Nightmare Machine

Take charge in reality, take charge in dreams.

What if it is the other way around?

I am angry. I hate the site of my home destroyed and vulnerable. All we stood for: hope, health, family. All we cared for – gone. I rip the trash heap apart piece by piece. I see flashes in the sky, but it is sunny now. I hear thunder, but there are no storm clouds. I am angry and tearing apart this mess.

Pinky, I hear Robbie in my head again. I am going to use this on you. See if you wake up.

Is it real or is it fake?

I yell in my head again, Don't do it. I am so close.

The trash pile is heavy and I cut myself on scrap metal. It is worth it. I see fragments of the nightmare machine. It has black and rust and rot, but the green ball is there – perfectly fine.

Stephanie, Bessie's voice comes through. Break it.

Break it?

I lift the green ball from the ground and inspect it. It shoots green into the sky.

"I knew you would be here." Dream-Robbie approaches me. Bessie's spell must have lifted once I entered.

He takes the ball and says, "It won't work here."

I am momentarily blind. When my vision returns, Robbie is gone. The green ball is gone. I feel my body being jerked around. I slam onto the ground and cry in agony. Maybe I broke a bone. Some force lifts me back up . . .

"All I have to do is push the start button."

"Robbie!"

I shoot up from his bed, awake. There are wires attached to my head. He has his hands on the machine, ready to go.

Robbie looks at me.

I rip the wires from my forehead.

"I already started it. Where's the off button again?"

The Nightmare Machine has been activated.

I ask, "Why can't you shut it?"

Robbie gulps. "I don't know. Must be a glitch."

"Robbie," I stand up and grab his arm. "What is that ball made of?"

He answers, "I don't know. The Fortune Teller gave it to me. Said to be careful using it. I decided to make the machine around it. She said it was a dream-catcher."

The machine beeps loudly and spits sparks everywhere.

"Run."

I am arm in arm with Robbie as we run from his home. I have images in my head of The Forest in rewind. There are no words to express how this screws with my mind. My grip on Robbie tightens as we climb the ladder to leave. I can see the light of day.

"I can't go with you," Robbie says.

I am outside, reaching my arm out for My Villain. "You can't stay in there. It's going to blow up."

"Someone has to shut it off, Stephanie. It will blow Lazytown to smithereens."

"I won't allow it. Come on."

"I love you, Pinky. Run and tell the others. I will see you soon."

Tears are streaming down my cheeks. Beneath us, the earth begins to quake. Robbie cannot hear me say I love him; the Nightmare Machine is too loud with humming and screeching.

I fall to the grass.