Success!

The experiment was a success! Though her mind seems to have been a bit muddled by sleep, Gwendolyn heard what was said, and responded! I have transcribed the altered portion of the story, which appeared in the book of the stars after I sent the comments I received.

The whispers were soft, but in the still silence of Gwendolyn’s room they were loud enough to rouse her from her sleep. The voices confused her; something about sleepwalking and helping a star? Interaction and concrete? Puzzled by what she heard, Gwendolyn almost rolled over and went back to sleep, but an urgent need to write something down ceased her, and she rolled out of her bed instead. 

She crossed the room to her desk where a pad of paw-print patterned stationary lay under some CDs and a candy wrapper, and picked the paper up along with a purple star covered, tooth marked pencil. Returning to her bed, she curled up with these items, and began to write. At first, she didn’t know what she was trying to do, but slowly her thoughts began to take shape on the page. As she wrote she began to remember the star, the Dragon King, the imprisoned lover. When she came to the end, she stared at what she had written for a moment, unsure what to do with the information now that her dream was clear in her mind. Gwendolyn then noticed her pendant out of the corner of her eye. It was glowing softly, pulsing in time with another light, this one coming from under her closet door.

Gwendolyn stared the door for a moment, then pulled the pendant off the bed post and held up in front of her as she faced the closet, watching the two lights pulse together. Now she was fully awake, and completely unsure what to do. If she opened the door, would she wind up somewhere else, like Lucy, or Alice, or Dorothy? Or…she glanced at her notepad, her eyes widening. There could very well be a “King Dragon” on the other side of that door right now.

What should she do? The glow seemed to be getting dimmer, and might soon fade away. She pulled her necklace over her head, and crept slowly to the door. At the last moment  she picked up her sneakers and pulled them on, just in case. Her hand hovered over the doorknob. What if there was another world in there? And what  if she couldn’t get back, or got eaten by a dragon? The lights continued to pulse, and Gwendolyn could feel the pendant hum softly. Somehow, she knew that time was running out for the star.

What should she do? Should she open the door quickly? Should she change out of her pajamas first? Grab her sleeping bag and a baseball bat? Wake her parents and tell them what was happening? She paused and stood before the door wishing for guidance, as the glow began to fade…

What should Gwendolyn do, indeed? I imagine that helping the star will most likely mean opening the door, but as they say, “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Perhaps she should be better prepared, or obtain some help?

Please leave you comments below, and I will again endeavor to send them to Gwendolyn. I believe I can hold this point in the story open a bit longer, perhaps until about 10 or 11 PM on Tuesday. Thank you for your assistance.