You want to go chasing after a complete stranger in a place where I cannot protect you.”
“She’s not a stranger. I can’t put it into words, but I feel like I know her somehow, even though we’ve never met. I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I saw that news report today. I really feel like I am the only one who can save her.”
He moves uncomfortably around the small space between the island and cabinets, almost pacing the floor.
“I won’t be alone.” I turn towards Zoë. “Zoë will be with me.” The expression on her face is a combination of surprise and worry.
He stops moving and his head shoots up to send an incredibly disapproving glance my way. “And what will happen to Zoë’s parents when she doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning? Or the next? Or for three months?”
Zoë chimes in. “I must be crazy, but she’s right. I’ll be there to help her. I can’t let her go alone. My parents will just have to worry about me.”
“Dad, I’m doing this with or without your help.”
We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment, speechless. I break the silence.
“You once told me there was a colony of dreamwalkers in Maine. That they walk sometimes for their entire adult lives and manage to keep their physical bodies alive and never return to them. Where is that colony?”
“Emma, that colony isn’t just a place you can walk in to. It is buried in a forest, surrounded by security.”
“If I explain to them why I am there, they might let me in.”
He turns away from me and puts his hands on his hips. I take a deep breath and dread the words that I am about to say to him. I don’t want to hurt him, but it is the only way to get him on my side.
“I know that Uncle Craig lives there.”
He turns and looks at me, startled.
My father hasn’t spoken about his brother since I was a little girl. My Uncle Craig is a resident of the walker colony in Maine. He lives his life as a walker, the complete opposite of my dad. My dad has never been happy with Craig’s decision to live his life in a fantasy world, as he puts it. My dad accepted reality and chose to spend his life in his physical body as most dreamwalkers do, and have a family and a career, whereas my Uncle Craig chose to live his life walking in a world where he could be completely uninhibited. He can go anywhere and do anything. He doesn't have to worry about time, money, cars, a house, or relationships. He just exists wherever he wants to exist. In the world of dreamwalkers, it is highly controversial and something that is done in secret. If you have a permanent walker in your family, you don't share that information.
“How do you know about that?” he asks after a moment of stunned silence.
“You talked about it a lot when I was five. I listened. I also know that the reason you don’t walk anymore is because you’re hiding from someone.”
Zoë is uncomfortably speechless. My dad looks up at the ceiling and rubs his hand over his mouth and jaw. “It’s not just as black and white as you think it is, Emma. You have no idea what you’re talking about; what you’d be getting yourself into.”
“Then tell me.”
“There are consequences to taking extended walks. Sometimes, you can’t come back, no matter how much you want to. You can become so profoundly lost, that you cannot find a way back. If you somehow manage to return to your body, it will be weak. You will be physically ill for an extended period of time. You may even lose some of your real world memory and not know who any of us are when you return—if you return.”
“Dad, I can’t leave her there. I’m the only one who knows that she’s lost and not just sick or broken. She will die if they give up on her. I can’t let that happen. She has come to me more than once. I am obviously the one who has to save her. She is reaching out to me somehow. She has found the connection between us—it’s up to me to complete it.”
He steps closer to me and lowers his voice. “Emma, why are you so passionate about this girl? You don’t even know her. Things like this happen every