Foreverland Is Dead

Cyn.”
    He smiles, turns his head slightly.
    “I promise, Miranda. I just need to understand a bit more, get my mind around this place, then I’ll tell you everything.” He holds up his hand. “Swear.”
    She taps her foot. “Bedrooms upstairs. Some strange stuff in the back.”
    He palms the Buddha and goes upstairs, pulling his weight along the railing. Sid sits on the couch, mouth-breathing.

    “I was scared of this room at first.” Miranda ventures into the back room. “The smell was coming from here and the door was different, so I just ignored it. But when Roc broke the window, everything automatically closed up.”
    She turns around.
    “And the door opened.”
    Mr. Williams steps inside, tentatively. He looks left, leans over the batteries, rubs dust off the stickers. He inspects the furnace and water filters.
    “I notice you leave all the lights on. You need to start turning them off.” He pushes a button on the furnace. “And turn the heat down, put on a sweater if you’re cold.”
    “It’s been fine so far.”
    “Winter’s coming and the solar panels won’t harvest as much power.”
    He seems satisfied with that side of the room, takes a moment to survey the monitors before sitting in front of the large one.
    “Cameras are everywhere.” Miranda wraps the blanket around her. “I figured out sound, too. I can see inside the buildings. Sometimes I feel a little guilty watching them.”
    “Don’t. It’s for your protection.”
    “I saw you walk into the woods, around that little house.”
    He’s afraid to touch anything. She had felt that way at first, too. Instead, he looks from monitor to monitor. The girls are still asleep, some already snoring. She taps a few keys, advances the views on the monitor to the little cabin in the woods. It rotates around the back and then inside.
    The old woman lies peacefully.
    Mr. Williams rolls the chair over, leans closer. “Patricia.”
    He touches the screen.
    “The dreamer becomes the dream,” he mutters.
    “What’s she doing in there?” she asks.
    He sits back, gazing at the screen, as if seeing something else. He mutters something unintelligible.
    “Is what you told Cyn true? That this is a dream?”
    “There must be…” He pulls open a drawer beneath the desktop, rattling through the office debris. His thick fingers bent, the skin spotted.
    “Mr. Williams?”
    He mutters again, goes to the next drawer.
    “Mr. Williams!”
    He snaps out of the trance, sits up, looks around like he’s forgotten where he is and how he got there. His gaze settles on the doorway. Sid blocks their exit, a hand on each side of the doorframe. His eyes are big, his breathing heavy. Chest heaving.
    “It’s all right, my boy. She’s just getting my attention.” Mr. Williams calmly waves him away. “Why don’t you go lie down in Barbara’s bedroom, get some sleep. Miranda and I have much to discuss.”
    Sid’s hands slide down the doorjamb, fall against his legs. Mr. Williams nods again. Sid saunters down the hallway, goes into the bedroom.
    “Tell me. Is it true?”
    He sighs. “We are in a dream, Miranda. But we’re not dreaming.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    He takes another deep breath, starts to say something, but changes his mind. The old woman is still motionless, still sleeping. The dreamer becomes the dream.
    “Perhaps you could prepare more tea while I visit the men’s room?”

    “What are you looking for?”
    He takes the cup and sips. “A key fob. One of those little black remote controls, only this has one button, a red one. Have you seen anything like that?”
    She shakes her head. The teacup rattles on the saucer. “Tell me what’s going on, Mr. Williams.”
    He leans his elbows on his knees, stares into the black tea like the future is hidden somewhere inside. A smile touches his lips. He’s seeing a memory.
    “Harold Ballard was a visionary,” he starts. “If you ever met him, you’d be overwhelmed with his charisma, charmed by his love of life. His mind was a true gem.”
    He shakes his hands, as if he can’t find the words to express something so large, so special.
    “It contained a universe, another world, an alternate reality where anything was possible. The boys, like Sid, called it Foreverland. It was truly magical, an island in the ocean, warm as the tropics.”
    He pauses again. Contemplating.
    “I suppose he could’ve just lived there, inside his mind, for the rest of his life. But he wasn’t like