her.
“Ready,” Elizabeth said.
Wes nodded to Shamita, and she began to intercept Elizabeth’s brain waves, filtering out sensory information, convincing the brain that it was falling asleep. Elizabeth was semiconscious, however, able to communicate with those controlling her brain. When Elizabeth was in a state similar to a
hypnotic trance, Wes took control, letting Anita’s brain waves flow into Elizabeth’s brain.
“It will take a minute for your brain to adjust, Elizabeth,” Wes said.
It took five minutes of adjusting parameters, but then Elizabeth’s brain wave pattern was a near-perfect duplicate of Anita’s. They were dreaming the same dream.
THE DREAM
E lizabeth found herself walking down a narrow corridor, Anita in front of her wearing a pink dress and patent leather shoes. The girl’s long hair was combed and curled. She was stepping through an oval doorway, all metal—it was a ship’s hatch, and she had to step up and over a metal flange to pass through.
“Anita, I’m here,” Elizabeth said.
Anita started, turning with wide eyes, mouth open. Elizabeth saw that the pink dress had an embroidered bunny on it, and that Anita had both of her front teeth.
“You scared me,” Anita said, close to crying.
“I’m sorry. I told you I would be with you.”
“Can you come every night? I don’t like it here alone.”
“I’d like to make it so you never have to come here again.”
“Do it, please?”
“I’ll do what I can,” Elizabeth said, taking the little girl’s hand. “That’s a very pretty dress.”
“My grandmother gave it to me.”
Now Elizabeth looked around, noticing the detail of the ship.
“This doesn’t feel like a dream,” Elizabeth said. She slapped a wall, feeling
the impact, but not hearing the “smack” sound. Then she ran her hand along it, feeling the cool of the metal.
“Wes, can you hear me?” Elizabeth said.
“We’re here, Elizabeth, ” Wes said. “ Are you sharing the dream ?”
“Yes. It’s amazing. I’m actually in her dream.”
“Who are you talking to?” Anita asked.
Squeezing her hand, Elizabeth said, “I’m talking to Wes. Wes and Len and Shamita and Monica can hear me when I talk.”
“How come I can’t hear them?”
“Wes, why can’t Anita hear you? She’s asking.”
“ Audition is virtually shut down during dreaming. If we feed it to her it could disrupt the dream. ”
Elizabeth paused, knowing that Wes’s explanation was too complicated for a seven-year-old.
“Wes says your job is to dream and mine is to listen and talk. I’ll tell you everything they say. Except Len’s stupid jokes.”
Anita smiled at that, saying, “I like Len, he’s funny.”
“Okay, if Len tells me any jokes I’ll tell them to you.”
“ Tell us what you’re seeing, Elizabeth, ” Wes said.
“They want to know what I see,” Elizabeth said to Anita. “I’m in a corridor—a ship’s corridor. We’re standing in front of a hatch—oval shaped. There are two hatches in one direction along this corridor and a sealed hatch at the other end. There are two more in the other direction ending in another closed hatch. The detail is amazing. Textured walls, bolts, rivets, the lights in the ceiling are in wire cages. There’s a bell on the wall—like an alarm.”
“What color?” Wes asked.
“Red,” Elizabeth said.
“Unusual,” Wes said.
“Is it the wrong color for a ship’s alarm?” Elizabeth asked.
“There shouldn’t be any color at all,” Wes said. “Most people think they dream in color but actually it’s rare.”
Elizabeth thought about her own dreams, unsure if they were in color. Certainly there were no bright, high-contrast colors.
“It looks different with you here,” Anita said, pulling on her hand.
“In what way?”
“I can see things better.”
“What do you mean?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Anita said, “I dunno, it just looks different.”
“Tell me if you see anything different that you can
“Ready,” Elizabeth said.
Wes nodded to Shamita, and she began to intercept Elizabeth’s brain waves, filtering out sensory information, convincing the brain that it was falling asleep. Elizabeth was semiconscious, however, able to communicate with those controlling her brain. When Elizabeth was in a state similar to a
hypnotic trance, Wes took control, letting Anita’s brain waves flow into Elizabeth’s brain.
“It will take a minute for your brain to adjust, Elizabeth,” Wes said.
It took five minutes of adjusting parameters, but then Elizabeth’s brain wave pattern was a near-perfect duplicate of Anita’s. They were dreaming the same dream.
THE DREAM
E lizabeth found herself walking down a narrow corridor, Anita in front of her wearing a pink dress and patent leather shoes. The girl’s long hair was combed and curled. She was stepping through an oval doorway, all metal—it was a ship’s hatch, and she had to step up and over a metal flange to pass through.
“Anita, I’m here,” Elizabeth said.
Anita started, turning with wide eyes, mouth open. Elizabeth saw that the pink dress had an embroidered bunny on it, and that Anita had both of her front teeth.
“You scared me,” Anita said, close to crying.
“I’m sorry. I told you I would be with you.”
“Can you come every night? I don’t like it here alone.”
“I’d like to make it so you never have to come here again.”
“Do it, please?”
“I’ll do what I can,” Elizabeth said, taking the little girl’s hand. “That’s a very pretty dress.”
“My grandmother gave it to me.”
Now Elizabeth looked around, noticing the detail of the ship.
“This doesn’t feel like a dream,” Elizabeth said. She slapped a wall, feeling
the impact, but not hearing the “smack” sound. Then she ran her hand along it, feeling the cool of the metal.
“Wes, can you hear me?” Elizabeth said.
“We’re here, Elizabeth, ” Wes said. “ Are you sharing the dream ?”
“Yes. It’s amazing. I’m actually in her dream.”
“Who are you talking to?” Anita asked.
Squeezing her hand, Elizabeth said, “I’m talking to Wes. Wes and Len and Shamita and Monica can hear me when I talk.”
“How come I can’t hear them?”
“Wes, why can’t Anita hear you? She’s asking.”
“ Audition is virtually shut down during dreaming. If we feed it to her it could disrupt the dream. ”
Elizabeth paused, knowing that Wes’s explanation was too complicated for a seven-year-old.
“Wes says your job is to dream and mine is to listen and talk. I’ll tell you everything they say. Except Len’s stupid jokes.”
Anita smiled at that, saying, “I like Len, he’s funny.”
“Okay, if Len tells me any jokes I’ll tell them to you.”
“ Tell us what you’re seeing, Elizabeth, ” Wes said.
“They want to know what I see,” Elizabeth said to Anita. “I’m in a corridor—a ship’s corridor. We’re standing in front of a hatch—oval shaped. There are two hatches in one direction along this corridor and a sealed hatch at the other end. There are two more in the other direction ending in another closed hatch. The detail is amazing. Textured walls, bolts, rivets, the lights in the ceiling are in wire cages. There’s a bell on the wall—like an alarm.”
“What color?” Wes asked.
“Red,” Elizabeth said.
“Unusual,” Wes said.
“Is it the wrong color for a ship’s alarm?” Elizabeth asked.
“There shouldn’t be any color at all,” Wes said. “Most people think they dream in color but actually it’s rare.”
Elizabeth thought about her own dreams, unsure if they were in color. Certainly there were no bright, high-contrast colors.
“It looks different with you here,” Anita said, pulling on her hand.
“In what way?”
“I can see things better.”
“What do you mean?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Anita said, “I dunno, it just looks different.”
“Tell me if you see anything different that you can
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