Back in the living room, Nedu clutched his donut box as it dragged him across the living room, past the tables towards the front door. The curtains wafted, and Cheryl’s hair fluttered in the developing whirlwind.

“Whoa, nelly! What’s going on?” Nedu grunted, driving his heels into the oatmeal and raisin carpet.

Loose sheets of paper scattered into the brewing room from Wino’s bedroom.

“This is what happens,” Cheryl barked. “Ibrahim’s nightmare manifests itself in the real world.”

“Okay, they did not teach me this in med school!”

“Oh brother.” Cheryl scurried over to Ibrahim. She motioned towards his body, prompting Nedu to release one hand from the box and call her.

“Wait! What are you doing?”

“Waking him up!”

“No, we’ve come too far. Ibrahim has to finish the dream or else we’ll have to start from scratch.”

“This gets worse, y’know?” Cheryl pointed at the ceiling.

“Don’t worry.” Nedu yanked the box from the air, clutching it between his palms. “We can just hold things down until they wake up.”

He confidently smiled at Cheryl, yanking a bite from the last donut with his jaws. Cheryl replied with uncertainty in her eyes; her brows furrowed and she nervously grinded her fingers atop one another. Once more, she turned towards the sleeping beauties that snored peacefully despite the ruckus.

***

Along the steep side of The Great Dune, Ibrahim propelled himself with the relatively low output of his wand generating thrust. He undulated his ribbon trail, outmaneuvering the tailing sphinxes and accelerating past their strikes. As he descended, Ibrahim engorged his wand with energy, jousting himself around their paws and coordinated assaults. Wino, on the other hand, back-stepped his way down the dune ridge. Before him was an animated Egyptian Anubis engaging him with its magnificently brilliant staff. It twirled its weapon, striking at Wino who reflexively deflected it. With every clang, however, Wino lunged away, yelping in fear to the amusement of Nega-Ibrahim. The malevolent silhouette redirected its attention to the approaching Ibrahim. The sphinxes recovered from a head-on-collision, dazed and disoriented as the magician climbed altitude like a rocket-propelled grenade. Nega-Ibrahim witnessed this and with a flick of his wand erupted a pyramid of stones, not taller than a meter high, in Ibrahim’s path. With his oncoming acceleration and the sporadic eruption of the pyramid surprising him, Ibrahim failed to evade. He swerved onto the side, splattering against its edge and flinging bricks skyward. He faceplanted into the gravel, tumbling to a stop midway up the slope. The sphinxes recovered and dashed up the hill to pounce upon him.

***

Within Wino’s bedroom, a cyclone of ominous clouds swirled violently. It pelted Cheryl and Nedu with couch pillows, picture frames and shoes like ice blocks upon a moving car during a hailstorm. Ibrahim and Wino slouched upon the sofa as the whistling winds wound about them. Nedu and Cheryl shielded their faces, retracting from the concentrated eye of the storm. Its presence blacked out the light of the sun and casted an evening gloom upon the room. Dr. Nedu finally realized Cheryl’s perspective.

“Can we wake them up now?” she screams.

Cheryl braced the doorway leading to the living room, between Wino’s room and the bathroom. The dining table hovered until finally swept up into the engulfing storm. It hurled into Nedu’s face although he managed to seize its legs. Tossing it aside, he met the sofa adjacent to Ibrahim and Wino. This furniture tumbled forward, rolling like a log at him. Nedu also caught this piece, although it shoved him against the wall. Hurling it away, Nedu met with the fridge as it slammed against him. His fingers slowly clutched onto it and tugged it away.

He surrendered. “Okay. Okay, yeah let’s wake them up now.”

Cheryl approached the torrent of furniture. She squatted down, crawling along the carpet, and avoiding any sharp objects. Clanging materials chimed from the kitchen. Out from the cabinets and drawers emerged silverware including knives and forks.

“Uh oh.”

The gleaming silverware flung into the haze and swings towards Nedu.

“Oh no no no!”

***

Back in the desert, as the darkness faded, Ibrahim unveiled his face, shielded by his arms. The sand dunes quaked beneath the bouncing strides of the sphinxes. They leapt over him and proceeded up the dunes.

Flipping over like a pancake, the Anubis choked Wino. Wino kicked and squirmed in protest but failed to break free. The Anubis proceeded to offer him to the enclosing sphinxes.

Ibrahim watched in shock as Nega-Ibrahim casted a smirk down from on high. Marred with guilt, Ibrahim retrieved his wand, secured it within his palm, and casted a torch of energy. The brilliance captivated the Anubis and Nega-Ibrahim as they observed his last-ditch attempt.

Casting the wand skyward Ibrahim exclaimed, “You leave him alone.”

The pair of sphinxes lunged at Wino who peddled his feet in desperation. Just as they descended upon him, a sarcophagus erupted from beneath the vast, crystal-black desert wasteland. The shimmering coffin depicted an Egyptian Pharaoh favoring Ibrahim’s caricature. Its sheer distance coupled with its enormous stature culminated in a monumentally massive sculpture. As the eruption ceased, three strands of mummification bandages pierced through the case, shooting out towards the nightmares. The first of which pulverized the Anubis, releasing Wino; the second two strands impaled the predatorily-inclined sphinxes smothering them within the dune before launching them into the distance.

Nega-Ibrahim watched aghast as the trio swirled behind him, returning towards the sarcophagus in an arching motion. He ducked for cover as the bandages smashed the diamond altar, scattering its shards over the collapsing dune. The explosive disruptions destabilized the dune and tugged Wino across its slope with Nega-Ibrahim. The two watched in horror as the nightmares retracted into the gaping jaws of a mummy’s head jousted out from within the sarcophagus.

The bandages were worn, bloodstained, and unraveled about the mummy’s face revealing further resemblance to the caster. As the mummy casted its glare upon The Great Dune, its eyes consisted of rubies gleaming a fiery ember blaze towards Nega-Ibrahim. The mummy king growled, mirroring Ibrahim’s passionate glare. Vibrations shuttered within Wino’s body as he slid down the dune.

“The mummy king,” he muttered with ominous familiarity.

***

The dream spurred on within the confines of Ibrahim’s imagination, while in the apartment, the living room continued to shake.

“Are you okay?” Cheryl asked.

Nedu marched away from the front door, knives, and forks having stapled his white lab coat behind him.

Glancing back at the close call, Nedu asked, “O-kay, how do we wake them up?”

“I have to get close,” Cheryl replied.

Turning towards the kitchen, the living room table swirled into view. It flipped and drew towards Cheryl. Nedu slid before her and palmed the table to a halt. Tossing it away, he allowed Cheryl to creep around his torso.

“Cover me!” she commanded.

Together, they proceeded step-by-step towards the sleeping duo. Nedu shielded her from oncoming cutlery and furniture. As they drew near, Cheryl outstretched her palm towards Ibrahim.

***