Episode Three: The Mismatched Boy
And then there is Timothy. Twelve years have passed since we saw him as a babe in his crib, sleeping quietly while his grandmother bestowed a name and a destiny upon his Dreamtender Hushglow. I thought of young Timothy often during those twelve years. The boy who was born into this world without my knowledge. The boy whose Dreamtender did not speak.
Percival:The boy who carried within him the power to save the world. For you see, the ability to affect change does not lay solely within the rich and powerful. Even the smallest and most unassuming among us can use their voice, their spark to bring about great changes to the world. Timothy is neither rich nor powerful. He is not popular nor even well respected by his peers.
Percival:In fact, Timothy could even be described as an outsider, someone who does not fit in, someone whose personality and demeanor set him apart from other more normal children. But you must remember, my friend, even the smallest and most unassuming among us can save the world if we are merely brave enough to step forward and act, to be ourselves when the world needs us to be precisely that. And today, on the first day of seventh grade, the world needed Timothy Jorgensen to be precisely himself.
Percival:Episode Three, The Mismatched Boy.
Timmy:I really don't like waking up in the morning.
Timmy:Not because I'm tired, but because it means that I have to stop spending time in my dreams. That's where things make sense. Oh, my sweet Timmy, such an imagination, Mom always says when I tell her something important. I don't really believe she thinks what I say is important though. Dad usually looks at the floor and stays quiet.
Timmy:He waits until I leave the room, then he asks Mom why I can't act more like a normal kid. He thinks I don't hear him. I do. All the time. A few times I've tried to be more normal to make him happy.
Timmy:Once I wore two socks that matched. My feet felt itchy and crawly and wrong all day. When I showed Dad, his face had a frown on it, even though he clapped his hands loudly. Mom was standing in the doorway and she sniffled as she wiped her eyes with a Kleenex. After that, Mom and Dad argued loudly while I ate my cereal.
Timmy:I didn't wear matching socks again after that. Today, I woke up at 07:02AM. School starts at 08:15AM, so I had one hour and thirteen minutes. I usually have one hour and fifteen minutes. That's two fewer minutes than I need.
Timmy:Those two minutes might not sound like much, but they belong to my Dream Archive. I need fifteen minutes for that. It's how I start the day. Today, I only had thirteen. My chest got tight, the kind of tight that makes it hurt when you swallow.
Timmy:Maybe if I walked to school a little faster I could get the minutes back? If I didn't stop for the stop sign or if I didn't double check my socks or if I ate my toast in six bites instead of eight bites. No, I didn't like that thought at all. I decided to take a risk and walk a little faster to school. I'd have to be careful because there are a lot of cracks in the pavement on the way.
Timmy:It's been a long time since I stepped on one by accident. I think I can avoid them even if I go faster, probably. I'll have to be super extra careful on the corner of Wilson And Vine Street. Just in case, I packed an extra pair of shoes in my backpack. If I mess up, I can change them and wash the messed up ones when I get home.
Timmy:One time, it was extra loud outside because of some men using big machines to crack up the road. I accidentally stepped on a crack on Archibald Avenue. I didn't have any extra shoes that day so I had to walk on my sock instead. Then a car honked at a man riding a bicycle on Primrose Lane and I stepped on another crack. That meant I couldn't wear that sock anymore either.
Timmy:I took off the sock I had left and wore it like a shoe on my other foot. Lots of kids at school seemed to think it was a funny joke because they were laughing and pointing a lot, but I really wasn't trying to be funny at all. It actually made me feel very afraid and sad. Today was the first day of seventh grade and Mom kept telling me how important it was that I made a good impression. Maybe the reason I made a bad impression last year was because I didn't have an extra pair of shoes that day.
Timmy:I'm sure that's what Mom meant. But that wasn't going to happen this year and I felt good about my plan. It was a big risk, but Dad always tells me that I need to stop being afraid all the time and take risks. This was a pretty big risk, I thought. Now that I had figured out the plan for the morning, I was free to take my full fifteen minutes for Dream Archive time, which was good because there were lots of really important details to document.
Timmy:In the last four days, I've had some of the most interesting dreams that I've ever been able to journal about. I told Mom yesterday that I thought my dreams were trying to tell me something important. She smiled and pat my head with her hand and told me, that's great, Timmy, but she didn't ask me anything more about why they were important. So maybe she didn't think they were as important as I knew they were. So instead of talking about them with Mom, I just wrote my guesses about what they meant in the Archive.
Timmy:I should probably tell you more about my Dream Archive. I know some other people call them dream journals, but that never felt right to me. Right now, I am working on Volume Seven because I am 12 years old. I started Volume One when I was six years old. It's mostly drawings I made with crayons.
Timmy:Mom says she knew I was special when she first read through Volume One. Dad said it made me special too, he even showed it to my doctor. I'm not sure why, but he said it was because he liked it so much. This week had some fascinating entries into Volume Seven. First, Hushglow decided to send me back home with presents.
Timmy:The past four mornings, he left these presents in my hair. First, he left a squishy ball. Squishing it makes me feel calm. It even changes colors when I feel different things in my heart, just like Hushglow does. When I let go of it, it stays in the same shape until I pick it up again, then it gives my hand a big hug and feels warm and safe.
Timmy:This was the first time Hushglow ever gave me anything to keep for real, so I made sure to say thank you when I saw him the next night. You probably haven't read my Dream Archives, so maybe you haven't met Hushglow. I'm not sure if he visits other people in their dreams too, so just in case you aren't as lucky as me, I'll tell you a little bit about him. Hushglow is my very best friend. He lives in my dreams, but I know that he is real.
Timmy:Mom thinks it's a good thing that I have a special best friend in my dreams. Dad says that I should find a friend like Hushglow in real life, but Dad doesn't understand. Hushglow is real. I know it. I see him almost every single night.
Timmy:Hushglow looks like a big, floaty jellyfish. He's not a jellyfish though, he just looks like one. He's never told me the name of what kind of creature he is because he doesn't talk, but he glows and shines in every color you can imagine. Usually, if I am happy, he likes to glow in happy colors, but if I feel sad, he will glow dark pulsing blue. I've never been mad at Hushglow, but one time a mean storm cloud told Hushglow he was stupid.
Timmy:That made me very mad because Hushglow is not stupid. I got so mad that Hushglow's colors started to look like a big red volcano. Sometimes when he really wants me to pay attention, he hums to me. He has a wonderful humming voice. It always makes me feel calm.
Timmy:I normally don't like it when people touch me or hug me, but Hushglow always knows when it is the exact right time. His hugs make me feel safe, just like Grandma's. She always listens to my stories and asks me questions about them and gives me hugs. She thinks they are important. After the squishy ball, Hushglow gave me three more presents.
Timmy:One was a really yummy piece of colorful candy. I'm fairly sure they grew on trees in the magical kingdom that Hushglow lives in. The next wasn't something I could see, but when I started combing my hair that morning, I felt a silly memory that I had made with Hushglow in a dream from a long time ago. It wasn't a real present, I know, but it felt like one to me because it was one of my favorite memories from Volume One and I know that Hushglow sent it to my heart because he wanted to cheer me up. The last present, though, didn't make much sense to me.
Timmy:Why a nut? I had never seen nuts in Hushglow's world before, not plain looking ones like this at least. All the nuts in Hushglow's world were bright colors that glowed and pulsed like a heartbeat. This one looked like the things that Dad uses to make his coffee in the morning, but longer and skinnier. Usually, when I hold one of Hushglow's presents, I feel something.
Timmy:My squishy ball made me feel safe. The candy made me happy. The memory from Volume One relieved me because it meant that Hushglow remembered our best memories and kept them safe for me. But when I held the weird nut, something about it felt different than the others. Like Hushglow was giving me a clue, a hint, a piece of a puzzle.
Timmy:I noted these strange feelings in my Dream Archive, then walked safely to school. I hoped Mom and Dad would be proud of me this time for making a better first impression.
Percival:Timothy walks towards school with a quiet hope in his heart, a simple hope, a human hope that today might be the day he is enough. He does not yet realize that he has always been enough, that he was born enough, that the world itself has been waiting for precisely him. Across town, as Zorah and Timothy journey to school, two other children are making their way into a morning that will change everything.
Percival:None of them know it yet, but I do. A smile crosses my lips as we go now to meet the third child whose very world is about to change in more ways than they could possibly imagine.
Announcer:Thank you for listening. 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.
Announcer: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. The Epic Bedhead Saga is written, produced, and directed by Tyler Michael Jonsson. Episode three features Tyler Michael Jonsson as Percival and Timmy Jorgensen.
Announcer:This episode was made possible with the support of our Dreamtender tier patrons, Nancy and Grant Jonsson. We'll see you next time. Until then, keep dreaming.
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