Devin’s Dreams
Devin Sharp, a gentle-natured boy, has trouble sleeping. Recurring visions of strangers moving among shadows in his bedroom keep waking him at night. He swears that what he sees and hears is real. To no avail. No one believes him. An older sibling taunts him. "Silly dreams," she says. But are they?
Coming of age as a gay teen in the seventies, Devin's sleep issues are just one more secret safely locked up in his closet. But not for long. Freshman year in college brings a measure of freedom and a chance to explore well beyond the boundaries of stifling social molds.
Experimenting with a powerful drug, Devin's quirky visions resurface. This time, however, something is different. A rabbit hole materializes out of nowhere. Thrust into it by a mysterious force, Devin is hurled into another world centuries before his own. There, awaiting, a host of strangers appear to know him...
I. Dragons and Swallows
Almost two months had passed since the last late-night disturbance. The end of the school year and the warmer days of summer appeared to have brought a measure of calm and tranquility to the Sharps’ modest home in Kingston, New York. Outside, the gentle light of a waxing crescent moon bathed the rooftop. Inside, silence.
Then, Devin disrupted the peace.
“Mom!” he cried out as he stood in his parents’ bedroom doorway, barefoot in his pajamas.
Lauren’s face twitched. She raised her head and saw her seven-year-old son’s silhouette. She reached for the bedside lamp and turned it on. “Devin? What’s wrong, honey?”
“There are strangers in my bedroom,” he said between sobs.
“Come here sweetie!” She sat up as he rushed over and threw his arms around her.
“What’s going on?” Phil grumbled. He rolled onto his side, rubbed his eyes and glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand.
“We’re trying to find out,” Lauren replied, gently running her fingers through Devin’s messy blond hair.
Paige and Abbey, Devin’s older sisters, quietly slipped into the room and sat at the edge of the bed.
“I guess we’re having family time at two in the morning,” Phil said in a raspy voice. He yawned, sat up and leaned back on the headboard.
Lauren wiped Devin’s tears from his face. “Do you remember the last time this happened, Devin?”
“Yes.”
“We checked your bedroom together, you, Daddy and I, and there was no one there.”
“But, they were there before we looked!”
“Is anyone there now?”
“Maybe.”
“So, where exactly did you see these strangers, Devin?”
“In a corner, on the ceiling.”
Abbey and Paige giggled.
“Stop it!” Devin shrieked. “It’s true!”
“Girls!” Lauren frowned. She held Devin’s hands on her lap and continued. “Were you
asleep when you saw them?”
“I—I don’t think so.”
“Were your eyes closed?”
“Yes, but I could see them! I swear, Mom!”
“What did they look like?”
“Hm… I’m not sure. But they were there!”
“How do you know?”
“There were shadows, moving…”
“Their shadows?”
“Yes! Behind a sheet.”
“But, you could still see them?”
“There was a light behind the sheet.”
“A light?”
“Yeah, b-blinking.”
“You mean, flickering.”
Paige started weeping. “I’m scared!” the 9-year-old whimpered.
“Don’t be!” Abbey told her younger sister. “It’s just one of Devin’s silly dreams.”
“Shut up Abbey!” Devin yelled raising his chin, face flushed. “You’re silly! Mom, make her stop!”
“Please! Everyone, calm down!” Lauren pleaded. “Phil, will you? Let’s get Paige and Abbey back to bed.”
Phil drew a deep breath. “Okay, okay. Girls, come on, let’s go.” He climbed out of bed and walked them to their bedroom. Moments later he returned, settled back into bed, leaned on Lauren and whispered in her ear. “Can we please finish this tomorrow?”
“Just a couple more minutes, sweetheart,” she said quietly, then faced her son. “So, Devin, did these strangers talk to you?”
“No.”
“Did you hear anything at all?”
“A ring, at the beginning… after I closed my eyes.”
“Like a telephone ring?”
“Uh-uh!” Devin shook his head.
“What kind of a ring?”
“Soft, then louder, and then…”
“Then, what?”
“It went away.”
Puzzled, Lauren glanced at Phil. “A sound wave?”
Phil shrugged.
“What is a sound wave, Mom?”
“Never mind that, honey. What happened next? Did you say anything?”
“Nooo! I didn’t! You and Dad always say never speak to strangers. Anyway, I couldn’t talk… I—I couldn’t move!”
“But you could see?”
“Yes. I saw everything! I swear!”
“What’s everything, Devin?” Phil asked. “What else did you see?”
“Everything in my room, Dad! My bookcase, my desk, my sailboat, my bed, me…”
“You saw yourself? How? You said your eyes were closed!”
“I dunno. Um, I—I was in the air… flying.”
“Okay. Enough. You had a bad dream, Devin. That’s all.”
“No, I didn’t! I didn’t!” Devin shouted, his blue eyes welling up.
“Devin Sharp, I think it’s time to get back to bed.”
Lauren hugged Devin. “Honey, you’ll be fine. I’ll stay with you and read till you fall asleep, okay?”
Devin’s face softened as he nodded.
Lauren rose, took Devin’s hand and walked him to his bedroom.
“You like this one, right?” Lauren asked, sitting at Devin’s side on his bed with Harold and the Purple Crayon in her hand.
“Yes! I love Harold!”
“Good!”
As Lauren read, Devin lay in bed scanning the surroundings. Hanging on the wall across from him, a collage of carefully arranged family photos made him pause. At its center was a picture of Lauren in a hospital bed holding her newborn baby boy in her arms, with Phil by her side. Around it, photos of Devin’s early childhood with Paige embracing him full of smiles, and Abbey next to her, vigilant and stern. Thumbtacked to a cork bulletin board by a bookcase, a world map dotted with multicolored pushpins stood out. Pinned on upstate New York, a paper cutout in the shape of a star with the word ‘HOME’ written in capital letters. Just as Devin’s eyes shifted to a vintage model sailboat on a desk shelf, Lauren’s voice began to fade. A muddled mixture of thoughts and emotions looping somewhere in his head dissipated, and the knot in his stomach finally relaxed.
Shortly after all the lights were off and the house had fallen into silence, Paige tiptoed into Devin’s bedroom and gently tapped his shoulder.
“Devin?” she whispered. “Are you awake?”
“Yes,” he answered softly. The moonlight drifted through a window and reflected on his face as he sat up. “What’s going on?”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Sorry I spooked you.”
“It’s okay. And I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”
“I know.”
“For you,” she said, handing him a small flashlight. “I took it from Dad’s old toolbox in the basement. He won’t miss it.”
“Thank you.”
“So, where did you see them?” Paige asked looking upward.
“Who?”
“The strangers.”
Devin switched on the flashlight and aimed it at a corner of the ceiling.
“Maybe they won’t come again,” she said, mustering a tepid smile.
Devin sighed. “I wish. But it’s not like that… Let’s go back to bed now or we’ll get in trouble.”
D. C. Wilkinson
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I do like the sound of this book!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds really interesting, Maddie. I agree. And it will go on blog tour soon... :-)
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