This story and the included images are Copyright © 2008 by Heather Rose Brown. They cannot be reproduced without express written consent. Codey’s World web site has written permission to publish this story. No other rights are granted.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Pale sunlight turned gray by an early morning drizzle made the unfamiliar room I'd woken up in seem unreal. I stretched out in bed until my hands were pressing against the headboard. Muscles I didn't know I had ached from last night's marathon moving session.
As the cobwebs from my dream lifted, I realized the room wasn't as unfamiliar as I'd first thought; I was in Josh's bedroom! I sat up in bed and threw off the covers. Sure enough, I was wearing his pajamas.
"Wait a minute," I thought, "how do I know what Josh's pajamas look like?"
The last bit of sleepiness faded as I realized that was because *I* was Josh. I swung my legs onto the floor and searched through the pockets of the jeans I'd left by my bed last night until I found my cell phone. After dialing my best friend's number, I held the phone to my ear and waited.
Just as I was wondering if the answering service was about to pick up, I heard a sleepy voice mutter, "Whuh?"
"Hey Tiff," I whispered, feeling guilty when I realized I must have woken her up. "Sorry for getting you up so early, but I just had the oddest dream."
"Let me guess." She sounded a little more awake. "You dreamed you were me, right?"
"Oh wow." This call was starting to feel as strange as the dream. "How'd you know?"
"I think I might have had the same dream."
"What happened in your dream?"
"You go first."
I pulled the covers back over my legs and shifted my pillows behind my back until I was comfortable. "Well, after helping you move last night, I guess I was sorta thinking about you a lot."
"That's funny. I was thinking about you too." My friend's giggle sounded more nervous than happy.
"You doing okay?"
"I don't know. I guess so. This dream just kinda made me feel off kilter."
"You want to tell me about it?"
"No ... at least, not yet. I want to hear your side first."
I sighed and sat for a minute, trying to collect my thoughts. "Well, the first bit I can remember was sitting on the steps under that aluminum awning at the back of the school, just kinda listening to the way the way the rain was plonking and pinging overhead. It must have been really early, because there were hardly any other kids there. After a while, the buses started pulling into the parking lot. The first one I saw had you in it."
"Oh weird. I'd dreamed I caught the bus at the stop across from my new house. I was feeling lonely riding with a bunch of kids I didn't know and wondering if you'd gotten to school yet when we pulled into the parking lot."
"Then you looked at me."
"And you looked at me."
I pulled the covers up to my chin as I thought about what happened next. One moment I was hunched up on cold, concrete steps, the next moment I was sitting on something softer, wondering why there was warm air blowing across my bare legs as I looked out a foggy window and saw ... me.
Tiffany sounded as lost in thought as me when she spoke. "That was really weird sitting on the steps and seeing myself in the bus."
"Yeah." As I sat there trying to think of something more intelligent to say, my phone started chirping.
"You'll probably want to answer that, Josh."
"Hold on. How can someone be calling me while I'm talking to you?"
"I don't know, but you'll probably want to get it before answering service picks up."
I cracked open bleary eyes. When I kicked off the covers tangled around my feet, I found myself wondering why I was wearing a nightgown. I ached all over from yesterday's marathon moving session as I crawled out of bed. Stumbling across the room, I searched through half-opened cardboard boxes until I found the source of the chirping and held my cell phone to my ear.
"Whuh?" It wasn't much of a greeting, but it was the best I could manage.
"Hey Tiff," a familiar voice whispered. "Sorry for getting you up so early, but I just had the strangest dream."
"Let me guess," I said as I started realizing what was going on. "You dreamed you were me, right?"
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