Jessica
Jess was nervous about the Dream Impressions comp. Isabel had given her a few tips, but she was still scared. The competition was in a small room. There was a cot for the judge to sleep on, and a comfy easy chair for the dreamwalker. There was also a one-way mirror so that the contestant could be observed. Nobody thought that anybody would actually cheat, but it was just precaution. It was a little after 2. Isabel had gone at 1:15, had her wake-up time, and then was given a review of her performance.
The judge, whose name was Claribell, was put into a deep sleep, and then Jess sat down to begin. Taking a deep breath, she welcomed the dancing orbs. Since it was daytime, there weren't very many nearby. She found the judges orb, which had a low, sweet sound, and smelled of vanilla. She was afraid, but she remembered what her teachers had told her: she was very skilled for one so young. Humming, she called the orb to her, and peered inside. The judge was dreaming about monkeys. Stepping inside, she had to laugh. There were monkeys every where. Jess's turn lasted either for 1 hour, or until the judge woke up. After one hour, the enterant was to wake up the judge as quickly as possible.
"Okay," Jess said to herself, "let's get to work." First, she made the monkeys form a circle around Claribell. They held hands and danced around her, singing 'Ring Around the Roses' in childlike voices. When they got to "we all fall down," they all fell up, literally. They began to float, and before long, Claribell was flying. Claribell's mind started to take over, and before long, she was dreaming about being at work, sitting behind her desk, filing boring paperwork.
Jess decided to bring back the monkeys. She made Claribell have to go to the washroom, which was suddenly a co-ed bathroom a-la 'Ally McBeal.' The Dancing Baby bnoogied out, trailing monkeys in a conga line. As Claribell walked into the bathroom, Jess turned the room into a department store. In Claribell's dream, she was given a shopping spree. As she was picking out sweaters, there were suddenly fuzzy animals everywhere. Chinchillas, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, bunnies. Lots of bunnies. One of the bunnies began to grow, until it was the size of a person.
"We're late! We're late!" the White Rabbit began to chant as he pulled Clarribell down the hall toward a big hole in the ground. As Claribell began to scream, Jess realized the woman was claustrophobic. She was kicking and screaming as she fell in the hole. But instead of falling into Wonderland, Claribell's mind turned it into a grave, and she was buried alive.
"Gotta fix this, " Jes said to herself. Concentrating, she pulled the dirt off of Claribell and released her from he coffin. Instead of the murky graveyard Claribell thought she was in, it was a sunny day, and the circus. Claribell was riding on an elephant, when the elephant suddenly began to fly, a-la Dumbo. As they were soaring about, Dumbo turned into Pegasus, and they were soaring above the clouds, flying into Heaven. Sudenly, the horse did a barrel roll, and Claribell tumbled gently on a cloud. Laughing, she was jumping up and down on the cloud like a trampoine. The mild empathic vibe that Jess got from Claribell's dream told her that Claribell was afraid of heights, and her mind was going to make her fall.
Jess lowered the cloud so that it was hovering just above the ground, and covered it with a soft, fuzzy green moss. Suddenly, the mossy field was surrounded by an arena, and Claribell was an Olympic gymnast. As Claribell landed a flawless somies sequence -- earning her a score of a perfect 10 & winning the Gold medal -- Jessica's timer started vibrating in her pocket. They were given silent timers so that the dreamer wouldn't be aware of it.
"Okay, Claire," Jess said to herself, "Time to wake up. Thunderstorms are too cliché, how about something like this?" Immediately, it was night, and Claribell was watching the stars. It was a meteor shower, and Claribell felt like a delighted child watching the shooting stars. As she watched, on got bigger and bigger, and hit the ground about a quarter of a kilometer away. The earth began to roll, an idea she picked up from watching a guy named Lance challenge Ike at last year's mutant-alien challenge. As the meteor produced a massive earthquake, Jess decided she was pretty proud of herself. {Not bad,} Jess though as Claribell awoke. Suddenly, Jess was back in the room, and Claire was stting up, awake and smiling.
"Good job," she congratulated Jess. Looking at the clock, she smiled. "Jess, are you aware that your wake-up sequence only took a minute and a half?" The contest isn't over yet, but I will tell you that that is one of the most impressive wake-ups I've ever seen. I've been dreamwalking for nearly 30 years, and the fastest I've ever woken anybody up in was 30 seconds. You still have training to do, but you're amazingly talented. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise." Jess smiled.
"Thank you so much. It's just that, well, Dreamwalking isn't exactly the most useful gift, and sometimes I feel gypped. I envy my sibling sometijmes, but I think you're right." Jessica looked at the paralyzed woman on the cot, her wheelchair sitting next to her. Claribell had been born with the alien equivalent of the birth defect Spina Bifida, and she had never walked. The main goal of the competition was to see who could giver her the best experience of using her legs, and leave a permanent impression. At about 3:30, Jess was excused. The next contestant was a boy named Marcus. The catch of the contest was that nobody knew that Claribell was in a wheelchair until they entered the dream room. And you had to keep it a secret from the next contestant. Jess hadn't allowed herself to be phased. All in all, she was pretty proud of her performance.