The Girl Who Could Not Dream by Sarah Beth Durst

Author:Sarah Beth Durst
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

SHE WAS ON THE STREET OUTSIDE THE POST OFFICE BUILDING.

Above the post office, the sky was smeared blue. On either side, the buildings were blurry, as if she were seeing them through cloudy glasses. All the windows were gray. She didn’t know why she was here. Did she have to mail a letter? She opened the door to the post office . . .

Inside was a classroom. Back to the door, the teacher was writing on the chalkboard, and Sophie remembered in a rush: watching the dream in the somnium, sitting on the floor with Monster, drinking the bottle. But in the somnium, the teacher appeared at the end of the dream. She was messing up the order. She was supposed to find the winged ponies first.

Shutting the door, Sophie jogged away from the post office. The houses were indistinct smudges on either side of her. She craned her neck, looking for the white house with blue shutters. The street was silent. No cars, no buses, no bikes.

Behind her, she heard footsteps.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the teacher. His face was only a mouth. No eyes. No nose. He spoke: “You cannot escape me.”

His mouth began to open, wider and wider, and the post office was sucked into his mouth. A few buildings followed, like a painting ripped from a wall. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen! She must have changed the dream.

Sophie ran.

Ahead was the white house with blue shutters. She heard a whooshing sound, like water going down a drain. Don’t look. Just run.

She threw herself at the door. Yanking it open, she glanced back. The teacher’s mouth had stretched impossibly wide, and the street was flowing into it like a river. She jumped through the door and shut it behind her.

The door promptly disappeared.

She was in the clouds. Sophie exhaled. She didn’t think he could follow her if the door was gone. And the teacher hadn’t been in this part of the dream. Only the winged ponies. She was safe. Maybe.

Harp music played, chords plucked at random, no clear melody. All around her, pink fluffy clouds drifted into the shapes of castles and trees and mountains. She was standing on one cloud, and a rainbow unfurled over her head as if it were a ribbon tossed through the air.

Monster would hate this, she thought.

Several winged ponies flew between the clouds, a rainbow of pastel colors: pinks, purples, baby blues, above the real rainbows.

“Hello?” she called to the ponies. “Can any of you help me? I need help!”

One of the ponies paused midflight. “Who calls for help?” His voice was as deep as a foghorn. Leaving the herd, he flew toward her. His hide shimmered as if he’d been painted with glitter, and he had a silver unicorn horn spiraling up from the center of his forehead. “Oh, my, it’s a damsel in distress!”

“I need—” she began.

Flapping his wings, he rose higher. “Come with me,” he commanded. “The others must hear your words.”

“But I can’t fly!”

“Use the rainbow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.