The familiar smell of pine and lake water filled her nostrils as Sam stood at the edge of the lake once more. The twilight sun was almost fully set and the first wishing stars began to appear. The sounds of owls rose from the depths of the woods, filling the air. Sam’s eyes lit up.

She took a breathe and raced down the stone path to the gate. Again, it opened as if by magic and she passed through, leading to the dock she used to reach the ship the night before. But, as she neared the lake where she found the ship before, she found only calm water lapping against the dock.

She scratched her head. Am I early? She wondered. Then a terrifying thought struck her, am I late? She shuddered at the thought and bit her lip, a normal thing she did when she was nervous.

A ripple in the water caught her eye. She walked over to the surface’s edge and looked into the shimmering deep. Once her face was close enough to see her reflection, something broke through the water and soaked her. She took a step back, wiped her face and then shook the water from her hair.

Looking into the water, she gasped when she saw an olive-skinned girl breaking the surface. She had raven hair and deep violet eyes. The girl was only visible from her shoulders up; the rest of her submerged. The girl smiled and behind her splashed a rainbow-scaled fishtail. Sam couldn’t believe her eyes.

“A mermaid,” she gasped in awe.

“I have a name, you know.” The mermaid said, puffing her lightly freckled cheeks. “My name is Aster. Who might you be?”

“My name is Sam Wilde. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, but I’ve never seen a mermaid before!”

“Sam is a funny name, but you’re a funny-looking girl.” Aster gave a sweet, sing-song laugh.

“Who’s the rude one now? I’m not funny looking. I’m a normal girl.” Sam crossed her arms. She wasn’t having much fun with her first mermaid encounter.

Aster sank a bit and caught some water in her mouth and spat it at Sam. The water reached the crown of Sam’s head, but instead of splashing her and running down her face, the water turned to seafoam and bubbled until it was gone.

“Well, how rude was that!” Sam exclaimed. She made a scowl and stuck out her tongue.

Aster laughed even harder at this. “You really are a funny girl.” The mermaid said between fits of laughter, “I like you. We should be friends.”

Aster’s giggles were contagious and soon the girls were laughing like old friends. The hysterics calming down led to the swapping of stories. The girls were so lost in the kindling of their friendship that Sam had all but forgot about the missing boat until it sped past them.

She stood as her jaw dropped. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Her face scrunched in confusion as the boat became smaller and smaller in the distance until it was a faint black dot on the horizon.

“That’s odd,” Aster broke the silence. “The boat always stops and waits for the children.” She scanned her surroundings. “Something must be wrong.

“How am I supposed to get to the castle now?” Her eyes glistened. She had been left behind.

“I’m sorry..” Aster apologized. She looked right through Sam. “I must meet with the other Merfolk.”

“Wait, don’t go!” Before Sam could finish her plea, Aster had turned, jumped into the air, and dove to the bottom of the lake.

Sam bit her lip. Only a night prior, she believed there could be nothing bad existing in such a magical place. Now, she was all alone on the edge of the lake, unable to reach the castle.

Then if to make matters worse, there was something that shook the leaves of a bush behind her. A chill ran up her spine; she had nowhere to escape. She backed to the water’s edge, squatted down, and closed her eyes. The only option was to wait out the attack.

There was no pain. Nothing burned or hurt. The world was still until she felt a warm, mango-scented breathing hit her face. Then she felt the wet, sandpaper feeling of a tongue running up her cheek.

Surprised, she opened her eyes to see a jubilant, rambunctious white tiger.

“Taali!” Her voice cracked with happiness. She rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around the cat’s thick neck.

Taali jumped around her, kicking up dirt with her claws. The two played together. Sam made sure to pet the tiger’s belly every now and then. The fun had suppressed the feelings of being left behind, but not destroyed them completely.

Taali grew restless. She started clawing at the ground and rolling on his back like there was something stuck in his fur. She then bounced around Sam with his wings completely spread out until she bowed in front of her, offering his back as a seat. She found balance on his back and Taali took off running.

The force had made Sam burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Her hair flew wildly in the air. Taali ran along the lake’s edge until there was no more path to travel on, then made one powerful leap and took off into the air.

They flew over the glistening lake. Taali lowered herself enough to allow Sam to reach her hand down and brush the water as they flew by. She gasped as she watched the rippling reflection of the sun turn to golden streaks coming from her fingers. Her head snapped forward as a recognizable roaring drew her attention. Water sprayed in the air and mixed with a mist that hovered over the edge of the waterfall.

Unlike the Sweet Dreams, Taali didn’t soar straight out over the waterfall into the sky but instead dove straight down, scaring Sam half to death. The flying cat ascended before they were downed. They flew as the sun had set completely then they were surrounded by a billion sparkling stars.

Soon, they had caught up to the Sweet Dreams and noticed it was completely unmanned and flying with erratic behavior. It was nothing like she remembered it, all the majesty of the ship now gone. Taali seemed to read Sam’s thoughts and flew her away.

The duo had begun to pass through some clouds when a streak of light whizzed passed and exploded behind them, showering them in multi-colored debris.

Beyond the cloud was a throng of children in all types of vehicles. Older children flew through pirate ships, rockets, vintage planes, and even fluffy beds; all heading toward the castle.

When Taali landed and Sam set foot on the lower floor she noticed that she was the only one her age in the hallway. The other children’s vehicles arrived, dropped off their kids, and then exited; bursting into bubbles as they had before. No one seemed to notice Sam standing in the hallway all by her lonesome. She watched the children running around; laughing and choosing doors.

There was one child that looked familiar. He was sort of lanky with black hair, Sam would’ve believed it was her brother, but he had far too much energy and laughed far too hard to be him. Although, before entering a door, the boy turned and looked at her straight in the eyes and waved at her. It was Isaac! She never, ever, seen him like that.

I knew he dreamed of this castle! She thought.

“Of course, he would lie about it..” she mumbled under her breath.

When the last child had entered their door, the castle had become eerily quiet. She wondered if she did something wrong. Then a clicking noise that should have normally gone unheard, rang out in the empty hallway. The door at the top of the center staircase creaked opened. The Magic that came from inside rattled Sam’s bones.

Then a feeling of happiness and peace that she had never felt before came upon her. She turned and looked and saw a lanky man closing the door, locking in rays of prismatic light. He wore soil-brown boots, slacks, and a vest; a white button-down shirt and a deep purple bow tie with tiny white polka dots; as well as a long, forest green frock coat. He wore round spectacles on his fair face and had medium-length raven black hair.

“All the other first-time dreamers have yet to arrive.” He put his finger to his chin. “This is troubling.” He looked down at Sam as he reached the bottom step.

“Yet, here you are. How is that?”

Sam’s palms began to sweat. She didn’t want to lie, but the truth seemed a bit farfetched; even for the place that she found herself in. She remembered her mother's lessons on honesty and chose to tell the truth.

“I missed the boat and the tiger I dreamed up, Taali, flew me here. We saw the boat and no one was on it, so we came straight here.”

The Author only stared at Sam for a moment. Then his face became warm and he smiled.

“I do not see untruth in you,” He said. “Although, it’s an extreme rarity for a child to be able to create dreams outside the castle without the help of a Dramcaster, like your friend Teddy.

“But, you are here now, so no need to go on about that. The other children, on the other hand, something needs to be done about that.”

Sam followed The Author to the edge of the castle opening. He reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a small, brown bag. He put his hand inside of the bag and threw its contents out onto the floor. Instantly, the floor was covered in fresh green grass.

A drizzle of water came shooting from the inside of the Author’s sleeve, watering the grass. Moments later numerous types of flowers shot up from the ground, creating a garden on the castle floor. There grew two rows of purple flowers, two rows of blue flowers, and two rows of white bulbed flowers, all of which Sam had never seen the likes of before.

He put his hands over the white flowers, muttered something under his breath and raised his hands. Suddenly, the flowers opened and a flock of pure white doves sprang from inside them.

“My friends, I am in need. Please, go find the children and bring them back here safely.”

The doves cooed and flew off in various directions. The Author then went to the other flowers and did the same thing, but from these flowers came small, winged pixies dressed in a rainbow of colors.

“Companions! The doves are going to need assistance. Please be at the ready.”

The pixies laughed and danced around the room. They fluttered into many different formations until they decided on one that would work the best. Sam couldn’t help but smile.

“Here they come!” The Author cried.

One by one, rubber lifeboats carrying children, pulled by doves, entered into the hall. The pixies helped the doves lower the kids to safety. The lifeboats once unloaded, floated outside and burst into small colorful puffs of smoke.

As they watched the last lifeboat float away and turn to smoke, the kids all gasped in unison. In the not so far distance floated the Sweet Dreams, on a collision course with the castle.

The Author stepped forward, without a worry on his face, and stretched his arm towards the boat. All of the doves and pixies flew out towards the careening ship. The creatures tied tiny strings around the boat and brought it to balance. The lanky man produced a rope from his jacket, cast it out, and caught it on the ship. As they pulled the ship inward, it began to shrink, smaller and small until it was the size of a toy. The birds and pixies flew off and the Author started a battle of wills as he tried to squeeze the ship even smaller. Sam’s chest tightened as she watched the man struggle. A silent moment passed, then the Author won the contest and shrunk the ship until it was small enough to fit between his fingers and slipped it into one of his coat pockets.

“Well!” He exclaimed to the children. “That is certainly enough excitement for now. If you don’t mind, there are dreams to be had! So pick a door and enjoy our dreams!”

Noises of joy rang out throughout the castle hall as the children ran around picking their dream doors. Sam walked slowly towards the doors. She looked around at the children. It was although they didn’t remember what had taken place. She turned around and saw the Author walking towards his door talking to Teddy. Where had he been all this time?

She shrugged it off and turned to pick out her door.