CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ODD DREAMS
Marianne looked in shock at the Shadow. After a second she finally sputtered out,
"Jack the Ripper? But they never caught him."
"Well, DUHH!," replied the Shadow with it's raspy voice, "It's easy to hide amongst the shadows when you're a shadow yourself."
"You killed all of those poor women?," asked Marianne.
"Oh, don't play like this kind of thing repulses you," replied the Evil Being, "Especially since YOU caused World War I, by murdering the Archduke and his wife."
The Shadow then tightened his grip on Marianne and then added,
"But in case you get any idea of rebelling against me, remember those women at least were able to die. Their torture eventually ended; but you can't be killed. So whatever I do to YOU, will never end."
Cosmo and Wanda were in their castle in the fishbowl, putting Poof to bed for his nap. Wanda was unusually meloncholy. Poof picked up on this.
"Mama," said Poof, "why so sad?"
"I'm just thinking about Timmy," replied the pink fairy.
"But Timmy safe. A.J. help him," replied Poof with some puzzlement.
"He is," said Wanda, "I know. It's just other things."
"I know what it is," said Cosmo, "You need some pudding; or better yet poof me up some pudding. They say that giving things to people makes people feel better."
Wanda shook her head, bemused at Cosmo's lack of perception as well as his own childlike attitude. Then she had an idea.
"Cosmo," said Wanda, "that might be a good idea. Why don't you go in the kitchen and wait. I'll get us some pudding."
"Poof, Poof, Poof," said their son, in the baby language that lately he hadn't been using as much of.
Wanda, though, still could understand him.
"No, Poof," said Wanda, "You need to take your nap first. Perhaps when you wake up, I'll get your pudding. You need to be a good boy now, and go to sleep."
"Okay, Mama," said Poof who then rolled over and immediatedly went to sleep.
Cosmo and Wanda smiled.
"Okay, sweetie," said Wanda, "let's go into the kitchen."
Timmy and A.J. had finished their video game. Now they were just sitting on the large couch.
"You know," said A.J, making sure no one was around, "I enjoy these video games but after that "Matrix" role playing with your fairy's magic yesterday, they seem kind of tame."
Timmy laughed a little bit and said,
"Welcome to my world."
Then A.J. turned serious and said,
"I'm glad you're not mad at me."
"Buddy, of course I'm not mad at you," said Timmy, "I've been thinking anyway. You may have a point about my parents. That's why I was assigned fairies in the first place; well that and Vicky."
A.J. heard the pain in his voice, but before he could say anything, Timmy spoke again,
"You know; it was the strangest thing waking up in the room. I thought I was having one of those "odd dreams" I've been having lately."
"What "odd dreams"?, asked A.J., "you mean nightmares?"
"No," said Timmy, "I mean WEIRD dreams. They're weird in the sense that..."
"In what sense?," asked A.J.
"This might sound crazy," said Timmy, "but I've been having dreams about things that have really happened to me but it's like they have a twist."
"A twist," said A.J., "how do you mean?"
"Well," said Timmy, "like for instance do you remember when my parents went to that toga party, and I came over to your house to study?"
"Yeah," said A.J.
"Well," said Timmy "I had a dream about that Saturday, and it started out exactly I remember it, but then, and this IS going to sound nuts, but I dreamed Cosmo and Wanda poofed me to Mt. Olympus AND the gods of Mt. Olympus were having a toga party."
"Fascinating," said A.J., "anything else?"
"Well," said Timmy, remember when my Grandma Vlad and Grandpa Gladys came over to my house for "Yaksgiving".
"I remember," said the Genius of Dimmsdale, "I know it drove you crazy."
"Yes it did," said Timmy, "but I, also, had a dream about that but in the dream I wished that my grandparents never came to America and stayed in Youstinkastan. That's really strange because that's a really stupid and irresponsible wish. It's just been really weird."
A.J. looked thougtful for a minute and then said,
"Actually Timmy, I might have an explanation for that. Come upstairs with me; I have something to show you."
Mr. Buxaplenty was sitting in his office at his desk. He just sat there; he didn't even feel like counting his money.
"I'd trade all the money in the world," said Remy's father, "if I could get my son back."
Mr. Buxaplenty stiffened. Had he really said that. A tear went down his cheek. He attempted to shake it off, but to no avail. He broke down and started crying; guilt and sadness overwhelmed him.
"I swear," said the rich man, "if I get my son back, I will be there for him. No matter what.
Remy, Winston, Juandissimo, and Jorgen were journeying through this "vortex". It was kind of like a maze. It was a bit like a cave . You would walk some and then a wall came out of nowhere, and Jorgen and Juandissimo had to blast through it. However, they finally got to a place that looked like there was no obstruction; it was almost like a path. Jorgen, Winston, and Remy walked down the path while Juandissimo floated beside them. Finally Winston spoke,
"Jorgen, where did that "Shadow" come from?"
"He was actually the shadow of King Oberon and Queen Titania's Chamberlain," said Jorgen.
"Who are they?," asked Winston.
"They used to be the rulers of Fairy World," replied the Toughest Fairy in the Universe.
"I thought that Fairy World was ruled by the Fairy Council and you, Jorgen," said Winston.
"Well," said Jorgen, "it is, but before that we had a king and queen. They're just figure heads now. It's similiar to what you humans call a "constitutional monarchy". The Council first advised the King and Queen, but eventually the Ancient Fairy Council gained more power and there was not as much of a need for the king and queen. And then of course, Fairy World became so complex to run they needed someone to execute the laws of Fairy World."
"So you're kind of like a "Prime Ministir or a President?," asked Remy intrigued. He knew a lot of this, but it was hard to imagine Jorgen as "presidential". He was more like a drill sargent.
"Similiar," said Jorgen, "it's not perfect but it's the closest example from humanity I can think of."
"So where does the Shadow come in," said Winston.
"Well, centuries ago," said Jorgen, "The Chamberlain came into contact with something called the "Royal Jewel of Fairy World." That separated the Shadow from the Chamberlain. Unfortunately, Shadows are by their very nature evil. Upon being released, he wanted to use the Jewel to take over Fairy World and the Earth. He, also, wanted to reverse the roles shadows have with their "casters".
"That's why he told us," said Remy, "to see if we'd liked to be dragged through the dirt."
Jorgen nodded.
"Who stopped him?," said Winston.
"Timmy Turner," replied Jorgen.
Timmy looked at the DVD that A.J. had gotten from Jorgen in disbelief. It had the "strange" dreams he had been having for months on it.
"So," said Timmy, "You mean all of this time these "dreams" I've been having are of an alternate timeline."
A.J. nodded and then said,
"Yeah. A lot of the things in that alternate timeline are identical to what's going on in our timeline, while some events are similiar but turn out differently. There are a few things that don't happen at all."
"You know as rough as my life is right now," said the pink hatted boy, "it's prefereably to that timeline. Trixie's dating me; I'm doing pretty well in school. I'm also TRYING to be more responsible, and it's all due to you, A.J. because you decided to develop that immunity to Forgetcin and wanted to help me. A.J., buddy, I owe you my life. I can never repay you for what you did for me."
"There's no need to repay me," said A.J., "You don't owe me anything. I was glad to do it. Besides, it wasn't all me; you had to want to do it. All I did was steer you in the right direction."
Cosmo was slurping up his pudding and then belched very loudly.
"Cosmo," said Wanda sharply, "that's rude and you may wake up Poof."
"Sorry," said Cosmo, and then the green haired fairy turned very serious, "so what's troubling you honey?"
"It's that alternate timeline that Jorgen showed us," replied Wanda, "I found it really disturbing."
"How so?," asked Cosmo.
"Some of the things I do in that timeline really disturb me," said Wanda.
"Like what?," asked Cosmo.
Wanda looked a little surprised. Cosmo was having one of his rare moments of clarity. She knew she had to be quick about this. His perceptiveness would not last long.
"For instance," said Wanda, "in that timeline, I switch Timmy's brain with his mothers to make him realize that a Mom's life isn't easy."
"What's disturbing about that; it's a good lesson," said Cosmo.
"It WOULD be if the mother in question was anyone else BUT Mrs. Turner," said Wanda, "the thing is the woman is, at best, questionable in her parenting skills. Also, Timmy's life is hard; I would venture to say that it's almost as hard, if not harder than his mother's life. Why would I do such a thing."
"Sugar," said Cosmo, "YOU didn't. You in an alternate timeline did, and also you're discounting Timmy's behaviour in that reality. In it, our godchild is completely and utterly irresponsible and reckless and he never grows up, at least not mentally. I suspect that he probably exasperated you to the point that you and, even I, did things we don't normally do."
Wanda was impressed and said,
"Cosmo, that's brilliant. You can be pretty smart sometimes."
"Yes," said Cosmo, "and now to show you how smart I am, I'll show you my skills as an electricialian by sticking this wet metal fork in this outlet."
Cosmo did just that and electricity pumped through his body. It didn't kill him, but it lit up his hair and made it stand on it's end. He was also smoldering. Fortunatley, being magical he survived it, but it still hurt.
"And now," said Wanda ruefully, "it's over."
Helen Johnson held the phone in her hand. She'd been dreading the call from Mrs. Turner. She was not surprised however.
"Hello, Theresa," said A.J.'s Mom.
"Don't you hello me, Helen," said Theresa Turner, "you took my son away from me."
"No," said Helen, "WE didn't. Social Services did because they found out he was home ALONE."
"Timmy apprarently didn't mind," said Mrs. Turner, "but he DID mind being taken from us. He was crying and screaming while Hunter and that social worker took him away from his home. What kind of person are you Helen; taking a little boy away from his mother."
That was the wrong thing to say.
"What kind of WOMAN am I?," replied Helen, "I'm the woman who was there for YOUR son last night when he received his award for most improved student. I'm the woman who didn't press charges after your husband crashed the soccer team bus, almost killing MY son, because I didn't want to hurt Timmy. I'm also the woman whose son you left alone at a campground, along with Chester and Timmy, putting all three of them in danger. Do you know why Timmy was crying and screaming; because despite all of the hurt you put him through, he still loves his parents and wants to go home to them. What kind of woman am I? What kind of mother are you?
Please review. This was one of my longer chapters and I hope it made sense. Like Candlelight (Lauren), I decided to give Mrs. Turner a first name (Theresa), because I got tired of always calling her Mrs. Turner. I hope A.J.'s mother's response to Mrs. Turner didn't seem unnecessarily harsh. It's just Helen is really irritated right now at her.