Episode Sixteen: What It's All About
Zorah could hardly believe that this was actually happening. What began as a variety pack of trail mix in her morning bedhead had turned into an adventure with three new friends inside of a dream realm of seemingly infinite possibilities. What new discoveries waited for them? What grand adventures were in store for The Archivers? But perhaps most importantly, were they ready?
Percival:As Zorah looked down upon Garren, curled up quietly on the soft grass of the meadow, it dawned on her. Ready or not, here they come.
Percival:Episode Sixteen: What It's All About
Zorah:I felt awful for Garren. I knew he took baseball seriously, but I hadn't realized how much was tied up in it for him, his dad, his mom. Even Constance looked like she'd swallowed a porcupine. Timmy, calm and seemingly unaffected by everything that we just saw, stood beside Garren with one hand on his shoulder. If I knew Timmy like I thought I did, he genuinely believed everything was going to be okay.
Zorah:And somehow, that made me believe it too. I don't know if it was Hushglow's humming or what, but whenever Timmy was around, even in dreams, things felt a little less heavy, a little more possible. Like believing became something that was totally okay and not something to be made fun of. Maybe we really were turning out to be a superhero team after all? Garren's tears stopped, but his eyes were still puffy and red.
Zorah:He blinked at all of us with a look that said, did that seriously just happen?
Garren:So you guys saw all that, huh?
Zorah:We all nodded. Behind Timmy, Hushglow pulsed a soft green. Garren stared at the meadow grass beneath him, then up and around at the wide shimmery horizon. So this wasn't just some crazy idea? This whole thing really worked? Constance spoke first. I couldn't believe it at first either, she said quietly.
Constance:But yes, we're actually here, together.
Zorah:Garren stepped toward Valiant.
Garren:I wanted to tell you about him, you know,
Zorah:he said, stroking Valiant's fur.
Garren:Back when you guys were talking about your dream stuff in class? But I saw how embarrassed Constance got when she mentioned Codex and I just sort of froze up.
Zorah:He stopped petting Valiant to look at us.
Garren:I guess I thought the whole thing was weird and kind of stupid, to be honest.
Zorah:Garren looked down at his feet, and so did I. He still wore his dirty cleats. Had he fallen asleep with them on?
Garren:People think I'm supposed to be this, like, cool star baseball kid or whatever, not-
Zorah:He took a deep breath to compose himself. A faint glimmer appeared in his eye when he looked back up at us.
Garren:What I'm trying to say is, thank you for being there, for seeing me like that and not running away. I needed that, a lot.
Zorah:Well, that's what friends are for, right guys? I said, glancing between Timmy and Constance.
Constance:Right.
Zorah:Constance replied with a solemn nod. Timmy just smiled.
Zorah:Beside him, Hushglow pulsed a calm, warm green.
Garren:Well, now you've all met Valiant.
Zorah:Garren said, giving his companion a small scratch behind the ear. He gestured toward the mechanical owl.
Garren:I'm guessing that one over there is Codex.
Zorah:Codex dipped into an elaborate bow, one wing swept theatrically to the side.
Codex:Please to make your acquaintance, Mr. Anderson. I am Codex, Head Archivist of the Bureau of Subconscious Affairs.
Garren:Garren blinked twice. Okay. Wow.
Zorah:He noticed the floating glowing jelly beside Timmy.
Garren:And that must be Hushglow the jellyfish?
Zorah:Hushglow lit up like someone had poured a rainbow into him along with some bonus colors not found anywhere on earth.
Timmy:Yes Garren.
Zorah:Timmy replied.
Timmy:This is Hushglow but he...
Constance:Isn't a jellyfish.
Zorah:Constance cut in.
Zorah:He just looks like one. I added shrugging. Timmy smiled. We remembered.
Garren:And who is the little kangaroo? Zorah, this one must be yours, right?
Zorah:Garren asked with a smile. It was good to see him smiling after what he went through tonight. Filbert pressed his hand against his chest as if someone just told him his scarf looked stupid.
Filbert:Kanga what? Kanga who? Why must all of you keep calling me kangaroo?
Zorah:Oh, boy. Here we go. Filbert shot into the air, sparks flying off the end of his scarf as he twirled higher and higher. His red ball appeared with a customary poof and he landed back on it with the usual boing. He hopped from one foot to the other and he was juggling little balls that looked like the ends of a fourth of July sparkler.
Filbert:I
Zorah:He let the drama of the moment build.
Filbert:Am...
Zorah:The sparkler balls flared brighter.
Filbert:Filbert.
Zorah:He hurled the balls into the air.
Zorah:They whizzed, fizzed, and flew off in every direction.
Filbert:The Splendiferous Wallaby.
Zorah:He bowed deeper than Codex had, switching his balance from his left to right foot back and forth so he didn't fall off in the process.
Filbert:At your service. He finished
Zorah:with a flicker of his hands. Nearby, Hushglow was glowing like a bright piece of bubble gum.
Garren:Oh, yeah. You're definitely Zorah's.
Zorah:I chose to take it as a compliment. Filbert brushed off a few sparks that had settled onto his scarf and were dangerously close to setting it on fire. He hopped back into the air and landed back onto the ground next to me, his red ball poofing away again. To where? I have no no idea.
Zorah:For a long moment, all eight of us just stood there silently, awkwardly, except for Hushglow. I couldn't tell if he was being awkward or not. I don't think not-jellyfish can get awkward.
Zorah:I couldn't take it anymore.
Zorah:Okay. So, I began. How do we, like, make something out of this discovery? I mean, after all, we started the Archivers because of miss McD's class project. Right?
Zorah:Constance paced around us like her mind was going a mile a minute.
Constance:Yes. That's true. But there's an incredible amount of potential here. Just look at all this hard data we can collect. All four of us sharing the same dream experiences. The possibilities are endless. Forget the project, we could publish a scientific study. We could win a Nobel Peace Prize.
Garren:Constance, do you think they're giving out Nobel Peace Prizes for weird dreams now?
Zorah:Garren asked.
Garren:So last night, there we were, all four of us in the same dream along with our friends, the metal owl, the talking giant deer, the magician Wallaby, and the glowing... And Hushglow.
Zorah:Garren shook his head.
Garren:Forget about publishing studies, we're gonna end up in the nurse's office getting our heads checked if we come into class with a presentation like that.
Zorah:Timmy spoke up.
Timmy:Maybe we're looking at this backwards,
Zorah:he said.
Timmy:Maybe we're trying to figure out what to do with the dreams, but really we should be thinking dreams are trying to do with us.
Zorah:Everyone turned their attention to Timmy.
Timmy:Remember Zorah telling us about all the nuts in her hair and the glitter? Well, she started finding those Sleepifacts in her hair before Mrs. McDermott assigned us the what is it all about project. I found the baru nut in my hair before the project was assigned too. That must mean that whatever it is that wants us to be here together isn't doing this just because of our project.
Timmy:There has to be something more.
Zorah:Something in the air changed. The giant willow tree we were sitting under had been whistling gently in the wind since we got here, but something about its song was off. Wrong. The others noticed it too. Everyone looked up into the swaying branches of the giant tree.
Zorah:A twig snapped above us. Before I could react, something small crept into my vision as it flew directly into my forehead. It hit with a soft plink right between my eyes. Ow. I bent down to find out what had just assaulted me.
Zorah:No. No way. It couldn't be. Not again. It was.
Zorah:I reached down and picked it up. A shiny baru nut. What in the Brazilian snacking craze was going on with these stinking nuts?! I held it up for the group to see. Garren and Constance stared at me like they were puppies and I had just explained the concept of peanut butter to them.
Zorah:Filbert stopped hopping, leaving his right foot hanging midair, and his shoe fell off. Codex coughed so hard that a little gear flew out of his mouth. Hushglow looked like the color of wonder. Interpret that however you wish. Valiant just stood there, but extra still.
Zorah:Timmy, he had walked off and was climbing up the low hanging branches of the Willow Tree.
Zorah:Timmy, what are you doing? I shouted. It's not safe. They've weaponized the stupid nuts. You need to be careful.
Zorah:Timmy kept climbing, ignoring my warnings of impending assault.
Zorah:Timmy, I yelled again. Seriously, I think this tree looks kinda shady. I giggled at my own terrible joke.
Zorah:He didn't answer. He just kept climbing, steady and calm, like he knew exactly where he was going. The rest of gathered at the base of the tree. Constance nervously clicked the cap of her ballpoint pen. Garren cycled his attention between Timmy, then me, then Timmy again.
Zorah:Filbert asked Timmy if he wanted to borrow his helmet.
Filbert:Timmy, would you like to borrow my helmet, mate?
Zorah:Timmy stopped. He reached out one hand and gently brushed back the curtain of willow leaves. I couldn't see whatever it was he saw, but I could see the way he froze, like he had seen something or someone. A soft glow shimmered through the branches. Not like the sort of glow that everything had here in the meadow, the sort of glow that harnessed light, not color, like the halls of a hospital.
Zorah:The tree went still. Even Hushglow stopped pulsing. And while he was still bright, he had lost all his color. Hushglow had become more like Hush-light-bulb. Something spoke.
Zorah:It was too soft for us to hear on the ground. But Timmy nodded towards the voice then started to climb back down the tree. Behind him came someone else. She didn't really descend down from the tree.
Zorah:She simply arrived at the bottom in an instant. Before I could even process that there was a new person, she was just there. She looked about the size of a grown up woman, but she definitely wasn't wasn't human. Or maybe she was once. Her skin wasn't skin, more like layers of silk shifting and fluttering in a breeze that only affected her.
Zorah:The edges of her body were blurry, like I was seeing her through some kind of soft focus camera filter. She didn't really have any color to speak of, just different shades of light and shadow. Little glints of dark blue and purple twinkled at her edges like soap bubbles catching sunlight. She floated in front of us, her feet hovering a few inches off the ground. At least I think she had feet.
Zorah:Couldn't really tell. By the time Timmy finished climbing down the tree and rejoined us, the constant pulsing colors of the Meadow had faded into a cool, silvery light. She had a peculiar look on her face as Timmy approached. She had eyes and a mouth, but like everything else, they were blurred, just enough to make you unsure. Was she smiling?
Zorah:For all I knew, she could have been bearing a mouthful of terrible fangs if we were on menu for lunch. She opened her mouth to speak. Not to eat us, thankfully.
Noma:Four there are,
Zorah:she said, an impossibly still peaceful voice.
Noma:Here now they stand. The path you have found beneath you, it stands beneath your feet as you stand before me. No longer do we echo alone.
Zorah:No one said a word or moved a muscle, except for Timmy, who I imagined saw things like this on a regular basis. He tilted his head at the creature like she was a puzzle to solve, not a threat to assess. Filbert tugged slightly on the back of my shirt as he hid behind me. She kept speaking, either not realizing or not caring that we'd not responded.
Noma:The path has led to the now. Our echo was silence. Now, the silence gives voice. Long have we sought those who follow. Who follow the ones who once dream.
Zorah:Garren finally found words.:
Garren:Guys? Does this make any sense to any of you? Like, at all?
Zorah:He asked, barely above a whisper. I had no idea what to tell him.
Zorah:I think we are the Echo or used to be an Echo, and now we're not echoing anymore. Yeah. Never mind. Ignore me.
Constance:Maybe the silence was waiting to be heard,
Zorah:Constance offered.
Constance:Something about others who dreamed? Maybe we aren't the first. But the first, what?
Constance:The floating light lady didn't understand our confusion.
Noma:Those who followed are here. Here, our path has led us. Now the echo is heard. Heard and and not not lost.
Zorah:Timmy braved a step forward and raised his hand to his lips.
Timmy:We are the ones who followed,
Zorah:he said in a dreamy tone similar to the Light Ladies.
Timmy:She has been trying to communicate with other Dreamers, Dreamers, but all she found was silence. We followed our path here and now she can hear our voices. She isn't just hearing echoes of herself anymore, it's us. She's been looking for us.
Zorah:The creature brightened, her face morphing into what must have been a wide grin.
Noma:Your thoughts curl true.
Constance:Wait. What does that mean?
Zorah:A baffled Constance asked.
Constance:Thoughts curl true?
Constance:Shouldn't our thoughts be, I don't know, straight, logical?
Zorah:Straight thought breaks, the Light Lady answered.
Noma:Curl a thought, and it bends itself into knowing.
Zorah:Constance opened her mouth, scrunching up her eyebrows like she was trying to work out an algebra problem and gave up.
Garren:I don't know about you guys,
Zorah:Garren said, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand.
Garren:But my thoughts all seemed to be broken right about now.
Zorah:Valiant stepped towards the Light Lady, which caught everyone off guard because I don't think he'd moved a muscle in at least ten minutes.:
Valiant:Greetings, Noma.
Zorah:He dipped his majestic antlers toward the ground. The creature, Noma, responded by raising one hand to the middle of her forehead, then dropping dropping it it into into a a gesture gesture towards towards Valiant.
Garren:Wait a second. Valiant? You know her?
Zorah:If possible, Garren appeared more confused.
Valiant:There is much about this realm that you do not yet understand, Garren,
Zorah:the stag replied plainly. I glanced over my shoulder at Filbert to ask him if he knew Noma, but he ducked even further behind me, shaking like a leaf. Timmy whispered something to Hushglow, who responded in a color he hadn't used before. He reminded me of a firefly on a warm summer night. I wanted to ask Timmy what the color meant, but there were more important things to do right now.
Zorah:Constance also checked in with her Dream Guide. Her shoulder shrugged. Codex eyes flickered in the world's fastest slideshow. He tried to speak but kept tripping over his words. I wondered if it was possible for a flying creature to trip for real.
Zorah:I chuckled inward at the thought.
Codex:Somnari sighting confirmed.
Zorah:Codex finally managed to say.
Codex:Oh. Oh, my. Oh, dear.
Zorah:He squawked. Calm down,
Constance:Codex. Everything is going to be alright.
Zorah:There was no way Constance believed a single word she had just said.
Constance:You said the word Somnari. What does that mean?
Zorah:Noma answered before Codex managed to pull himself together.
Noma:We are Somnari. The Dreamers, the Now Believers, Those Who Were Left Behind, Those Who Remain.
Timmy:Then there must be more of you. Right, Noma?
Zorah:Timmy wondered.
Noma:The Somnari are many. I am but one. Alone, I echo. Together, our minds curl and sing.
Garren:But wait.
Zorah:Garren said.
Garren:Left by who?
Constance:And remain where exactly?
Zorah:Constance finished. I was starting to understand.
Zorah:Maybe. Just a little. I think. You mean that you were a Dreamer before? Like us?
Noma:The path does not end here. Here, the path begins. If you choose to curl your path, I will show you.
Zorah:Timmy switched his focus to the three of us eagerly.
Timmy:We should follow Noma. This is it.
Zorah:This is what, Timmy? I responded.
Timmy:This is What It's All About. The answers to an important question, something that matters to us just like Mrs. McDermott told us.
Zorah:Timmy's eyes lit up brighter than an entire neighborhood's worth of Christmas lights. I wanted to believe, to follow, to go on an adventure, all that stuff.
Zorah:Guys, how am I supposed to curl my path or whatever when I can't even manage to untangle my hair in the morning? I asked, feeling bummed out.
Zorah:Doesn't this whole thing just seem way too big for us? Garren stuck his hand into the middle of the accidental circle we were standing in.
Garren:I know how to curl a curveball, and that's probably about it. But if I have learned anything tonight from this dream with you guys, it's that we make a pretty good team, shockingly enough.
Zorah:Garren circled the group with his eyes.
Garren:We may not have started out the day believing that we can dream together, but look at us now, right? So what do you say?
Percival:He flexed out his hand in an open invitation. I started to understand why he was such a good baseball player. I reached my arm in and placed my hand on top of Garren's.
Percival:I've been dealing with nuts all the way here. I'd be nuts if I backed out now. I'm in.
Percival:Constance lowered her head and chuckled.
Constance:I have to admit, this was not on my morning checklist. I'll tell you that much.
Zorah:Her hand landed on top of mine. Last Last came came to Timmy.
Timmy:I can't wait to tell Grandma. I have the best friends ever.
Zorah:He slapped his hand down on the pile. Garren grinned.
Garren:Archivers on three.
Zorah:We all shared a big smile.
Garren:One.
Zorah:Garren shouted, our hands pressed inwards.
Garren:Two,
Zorah:the hand pile went lower and lower.
Garren:Three,
Zorah:and just as we got as far as we could reach, we threw our hands up in the air screaming,
ALL:Archivers!
Zorah:All four of us laughed like idiots. It was a perfect moment.
Zorah:The kind you want to seal up in a bottle and save forever or at least until you're really thirsty. Filbert celebrated by shooting little rocket propelled color balls out of two tubes held high above his head, cheering and hopping around wildly. I was almost positive that he was going to set his scarf on fire this time. If I had to guess what color Hushglow was, I would have said, mom crying watching you graduate kindergarten. So, you know, whatever color that is to you.
Zorah:Codex appeared pleased. He clapped delicately with the tips of his feathers like he was watching some boring golf tournament and dared not to actually make any noise. I spotted a tiny little piece of discolored metal under his eyes. Somebody must have been leaking some oil.
Zorah:Even Valiant stood proud... er than usual, I mean. He'd deny it, but I caught the corners of his mouth curl into a teeny smile. Curl into a smile. That must have meant the smile was true, right?
Zorah:Noma held up her arms to address us.
Noma:Your joy curls true,
Zorah:she said, her voice still soft yet commanding enough to raise even above Filbert's fireworks.
Noma:But where the path leads now, it leads only for Those Who Follow. Those Who Followed must leave behind Those Who Reside.
Zorah:Noma gestured towards Filbert, Hushglow, Codex, and Valiant.
Zorah:Wait. What? You mean Filbert can't come with me? My stomach sank.
Constance:But, Noma, you have to understand.
Zorah:Constance sounded panicked.
Constance:Codex helps me process everything. How am I supposed to Archive any anomalies if he isn't with me?
Zorah:Nomad didn't respond. She just hovered there with her arms stretched wide.
Garren:I don't know if I can do this without you.
Zorah:Garren said to Valiant.
Garren:You said it yourself. There is so much about this place that I don't understand.
Valiant:Some lessons are hard earned over the course of our lives. This one, you must learn on your own, Garren.
Zorah:The great stag dipped his antlers low. Garren let out a deep sigh, then reached up and stroked the greenish patch of fur that ran along Valiant's back. His fingers lingered there for a moment. Timmy hadn't said anything. He simply stood there swaying like the willow tree staring directly at the ground.
Zorah:His arms were stiff at his side and his hands curled and uncurled over and over. His breath grew short and rapid, his shoulders rising and falling in rhythm.
Timmy:No.
Zorah:He finally said under his breath.
Timmy:No. No. No. No. No.
Timmy:No. No. This isn't right. He can't stay here. Hushglow always comes with me.
Timmy:Always.
Zorah:Even though his voice got louder, he wasn't angry. Just scared.
Timmy:If I don't see Hushglow's colors, I don't know what to feel. If I don't hear Hushglow's songs, I don't understand. I need them. If I don't have them, I mess it up. I always mess it up.
Zorah:His words poured out like a broken faucet now.
Timmy:Dad says to stop trying to feel things so much. To just stop.
Zorah:Timmy slammed his foot into the ground. His voice cracked and crumbled into sobs.
Timmy:Just stop, Timmy. Just stop. Enough with the colors and the songs and the imaginary friends. Why won't you just stop? Why won't you just act normal?
Zorah:His hands were clenched together so tight, I worried he might break his own fingers. All around the Meadow, the trees, the rolling hills, the animals, the grass, and even the ground itself radiated a deep reddish purple. The calm whistling song of the willow tree sounded harsh and cruel as its leaves whipped back and forth, biting against an invisible tornado. Constance and Garren just looked as panicked as I felt. Filbert's firework tubes disappeared, and he wasn't even wearing a scarf anymore.
Zorah:He was just Filbert, the Wallaby. He bounced on his heels with his hands clasped, unsure what to do. Codex's eyes blinked rapidly in an attempt to document everything that was going on but was having a hard time keeping up. Valiant, for the first time since I met him, showed an emotion out of the pride. His always calm eyes widened with uncertainty as he leaned into his back hooves, ready to scoop up Garren and run at a moment's notice.
Zorah:A sonic boom shook the entire meadow. The harsh Willow song faded away as it was overtaken by a deep humming noise made up of a thousand unified voices. You could almost see the sound as it traveled outward across the meadow. The voices started singing the most beautiful harmony that I ever heard. Every voice that ever existed blended together to form one perfect note.
Zorah:I don't know why, but I felt a tear form in my eye. The music rose and fell. It soared to the highest heights and plunged to the lowest lows. Something that had been lost for a really long time, so long that it forgot it ever existed, remembered itself. It found its way home again.
Zorah:The deep reds and purples that had been holding on to the Meadow's pain disappeared into the wind. The Meadow's color now matched the melody, breathing in every shade of gold and orange and silver imaginable. The voices lifted high into a choir of angels, and then the song plummeted into a deep rumbling ache. Loss and sorrow and regret, deep purples and blues with the smallest hint of red surrounded us. Then I saw it.
Zorah:Hushglow growing right in front of us. As the harmonies grew louder, he grew larger. While the colors around the Meadow gained vibrancy, he became them. Before too long, he'd swelled to the same size of the gigantic willow tree next to him. And he was beaming.
Zorah:Every sound and every color in the entire world started from him and nowhere else. We gazed up at Hushglow in silent awe, afraid to take a breath, afraid to make a sound. Not Timmy. He wasn't staring up at all. He remained perfectly still with his eyes closed.
Zorah:His hands relaxed. Time stood still. And then, Timmy opened his eyes. Tears stained his cheeks, but I don't think he noticed them. Or maybe he did and it didn't matter.
Zorah:As suddenly as it began, the gorgeous symphony of light and sound faded. Timmy raised one hand toward Hushglow. In one smooth moment, the towering Hushglow returned to his normal size, floating once again in front of Timmy. He extended one of his not-jellyfish hands and put it on Timmy's. He remained one steady color now.
Zorah:If you took every peach in the entire world and put all the color into one big floaty container, you'd have your own Hushglow.
Timmy:Please, just don't stop glowing until I'm all the way gone. Okay?
Zorah:Timmy said. Hushglow's body pulsed. I didn't need Timmy to translate that one for me. Okay. Timmy let go of Hushglow and took a couple of tiny steps backwards.
Zorah:He wiped his nose on his forearm before turning to face us. I stood in awe of whatever just happened. Nomo was still floating there silently with her arms open wide. Had she even moved during the song?
Timmy:Okay.
Zorah:He said to her.
Timmy:I'm ready.
Zorah:Noma nodded her head. Just once, she raised her arms up and... I don't know where she wanted us to go, but apparently it worked, because we were gone.
Percival:Zorah hadn't had the slightest idea that Garren, Constance, and especially Timmy had been carrying so much weight on their hearts. She found herself at a crossroads. She was afraid. Between meeting Noma and the ever growing realization that they were all truly in a shared dream, Zorah didn't know if she had the strength to handle everything that was coming towards her. But she felt something else shining through even stronger, determination.
Percival:Determination to help and support her new friends, determination to contribute and help the Archivers to the very best of her abilities. Whatever it was that Noma and the Somnari needed The Archivers for, the fact remained, they needed The Archivers. And Zorah knew deep in her heart that this mission, this quest was one that truly meant something. The only question was, what and why?
Announcer:Thank you for listening.
Announcer:If you'd like to support the show and help bring the story to life, please consider joining us on Patreon at patreon.com/epicbedheadsaga. Patrons receive episodes one week early and exclusive behind the scenes content. You can also find us at epicbedheadsaga.com and on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. And if you're enjoying the show, please follow us on your podcast app of choice. It helps more than you know.
Announcer:The Epic Bedhead Saga is written, produced, and directed by Tyler Michael Jonsson. Episode 16 features Tyler Michael Jonsson as Percival, Timmy, Garren, Valiant, Codex, and Filbert. Tiffany Ward as Zorah, Erin Culpepper as Constance, and Amber McCulloch as Noma. This episode was made possible with the support of our Dreamtender tier patrons, Nancy and Grant Jonsson. We'll see you next time.
Announcer:Until then, keep dreaming.
