Episode 56: Partial Quotes and Profound Slumbers
- Crystal Crawford
- May 6
- 5 min read
Updated: May 7
Mom pulled back. “What?”
“I saw her. In my mind, I mean. She was on the beach—”
“Just now?” Dad rushed up to us. “What did she say to you?”
Chloe, Lockley, and Collin all stepped close, too, trying to hear over the beeping.
I looked at Dad. “She said, ‘Break the gossamer web.’”
They all stared at me.
“What does that mean?” Trenchcoat Man asked.
“I—I’m pretty sure it’s a quote from ‘The Pit and the Pendulum,’ but it’s not even a full phrase. The full line is, ‘Arousing from the most profound of slumbers, we break the gossamer web of some dream.’” My mind was racing, but all I could think about was the hopeless expression I’d seen on my sister’s face.
“Did she say anything else?” my mom asked.
“She said she was lost.” My voice caught as I remembered the way her sob sounded, the hopeless expression on her face. “She seemed to see me, but she just quoted Poe again. That one was ‘A Dream within a Dream,’ the poem she quoted from in her notebook, but this time it was different parts of the poem.”
“Which parts?” Collin asked, stepping nearer. “Maybe I can help you figure—”
The orb’s frantic pulse turned into one long, continuous beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, its pulsing light now a strengthening surge.
Trenchcoat Man turned to my parents and me. “I’m so, so sorry—but we don’t have time to figure anything else out. We have to get everyone out of here. This orb—”
“I’m not leaving Emery,” my dad said. He turned to my mom. “You and Aubrey go with—”
“No, Richard,” my mom said, her voice trembling. “I want to stay. I can’t give up on her now.”
“I’m stay—” I started to say, I’m staying, too, but Trenchcoat Man interrupted me on the second word.
“Let me travel everyone else to safety, then. I”ll be right back.” He turned to the cheer hawks, gesturing frantically. “Gather in!”
“We might still be able to help!” Tory yelled over the noise.
“I’m responsible for your safety,” Trenchcoat Man yelled back.
If that was true, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
The cheer hawks didn’t move.
Trenchcoat Man groaned, then turned to Chloe, Lockley, and Collin. “Come on. I’ll—”
“No,” Lockley yelled. “I’m not leaving my best friend!”
Trenchcoat Man looked at Collin, but Collin just shook his head.
“Me either,” Chloe said. She grabbed my hand.
Tears sprung up behind my eyes as I squeezed her hand back. She was the best kind of friend, truly.
They all were.
But no way was I letting everyone I cared about all get blown up by this orb.
“Go!” I shouted to her, then turned to Lockley, Collin, and my parents. “Please, all of you go. Emery’s trying to say something to me, and I’ll stay. But the rest of you—”
“Not a chance,” my dad said. “Together, remember?”
I turned to argue further—
The puzzle snapped into place in my mind.
“Break the gossamer web,” I said, staring at my parents. “We have to wake her up!”
“How?” Dad said over the shrieking orb. “We can’t get through the force field!”
I glanced around the room desperately, then suddenly realized the answer had been right here the whole time.
“Put me to sleep!” I yelled, then spun to Trenchcoat Man. “Please! You’ve got to have some gadget or hourglass or—I just need to sleep. I need to talk to her!”
“They were all asleep,” Trenchcoat Man said, his eyes going unfocused as he connected the dots. “Everyone connected to the orb. That’s how they were able to interact with her. Her dream-state must be tied to this orb—” He looked up, his eyes widening. “It might even be powering it. It wasn’t until we woke the elementals up that the orb cracked, but she…” He looked at me with an urgent expression. “She tried to free them, but she was lost. She brought them in—but none of them have the gift of dreamwalking. They can’t control what happens in their dreams, much less someone else’s.”
“Which means none of them could help her find the way out,” Collin said, eyes wide.
“Aubrey, you’ve got to go in there!”
“I know!” I shouted, losing my patience. I turned to Trenchcoat Man. “Hook me to one of the tubes or something, anything,” I pleaded. “Just get me to sleep. I need to get her out!”
“I have a gadget—” Dad dug a flat disk out of his briefcase in record time, then stood and grabbed my hand with his free one. “Can you do this safely? I can’t bear to lose you, too.”
“I don’t know, but I have to try,” I said.
He looked at Trenchcoat Man. “What if Aubrey gets stuck in there, too?”
“We’re not sending her body in, just her mind,” he answered. “We can wake her back up if we have to.”
“If that orb blows—-” Mom started, but I interrupted.
“Then Emery goes with it,” I said, staring at her. “You have to let me do this.”
She pressed her lips together, then nodded.
“Don’t wake me until I come back with Emery,” I said, looking at my dad. “Promise me.”
He stared right into my eyes. “Are you sure you can find your way back out?”
“I’ll do my best.” It was all I had.
He drew a heavy breath, then nodded. “Then we’ll be right here with you while you do.”
“We’ll all be here, Aubs, okay?” Lockley yelled over the beeping. She looked worried.
Collin met my eyes. “You’ve got this.”
“If the orb gets worse once I get in there,” I said, looking around at my friends and family. “If you need to run…”
“We’ll figure that out if it happens. We trust you, Aubrey,” Tory called out. “You can do this.”
The other two cheer hawks nodded in agreement.
I stared at them—I hadn’t expected that at all.
Chloe stepped closer and squeezed my hand. “We’re here.”
I looked around at my parents, my friends—I hadn’t known it was possible to feel so terrified and so lucky, all at the same time.
“Thank you,” I said to all of them, though my voice caught and it was barely audible. I turned back to my dad. “I need to go now. Knock me out.”
Dad pulled me into a hug. “This won’t hurt, but it’ll work fast.” He raised the flat disc near my face.
“Catch me,” I said, realizing I was about to go out cold standing up.
“Always,” he whispered, then pressed the cold disk to my cheek.
Utter silence and darkness swallowed me for one brief moment—then the crash of waves floated into my ears.
***
Want to reread a previous episode? Click here to be taken to the main Season 1 menu, where you can see all available episodes!
***
Comments