Today at school felt… slow. Like the clocks weren’t working right. I looked at the one above the chalkboard and it didn’t change for almost the whole math lesson. But when I blinked, it had suddenly jumped 15 minutes. No one else said anything.
At lunch, Caleb asked if I was okay. He said I was “spacing out.” I don’t remember spacing out. I don’t even remember what we talked about. I just remember blinking a lot and everything looking kind of fuzzy.
When I got home, I went to look for the dragon book again, but it wasn’t on the shelf. I asked Mom and she said, “You never had a book like that, sweetie.”
But I did. I drew the dragon, remember? It’s still on the fridge.
I showed her the picture and she just looked at it and said, “That’s not a dragon.”
But it is.
It is.
Later I checked the sticker again—the one from Mimi. It’s still smiling. But the smile is different now. Bigger. A little too big.
I couldn’t focus on my homework. I kept thinking about the gates at Fancy Island. Why can’t I remember what they really looked like? Why does my drawing feel more real than the memory?
Before bed, I thought I heard someone whispering my name from the closet.
It was probably nothing. Probably.
Anyway. I’ll write more tomorrow. I think I’ll ask Nyami if she remembers the dragon book. She’s smart. She’d know.
– Matthew