Kayleb opened his eyes slowly and found himself staring at a clear blue sky. He sat up and found that he was in a field of flowers, a signature characteristic of one of his recurring dreams. One time, when he was a child, he'd seen a field full of flowers in a town that he'd visited on a field trip for the orphanage. It was quite an unorthodox thing, that field trip. yet it had made quite an impression on him. He enjoyed the array of colours in the field, the sun accentuating the scenery with a crisp, clear sky and a warm breeze. There hadn't been another summer like that in his life and he'd missed the scent of the place. He'd visited it again during his homeless days and was dismayed to find that it had been developed. To him, the flower field represented better days and he'd dreamed of it more often than not. it was quite calming and serene. Kayleb stretched, even though it was a dream, and sighed peacefully, relaxing back on his hands and staring at the sky. Almost every night, he'd sleep in a strange position and every morning he'd wake up fresh which he attributed to this dream.
'Kayleb!' A voice called, breaking his thoughts.
And there was the best part of his recurring dream: Saydie, in the flesh, as Kayleb remembered her, or a little older, running towards him. She was his only friend in the orphanage and even after they disbanded, her spirit inhabited his doll. He wasn't quite sure why that was, but it was reassuring to have Saydie beside him and he found out that she was in his dreams more often than not. That was probably a side effect of her telepathic powers. Nonetheless, it was reassuring to see her as she was before they separated. Her long blond hair reached her chest but was cut just above her eyebrows, accentuating her large brown eyes. If she was alive, she'd be around 20 but she had the body of a 9 year old. Kayleb chuckled slightly hardly believing that she used to be his 'big sister'. He had more of 'big brother' relationship now because she didn't age, really. He gave a lazy wave as she dashed up to him.
'You idiot!' Saydie shouted, body slamming Kayleb.
'Ugh!' He said, falling over suddenly.
Saydie got up and launched into one of her 'big sister' lectures.
'You can't just go to sleep in a hall! You're in school and you're already late! What are you going to do if a teacher finds you?!'
Kayleb started laughing at her words. He couldn't help it. The field of flowers and her presence elated him and he just found everything a little bit more positive.
'Don't laugh! This is serious!' Saydie said angrily.
'Sorry, sorry.' Kayleb said, holding his sides. 'It's just...' Kayleb burst into laughter as the pent up stress he'd built up over the morning escaped into the golden sunlight.
'Listen!' Saydie shouted indignantly.
Unfortunately, the hilarity of Saydie's 9 year old form lecturing Kayleb was too much and he started rolling in an attempt to stop laughing.
'AARGH!' Saydie said in frustration, tackling Kayleb to stop him rolling.
Saydie landed on his chest which made him laugh some more. Saydie pouted and headbutted his chest, angry at not being taken seriously. Kayleb was trying extremely hard to stop laughing. He suceeded in suppressing his laughter to a chuckle and finally settled down, a big grin on his face. Smiling, he put his hand on Saydie's head who was still on his chest. Flat on the grass, staring at the almost clear sky, he was at peace.
'Sorry,' Kayleb said, contraband laughs escaping from his chest. 'It's just been a while. I had too.' he said, still grinning.
'Stupid Kayleb.' Saydie pouted. She rose to a sitting position on his chest. 'Have you settled down now?
'Yep'. Kayleb responded on his back, still grinning.
'You shouldn't sleep in school! You'll get in trouble.' Saydie said, crossing her arms, signifying that she was still mad.
'Nah, it'll be fine.' Kayleb said, putting his hands behind his head and breathing deep.
'You shouldn't trust anyone! Everyone is creepy!' Saydie objected, lightly punching his chest. 'Pale lady is creepy, Bandage guy is creepy. Even the top hat guy is creepy!'
'That's mean.' Kayleb said, sitting up in his hands. 'They look trustworthy enough.'
'No they don't!' Saydie countered. 'You're too careless! You got into a lot of situations because you're too trusting!'
'Look, I got out of those situations, you know.' Kayleb protested. 'You know what I can do, you know I'll be fine.'
'But-'
'I know that I don't know what the people here are capable of,' Kayleb said, predicting her counterargument. 'But if there's one thing I'm good at, it's running away.'
'Alright, I get it.' Saydie said, begrudging the point. She stepped off of Kayleb and stood up to look down on him. 'But it's rude to fall asleep in school. The classes have already started.'
'Oh. Right.' Kayleb said.
'Well,' He said, preparing to get up. 'It's excusable, I guess. That Synn guy isn't in class either you know.'
'That just means you'll both get punished!' Saydie argued.
'It's fine.' Kayleb said, standing up and stretching. 'I'm legitimately late for school so I'm almost bound to get in trouble. It's surprising that pale lady we saw didn't give me a punishment.'
'Well, you're right...' Saydie started. 'But that doesn't mean every teacher is like that.'
'I know.' Saydie said, sitting down to be almost on eye level with Saydie. 'But I figure that if I'm day late then I deserve to be punsihed anyway. Besides, I promised to take care of myself and I'm sure I won't get punished badly.'
Saydie grumbled, like she always did when she lost a fight.
'You should wake up, anyway.' Saydie said, dodging the topic.
'Why?' Kayleb asked.
'Bandage guy will come back soon. And you're hungry, aren't you?'
'Oh yeah.' Kayleb said, noticing his hunger. he hadn't eaten all morning.
'Alright, I'll wake up. For hunger if anything.' Kayleb said, standing and brushing off his pants.
'One hug?' Kayleb asked, arms outstretched.
Saydie complied somewhat reluctantly and Kayleb lifted her off the ground in a tight hug before putting her down.
'I still don't know why you do that.' Saydie grumbled, embarrassed.
'Because you're warm and your hair is fluffy.' Kayleb said smiling.
'Be back soon, okay?' Saydie said, referring to his dream world.
'I will.' Kayleb said, Pulling his hood up as the scenery faded to black.
Saydie looked to the point that Kayleb disappeared as the dream started fading. She stared for a second and turned away, returning to her soft toy vision to see the bandaged boy's hand stretching towards Kayleb's neck. Saydie's anger soared as she thought of the worst.
Don't touch him!
As Synn's hand stretched towards Kayleb's exposed neck, Kayleb's own hand shot out of the blanket and grabbed Synn's wrist.
Don't touch him! Saydie's voice hissed in Synn's mind. Fortunately, Kayleb woke up.
'Huh? Oh.' Kayleb said, seeing his hand on Synn's wrist.
'Sorry, and thanks for waking me up.' Kayleb said making the mistake of believing that Synn was trying to wake Kayleb.
Kayleb rose and desummoned his sleeping gear. He let go of the boy's wrist and stretched. His stomach rumbled.
'Oh right!' Kayleb said, the rumbling bringing his dream conversation back into his memories. 'What's for breakfast?'