanked him right off the table. The boy yelped as he was pushed then slammed into the nearby tree.

“Who…?” Joshua opened his eyes to look at his attacker. “Oh fuck,” he sighed in exasperation.

“Hey there, Joshy boy,” sneered a mountain of a man. He was twice the size of Joshua and had him easily overpowered.

“That’s Joshua to you, Danny. What do you want now?” Joshua asked in annoyance.

Danny was the quarterback for the school football team and seemed to have an extreme hatred for Joshua for some reason, picking on him whenever he could. Joshua had always thought that the jock terrorizing the lesser kid was just an old movie cliché. That was until he got to high school and came face to face with it.

“You still have that smart mouth even when your little girlfriend isn’t around, huh?” Danny asked. “What a wuss, hiding behind a girl,” the jock taunted and Joshua rolled his eyes.

“And you just happen to wait around until she’s gone to attack me. What does that say about you?” he sneered. “Scared of a girl, huh?” Danny’s upper lip curled into a snarl and he brought his fist up.

“You’re dead now, punk!” he yelled and Joshua closed his eyes as the fist came at his face.

“Dun da dun da da daaaa! Charge!!!” a voice cried out.

“Ack!” Danny cried out as Ellie came up behind him and smashed Joshua’s meat sauce covered tray over his head. The boy was let go as Danny tried to defend himself and Joshua fell to his rump. He watched as his friend tripped the jock and began pummeling him with the tray over and over, sauce flying everywhere.

“Thought you could pull one over on me, huh? Thought my Josh-Josh senses wouldn’t tingle, huh? Newsflash, buddy, my locker is right next to the glass door!” Ellie yelled at him, not letting up in her assault.

“I’m sorry! Ow! Please stop! Ah!” Danny cried out pathetically, curling into a fetal position.

“Whoo get him, Ellie! Show him whose boss!” Joshua cheered from the ground.

“Yay smash him!”

“Bash him good!”

Joshua looked around in confusion as he heard two little squeaky voices cheer along with him. The boy looked down at his side and jumped, pressing himself against the tree. A few feet away from him were what looked like two little purple fuzz balls with stubby arms and legs. Mouse like ears came from their heads and long whiskers sprouted from their snouts.

“Go for the dousoiex!” one of them yelled, waving a little fist in the air.

“I don’t think they have dousoix’s,” the other told the first.

“Oh…then go for the groin!” it shouted instead.

“Yeah the groin!!!” the other agreed.

Joshua stared at the little creatures, not knowing what to make of them. *Oh God I am crazy! First that weird guy and now this! What the hell is going on!?* he thought frantically. He was then brought back to his friend when he heard a loud, squeaky wail. Apparently Ellie had taken the creatures advice as her steel toed boot was lodged between Danny’s legs.

Joshua winced, but that was about the only sympathy he had for the jock. Ellie removed her boot then gently helped Danny up.

“There you go, hopefully you learned your lesson,” Ellie said to him sweetly, having to hold the jock up, who now had tears running down his face.

“Uh huh,” Danny whimpered, his voice a couple octaves higher.

“So are you going to leave my little Josh-Josh alone now?” she asked in the same voice and Danny nodded. “Good boy, I’ll bring you a doggy treat tomorrow. Now shoo,” Ellie told him, pushing him away. Danny fell to the ground then began to crawl away towards a group of jocks that had been watching them from afar.

“He should be happy I went easy on him,” Ellie murmured before turning to Joshua. “You okay, Josh-Josh?” she asked as she helped him to his feet.

“Uh, yeah, thanks, Ellie, you sure showed him,” Joshua told her. He then peered around her to look at the little creatures, but they were gone. *What? Where’d they go?*

“What’s wrong?” Ellie asked as she turned to look at where he was staring.

“Uh, Ellie, this might sound weird, but have you ever seen purple creatures running around before?” Joshua asked her. Ellie stared at him strangely then gasped.

“Yeah, I have!” she exclaimed and Joshua’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Uh huh, I saw one at the mall. It was terrorizing some poor little kids,” Ellie explained and Joshua’s face fell.

“Ellie, that was the time you beat up the guy in the Barney suit and got banished from the mall for a month,” he told her and she crossed her arms.

“That stupid dinosaur is contaminating the minds of our youth. I’ll get you next time you purple dinosaur of doom!!!” Ellie yelled up towards the sky. She then looked back down at Joshua quizzically.

“Why do you ask?” she inquired. Joshua shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Never mind, the sun must be playing tricks on my eyes,” he said.

“But we’re in the shade,” Ellie pointed out.

“Whatever! So did you get your stuff?” Joshua asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yep, but I had to ditch it when I came to your rescue,” she told him, pointing to her folder that was lying in the grass. “I’ll go get it and we’ll talk about you seeing purple creatures later,” Ellie said before running off and Joshua groaned.

“Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have said anything,” he grumbled as he went to the table and sat back in his place. He scanned the area around the tree again, but couldn’t see the little creatures. *What the heck were those things? I know I saw them and I even heard them. What the hell is going on with me? Is it possible to hallucinate from just the feeling of lack of sleep?* Joshua wondered. He looked up when he heard Ellie bounding back.

“Okay, here it is!” she announced. Ellie moved their food out of the way so she could sit on the table too.

“Oh, hey, Ellie, you got some of that gross sauce stuff on you,” Joshua suddenly pointed out, seeing spots of it on her clothes and some on her face.

“Huh I guess that tray had more on it than I thought,” she said, wiping off the sauce from her cheek then looking at it on her finger.

“Ellie, please don't-Oh God!” Joshua cried out as Ellie ate it.

“Hmm not that bad,” she mused. “I’ll just clean the rest off later. So this is what I found on the plane crash I told you about.” Ellie opened her folder and pulled out a piece of paper.

Joshua took it and saw that it was a copy of a newspaper article. A big picture of a crashed plane was on the side and the headline read ‘DEVISTATING UNEXPLAINED CRASH’. The boy then began to read it out loud.

“Flight 293 went down on June third. The flight was traveling from New York to San Francisco when it crashed near Salt Lake City. The cause of the crash is unknown and specialists are trying to find an explanation. According to the workers at the airline the plane was in perfect condition and there was no reason for it to go down. Two hundred people were said to be on the plane, including passengers, pilots and attendants. There were one hundred and twenty five unharmed, thirty-seven injured, and thirty-three announced dead. Five of the passengers were unaccounted for and presumed missing. The families of the survivors were very relieved and…” Joshua trailed off and scanned the rest of the article. It mostly talked about the survivors and the grieving families of those that had died.

“Huh, I guess that is pretty interesting,” Joshua told his friend. “But what’s the big mystery you were talking about? That they don’t know how it went down?” he asked, looking up at Ellie.

“Nope, not that,” she said, looking through her folder. “I dug into it a little more and found something weird. You see what it says about those last five people?” she questioned.

“The ones that were presumed missing?”

“Yeah, well apparently they really did go missing.” Ellie pulled out another piece of paper and handed it to Joshua. “There was no trace of those people to be found anywhere,” she told him.

Joshua looked down at the paper to see it had the pictures of the five people along with their names and ages. Joshua scanned them, reading aloud.

“Janice Boular, age forty-nine. Harold Deron, age thirty-six. George Boswell, age forty-two. Ann Platt, age nineteen and Dalton Amos, age twenty-four.” Joshua’s eyes lingered on the last one.

The man had short dirty blonde hair, pale green eyes and was dressed in a black business suit. For some reason Joshua had the feeling he’d seen the man before, though that wasn’t possible since the crash happened before he was born.

A vague memory tried to rise up in Joshua’s mind, something that happened a long time ago, possibly when he was a little kid. Images of a forest and a river flashed across his eyes. Someone had been there, a smiling face, but before he could recall anything else the memory slipped from his grasp. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t call it back and wondered what it had meant.

Joshua cleared his throat and looked up at Ellie, who was waiting for his reaction.

“So, what’s the big deal? Maybe they got propelled out of the plane when it crashed,” he suggested as he handed the papers back.

“Nope, they ruled that out,” Ellie told him as she put the papers away. “They had the police and volunteers search that area over and over and they couldn’t find anything. No bodies, no possessions that belonged to them, nothing!” she exclaimed. “And there was also something else.” Ellie flipped through papers again and pulled one out and looked it over before speaking.

“There was a survivor, a woman, who was sitting next to one of the missing people. I think it was the Harold guy. They interviewed her about what happened and she said she sat next to him and they talked every once in awhile during the trip. When the plane suddenly went down she said she remembered glancing over and the guy was gone! Just completely vanished! So if she’s right, the people went missing before the plane even crashed!” Ellie explained. Joshua furrowed his eyebrows and took the paper to read over the statement.

“Maybe he got up to go to the bathroom before the plane nosedived,” he said, trying to see all the options and Ellie shook her head.

“No, the woman was in the aisle seat and said that the guy never got up,” she told him.

“Man, that is weird. Well, I guess when you actually get into an assignment you find really cool things,” he praised her and Ellie giggled.

“Thanks, so does that mean you want to do the assignment on this?” she asked and Joshua nodded.

“Sure, sounds better than anything I could find.”

Both of them looked up as a loud bell rang throughout the school, signaling lunch was over.

“Damn it! We hardly got to eat!” Joshua cried out, looking at their unopened food and his partly eaten half of the sandwich.

“Eh don’t sweat it, Mrs. Gallagher usually let’s us eat in class anyways,” Ellie reassured him. The two got their things together and Ellie made Joshua carry their trays as she took the rest of the food.

“Hey, you know what? Danny called you my little girlfriend before he tried to pummel my face in,” Joshua suddenly brought up as they began making their way inside. Ellie looked over at him with an odd expression.

“What? Me and you, together?” The two stared at each other before laughing. “That’s a good one!” Ellie snickered and Joshua nodded.

“I know, no offense, but I don’t see you as a girlfriend type for me,” he told her.

“None taken. I need someone with a little more meat on their bones and can give me a challenge,” Ellie said, jabbing Joshua in the side, making him flinch.

“And I need someone who doesn’t use me as a punching bag!”

****************

The last bell of the day rang and the front doors to the school opened. A flood of students poured out, all cheering and talking loudly.

“Why do the last two classes always seem the longest?” Joshua asked as he walked to the sidewalk in front of the school.

“I dunno, another government conspiracy I bet,” Ellie told him. “Come on, at least trot!” she then whined, shaking Joshua’s shoulders the best she could from her place on his back.

“I am not going to trot! I said I’d carry you to the sidewalk and here we are. Now hop off,” he demanded and Ellie pouted.

“All right, fine,” she sulked as she slid off.

“So I guess I’ll be hearing from you tonight,” Joshua said as he put his backpack back in place.

“Yeah, sorry I can’t give you a ride home today. You’re welcome to come to the gym with me and my brothers if you want,” Ellie offered and Joshua quickly shook his head.

“No thanks. Last time I went with you Ricky made me lift so many weights I couldn’t move my arms for a week!” he said, shuddering at the memory.

“Oh yeah, that was a great day,” Ellie said in a dreamy voice.

“For you maybe,” Joshua growled.

“So are you sure you want to walk home?” Ellie then asked him and Joshua nodded.

“Yeah, it’s not that far, plus I need to get some exercise in. Some that won’t kill me,” he added, seeing Ellie open her mouth.

“All right, I’ll call you when I get home,” she said before pouncing on Joshua. “Kissy attack!” she yelled before blowing a raspberry on the boy’s cheek.

“Agh! No! No kissy attack!” Joshua cried out as he pushed her away and wiped his cheek. “Ewww now I’m covered in spit!” he exclaimed and wiped said substance on his pants. Ellie giggled before waving.

“Bye, Josh-Josh!” she said in farewell and Joshua lifted his hand in a slight wave.

“Yeah, see you later,” he said as he turned to walk away. *Ugh I hate it when she does that,* he thought, wiping his cheek again. *Oddly enough I like her punching me rather than slobbering on me.*

Joshua waited at the crosswalk with a group of other kids and began to cross when the light turned green. *I’ll try to get a nap in before I do anything else,* he thought, planning out the rest of his afternoon.

“Joshua…”

The boy froze as he heard the voice from before. He looked up from the ground and his eyes widened. The man from the tree was standing on the other side of the street, facing him. Joshua could feel the man’s eyes on him again and he began to tremble. Many people walked around the strange man, but none of them seemed to know he was there.

“You! What do you want from me!?” Joshua demanded, wanting all of these crazy things to stop. “Just leave me alone!” Joshua watched as the man slowly lifted his hand, the bells attached to his wrist swayed slightly.

“The time has come, Joshua. You’re ready,” the man told him.

“Ready? Ready for what!?” Joshua shouted, a pang of fear suddenly running through him.

The man didn’t reply as he jerked his hand up. The bells bounced into the air and Joshua heard them chime.

“Joshua! Look out!!!” he heard Ellie scream. The blaring of a horn followed and Joshua turned just in time to see a truck heading right at him. *Oh God…*

Time seemed to slow as Joshua watched things unfold. Screeching from the trucks tires echoed in his ears. The only thing louder was Ellie’s screams as she ran along the sidewalk towards him. Joshua couldn’t move, all feeling in his body leaving him. He looked over at the strange man who smiled softly at him.

“You’re ready.” Joshua heard in his head before he closed his eyes tightly.

There were many screams as the truck slammed into Joshua. The boy went flying through the air, his mouth open in a silent scream. *I can’t believe I’m going to die!* was a fleeting thought that passed through his mind.

“You aren’t going to die, Joshua.” He heard the man’s voice say in his head. “You are finally going to start living.”

Joshua suddenly felt like he was falling, but he didn’t land on the road. He began to plummet through the air, like in his dream, but he couldn’t get himself to open his eyes to see what was happening. A wave of drowsiness suddenly overcame Joshua and he felt his consciousness slipping away. *I don’t know who you are…but the next time…I see you…I’m going to kick your…ass,* was the last thing he managed to think before he passed out. Pleasant laughter resonated through the darkness at those thoughts.

“We’ll see if you still feel that way when you wake up,” the voice said, before it left the boy to his first peaceful sleep in a long time. Though whether it’d be a good thing or a bad thing when he did awaken remained to be seen.

=======================Ch.1 End

Hehe I’m not sure why this wanted to be so long. Maybe it was making up for the other chapter. Either way I hope you all enjoyed it. Man character after character kept beating on my head to get into this first chapter. Just one thing after another kept popping up that I had had no intention of writing before. Stupid pushy ideas -.- But I’m glad Ellie decided to power drive me for her creation, she’s fantastic! I was actually listening to ‘Twisted Transistor’ by Korn when she said ‘Make me! Hiya!’ I think my head is still throbbing from it, but that’s probably why she’s so crazy. Oh and the Dumbledore lives thing is an inside joke with my friends. Well not really a joke, but two of them keep arguing about it so I thought it’d be funny. Well, I probably have a lot more to say about this chapter, but you’re probably tired of reading by now so I shall let you go. Please review and tell me what you think and if there’s anything I can improve on!