Katherine Paterson is one of my all time favorite authors. I recently re- read her book 'Jacob Have I Loved,' I thought I might add a bit of it into this story. If you have not read 'Jacob Have I Loved,' I highly recommend it.

I do not own any rights to the story 'Bridge to Terabithia,' or 'Jacob Have I Loved.'

What Dreams May Come

Chapter 4

Upon release of his first book, 'Leslie Blake: Queen Master of Megaland' Jess embarked on a book signing tour. Although the book was written for children ten years to fourteen years old, he visited mostly college campuses where the bulk of his fans could be found. Jesse was dizzy from the attention he had thrust on him, and he wished he had Leslie to help him with his new found fame and fortune.

Early on, at one of his book signings, a young girl goes unnoticed in the background, she holds back waiting for a lull in the crowd, waiting for her chance to meet Mr. Jesse Aarons, author of countless comic books, and now his first novel.

"Hi Mr. Aarons, I'm so happy to meet you."

"Yeah…Hi," Jesse said wearily. He looked up from the table and saw an alarmingly beautiful blond girl standing there before him. He was taken off guard; there was something about this girl, beyond her attractiveness, that took his breath away. Gulping down his surprise he cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure.

"Mr. Aarons," she said, "I know this sounds strange but I feel like I know you."

"Hey," he said smiling up at her, "don't believe everything you read." He reached out his hand expectantly, waiting for her to hand him her book, " So… anyway," he said, "how would you like me to sign your book?"

"Huh?" She grunted, looking confused.

"You know um like 'to my friend…' or do you just want my signature… or whatever you'd like…within reason of course… I mean I don't want to get in trouble with my girlfriend," he said chuckling.



"Oh that…" she said awkwardly, suddenly realizing what he meant. She looked down at the book she held in her hand, and feeling embarrassed, her face flushed as she passed the book across the table to him.

"Well it is a book signing after all," Jesse said playfully, laughing nervously as he took the book from her.

"Well then," she said, with a thoughtful look, "I guess… 'To my friend Leslie from Jesse Aarons'… would be ok."

Jesse's blood ran cold and he stuttered, "D…D…Did you say Leslie?"

"Yeah….That's my name," she said, " like the girl in the book… oh…I'm sorry Mr. Aarons, I should have introduced myself, I'm Leslie Anne Roberts" She said her name as if it should mean something to him, as if he should somehow recognize her.

"Oh…Oh yeah I see…I mean um… I'm sorry it just took me by surprise is all… It's nice to meet you Leslie," Jesse shook off his shock, and said, "ok then, I'll write, 'to my friend, Leslie Anne Roberts, from Jesse Aarons'…" he signed with a flourish and handed the book back to her. She turned to leave then quickly spun back around to face Jesse, and with a serious expression, and with an air of urgency she asked, "Mr. Aarons could I speak with you… in private?"

"I don't think I have time right now, Leslie…" he said, "maybe you could write to me. The address is in the back of the book." At that moment Jesse's manager came up to him announcing the end of the signing, and telling Jess they needed to get going.

"But Mr. Aarons," she insisted, "it's important; I need to talk to you…"

"I'm sorry Leslie I really need to be going… write to me ok..." As Jess was getting up from his chair Leslie leaned across the table and blurted out in a hoarse whisper that only he could hear, "Mr. Aarons, I know you have a birth mark on your right buttock, shaped like Texas." Jesse sunk back down in his chair staring at the girl, his mouth agape, and a sinking feeling in his chest.

"W…W…What did you say?"

"I've seen you naked Mr. Aarons… well… not really… not in person… I mean… in my dreams."

"Oh, Really?" Jesse mumbled, a tone of suspicious disbelief in his voice. He sat there dumbfounded, not sure if this girl were crazy, or if he was. Maybe he was just tired, and hearing things. Did she really say what he thought she did? How did she know about my birthmark, he wondered? Did some tabloid get a hold of that information from someone? Who knows, he thought, maybe even my mother had betrayed me and told some reporter about it thinking that it was a cute story, mothers can be like that. What they think is cute, and adorable can sometimes be mortifying to the child; even if the child is thirty years old. Maybe Fulcher or Hoager, or some other classmate that had seen me in the showers back in my old school days had told someone about it. No, he told himself, that can't be it, who would care about that. That would be too weird. Who would remember something like that anyway? Jesse's mind whirled with the possibilities. What else does she know he wondered, and worried.

"How do you know about my birth mark?" he hissed back at her, " I mean really…was it in some tabloid story or something?"

"No…" she said, "I told you Mr. Aarons, I've seen you naked in my dreams…well in this one dream… we went skinny dipping, and… and…well there's lots of other dreams too…" her voice trailed off. She cast her gaze down to the table, embarrassed now at what she had just revealed to him. It all happened so fast that she didn't realize what she was saying until it was too late. It just came out of her like someone else was controlling her voice. She had been so sure that he would understand her, and listen to what she had to say.

"Ok… you got me," he said, anger swelling up in his voice, "who put you up to this… come on tell me… some big joke huh, except I don't really find it very funny."

"It's no joke Mr. Aarons it's true. I've dreamt about you since as long as I can remember. You have to believe me." She pleaded.

"Jesse," his manager said as he returned to retrieve him, "we need to get going, the limo's waiting… c'mon…"

"Wait John I think there's just been a change in plans…Give me a few minutes will you."

"Jess… c'mon we're running late."

"Just a few minutes John…Please?"

"Ok…ok," his manager said in exasperation, he hurried out to tell the limo-driver he had to wait.

Jesse had been one of John's easier clients, he was never a problem, he never had a big ego, or a prima-donna like attitude, at least not until now.

Across the hall from the college bookstore there was a small café. Jesse and the girl who said her name was Leslie found a table secluded away toward the back of the room. The girl was nervous and Jesse was curious as to what was going on.

"Would you like a coffee," he asked her.

"No thank you I don't drink coffee."

"Well, ok… um, how about tea then, do you drink tea?"

"Yeah sure I'll have tea, whatever they have… with a splash of milk please."

"Yeah ok."

Jesse was growing more curious as he went to get the drinks. That was how Leslie Burke liked her tea, with a splash of milk.



Jesse returned to the table and sat down across from the curious young girl. John stood in the doorway fuming, his arms crossed at his chest and a pained expression on his face. Glancing at his watch from time to time, he would shake his head and sigh. What was Jesse doing, he thought to himself. Picking up some young college girl? What is he thinking? He wished Jesse would hurry up. They had another appointment, with another college, for another book signing.

"Ok…look I don't know who you are or what you're up too, but I'm not buying it." Jesse said as he handed the girl her tea.

"I'm thinking you're from some tabloid or something trying to get some dirt on me. Well it won't work, what you see is what you get. I'm really squeaky clean… believe me… I've never even gotten a parking ticket. So anything you want to write about me you'll just have to make it up… and then I'll sue you… and whatever tabloid, or magazine you're working for, and… and …well… you got that?"

The girl was pouting, she was shaking, and near tears.

"I'm sorry I bothered you Mr. Aarons I…I didn't mean to make you angry I just wanted to talk to you…That's all." Jesse felt a little guilty for making her cry. She seemed sincere, but her story was too crazy, too unbelievable. He was thinking now that she was just some crazy fan, who had apparently gone to a lot of trouble to learn about him. Like how did she know about the damn birthmark on my butt? It was driving him nuts.

"Ok talk." He said, looking over his shoulder and gesturing toward his manager, "I don't have much time."

She pulled Jesse's book from her back pack, and placed it on the table, front cover down. Then she slid it across the table toward Jesse, turning it to display the picture that showed on the back cover. Jess watch as she performed the action. He looked at the picture on the back of the book, he had seen it a million times before, it was one of the few photos he had of Leslie, and it was the only one he had of him and Leslie together. It was his favorite photograph of all time, and he had made dozens of drawings of it over the years. It showed the two of them on the Burkes front porch swing. It was a gray day, and it had been raining all that week. Mr. Burke… ah um… Bill… had snapped it saying something about the lighting having an artistic quality about it, what with the shadows, and colors, and so forth. Jesse hadn't fully understood what he meant at the time, but over the years he came to understand what Bill had been talking about. The picture was breathtakingly beautiful, and did have an artistic quality to it. He looked up from the book into the young girls' eyes, he felt a shiver go up his spine, he blinked and shook his head to clear his thoughts.



"So what?" he said, "I've seen this picture a million times before. Why are you showing me this?"

"Do you remember that day Mr. Aarons? The day that this picture was taken?"

"Of course I do… I've relived it a thousand times, remembering….remembering my friend…. Why?"

"Um… well to tell you the truth Mr. Aarons, I had never heard of you before a couple of days ago. I have a friend, who is like your biggest fan, and he showed me your book. He gushed about how you were coming to our campus for a book signing, and he was beside himself with excitement. Well… no offense Mr. Aarons, but I was kinda ho hum about the whole thing until I saw that picture."

"What about the picture?"

"I feel like I was there, I've seen it in my dreams dozens of times. But in my dreams I'm seeing it from the girls' perspective…it's kinda weird."

"Yeah I guess it is, that does sound weird, but there must be a logical explanation for it."

"I don't know Mr. Aarons, that's not the only dream I've had, there are lots of them, and you're in them, and I'm… I'm… well I'm that girl."

"That's impossible," he said," she died the day after this picture was taken; she was just ten years old at the time. And even if she hadn't died she'd be my age. So you see it can't be you. You just imagined it, maybe after your friend showed you the picture you dreamt about it…and…ah… me."

"No Mr. Aarons… I know that it sounds strange, but I'm telling you the truth, I've had these dreams as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little girl. I just thought they were weird dreams until I saw that picture. I was there I'm telling you, I know I was." She took a deep breath, Jesse was staring at her trying to figure her out, and then she continued, "Do you remember what you, and that girl were talking about just after that picture was taken?"

"Yeah I remember…I remember it very well; like it was only yesterday. It was the last time I'd seen her alive…and…"

"Ok Mr. Aarons let me tell you what you said… the girl asked if you wanted to go to Terabithia, and you said 'but is pouring rain.' And then she said 'so what, I wanna go, com'on.' Then you smiled at the girl, and said, reluctantly, 'ok.' Then the two of you went off to look for boots to wear. Then you said, 'I'll just go barefoot'. Then the girl said 'me too…let's go.' And the two of you ran through the mud to the rope swing…" The girl paused a moment, then said, "Shall I go on Mr. Aarons?" Jesse stared at the girl in a dumb, numb, stupor. He shook off his bewilderment, and said, "Uh… no… you don't need go on… I believe you…but how? I mean there was no one else there … Leslie and I were the only ones that would know what happened that day."

Jesse's mind went reeling from these revelations, how did this girl know so much? Could MayBelle have told someone the story? No, he thought, that can't be it. Sure, May Bell might have told someone about the enchanted rope, and Terabithia, but on second thought he really didn't think she would have. Besides, she wasn't even there that last day we were together.

"So how do you know about Terabithia?" he asked her, "I never used that in my stories, that was private, that belonged to me and Leslie, and my little sister. No one else knows about it."

"Like I told you Mr. Aarons, all those things are all in my dreams."

"What else do you know?" He asked, probing her with a stern look in his eyes.

"Oh gee, I don't know where to begin." She said looking thoughtful, her eyes met his, and she quickly looked away.

"Is there a dog in your dreams?" Jesse asked, thinking that there was no way she could possibly know about P.T. He stared at her, already reveling in his triumph that he had stump her. Leslie looked up from the table, and into Jesse's eyes.

"You mean the troll hunter?" She said, in a confident, matter of fact manner, "Prince Terrian…P.T. for short."

"Yeah…" Jesse grunted. He was trembling, and fearful. Something was very strange about this girl, maybe she can read minds or something. He didn't know what to think anymore, except that there must be a logical explanation to all of this.

"Listen," he said, "I really have to be going…but… here," Jesse opened the book that sill lay on the table between them, and wrote down his phone number on the filler page inside the front cover. "Call me," he said, and with that he stood, said goodbye and hurried to where John was waiting for him at the door.

"We've got to hurry Jess," John said, "we're already really late."

"Ok…Ok I'm coming."

A/N: Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who read, and reviewed my story. It means a great deal to me, thanks.