Shattered - By Sophia Sharp Page 0,21

up, and he looked at her. Mirth filled his eyes, and an enormous grin sat on his face. He wasn’t shivering at all. He was laughing! Probably laughing at her. Her anger returned, and just as she was about to think of something else to do, Logan was at her side.

There was no movement that she saw. One moment he was on the ground, wet and laughing, and the next he was beside her, dry as a duck and holding her arm. It was taking all of her dignity not to claw his eyes out for what he’d done.

“Before you do anything else,” he said quickly, “realize that I know a lot more than you, and I could counter before you even knew it.” Then he took his hand away and frowned. “And you’re still wet.”

Abashedly, Laura had realized that she was. Could she change that, too? She imagined herself in the same clothes, dry as they had been. Nothing happened. She closed her eyes, and tried again. When she opened them, her clothes were as wet as ever.

Logan smiled. “Remember what I said. You are just a reflection, but everything else is part of this world. You and everything that came with you – clothes included – are reflections. Instead of thinking of dry clothes, think of taking the water out of your clothing.”

Laura growled, and tried again. This time, like Logan suggested, she imagined the water being pulled out of her clothing. She saw the cross-weaves of the fabric in her mind’s eye, and thought of tiny little droplets coming out of the cloth and evaporating into the air. As she did that, she realized that she was completely dry.

Logan laughed. Laura looked at him strangely for a moment, but then she began to laugh, too. His laughter was contagious. And, anyway, doing all this felt wonderful!

For the first time in her life, she was in full control of nearly everything around her. Any angry thoughts she had before quickly cleared away, and she laughed with pure joy. This truly was an amazing world Logan was showing her. An astounding world! One that just brimmed with endless possibilities. She felt euphoric, and let her laughter sweep her away. She spun around happily, and Logan laughed even more.

Finally, with the laughter starting to subside, Logan looked at her somewhat seriously.

“You did a fantastic job back there,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said. “At first, I couldn’t believe that you were responsible for the explosion!”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you. But you handled it by yourself like a pro. Your mind is a lot stronger than I would have thought.”

“What do you mean?” Laura asked, curious.

“For most people, the first time they come here, they panic so much in those flames that they seize up, and rip themselves out of this world. It’s just like when you wake up in the middle of a nightmare. Your mind can’t handle the pressure, and wants to escape. You, however, fought it all off very well. And especially that water touch at the end. That was something.”

“Wait, what did you just say?”

“Hmm? About what?”

“About ‘most people.’ Are there others you’ve taken here?”

“…yes,” Logan answered slowly. “Never mind that. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“No, but you did,” Laura pressed on. “Who else have you brought here before?”

“Not many, personally,” Logan answered. “But I’ve seen people come here. Sometimes, people stumble upon this place in their own dreams. Everybody has access to it, you see, but most people don’t realize it. In fact, I don’t think any people really realize it. Every time you dream in your bed, you have a chance – however small it may be – of drifting into this place. That’s when you have your most memorable dreams, and the ones you’re sure mean something. Because this place stands out so much in your mind compared to your regular dreams.

“I’m not exactly sure about how it all works, but from what I’ve pieced together… I think that right here, right where we are right now, exists as a… parallel plane. To our regular lives. Maybe to our regular dreams, even. And like I said, everybody has the ability to enter this… plane.”

“Like a parallel universe?” Laura asked.

“Sort of. But it’s more like… two sheets of paper, held parallel to one another. If one sheet of paper has something drawn on it, and you shine a light through it onto the other sheet, the shadow of the drawing falls onto