Chapter 1- The Absolute Middle of Nowhere (8.16.07)
Ulrich was in some sort of tunnel with never-ending white all around him. He knew it very well, having been here at least ten times. The problem was that he didn’t know why he was here. Or where “here” even was.
Suddenly, a voice spoke.
Be prepared.
“What?”
Be prepared.
“For what?”
Be prepared.
“What am I supposed to be prepared for?”
You will know when it comes.
"What? Who are you?”
I am someone…that you have…forgotten…but you will remember…very soon…
“Please! Tell me who you are!”
Suddenly, black light overpowered the entire place, engulfing the place. The one bright spot left was sailing toward him. Or he was sailing toward it. Ulrich screamed. There was a shout. His eyelids flew open. A blonde boy with his hair in a spike wearing a red t-shirt and orange boxers was looming over him.
“Were you having the nightmare when you found out that a deadly epidemic was being transferred by cows and there wasn’t any more milk, ice cream, cheese or any other dairy products left edible? I would have screamed too.”
Ulrich groaned. He threw off his bed covers and sat up. He was back in his dormitory room.
There was scratching from inside the bed drawer opposite his.
“Oh. Kiwi wants to get out. You must have woken him.” Odd opened the drawer, and a small dog popped his head out. It looked around, trying to see what had caused the racket.
“So did you?” Odd sat down on his bed.
“No, as a matter of fact I didn’t,” said Ulrich, although a nightmare like that would have been just as frustrating as the dream that had woken him. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Wow, you sound like Jim,” teased Odd. “Maybe you’ll end up with his future: scuba diving, testing out spacesuits for NASA, and working in the secret service! Oh, and speaking of Jim, he’s probably gonna-”
Suddenly there was a shout of “Stern! Della Robbia!”
"-be here any minute,” Odd finished. “Oh no! Kiwi, get back in there!” Odd hoarsely whispered. He shoved Kiwi back into his drawer a split second before the door flew open.
“This is the thirteenth night in a row that you have screamed at 2:00 in the morning!” Jim shouted. His voice reverberated down from the ceiling.
“Really Jim? I thought it was the fourteenth,” Odd said, grinning.
“You know what I mean, Della Robbia. Stern, is there any way you can stop waking up the entire school up?”
“Only if I stuff my mouth with gauze,” Ulrich replied.
“Well, do that if necessary, but only as a last resort. I wouldn’t want you to choke and miss gym class.” Jim said fondly. “But please, STOP SHOUTING!” Jim stalked out, slamming the door behind him.
Odd glanced at the closed door. “You know what? I think he had that nightmare. He would be real angry, not being able to drink milk for his muscles.”
Ulrich mumbled agreement, climbed back into bed, pulled the covers back up, and fell asleep.
---
The next morning, Ulrich, Aelita, Yumi and Jeremie were in the cafeteria. All of them had finished, but they were waiting for Odd to get his third helping. “I’m guessing you had that dream again,” said Aelita. “I could hear it from a floor below you. And then I heard Jim. He should talk. If anyone wasn’t awake from your dream, he would have woken them up.”“And you still say that the dream is a nightmare?” Yumi asked. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean, that’s it?” said Ulrich. He was grumpy because the dream had haunted his remaining sleep like a faded outline. Just like the past few weeks.
Jeremie looked Ulrich straight in the eye. “Ulrich, that’s the thirteenth time-”
“Fourteenth,” said Odd, walking over and sitting down with a tray laden with sausages, toast and a banana.
“Whatever,” Jeremie said. “Odd, it looks like you’ve just stolen all the food in the cafeteria.” “Thank you,” Odd replied, grinning.
“Are you sure you’re not having visions, Ulrich?” Yumi asked. “Like Aelita did?”
Ulrich was so surprised that he dropped his water. “What?”
“You know,” Aelita reminded him, “like the visions of my life here on Earth before my father gave them back to me? It could just be a part of you trying to get something back belonging to you.”
Ulrich raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have anything lost…at least, not anything I’m aware of.”
“Who knows, maybe you have an evil twin or something,” Yumi joked.
“Hmm…I always thought Ulrich seemed weird sometimes, maybe even evil…” Odd said.
“No, that’s just when you tried get rid of your foot odor,” Ulrich threw back. “And believe me, it worked. Because the new odor was so overpowering, I couldn’t even smell the old one.” The table erupted in laughter.