Sleep came fast enough. I was quickly aware that it was a dream if for no other reason than the fact that I was standing on a beach drenched in sun. From what I could tell, it was my go to spot I always went to when my family went on vacation to Florida. I walked to the long dock nearby and went to the end to settle on the edge dangling my feet in the clear water.

No one else was on the beach with me, so I was free to stare across the ocean with only the calls of birds and breeze to accompany me. This time I wasn't interested in thinking, so I just stared considering how beautiful the ocean could be.

"Interesting place for a dream," came a British voice behind me. I didn't have to turn around who it belonged to.

"Pan, do you have to invade my dream?" I asked, still refusing to look at him. The whole point of a dream world is to escape from life, not have it come crashing in. Maybe if I ignored him long enough, he'd disappear.

"No really, it's quite beautiful," he said coming to take a seat right next to me.

"Seriously, go away. I came here to be alone," I said allowing irritation to seep into my voice.

"Ah, but that's what makes you so interesting. You keep talking about how much you want to hold on to that music device to keep a reminder of your world, yet what do you dream about? I don't see any parents or friends here. Just you. Alone."

I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. He was looking at me like a puzzle again.

"I don't know how you want me to respond to that," I admitted to him. "It's not like I control what my mind dreams about."

He mulled that over before hitting me with another question. "How often do you dream about this place then?"

What is this, twenty questions? "I don't know. Often, I guess," I muttered quietly.

"You're a mystery to me, Kim," Peter confessed. I turned my head to fully look at him. He looked deep into my eyes like the answers to his questions would be there instead. "You're lost, there's no doubt about that."

"What do you mean I'm lost? Right now I'm in a dream, but even when I'm awake I know where I am."

"Yes, but there's something else," he said leaning closer to me like that would help. I was starting to get lost in his green eyes when I realized how close he had gotten to my face.

Flustered, I got up and started walking back to the beach. "Well, Pan, this has been a nice little chat, but it'd be great if you'd leave me to dream in peace."

"What are you talking about?" he asked like he had no idea what I was talking about. His voice was convincing, but his eyes revealed everything, as always.

"You're not a figment of my imagination and I don't know how you can do this thing, but get out," I told him, turning around to look him straight in the face.

"Well, color me impressed, Kimberly," he smirked at me. I could tell he was immensely enjoying annoying me in dream world as much as he did in real life.

Rolling my eyes, I turned back around and continued down the beach. As I walked, various songs were playing in my head. Wait a minute, I realized. Listening to music helps me tune out everything when I run; maybe if I get it loud enough in my mind, Pan will leave, too. The first band that came to my mind was Fall Out Boy. Anytime I thought of a song title, I forced it out of my head and to begin playing out loud.

Once about half a dozen songs were playing, I turned to see if my unwanted visitor was still with me. He was there alright, but he was grabbing his ears and glaring at me. He was trying to shout something at me, but I couldn't hear him from the distance. Instead, I smirked back at him and willed the music to grow louder.

The louder it got, the more he glared. Finally after another minute, he started to dematerialize until he was out of my dream completely.

Once he was gone, I smiled at my plan actually working for once. I continued to keep the music loud rather than risk him sneaking back into my dream. Rather than have them all be the same volume, I singled out one song and had the others lower to be more background noise.

For the rest of my walk around the beach, I sang to myself.

Hey young blood. Doesn't it feel like our time is running out?
I'm gonna change you like a remix; then I'll raise you like a phoenix.
Wearing our vintage misery; no, I think it looked a little better on me.
I'm gonna change you like a remix; then I'll raise you like a phoenix.