Finn was right, they were in A-Dream, which is not to be confused with B-Dream, or C- Dream. A-Dream is a fantastic place. It is the sort of place where, well, dreams come true. When someone is feeling so happy that they say, “Pinch me, I must be dreaming,” it is because they think that life is so good that they must be in A-Dream, and they can’t believe anything real could be that good.
As Finn and Woggy got closer to the shore they could see bright red birds flying; singing twilling songs as they fluttered along. Flowers swayed in the gentle breeze, mixing their sweet floral smells with the fragrance of the sea. There was a small bay that welcomed the raft in, like the shore was ready to give them a hug.
“Where are Sara and Rob?” asked Woggy.
But before Finn could answer his question, Rob did. She called out with a whistle and came swooping down out of the sky. She was flying. She looked glorious as she soared through the sky and the hint of humor on the left side of her lips had moved across her whole mouth and formed a smile— it looked like her whole face was smiling. She perched on the raft beside Woggy.
Woggy, Finn, and Rob soon landed on the shore. It was sandy with big rocks, and behind the rocks were trees and flowers. The warm sand glistened in the sunlight, and wisps of white clouds graced the blue sky. It smelled like salt and sand and fish just like Land of Sand, only even better.
They walked along the beach and saw a girl drawing flowers and birds, and everything she drew came to life. It was, of course, Sara. She looked up and smiled at everyone, and waved happily.
“Isn’t it just wonderful here?” she asked. But she knew, and everyone else knew, that the answer was definitely yes. It really was wonderful there.
They all looked around and felt that it was a familiar place, not the sort of place that they had ever been to before, but the sort of place they had always dreamed of and imagined.
Spark darted about tapping flowers and changing their colors. He turned the red flowers yellow and the yellow flowers blue, and so on, just hopping around painting the world vibrant as he flew about.
They walked around for a while looking at all of the amazing things in A-Dream. Beyond the beach was a field of grass. In the middle of the field there was a small hill. At the very top of the hill stood an impressive mango tree.
The tree had all the right knots and limbs for a treehouse, and wouldn’t even need a ladder because the tree was so perfect for climbing. The bark of the tree was gray-brown and rough to touch. Sara drew the materials and together all four of them built an awesome treehouse. They called it the Perch.
I know what you are thinking: Why didn’t Sara just draw a tree house? Well, first of all, no one thought of that, and secondly, that would not have been nearly as much fun.
They put down the floor (or put up the floor? I am not really sure how to say that, when the house they were building sat high up in the air, hanging between three tree limbs). The four walls went up (that is right), and they topped it with a roof to keep out the rain. A hammock hung in each corner, one for each of them. There was a little table pressed up against one of the windows, and chairs, and a shelf for when they found things that they wanted to keep on a shelf.
Spark added splashes of color here and there to the tree house. Finally, Spark painted it yellow: a golden yellow, more like turmeric than the color of a banana. It was not very camouflaged, but Spark was more interested in things being seen than blending in. His final touch was coloring the door a pretty hue of blue, which was so nice he put it on the roof, too.
Finally, Woggy added lots of great inventions to the Perch: he made a pulley that worked as an elevator, a zip line that went quite a long way, and nets to catch the fruit that fell from the tree. They were mangoes— juicy, drippy, messy, delicious mangoes.
From the Perch they could see far out into the forest on one side, and far out over the water on the other side. On the forest side they could see a big stone castle in the distance.
When they saw the castle they all felt a longing to go to there. It stood boldly in a field full of intrigue and mystery. What was inside the castle? Was it treasure? Was there a king? But all those questions needed to wait for answers. After all they could only have one adventure at a time, and they wanted to finish building the Perch before leaving it. So, we, too, will have to wait to know what is inside those mysterious stone walls.
But for now, we will go back to Woggy and Sara who are busy adding the finishing touches to the Perch. They just finished making three baskets to store mangoes. They even made four chairs, (two of which were rocking chairs) to go around the table. Woggy even made a slide out of a hollow log that he found so they could quickly get down to the ground without climbing. And lastly, Sara drew a vase that they could put flowers in.
Finn and Rob helped, too, but they got distracted and went down to the beach to practice sword fighting, which they became quite good at. Sara had drawn them both beautiful shining swords (this is likely where the term ‘draw your sword’ comes from). The two of them also went off into the woods to explore, or the sea, or the air, whichever they pleased; but they never ventured too far alone.
There was a river in the woods and Finn found it. When he dove underwater he quickly discovered that all the land was floating on top of the water. He could dive into the river, swim for a while, and then pop up in the sea moments later. Under the land there were all kinds of tunnels and caves to explore. Finn wanted to explore everything. He had a pretty good sense of direction under the water, after all he was a Seaple now, but he did not want to test his limits by getting lost all alone.
Now, Seaple are very different from mermaids. Mermaids have fins for feet, Seaple have fins and feet. They are much more graceful in the water than on land, but they have no trouble walking and running around on land, too.
Finn swam all around looking for other Seaple, but he could not find any. He was sure there was an underwater city somewhere. He did find some otters in one of the rivers and played with them for a while, sliding down rocks and holding stones and shells. They gave him a shell that was just barely translucent and was every color in the world. Finn held the shell up to the light and turned it, watching the rainbow of colors transform its surface. He got really excited about this and he ran to tell the others, but quickly got distracted by the biggest butterfly he had ever seen— it was bigger than his face and the color of a lemon. He watched the butterfly for a while and then he saw Rob flying way up in the sky. She was so high that she looked like a small bird.
From the air, Rob saw all sorts of interesting things. She found beautiful rocks, the size of a house that shimmered as the reflected the sunlight; she saw a wide canyon in the distance. She flew around with Spark, and they made friends with the birds and the giant butterflies. She wanted so badly to fly to the castle, but she knew that it would be better to explore it with everyone else, so she turned back to fly to the Perch and find her friends.
Woggy and Sara took a break from working on the Perch, and when Finn and Rob returned, they all went down to the beach. They played in the water and napped in the warm sun on the warm sand. Finn asked Sara to draw them some tacos and she did. They were not quite as good as Mara’s tacos, but they were still very delicious, especially to four hungry children.
They sat on the beach, full of tacos and happiness and looked out at the rhythmic rolling of the waves. They were content. They enjoyed being together and they enjoyed A-Dream. It held all the comforts of home, and all the potential for adventure everywhere they turned.
Woggy laid his head back on the sand. Sara sat, drawing one last picture before their next adventure. Finn stared, mesmerized by waves on the water. And Rob’s heart stirred with adventure.
“Let’s go to the castle!” said Rob.
“Sounds like fun to me,” said Finn, “I have always wanted to explore a castle; think of all the exciting things there are to see.”
“I wonder what kind of statues and paintings it has,” mused Sara.
“I’ll bet there is a room just full of treasure!” said Rob.
Woggy smiled, still laying on his back. He loved how his friends were curious to explore and discover things, just like him. He wanted to be with them always, whether it was just sitting on the beach or exploring a mysterious castle. Then his mind started racing, thinking about what amazing inventions might be inside the castle.
“Let’s go!” said Woggy as he jumped up. “I’ll race you!” And then he ran into the woods with Finn close on his heels. Rob launched into the sky with Spark right behind, and soon they were right behind the boys.
Sara drew one last stroke on the paper and her drawing was complete: a beautiful painted pony, which instantly became a real painted pony with brown and white markings and a sleek coat. She smiled. She had never ridden a horse before, but she had imagined it so many times that she knew it would be no problem. She let the horse nuzzle her hand, and then she hopped on its back and soon she had caught up with her friends. It was time to explore a castle.