Zipped

9: The Dream

“He’s still in the zipper. Molly, so are you.”

I froze. Was she right? I couldn’t believe it. So, that meant that this whole thing was a dream. I wasn’t really with my parents. I wasn’t safe. I was still underground, struggling to find a way to get home and share my findings with the other people in the city. This was really disappointing to find out.

“So this is a dream, or a hallucination or something. I’m not really with you?” My voice was quiet as I spoke. This was just so disappointing.

“I’m sorry princess, but you’re not.” She held me close to her again.

“At least in my dreams I’m here then. This is where I really want to be. I want to be home with you and Dad. I want my siblings here with me too. And I want the innocents from the zipper to be up here with me too. Then everything would be the way it should be.” I started to ramble about all the things I wanted, but I bet they truly didn’t mean anything in this dream world after all.

“I know. I think you’re doing well, though. You’re getting there. You’ll be back here with us sooner than you think.” She cracked a faint smile, which caused me to give her one as well.

“You really think so?”

“Well, think about it yourself. Who are your allies down there?” She gave me a tiny smirk as she looked at me.

“Well, of course I have Thomas…” I began. My brother, as much as I didn’t like him at times, was one of the best guys I knew. He was sensitive, smart, and thought things through. He cared about me and didn’t want me hurt. He had amazing intuition and was able to figure out when something wasn’t quite right. In some ways, I wished that I could be more like him. However, I would never admit this fact to anyone.

“Then there’s Elsie too.” I adored my little sister. She was able to make all of us so happy in an instant. I still didn’t quite know how she did it. Maybe it was because she was so young and cute. Or, maybe it was because she reminded us of our childhoods. But either way, her smile was so great to have. It made us feel better if we were having a bad time down there. I adored her.

“Neil’s great to have around.” He really was. He was the glue. He was so intelligent, and he was able to take charge of us so easily. He was a fantastic leader, and he knew everything about the zipper since he lived there his whole life. I admired him honestly. I was glad that he was around to be able to keep us on track. I don’t think we’d be anywhere close to getting out if it wasn’t for him.

“Shailene is great.” She was a great asset. She was easily one of the most helpful people around here. Although she hadn’t been doing so much more than being there for us at the moment, I knew she would be so much more than that sooner or later. She would end up becoming so essential before we knew it. Plus, she was a good friend. When Thomas wasn’t around, I sometimes talked to her about life, and she was a great listener.

“And then there’s Celia…” I added. She was the one who was taking care of Elsie when we were all running around and acting busy. She was the one who was willing to do what she needed to when it came to helping out. She was the quietest one, and although she wasn’t always around, she was a great person to have there. If we didn’t have her to take care of the little things, everything would be a whole lot tougher.