Chapter 4: Words of a Dream

"Really? Only a few days away and you're stuck huh?" Helga spoke on a phone in her room. "Yeah yeah. I know just what to do. You're speaking with Helga G. Pataki. But first I have a meeting with Dr. Bliss soon. It won't take long at all ….. don't worry I'll be there at 4 p.m. See you there, Football head."

Helga hung the phone up and collapsed onto her bed. "I can't believe Arnold is asking help from me. To help write the most groundbreaking story the judges have ever laid their mere eyes on. Ohhh hooo."

"Helga, are you ready?" Olga asked from behind the door.

Helga immediately got up. "Coming!"

Helga, in an unusual happy mood, walked outside with her older sister Olga and got into her car.

"You seem happy today, Baby Sister." Olga said, looking at Helga's face.

Helga still felt annoyed when she called her 'baby sister' but told her the reason for her mood. "Arnold just asked me to help him on his essay. It's due tomorrow and he's desperate for help." Helga reclined on her chair. "But remember, don't tell anyone."

Over the past few weeks, Helga and Olga have been getting along better. Of course their parents haven't noticed. They still see Olga as their star child. Always impressing them and overshadowing Helga; but despite all that, Helga seemed to finding her less annoying after their talk that night.

"So, you think you're ready to confess?" Olga asked with a smile, which got Helga to sit straight up.

"You kidding!?"

"Helga, I'm sure you'll tell him when you're ready." Olga drove in front of the Hillwood Medical Center where Dr. Bliss's office is. "Here we are."

Helga got out of the car and greeted her sister goodbye. "I don't know what's more crazy. Arnold actually asking me for help since I was nice to him or that I'm actually getting along with Olga? What is the world coming to?"

Helga knocked on the door and heard Dr. Bliss's voice to come in. "Hello Helga." Dr. Bliss greeted. "How've you been?"

"Sup, Dr. Bliss." Helga said with a smile as she lay down. "Well let me put it this way. I've been having the same kind of nightmare since Oct. 5 and a great time during the day."

"Or really?" Dr. Bliss picked up her clipboard. "I suggest we talk about your real life first. What had improved since the fifth?"

Helga told her about Arnold's birthday and about how Lila and Phoebe know about her secret, and how she somehow was acting nicer to him on that day and since. She couldn't even remember the last time she tried to shoot a spit ball at him."

"And what's crazier is that Olga figured out my secret and that somehow got us closer. Still annoying, but tolerable. Can you believe it?"

"Interesting." Dr. Bliss took down a few notes. "How do you feel about Olga lately? You're spending time with her, right."

"Actually, yeah." Helga sat up. "We haven't really talked about deep stuff that much. Just hang out."

"Well Helga, I think this is a good way to tell her about your life at home and the struggle you've been through."

Helga thought about it. "Well, I guess you're right. But I don't think anytime soon is good."

"Understandable." Dr. Bliss took down some more notes. "I think it's wonderful you're bonding with your sister."

"Yeah well, I guess I agree." Helga lightly smiled.

"So let's move onto Arnold." Bliss took a sip of water. "You've been treating him nicer since his party?"

"Yep, I guess it all started when I learned something about him on October 5th."

"Really." Bliss had some thoughts about what Helga said early. "What did you learn?"

"Well I was eavesdropping on him and his best friend and turn out that date is the anniversary of when his parents went away, and never came back."

Bliss's eyes lit up. "You don't say. Do you know anything else?" Bliss looked at Helga, feeling bad for Arnold.

"Well it turns out that Olga knew them." Dr. Bliss looked at the girl, a bit surprised. "Turns out they're a couple of jungle adventurers and scientists that find cures and fight wild animals. They went missing about nine years ago and no trace was found." Helga's tone softened as her heart began to ack. "Sometimes …. I wonder how Arnold feels about them; knowing that they were great people."

Dr. Bliss felt touched by Helga's words. "Helga, you're a real good person to feel this way, especially towards loved ones." She spoked as she laid a hand on Helga's shoulder. "I'm sure Arnold would find this side of you beautiful."

Helga lightly smiled. "I always knew he didn't have his parents around, but I guess since I learned they went missing I just wasn't in the mood to pick on him." Helga glanced at her. "So …. Do you think that's just me working my way up on telling him the truth?"

"It is possible." Dr. Bliss sat back down.

"Heck, I'm going over his house today to work on this essay contest." Helga smirked. "The ironic thing is the prize is a trip to the same county his parents went missing in, San Lorenzo."

"Wow …. That is amazing." Bliss thought for a moment. "Helga, I think now is a good time to talk about that nightmare you've been having."

Helga took a deep breath. "That ….. I just tell people it was just a bad dream, but they're more like it came from some horror movie. I well written one with no jump scares."

Dr. Bliss looked at her with shock. "They're really THAT bad?"

"Down right sadistic." Helga said in a higher tone. "And it's pretty much the same dream every night since. Here's how it goes…"

Helga explained to Dr. Bliss about the dream she's been having with every single detail. "Then the other thing that saved me brought me to a boat with a bunch of other kids, and then the whole city gets destroyed."

Dr. Bliss had listened very carefully to this story. "Helga …. That is … so dark ….." Dr. Bliss breathed in heavily. "And you haven't watched any horror movies, psychedelic subjects, or experienced any abuse?"

"Nope, nope, and especially nope." Helga said. "I already told you my life story, and I have no idea why I'm having those dreams."

Dr. Bliss checked her notes. "Well Helga, I may be a therapist, but I'm also licensed in finding mental conditions. If things get worse, we can have you set up for a cat scan."

Helga raised an eyebrow. "Won't Bob be thrilled."

Bliss looked from her clipboard. "We're almost out of time, but I suggest you speak with Arnold about the dream. And also …" Bliss glanced at the clipboard one more time. "When you mentioned San Lorenzo, I found that very familiar."

"Really?" Helga asked. "Did you know Miles and Stella Shortman?"

"No, I've never heard of them." Bliss said. "But I did read a newspaper article about the country" Dr. Bliss stood up. "It was on October the 6th, it even mentioned that essay contest."

"Really, that's spooky." Helga looked curious.

"It was about an excavation site at some old temple where they found large masks."

"Masks …" Helga tilted her head, feeling very freaked out. "Do you still have it?"

"Sorry, I don't. And the waiting room always keeps their reading articles up to day." Dr. Bliss walked over to Helga. "I'm not entirely sure about your dream. But remember what I say, talked to Arnold about it and if you still have it, we may need to check your brain."

"Gotcha." Helga waved goodbye and exited the building, there she saw Olga waiting for her.

"Hello Baby Sister, who'd it go …. with what you're comfortable telling me of course."

Helga shook her head. "Well about how I'm treating Arnold nicer and about you."

Olga felt curious, but knew to keep those questions to herself. "Anything else?"

"Well that nightmare too. Kind of strange because it has these monsters wearing masks and she told me there was this newspaper article about San Lorenzo and ancient masks."

"Really?" Olga said. "Maybe it's a part of some destiny?"

"Don't joke about." Helga said in her usual tone. "Dr. Bliss also suggested a cat scan if the dreams continue long enough."

"Sorry ….. So ….. how are things with Arnold?"

Arnold was in his room, banging his head on his desk. "Where is she?" Arnold had written and re-written his essay plenty of times. He had his grandparents and boarders read it and they all felt it was good. But Arnold knew that it has to be better.

"I have to win this. And where is Hegla? She said she'll come soon ….. woah." Arnold sat up and realized what he'd just say. "I'm waiting for Helga?! Helga G. Pataki! What is this world coming to?"

Arnold slouched on this chair as he heard a knock. "Hey Arnold." His grandfather called. "Your friend with the one eyebrow is here."

"Finally …. Really. What is up with me?" Arnold opened the door and there stood Phil and Helga.

"You two play nice and don't break any windows. I have enough problems with those lousy kids hitting their baseballs in the Boarders' windows."

"Hey grandpa, a baseball hit me in the head and Susie isn't home to put ice on my bump." whined Oskar.

"See what I mean?" Phil closed the door to yell at Oskar.

"Okay Helga, play it cool. And don't mention his parents." Helga thought to herself before speaking. "Well you're extended family sure is annoying." "Crap, please tell me that was too close to parent related mental whatever?!"

"Well I won't put it that way." Arnold smiled. "But we still care about each other like any normal family."

"Close one." Helga mentally sighed to herself. "Just help him out and-" Helga then noticed the whip hung on the wall. "Woah, where'd you get that, Indiana Jones?"

Arnold chuckled. "That was part of a gift Eduardo sent me."

"Eduardo, who's that?" Helga asked. "Part of a gift? It overshadowed mine, did it?"

Arnold looked a bit shocked. "Oh, well he's an old friend of the family. He lives in Sa-, well he lives far away."

Helga could feel that Arnold was about to say San Lorenzo. "Whatever, none of my beeswax. Now onto business."

Arnold handed her his essay. It was the usual good vs evil story, but he told her that he really wanted to focus on writing great characters.

"Well that's always the first step, characters." Helga read the list to see that it took place in ancient times. "Green Eyed People?" Helga asked the boy.

"Trust me, I didn't make them up." Arnold smiled at her with sort of a fanboy-ish grin. "They're this secret race of people living in San Lorenzo."

"Secret?" Helga looked at him with a half-lit stare. "If they're so secret, how come you know them?"

Arnold blinked a few times. "Welllll, they're like missing people, but there're some reports that says they're still alive. Heh."

"Fine, doesn't matter too much if they're real or not." Helga read the story and found it quite good. She however can easily word it better, and then she got to two characters. "Twig and Stone?"

"I thought they could be good comedic reliefs. They're supposed to be annoying and-"

"Get rid of them." Helga said as she looked through. "I mean these things are embarrassing and …. Wait. What are they?" Helga read about the Green Eyes having masked things to help them out in building, farming, and caring for their families. "Strange, this is just ….." Helga then read something that struck in her mind like lighting. "I need to read this out loud."

Arnold noticed the shook tone in Helga's voice, but allowed her to read it out loud, after she read it over a few times.

'Then the hero, Toma, went to see the Scouters. Their whole bodies where just their heads and limbs, there light Khai-colored masks were shaped triangular facing down, w-with curved ends. Raptor claws. Bird feet. Black messy hair. Large eyes with small green pupils. And an X-shaped mouth.'

Arnold looked into the girl's eyes. "Helga?" Helga didn't respond. He noticed the girl trembling in shock. "Helga?" Arnold asked louder as he placed his hand on her shoulder to shake her a bit.

"W-What?" Helga snapped out of it and saw Arnold close to her. "Yikes!" Helga pushed him away. "What do you think you're doing, bucko?!"

Arnold stood up and brushed himself. "Sorry, it's just that you were sitting there with no response. I was worried."

"He was worried about me. Ohh huhh." Helga mentally slapped herself. "Sorry there, Football Head. It's just that …." Helga looked at Arnold, not wanting to sound like a creep. "It's just that I remember hearing about those walking heads right here." Helga pointed at the part of some monsters called Scouters, walking towards a temple. "It just felt … spooky. Heh. Or you just ripped if off an old cartoon."

Arnold gave her an odd look. "Well there was a newsp-"

"Newspaper article on the 6th. That was it!" Helga quickly said.

"…..Okay. Well wait. I don't think those photos I have showed body parts."

Helga tried to think quickly. "Well … wait. What photos?"

"Oh." Arnold rubbed the back of his head. "Well Edwardo was more than just a family-friend." Arnold took out the photo album from a shelf and showed her the picture of Eduardo. "This is him, and he's part of the team who found those masks."

"Get out." Helga looked at the picture. Helga's eyes widened when she saw the mask he was holding. She felt completely shocked, more than completely. And yet, looking in those empty eyes made her feel ….

"Helga?"

"Oh, sorry about that again." Helga felt her head. "Maybe those nightmares I've been having are messing with my minds. That's all."

"You're still having them?" Arnold sat down next to her. "Want to talk about it?"

"Uhhh ….. Oh, we still need to write that essay."

"Oh right!" Arnold realized. "Please, continue reading."

Helga read through the story and really enjoyed Arnold's main character, Tona. She quickly theorized that he must have based the character on himself, which she had no argument against. But what caught the most attention was Tona's friend, a masked creature by the name of Mascasa.

"You know. Mask in Spanish is Mascara. Not Mascasa."

"I know." Arnold said. "That how'd they called him in my dream."

"Dream?"

"Well, I didn't think up of all of this on my own." Arnold smiled. "Ever since I found my … I mean Oct 5th, I've been having these strange dreams most of my nights involving this Mascasa character."

Arnold then went on to tell about the dreams he was having from Mascasa's creation, other types of mask monsters.

"Last night I dreamed about one of those mask creatures you read out loud being a prototype for something. Also I think he's a bit paranoid with something, but very loyal to Itzam and Mascasa."

"….O.K. I mean you know dreams better than anyone." Helga joked. "Man, this is creepy. Should I tell him about …."

"So what do you think of the ending?"

Helga snapped out of her thoughts. "Let me see."

Helga read through the introduction of the villain, a plain old pirate. Reading the pirate's dialogue and finding out his big evil plan seemed too boring.

"You stink at writing bad guys."

"I know…" Arnold sighed. "I guess it's not in me to write bad people."

Helga smirked. "Count yourself lucky you have a bad-to-the-bone friend to help."

"Friend?" Arnold had to ask himself that. "Of course she's a friend. Still picks on me a lot, but not as mean as Wolfgang." Arnold looked at the essay. "So how should a bad guy be like?"

"Well for starters you made him way too nice." Helga took out a sheet and write down some villain traits. "Make him as inhuman as possible."

"But he's still human." Arnold added. "How far can someone go?"

"Trust me, let me tell you." Helga wrote more. "Make him …. Have henchmen. But make sure he's so bad he overshadow them. Also make him kill a lot of people."

"Helga, I don't feel comfortable with-"

"And you should also add some Green Eyes dying because of them."

Arnold's heart skipped a beat. "Helga, I-"

"And what will really be juicy if this Pirate finds a kid and parent and kills the-" Helga instantly stopped herself, realizing what she had said. "I mean hurt a family member. Not kill anyone yet. Then have a few minions experience a change of heart." Helga looked at him with a sheepish smile. "Since they realized how evil the Pirate is, they don't want to be evil anymore. That's your stuff, right?"

Arnold thought about it. "Yeah, that is a good idea. I like that." Arnold took a pencil and wrote with her. "And maybe some of the minions were forced to work for the Pirate."

"Good idea. That Pirate guy could be holding his par-Parrots hostage. Ha, joking! I mean loved ones. Yeah, that's it."

"And how about this, and maybe I can add some that, and how about-"

The two kids wrote about ideas for thirty minutes and both laughed and were intrigued with the other's ideas. After they got all their ideas together, Helga helped Arnold re-write his essay with more advance wording.

"And don't use those words more than once in the same sentence. You spelled that wrong. Separate that into two paragraphs."

They soon finished the essay, reaching the necessary amount of words needed. "Aaaaand done." Helga sat up. "Let me tell you, you would have flunked without me."

Arnold felt so sincere to Helga. "Thank you, I have a chance to find them!" Arnold embraced her with a hug, which Helga felt captivated before slapping herself.

"Don't go too soft on me. I'm still supposed to pick on you."

"Well not since my birthday." Arnold reminded her. "I think you're doing a lot better."

"Oh … well I guess thanks and … wait." Helga tilted her head. "What'd you say after 'Thank you'?"

Arnold's eyes widened. "Oh would you look at the time. I think you need to go home for dinner."

Helga knew he said something else. "Well you're right about that. My folks would hate it if I missed one of Oooolgaaa's special dishes. See you around and …. your welcome."

As Helga was about to walk down Arnold's room's steps, but the boy stopped her. "Wait, I forgot."

"What is it?" Helga annoyingly asked.

"We need a reason for the Pirate to be evil."

"Are you serious?" Helga glanced at him as she placed her fists on her hips. "You don't need a reason to be evil."

"But …. There got to be reasons." Arnold looked at his essay. "I'm sure deep down he must have been-"

"Believe me, Arnoldo. There are plenty of bad people out there being bad for the heck of it. I hope you don't plan on changing the essay. You might ruin it on your own."

As Helga walked away, Arnold looked at the essay he and Helga wrote. "But …. Well Helga is right about not touching this." Arnold slid it into a folder and placed it in his backpack. "I can't change things. Everything else is perfect."

"Hey Arnold, Dinner!" her Grandpa called down. "Pookie, I hope you didn't add any raspberries in these."

Arnold sighed happily. "I'm sure I'll win now, thanks to Helga." The boy smiled to himself and headed to the kitchen.

"And I didn't make fun of him once when we were brainstorming." Helga and Olga were talking on the drive home. "And he has a family friend named Edwardo who's finding all those masks in San Lorenzo."

Olga took in Helga's words, those long long words about Arnold Arnold Arnold. "She really needs more hobbies … I'm I a bad sister for not realizing this." Olga smiled at her sister. "That's good. Did you talk to him about your nightmares?"

Helga calmed down. "Not really…. But the strangest thing is that he was having a recurring dream the same time I did. Only they were about some fantasy ancient people and mask monsters as servants."

"That is strange. You should tell me about those dreams soon."

Helga slouched down. "Sure, but you won't like them."

Olga pulled into the garage, but before she opened the car door, she asked Helga an important question. "You didn't mention …. Miles and Stella about Arnold, did you?"

Helga took a deep breath. "I almost slip, but not a word left my mouth about them. But I'm confident this Eduardo guy was a more personal friend to Miles and Stella."

"Hm, that could have been Eduardo I saw talking to Miles and Stella years ago. But at least you didn't mention anything." Olga smiled. "Come on, maybe my special Ravioli and Shrimp in Vodka sauce will make those dreams go away."

Helga felt her stomach. "Anything sounds good now. I'm starving like a horse."

"That's good to hear."

.

.

.

"Master, I think something is unusual with this floor."

"Let me check …. Hey you wouldn't remember any secret passageways in here? Like say one that will lead down there?"

"How can I forget? There is a basement for storage. Luckily I'm one of the few who knows the combinations. In fact I just have to do it here ….. and there you go."

"I wished the Green Eyes were this advanced now."

"You know we can easily help them do that, right?"

"I don't think advancing that fast is a good thing. They'll just become lazy, and we wouldn't want that to happen, right?"

"Heh, no we wouldn't. No we ….. oh my…"

.

.

.

.

"I have almost NO idea what this means."

End of Chapter