• I woke up when Mr. Grehar called my name. I realized that I had fallen asleep during History class… again.

    “Miss Rina. I have lost count of how many times you have nodded off in my class. I believe I am starting to take this personally, as I have talked to a few of your other teachers. They have not noticed you drooling on your arm in the middle of a lecture, as I have.”

    I yawned and said, “Well. None of my other classes have such boring lectures. I can’t help it if I fall asleep! Oh, and by the way, I don’t drool. You’re embarrassing me.” I actually wasn’t really embarrassed. My friends were in this class and they just thought it was hilarious how I managed to fall asleep almost every day and make Mr. Grehar get angry with me. After all, he was a fairly old man (with a British accent), so just being there when he gets mad becomes the highlight of your day.

    I turned around and started talking with my friend Joe, and I said, “I’m telling you, this dream was so cool! It felt completely real and I definitely don’t have the imagination it would take to come up with it. I mean, I saw these little animals, and they were made of light. Really? I mean, who’s made of light, anyway? It was so weird. And they must have been a mix breed or something, ‘cause they were like part bulldog, part rhino, part iguana, part tiger, and part elephant. The first letters of all their names gave them the name Brites, since they were made of light and everything. They looked like bulldogs with the horns of rhinos and elephants, and they had tiger stripes that were part black, with the other color being whatever background the iguana feels like blending into. Not the prettiest things, right? At least they were pink, sometimes. Well, actually, they were kind of gold… because they were like, glowing and stuff. . . Anyway! I found out that-”

    “Miss Rina, I will see you after class.” I made a face because the teacher couldn’t see me, and then I turned around and asked, “What did I do this time, Mr. G?”

    “I think it might be quite simpler to ask ‘What didn’t I do this time?’ for then I would say, ‘You didn’t do anything at all, Miss Rina. You didn’t pay attention to anything I said because you took a nap. Then you were disrespectful and started a conversation with a neighbor. Also, you like to argue with everything I say.’”

    “I’m sorry, Mr. G. Really, I am. It’s just that. . . I’m on the debate team.”


    ***


    “Hey, mom! Nick, Laura, and Joe are coming over tonight,” I closed the front door and headed to my room.

    “Why?” my mom asked.

    “They’re my best friends. . . Why not?” I kept walking to my room as my mom rolled her eyes and went back to her newspaper.

    “Rina, are they staying for supper?” she hollered at me from the living room.

    “Well, they’re nice, so they won’t… unless we ask them to. Can we ask them to?” I smiled when she yelled “sure thing!” I was lucky to have a mom like her. She was always so nice to my friends and me, but she wasn’t the kind of parent that didn’t care if you got into trouble.

    After I dumped my backpack on my bed, I texted Laura, saying I was ready. I started walking back to the front door when the doorbell rang. My mom looked at me when I entered the room, then at the door. She turned back to me and said, “I guess when you asked if they could come over tonight, I thought you meant a little later. Looks like you actually meant ‘they’re here right now and they’re waiting to jump in the door.’” She laughed and then said a little louder, “Come on in, guys!”


    ***


    Joe, who was sitting on my pink, shaggy, rug, said, “So, let me get this straight. You fell asleep in History class for the 87th time, and you actually had a dream. And the dream was about puppies. Tiger-striped, rainbow-colored, shining puppies.”

    “Yep, I did. And I also found out that these guys, the Brites, the puppies, they have enemies. I’m not sure who they are. They didn’t tell me when I was in their lair-type-thing.”

    “They have a LAIR? Sweet!” exclaimed Nick, who was swiveling around in my computer chair.

    “Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I asked them where we were and one of them said I was still on Earth. Like that place actually exists here somewhere!”

    Laura said, “You seem to remember a lot about this dream. I know I can never remember any of my dreams.”

    “Well, I usually can’t, either, but I guess it’s just because, like, this one felt so real. I didn’t even know I was dreaming. And another thing they told me was that they’re the good guys, no matter what the… the Darkz tell me.”

    “Okay, who are the ‘Darks’? And secondly, how can the Brites be the good guys if they live in a lair, and have elephant tusks and rhino horns?” asked Nick.

    “Well, their lair is happy because it’s full of light. It’s not one of those evil, creepy, dark lairs. And the Brites are good guys because they could never hurt you. First of all, they’re so small, they could all fit inside a basketball. Second of all, their horns and tusks are made of light. The only things they could ever impale with them would be… the Darkz. I don’t remember anything about the Darkz. But I guess they’re the enemies of the Brites, and I just forgot about them until now. I hope I dream about this stuff again tonight. There’s so much more I want to know!”