Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

The Dream Realms of Tamiya and Millie

Note: Quicksilver noted BrightStar and me of this little error in our writing we had made when we originally collaborated on writing stories about the dream-realms the children had experienced. Small error yes, but it can be rectified. (God-like timbre) Behold the dreams of Tamiya and Millie !

Chapter 1—Dark and Stormy Night

It was a furious and ominous evening. The thunder rolled and lightning flashed viciously which caused Tamiya to shiver beneath her covers. She usually loved storms, but nothing like this. Another BOOM echoed close to the Academy, she shivered, cried and began to wail.

Jim, hearing her crying from the hallway a few doors away from the boys' dormitories rushed in to try and soothe her. Yet every time the thunder crashed, her cries became louder.

Instinctively, he hugged her close and stroked her hair and suddenly her wailing ceased. Her tears were still streaming down her face and she had been shaking quite a bit from all of her sniffling. But, Jim's touch was soothing her and she was beginning to feel more at ease.

"You see, dear, you have nothing to fear. If you want, I'll stay with you until the storm passes.", Jim said, drying her tears with his handkerchief. She nodded, not saying anything.

He then began singing a gentle lullaby to her. Before long she was sound asleep.

As Tamiya dreamed, she was lost in a world where almost everything was made out of sugar, chocolate, ice cream, and just about any sweet substance that could be consumed. Everything in the dream could be eaten, but she only ate the cotton candy clouds and drank from the ginger ale streams. She could remember having this same dream in her youth. She thought it was unusual for her to be having a dream even now, thinking that she was growing up after having entered middle school. The truth of the matter is that she was still very much a child, or the violent storm wouldn't have frightened her as much as it did. She had come to terms with that, but she was glad that she hadn't forgotten her secret sugary hideaway. For so long as she knew it existed within her mind, she could return to it as often as she could and be pleased her imagination was still as magnificent as ever.

Jim leant over the sweet girl, wondering what kind of a dream she was having. He had fallen asleep in a rocking chair in her room and his sudden snoring had awakened him. As soon as he had realized Tamiya was fine, the storm had already ended. Smiling gently, he tucked her vanilla scented white teddy bear underneath her arm and left her room, pleased that she was sleeping soundly and blissfully involved in her sweet reverie.

Chapter 2—Never Far From Family

It was a relatively quiet night, and after a long week of studying and tests, all of the attendants to Kadic Academy were sleeping silently, save for one. Millie was missing her family and feeling slightly homesick. Remembering her pets back home made her long for home even worse and more prevalent. She found herself wrestling her sheets and sighing in frustration after being plagued with loneliness. Her parents hadn't been able to contact her since they had been so busy with work and they hadn't answered her email for a while. Millie knew her parents loved her but she had missed not hearing from them in about a week. Usually they kept in touch with her more often than that. She understood that they were occupied with work, but that didn't mean she didn't miss hearing a simple "I love you" from them. Again, she sighed in anguish, lowered her head and bit her lower lip to keep herself from crying. She was a big girl now, and she didn't think crying would help the situation much.

Wanting to go fetch a glass of water, Millie began walking down the halls until she saw Jim checking to see if any of the students were still awake.

"What are you still doing up, honey ?", he questioned the little girl, curious as to why she was up and about and not in bed, sleeping soundly.

"I wanted a drink of water.", Millie said, which was only partially true.

"There's something more to this little trip for a drink. I can tell by your tone and the way your eyes move. You can't fool me, dear.", Jim said, gently, but with a certain firmness and parental quality.

"Oh, ok. So I am a bit lonely and I miss my mom and dad. That's why I can't sleep. I thought a glass of water would help ease me to sleep. I had been feeling a little thirsty.", Millie said.

Jim picked up the little girl in his arms without her really expecting him too. His strong arms were remarkably soft, and she felt very much at ease being carried by him.

"If it is any consolation to you dear, I miss my parents too, even though I know they aren't too far away from me. It's just that our lives are so separate from one another. Reality keeps us apart, that's the way of the world. But don't worry. I know that your parents probably love you bunches. I know that if you were my daughter, I'd be telling you every day just how lucky I was to have you in my life. In fact, I feel as if you and the other children are my sons and daughters.", Jim said as he carried her back to her room and gently laid her back into the bed, covering her up and tucking her in. Sweet Millie sighed. Jim was once quite cruel to her, her best friend Tamiya, and the other children before. But now that he had seen the error of his ways so long ago, he finally eliminated the demon within his heart; in its place was a beautiful angel with a heavenly voice and a gentle touch.

As soon as Jim smoothed back Millie's hair that she was fast asleep, lost within her own dream realm. Leaving her room, he pondered what she and any of the others could've been dreaming. Dreams were as vast and unique as stars in the cosmos, so there was no telling what was happening as the neurons and synapses fired away and the subconscious ran wild.

As Millie dreamed, she encountered unicorns, Pegasuses and a whimsical picnic with living stuffed animals. Classical music was being played by living instruments and mystic bubbles came from little fairies with bubble wands. Millie enjoyed a pleasant high tea and rested on the checkered blanket until a Pegasus came, lowered himself to the ground and took her into the clouds, flying into the horizon and far above the stratosphere into the vast regions of outer space.

Epilogue

There were days Jim loathed his job when he had to finish unnecessary paper work and turn in reports. Of course, there were dossiers on the students that he often looked through and made certain additions were made if need be. A few were on medication; a handful had to take insulin, many of them suffered from seasonal allergies. The files didn't contain anything too terribly exciting or out of the ordinary. Yet, he remembered what made his work worthwhile. There was the Silat class he enjoyed teaching and learning from, and the children who looked up to him. He hoped that someday he could have a child of his own and experience the joy of fatherhood, but even if he didn't become a father, all of the children that he dealt with on a daily basis were his family even if they weren't related to him by blood. True, maybe he would be annoyed with some of them and their antics, but when it came right down to it, he adored each and every one of them as if they were part of his bloodline.

The End