“Hey Mena, what are you reading there?”

Mena turned the first page of the freshly published 14th book of Love In The Days of Magic. The male figure on the cover resembled none that came before it. He was dark, tan and handsome as usual, but he had a shadowy mane that reached all around his head, a triangular nose, and an aggressive snarl from his pointed teeth. He was muscular and cut, with a large amount of hair on his arms and chest. In bold, green lettering, the subtitle below him read, “Animalistic Desire.”

Mena looked up to see Ashlan sitting across from the cloud table in the dining hall. The Tessellation Twins accompanied her. There was a look of curiosity in her eyes, and Mena detected a sense of interest too. “Oh, just the latest Penwell romance novel and…”

Ashlan’s face turned bright pink. “I can see that Mena…but who’s on the cover?”

“Oh,” Mena said casually. “He’s the latest addition to the Penwell universe, Patch Roarington. He’s an absolute beast!”

Mena resumed reading, but there was a sly smirk on her face. She saw Ashlan’s mouth was watering.

“Mena?”

“Mmm?” Mena pressed her finger to her chin with a look of self-satisfaction.

“Can I….see that book?”

“But I thought you didn’t like those kinds of books?” Mena said, playing dumb. “You said they were stupid junk.”

Ashlan pushed two of her paw-like fingers together. “Yeah…but there’s a…”

Mena raised an eyebrow and lowered another. “A handsome beast on the cover.”

“Yesss,” Ashlan said, nodding frantically like her neckbones were detached.

Mena’s words were teasing, and she played coy. “I guess I can let you borrow it.”

Ashlan tore the book out of Mena’s hand and frantically paged through it. The Tessellation Twins, crossed their arms, but the looks on their face showed a similar piqued interest. “Uh…peasant girl?” Laetitia asked, her normally brash accent quite timid and restrained.

“The name’s Mena,” Mena said sternly with her triangular eyebrows lowered and her face displaying a cool demeanor.

“Uh sorry, Mena, I mean,” Laetitia said. “What about us?!”

Almost out of nowhere, Mena pulled out two earlier volumes of Love in The Days of Magic. Both displayed a beautiful, androgynous elven man with white-blond hair flowing out of his head like silk. He was tattooed and the ink twirled around his toned biceps and abdominal muscles like a charmed snake. It was Oleander Blossom, Fabias’ elven rival in love.

“Merci,” Marie gasped, turning pale and holding her chest.

“How could we be more wrong about these books?!” Laetitia said, stifling a grasp for the books Mena held away from them.

“What do you say?” Mena said.

Both elven girl’s voice raised in a high-pitched voice whine. They bowed their heads submissively. “We’re sorry, Mena!”

“That’s better,” Mena said, and she handed them their copies. As Ashlan and the Tessellation sisters paged through their books, savoring every word, Mena put her hands behind her head and grinned. “I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship…or possibly a book club!”

A loud bell reverberated through the dining hall and Ashlan raised her head. “Looks like it’s first period. Want me to walk you to your class, Rainy?”

“Of course, Sunny,” Mena replied.

“Oui, but weren’t you going to walk with us?” Laetitia said.

“Sorry,” Ashlan replied. “Mena and I have a lot to talk about concerning a certain work of fiction.”

Mena’s heart was overwhelmed with such happiness that when her vision suddenly changed, she was skipping and Ashlan had to power-walk to catch up with her. The hallway was twisted, full of colorful paintings of abstract art that resembled bits of rainbow glass floating in the sky. Mena had no idea if this was a dream or reality, but in her heart, it felt so real.

Only when they reached the end of the corridor did Mena come down from her emotional high. An enormous golden door stood in an archway. Mena was dazzled but confused at the same time. “What is this door?” she asked Aslan.

“I know this castle backwards and forwards,” the lioness said, “but I’ve never seen this room before.”

An echoing voice reverberated, sounding quite like Gemini, but somewhat more professional. “Welcome to the Magnificently Gilded Door of Dreams Come True.”

“The who-dada-what now?” Mena said, her eyes widening.

“This may only be a dream, but when you enter this door, this dream will be truly realized…”

“Ooh,” Mena said, her head in her hands. “But this door has no knob, how do I get in?”

“Well…” the voice said. “As with most heroes, you need a heart and mind that is pure and true, and kid… that’s what you have!”

“Wow…I never knew I had a heart like that,” Mena said, “So how can I get in?”

“Just chant the magic words…Open Poppy Seed!”

Mena clutched Ashlan’s hand and together they said, “Open Poppy Seed.”

Slowly, the golden door creaked open enveloping everything in a shining white light. Mena’s heart thundered rapidly in her chest. This was it. From now on she’d have an everlasting friendship (and book club) with her new friends, one free of bullying and judgement. This was the moment she’d been waiting for since she first heard of the Dream Castle.

But before Mena could see inside, Ashlan’s voice echoed across the vast realm of her mind. “Mena, we gotta wash up and get down to the dining hall. We overslept!”

As if she was falling, Mena’s body spiraled back down into her bed, and when she opened her slightly bloodshot eyes, she howled. “Miserable Magicaps! Why must this keep happening to me!”

“Mena?” Ashlan asked, her pupils shrinking from shock. “What’s wrong?”

Mena groaned and threw her head back. “I had the most wonderful dream and…”—Mena stopped short of telling Ashlan that she and the Tessellation Twins were turned onto the romance novels they despised.

“And?” Ashlan asked, her bushy eyebrows raised.

Mena let out an exclamation. “It felt so real!”

“Well,” Ashlan said, rolling her eyes with a friendly smile. “That’s what the headmaster said would happen when you sleep.”

“But…” Mena said, holding her hands out. “There was also a door that could make it all real!”

“Uh what?” Ashlan said, blinking in disbelief.

Mena held her hands further apart like a door opening. “I found this big, wide golden door in this castle. It said when you enter it, your fondest dreams come true!”

“Hmm,” Ashlan said, pressing her hand to her chin. “I’ve memorized the Dream Castle very well from my first year, but I’ve never seen that door. I know this place appears in your dreams though. Perhaps you should ask Gemini?”

Sounds like a good idea—wait what’s that?” Mena asked, suddenly distracted by a withered, brown object laying on her bed. It looked like it was made of foam and resembled a thought bubble in an illustration.

“Oh that,” Ashlan responded. “That’s your dream from last night. It faded away, like dreams often do. We throw those in the Dream Deposit.”

Ashlan lifted up a silver lid by Mena’s bed and prepared to toss out the dream when Mena cried out. “Wait, where does it go?”

“No idea,” Ashlan said back. “But probably the same place as everything else you humans discharge.”

A sudden orange glow flared up from inside the dark depths of the deposit with a loud roar, causing Ashlan to shut it. “I think they get incinerated, but I’m not sure. Either way, you don’t want to go down there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mena said, shivering from that terrible noise, “but perhaps I should hold onto it when I ask Gemini about it.”

“Don’t hold onto it too long,” Ashlan replied, handing it back to Mena. “It starts to stink after a while. Anyway, we need to hurry to the dining hall. They’ve placed us in our classes for the year and I can’t wait to see them!”

“Neato!” Mena said, before she looked at her tangled and matted dark hair. “I think I need to get washed up first.”

“Of course,” Ashlan said and she turned around, showing off her neatly brushed mane and sun-spangled school robes. “As you can see, I’ve already done that. I’m always so punctual.”

Mena giggled a bit at her friend’s narcissism. “Oh right,” Aslan said, “To reach the bathroom, hang an ‘up’ from our room and it’s the dark door with the clear bubbles floating on it.

“Thanks!” Mena said.

“No problem, Rainy. Meet you downstairs!”

**

Mena carefully walked up and around her door. The towering cloud wall had brightened through an enormous plated glass ceiling. Mena saw students of all magic classes and forms heading down towards the dining room. Some were human, others appeared as colorful animal and elven humanoids, clearly hailing from the land of Dula.

Mena hurried to the door with the soap bubbles floating around on it. A female symbol appeared in one of the bubbles and she opened the door. The ceiling, walls and floors were made entirely out of smooth aquamarine bricks and the showers were gleaming silver, each separated by a beige divider. Mena breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody was there and even better, nobody to laugh at her scrawny stick-like frame. She quickly undressed and headed into the shower.

Closing the dark curtain speckled with stars, she turned and gasped. There were no levers or latches to start the shower. “Wait, what do I do?” Mena muttered.

Suddenly, a deep, raspy and womanly sounding voice came from above. “Imagicnation, baby!”

Mena looked up and screamed; the shower nozzle had formed a pair of lips and was speaking to her. “Sorry to scare you, baby.” The shower spat in a sassy voice. “The name’s Shelia. Shelia Shower. If you can imagine it, I can spit it through my mouth…erm…I mean nozzle.”

“Just don’t think about tomato soup like the last kid in here…” the shower added.

“Hmm, pretty crafty,” Mena thought, her hand scratching her messy hair. “How about some Sparklish Shampoo and conditioner.”

“Coming right up!” The shower shouted before belting a jazzy tune and spitting out a bubble. It floated down over Mena’s head. “Oh, and close your mouth and eyes please!” The shower reminded her.

Mena followed suit as the bubble enveloped her face. It popped and in an instant, her hair was glistening, falling perfectly around her shoulders. It smelled like neatly conditioned flowers.

“Next,” Mena said, “One giant soap bubble on just my body please!”

Shelia’s shower neck extended until it was horizontal with Mena’s body. With a gargling sound, she spat a bubble the size of Mena’s whole body. It covered her entirely except for her head and popped, drenching her in soap water.

“Perfect!” Mena exclaimed. “And one towel please!”

Shelia’s mouth became circular and shot out a black towel covered in bubbles. Mena caught it.

“You look fabuloouus!” Shelia exclaimed. “Thanks for visiting the People Wash.”

“No thank you!” Mena said, admiring her shiny dark hair. “I need to get my auntie to install one of you back home!”

Mena was so carefree when she walked out of the shower, she didn’t even notice that someone else was standing by the sink. “Eek!” she screamed.

It was May, the heavy-set girl who Ashlan and the Tessellation Twins bullied. She immediately covered her eyes with a book. “I’m not peeking! I’m not peeking!” May bellowed in her deep voice.

Mena quickly slipped on her robe and undergarments. “You’re good,” she said.

She noticed May was still covering her eyes. “Please don’t hurt me,” she whimpered. “Or rip up what’s left of my book.”

Mena noticed that May was holding a poorly taped together copy of Love in The Days of Magic. The one Ashlan shredded.

Mena took a step closer and noticed May was quivering. It seemed so strange that a big girl who could probably punch Mena out, was so frightened of her. Mena took one more look at the book with its torn pages hanging loosely from its spine and said with a smile said, “Hand me your book.”

May immediately thrust the book so close to Mena’s face it nearly clocked her in the head. May was still trembling as she held out the book and refused to look Mena in the eyes. Mena took the book, held her hand to her head and chanted,

“Magic magic, may you lend.

A power for this book to mend!”

Slowly but surely, the rips in the book stitched together, the pages reattached to the spine and the cover straightened itself out. For once, May looked at Mena, her mouth gaping and her round eyes widening. Mena handed the newly refurbished book back to May.

“Is that…” May said, her deep voice dumbfounded.

“Is what?” Mena responded.

“A magical power only Rainborns have?”

“What? No!” Mena responded, frantically shaking her head. “My auntie taught me that simple spell to fix all her vases I’ve broken over the years.”

“I can’t even levitate a kumquat,” May said with a depressed expression.

“Don’t worry,” Mena said with a light bob of her head. “Gemini said anyone with imagicnation can become a powerful spellcaster!”

“But…” May stammered, changing the subject. “Why did you fix it for me?”

“Because,” Mena said with an excited and wide grin. “That’s Penwell’s best romance yet. Fabias doesn’t only have feelings for Merlina, but a secret passion for his love rival, Oleander too!”

May was so stupefied by the response from one of the girls who bullied her, she nearly dropped her book. Mena quickly caught it and as she handed it back to her, she looked up earnestly at May. “I never got to finish that book. Perhaps you can let me read it sometime.”

There was loud ring from the morning bell and Mena smiled at May, turning away and heading down for breakfast. She snuck a glance at her new acquaintance as she left. There was a small, dimpled smile on May’s face.