Sleepless Wonderland

Chapter 2

Some hours had passed, and Caledon gradually woke up, feeling a tingling sensation all over his body. Stretching and turning onto his side, he attributed it to the heat. However, as he rolled over, he discovered someone else in bed with him. He froze, believing it to be a dream until he laid eyes on his sleeping form.

The feeling of amazement and disorientation washed over him, a surreal experience that felt both dreamlike and undeniably real.

"What the heck?" he whispered in disbelief, his voice barely audible. Slowly sitting up in bed, he studied his sleeping self, confirming beyond doubt that it was him.

He took a moment to observe himself from a different perspective, a strange and captivating sight. Albeit his hair could use a tapering in the back.

As he circled his sleeping body, he noticed that all his movements left a trail, as if capturing the essence of his presence. The motion of his arms, the undulation of his legs, and the subtle arch in his back, all added to the strangeness of the situation. He couldn't determine if this was just another dream or something more profound. The youngster had never experienced such vivid dreams before.

Typically, they were more like fleeting movies in his mind, lacking this level of tangibility. The question lingered in his mind, did this specific event hold any significance?

Taking a risk, Caledon decided to see if any response would come from his sleeping self as he whispered into his ear. "I'm going to remove the bookmark off of your book~"

He received only the sound of aggressive snoring in response.

With the curiosity of a cat, he put on his slippers and decided to step out of his room to explore the rest of the house. Slowly pushing his bedroom door, he peered into the darkness of the hallway, struggling to see anything in the dimly lit space.

Creeping down the wooded stairs silently with his bunny slippers, he listened intently to the silence that enveloped the house, making sure to move with utmost care.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he navigated through the mudroom of the home, heading toward the side yard door.

As he opened the door and gazed outside, he could discern his surroundings quite clearly as the illumination of the moon provided ample lighting.

The detached garage that stood next to his home as well as the surrounding neighborhood, remained unchanged.

Stepping outside, he closed the door behind him while the cool night air brushed against his face. Though he found solace in the serene atmosphere, a slight worry lingered. What if he was simply sleepwalking at this point? The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it, knowing he had seen himself sleeping.

A small laugh of excitement escaped his lips as he realized that something extraordinary was unfolding before him once again.

"I need to write this down," he whispered to himself, various ideas swirling in his mind. He believed that recording his midnight excursion would solidify its reality.

Determined, Caledon planned to return to the backyard door, his mind already racing with the possibilities. However, his excitement quickly turned into frustration as he faced his first obstacle of the night, the door was locked...

Panic started to set in as he tried desperately to open it. "Oh no... I-I just opened that!" he exclaimed in a hushed yell. He contemplated climbing up to his bedroom window as an alternative but decided against it.

"No no no no no no... just let me go back above, stupid door!" he pleaded, continuing to struggle with the stubborn obstacle.

In his desperation, he ended up falling backward, expecting to hit the ground with a painful impact.