Dream Academy

Chapter 7 :- Almonds

CHAPTER SEVEN

Almonds

'It is such a slow day in the cafe,' I think as a businessman in the corner half heartedly eats his breakfast, enthralled as he was with something on his laptop. As I pretend to look busy, Sinjana walks in, and I feel thrilled to see her.

"Hi Jaycee," she says as she approaches the counter. "So this is where you work, huh?"

I remember that she has never visited me at my workplace before. "Yep, it pays the bills I guess. So you want a coffee?" I grab the silver jug filled with milk and start to froth it. "I am the best in the west at making them you know."

Sinjana frowns at me. "Don't you notice something different?"

Dmitri's voice reaches my ears but unusually it isn't harsh or yelled. "You are my best employee Jaycee. You do such a great job."

Its then the realisation hits me. "Oh my god, I am in a dream!"

My friend smiles back at me. "Lesson 1. Realising your in a dream." She gives a slight nod, then reveals the huge butchers blade in her hand!

As she suddenly lunges at me with it, I instinctively turn to the side and raise my arms to defend myself from the blow, but it falls behind me, and I feel something that was tugging on me had been cut.

Sinjana shows me the blade again with a grin and stabs it into the counter. "Lesson 2. Cutting your spiritual line to reality. Now you will only go back when you want to go back."

The blade vanishes without a sound or even a wisp of smoke.

"Now for lesson 3....."

As Sinjana steps aside the man who was eating breakfast is standing before me, with a face of disgust and anger. "This coffee is crap! Your milk must be off! What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Oh no," I think as I envision Dmitri....

"What is wrong with you Jaycee!!! Didn't you check the milk like I told you to this morning?!? You are hopeless! Absolutely hopeless."

"Lesson 3. What you think will happen will happen. You envisioned Dmitri would go off and so he did. So stay in control of your thoughts. Think Dmitri is nice. Think this man loves your coffee. Remember. You have control. You can control your dreams."

Sinjana eyes me with hesitancy and I realise she is right. The man in front of me loves my coffee.

He does.

And Dmitri, he does love me.

He loves everything I do.

The man complaining about his coffee smiles and laughs loudly. "Hahaha, April Fools Day! Your coffee is great. Got you...." he says while walking away.

Dmitri lightly pats me on the back. "Loved how you handled that Jaycee. You deserve a promotion."

It dawns on me that I am controlling my dream!

"You can't control everything in your dream. Well not yet. Thats because you need to master your subconscious." I notice Sinjana has her hand behind her back and wonder if she has a knife again. "Now remember Jaycee when I first met you and offered you some of this...."

Its a plate of almonds. Just the sight of it triggers in my mind the smell, and as that permeates the air around me I begin to gag.

"You said the smell of almonds reminded you of the smell of Clag Glue which in primary school you used to eat. So now the mere smell of it makes you feel sick. Note the real smell around you. Concentrate and you will see there is no smell. Its your subconscious playing tricks on you. Focus."

My stomach feels as though it is convulsing, but I can't be convulsing, because all of this isn't real. I do what Sinjana says and smell the air. It smells like Clag Glue and I wretch.

"Focus Jaycee," she says to me. "There is no smell, remember? You have control of your dreams. Focus. These Almonds smell like nothing."

She is right. She is right. Those almonds smell like nothing. Those almonds..... As the smell disappears I realise, those almonds DO smell like nothing!! Thats amazing!

When Sinjana notices I am no longer feeling sick she pointedly speaks again.

"Lesson 4. Eat an almond."

Oh no thats going to make me sick I think and then I do feel sick.

"Lesson 4...... If you can't control your subconscious mind then you will never control your dreams. You will eat an almond and like it. You WILL like the almond."

I realise that I am never going to beat the DreamTeacher unless I eat a damn almond. And you know what DreamTeacher? I WILL EAT AN ALMOND! And it WILL TASTE AWESOME! I grab the non real almond and put it up to my nose. It smells like chocolate. It smells like..... yum! It does smell like chocolate! I glance at Sinjana, and pop it in my mouth..... It tastes like.... Like Chocolate!!

"Lesson 4 is done. Now come with me. We got to fly......."

Fly? And yet before I can say anything the walls and roof of the cafe are torn asunder to reveal blue skies and a glorius summer day.

Sinjana begins to float up, then pauses to look down at me.

"Well? Are you coming or not? This is Lesson 5. How to enter another persons dreams. We need to find the others......."