"The rock," Trevor said patiently. "Take it."
"But…it's a dream," I protested.
"Technically, it's not," Trevor disagreed. "It's an astral plane. A kind of a dream world. Take the rock."
Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I reached my hand out and was surprised by the solid thud of the rock hitting my hand.
"Good," Trevor said softly. "Now, throw it at that thing's head." I heard Trevor snicker when I hesitated. "Okay, I know we can't really see, but I'm assuming there's a head, so just aim for where the headshouldbe."
I wasn't sure what was going on, but I did as Trevor instructed and threw the rock, surprised again when it flew much farther than I could have imagined and hit something with a solid thud.
A grunt of pain reached our ears as the stone bounced off to rest at the base of an ancient pine tree.
"Excellent," Trever said, satisfaction ringing through in his voice. "Now, let's get out of here!"
The next thing I knew, there was a physical jolt, like I'd run into a wall. Then it felt like someone yanked on my entire body. When I opened my eyes, I was back in Trevor's kitchen, shivering and gasping for breath.
Entering the dream world with Trevor had been a slow and relaxing experience. Leaving? Not so much.
"Sorry about that," Trevor apologized, stretching slowly and then standing up to turn off the burner under the whistling tea kettle. "If you had panicked, it would have been much harder to pull you out." He set a steaming cup in front of me and returned to his seat. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"Umm." I stretched my limbs one at a time. "No. At least, I don't think so."
"Good."
"What justhappened?"
"We went into a deep meditation to access the astral plane where REM sleep originates." When I stared blankly, he sighed. "Never mind. The important thing to remember is the rock, okay?" I didn't answer but Trevor continued. "When you're in this realm, whether it's in a dream or a nightmare, you need to remember that you can affect the surroundings. Youcanfight back, okay? You just have to focus your energy."
"Okay," I agreed slowly, wondering if things could really be that easy. "I'll give it a try."
