Adam's Apples
"Where is that...instrument...you brought with you from Future Time?"
The evol asked the question angrily, pointing at the empty holster that Adam wore.
Adam, Zonia and Toby watched the furious evol who floated just outside the glowing ball of light that held them captive. Now they were imprisoned within the same kind of force field as were the apples. Only this glowing ball was large enough for two children and a Siberian tiger of 1,000 pounds.
"Tell me! Where is that instrument?" the evol screeched.
"I don't know," Adam said. "I must have lost it somewhere."
"No! ... No, no, no!" the enraged evol screamed. "We would have found it by now if you had lost it!"
Adam really did not know what had happened to the dream doodler. It had been in the holster when the gigantic lighton had pointed to him, his sister and Toby and ordered the evols to capture them. But when Adam had reached for the dream doodler, it wasn't in the holster.
The lighton whom the evols called "His Magnificence" had, with one wave of his huge shining hand, made the children visible. Then with yet another wave he had put the force field around Adam, Zonia and the tiger and warned the evols not to let them escape again.
"We will find that instrument! No matter where you have hidden it! We will find it!!" The evol was still screaming while he passed through a solid rock wall, leaving Adam, Zonia and Toby imprisoned within the glowing ball.
"Now what are we going to do?" Zonia asked.
Toby snarled the same question with a questioning snarl.
"Don't you know that we are here for a reason?" Adam said, putting an arm around his sister to comfort here. "The Great King is with us always."
"Nothing can hurt children who are in a Dream Doors Adventure," Zonia said with courage in her voice.
"That's right. We will be home again before you know it," Adam agreed, while stroking Toby's fur with his other hand.
Adam walked closer to the glowing force field barrier that imprisoned them. The seven apples, surrounded by a shimmering ball of light, sat several feet away upon the pedestal. Now they must free themselves, get the apples, and get back to the children waiting for them outside the mountain. But how...? How could they possibly do it without the dream doodler?
He put his hand on the holster and patted the holster where the dream doodler handle should be. He was startled. He ran his hand again over the top of the holster, looking down to see that the holster was empty. Yet he could feel the dream doodler handle! The dream doodler was still in the holster! It was invisible!
He pulled the invisible instrument from its holster. Then he ran his hand along the hard dream doodler, feeling its ridges and bumps. Yes!
"Look Zonia! It's the dream doodler!"
His sister walked to his side. "I don't see anything," she said, as if Adam had lost his mind.
Toby cocked his head curiously, then sniffed several times around Adam's hand.
"Here. Feel..."
Zonia ran her fingers over the hard surface of the dream doodler. "It's invisible! Quantum!"
"It's the Great King...He made it invisible so the evols couldn't take it away from me," Adam said knowingly. He silently thanked the Great King. But how to use the dream doodler? He had tried before to get the apples from behind the glowing ball force field, or whatever it was.
He closed his eyes and imagined he and Zonia outside of their force field prison. It couldn't hurt to try it again.
When he pushed the "DREAM DRAW" button like before, nothing happened. The dream doodler could not get them past the barrier!
"Draw yourselves backward in time..." the voice in his mind said clearly, "...to the time just before the evols put the glowing ball of light around the seven apples."
"Yes! That's it!" Adam said excitedly.
"What's it?" Zonia questioned, still running her fingers over the dream doodler.
"Stand back," Adam instructed. "I'll dream draw us out of here."
Adam shut his eyes, then imagined with all his might that he, Zonia and Toby were standing in this room back in time--just before the evols had put the force field around the seven apples.
He first pushed the "DISAPPEAR DAZZLER" on the bottom of the handle to make them invisible. He then pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button and instantly the dream drawing appeared in front of them. "Hurry through the portal!"
In the flash of a second, they stood within the same cave room invisible to the evols, one of whom was arranging the apples in a circle on top of the pedestal.
"Now, Adam," the voice in his mind said clearly again, "dream doodle the apples in the sack and yourselves away from this mountain."
When Adam imagined the apples in the sack and pressed the "DRAW" button, the seven apples disappeared from the pedestal, much to the amazement of the confused evols.
Adam closed his eyes and with all his might imagined the scene just outside the mountain where the children awaited. He pushed the "DREAM DRAW" button and the portal opened to the drawing that hung in midair. The children and Toby jumped through the portal carrying the sack of seven apples, the evols flying toward them reaching and screaming angrily.
When the first evol to reach the dream drawing tried to go through the portal, it bounced off, causing several other evols to crash into him from behind. The door closed and the drawing vanished.
Toby led the way, jumping from the Dream Door portal onto the grass and earth where Enoch, Seth and the others were supposed to be waiting. Adam and Zonia followed right behind the tiger, both of them landing feet first in the thick grass. They looked around for the children, who were nowhere to be seen.
"I think we are still back in time a little bit," Adam said, remembering that he had dream doodled them back in time and had not yet dream doodled them forward again.
"Then use the dream doodler again..." Adam's sister said impatiently. "Just imagine where they are right now, then make a drawing so we can join them."
Adam had already begun doing just that, even before Zonia gave the order. As the dream drawing appeared in midair, Adam, Zonia and Toby watched in wide-eyed wonder. Muton giants gathered around a small cave opening shuffled angrily about. The opening was much too small for the huge half-man, half-evol monsters to go through. But they very much wanted to get into the cave for some reason. The mutons pulled at the big boulders surrounding the cave opening. They were able to remove only a few of the smaller stones. They beat on the larger rocks with their fists and grunted and growled in a rage.
"It's the kids!" Adam exclaimed. "We've got to help them!"
Adam jumped into the drawing through the Dream Door portal, followed closely by his sister and the tiger. He pushed the "DISAPPEAR DAZZLER" button on the bottom of the dream doodler's handle and the three of them became invisible.
Now the muton giants were taking away larger and larger pieces of stone from the cave opening. Within a few seconds, they would be able to get to the children within the cave. Adam heard the kids screaming and crying while the beasts grunted and growled as they did their work.
"I'll take care of this," Adam said boldly.
He pointed the dream doodler at the mutons and imagined as hard as he could imagine. The loud, growling scream shook the whole area. The mutons stopped their clawing at the stones surrounding the cave opening and turned to look at the gargantuan beast that had made the ear-shattering noise.
A gigantic tyrannosaurus stood above the mutons, its massive jaws--with their eight-inch-long, razor-sharp teeth--chewed up and down as the great tyrant lizard screamed again. Its shorter front legs clawed at the air while its tree-sized tail swooshed back and forth along the ground.
"Did you do that?!" Zonia asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"It's only my imagination...But the mutons don't know that," Adam said with a chuckle.
Sure enough, the mutons, their red eyes almost popping out of their ugly heads, scurried about, flailing their long, hairy arms trying to get away from the dinosaur.
The mutons ran in all directions, some of them crashing into each other or into trees while they fled the terrifying image. Within seconds all mutons had vanished into the forest.
Adam pointed the dream doodler toward the great tyrannosaurus, shut his eyes and pressed the button. Like a soap bubble bursting, the beast popped out of existence.
"Quantum!" was the only thing Zonia could think to say.
Toby snarled an amazed but totally pleased snarl.
"That is the way to our home...along that pathway," Seth said, pointing toward a narrow opening between the rocky cliffs.
"Why don't we just use the dream doodler?" Adam's sister said. "We can get the kids back home again much quicker that way."
It was a good idea, Adam agreed without saying so.
"Seth, hold the dream doodler and press the 'DREAM DRAW' button...that one right there," he said pointing to the right button.
Seth gripped the handle as he was told.
"But first, shut your eyes and imagine that we are at your home. I don't know anything about your home, so I can't imagine it. You will have to do that yourself."
The taller boy did as he was told. But when he pressed the button, the drawing that appeared in midair was totally blank.
He tried again several times at Adam's direction, but the same blank drawing appeared.
"These children of this early First Time land cannot use the dream doodler," the voice inside Adam's mind told him. "You must go with them until you yourself can see the land where these children live. Only then can you imagine them safely home."
"We can't do it this way. We will have to go with you," Adam said, taking the dream doodler from Seth.
With Seth leading the way, Adam, Zonia, Toby, Enoch and all of the other children moved through the narrow passageway. The pathway soon opened to an area high above a wide valley.
The region was much more beautiful than the one they had just left. It seemed as if it were an entirely different land altogether. Rivers and lakes and lush green forests filled the valley below. Adam could see in Seth's face that he was happy to be home.
The giggling, cheerful noises coming from the other children made Zonia know that they, too, were joyful to once again see their homeland.
"We must take that pathway," Seth said, pointing in the direction the pathway led, then starting to walk along the path. Suddenly, a brilliant, blinding flash of light burst in front of the children! They gasped with surprise while the light grew even brighter, then dimmed until it became a familiar form.
"A slegna!" Seth said in an astonished voice.
The twenty-foot-tall, human-like figure of light stood straddling the pathway. His arms were folded over his chest while his laser-like eyes sparked with anger.
"And where do you young foolish ones think you are going?" the slegna said in an echoing voice of hatred.
The children made no answer. The creature of light held them transfixed with its golden eyes.
"I would like you to meet my ... pet," the slegna said, his golden eyes spewing electrically. "And I would like him to meet you...or perhaps ... I should say I would like for him to EAT you. Because he is, you see, quite hungry."
Suddenly the 20-foot-tall figure of light vanished and in his place appeared an even bigger creature, a massive, greenish, snake-like beast with four legs and feet with long sharp claws. Its head was that of a dragon with ruby eyes and a great mouth full of knife-blade-like teeth. When it opened its mouth, it roared in anger and shot long, hot flickers of red and yellow flame toward the children, who backed away and huddled together.
The dragon shook its head while flames gushed from its open mouth. It clawed at the earth with its long, talon-like nails and blinked its slitted eyes while its nostrils flared with each roar it made.
The dragon's long, spiked tail whipped back and forth.
Toby crouched and approached the raging reptile, the tiger's fur standing up on his back.
"Toby! No!" Adam yelled at the tiger. "You can't stop that thing!"
Toby backed up only slightly, then began to try to lure the beast away from the children. The dragon followed the tiger's movement and shot flames in his direction. Toby was too fast and moved out of the way before the flames could reach him.
"Use the dream doodler, Adam," the voice within Adam's mind said. "You cannot make the beast disappear. It is the creation of the Evil One. You must instead imagine the dragon is very, very small."
Adam pointed the dream doodler at the monstrous dragon, which now began tramping toward the children. It would be upon them at any moment! Adam shut his eyes and pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button. "Look! The dragon...it's shrinking!" Zonia yelled.
And the dragon was shrinking. It shrunk and shrunk and shrunk until it was no larger than a small rabbit.
A small wisp of smoke rather than the flickering flames now came from its mouth and nostrils. Rather than roaring dragon sounds, the tiny creature made only whimpering squeaks much like a mouse.
Toby rushed at the tiny dragon, which quickly scurried to a nearby hole in the earth. The children squealed and clapped while Toby dug at the hole into which the dragon had disappeared.
"It's okay, Toby," Adam said. "Leave him alone. Let's get out of here."
Soon the children stood on a flower-covered hill overlooking a tree-shrouded village. Adam held the sack of seven apples while he talked to Seth. "I guess you should give these to Grandfather Adam," he said.
"Grandfather Adam?" Seth questioned with a curious turn of his head.
"Oh...that's right. Grandfather Adam is your father, isn't he?"
Seth said nothing, but nodded yes.
"He is my grandfather," Enoch put in, looking into Seth's dark eyes.
"Actually, I think that Grandfather Adam is your great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather, or even more greats than that," Adam Beam said, glancing at Enoch.
It was all so confusing for the three boys.
"Since we are back in time...from New Eden Time...and then back in time from Enoch's time, then that might make you Seth's..." Adam looked very confused. "I don't know what that makes you."
"It doesn't make any difference," Zonia said with urgency in her voice. "We've got to get these apples to Grandfather Adam and then get back home."
About that time, a big butterfly flapped around Toby's big head and landed gently on the tip of the tiger's broad nose. Toby's eyes nearly crossed while he tried to focus on the butterfly. Its still fluttering wings made the cat sneeze a sloppy sneeze.
The children all laughed while the butterfly flitted away and Toby sneezed again and rubbed at his nose with one huge paw. Several of the crowd put their arms around Toby and stood petting him while the boys continued to talk.
"I don't know why these apples are so important, but you had better get them to Grandfather Adam...I mean your father...as soon as you can."
Seth started to take the sack of apples from Adam's hand when a dazzling burst of light brightened the whole hillside. When their vision could again focus, another 20-foot-tall figure of light appeared, this time standing between them and the village below.
"Slegna!" Seth said, moving back toward the children to protect them.
"No...don't be afraid," Zonia said. "This is our lighton...There is nothing to be afraid of."
The tall, broad-shouldered being of light stood with his arms folded, laughing joyfully. His golden eyes sparked and flashed rays of brilliant white light.
"That's right, little one! There is nothing of which to be afraid." The lighton said, reaching his shimmering hand down to pet Toby's head when the tiger bounded happily to him. "Good to see you, Mr. Toby!" the lighton said with a roaring laugh that shook the whole hillside.
The children of Seth's time seemed to realize that this creature was not from the Evil One, but from the Maker of All Things. They gathered around the lighton, who welcomed them with open arms and knelt on one knee to better look them in the eyes when he spoke.
"You are all very, very brave children," he said softly, his golden eyes sparkling with love for them. "You have accomplished your mission wonderfully!" he said with more excitement. "Now the time is at hand for each of you to return to the time the Maker of All Things has purposed for you."
Toby snarled a snarl that seemed to say he understood the lighton's words.
"Adam, you and your sister...as well as Mr. Toby here..." the lighton again reached to stroke the tiger's head, "...must return with Enoch to his time. You must take the seven apples with you."
When the other children had said their good-byes to each other and to Toby, Enoch and Seth stood face to face, their eyes meeting in a moment of almost understanding.
"I ... I have a grandfather who is named Seth..." Enoch said quietly. "Do you think?..."
The other boy said with equal softness in his voice, "I hope so, Enoch...I really hope so."
"I hope so, too," Enoch said with a smile.
"You must be on your way now," the lighton said gently to Adam, Zonia and Enoch after watching Enoch and Seth say goodbye. Within moments, the large dream drawing that had appeared in midair suddenly vanished, as did the three children and the tiger.