The Greylock Dreamers

It was the summer of 2017 when Justin and Cora took the longest, most fun trip of their lives. They were both twelve years old, but until then the family never had a big enough car for such a long road-trip. It was far away from their home in Connecticut and it led on winding roads, through many villages and cities, all the way to South Dakota. And I mean, the car was packed–Cora and Justin sat together on the back seats, while their older sister, Stacy, and their younger brother, Max sat in the middle row. Justin and Cora loved it this way, because they could play UNO together or read stories.

As they were about to get to their motel, Dad stopped the car at a souvenir shop. The shop owner was an old man, his face dark from the sun and wrinkled by age. He smiled and nodded.
Justin saw a dreamcatcher and asked Dad for it, but dad said no. They didn’t need it. Justin was sad and just as they were about to leave, the shop owner whistled at them. He reached under the counter and pulled out two dreamcatchers. They were about three inches in diameter and had a very intricate web design. Both of them ended with a few feathers at the bottom. One of them had a purple feather, the other blue.

Cora tool the blue one and Justin took the purple.

“Thank you very much,” said Cora. “But we don’t have money for it.”

“No worries,” she shopkeeper said. “Just take care of them. They’re special. May they guide you through your journeys.”

Justin and Cora were about to leave, but the shopkeeper handed them something else. It was a white puzzle piece; nothing drawn on it.

“That is just the beginning,” said the old man and smiled again.

Justin put the piece in his pocket and didn’t think of it much after that day.

Weeks and weeks later, one night, when both Cora and Justin went to bed, they noticed that the dreamcathers—which they hung over their heads—both started to spin in the same direction. Even if they’d try to stop them, they’d still spin. Cora thought that was very odd. Very odd indeed.

And that night she had a dream and for the first time ever, Justin was in that dream, too. And the dream was so real, as if it were happening right then and there.

Cora told Justin about it the following day, and Justin’s eyes turned big as apples because he had the same dream.

And since that night, every time the dreamcathers would spin, Cora and Justin would go to bed knowing that they’ll find each other inside the dream. And the dream would take them to far away lands, to meet new people and make new friends.

And then, there was that one single blank puzzle piece.

What was that for?

Books in The Greylock Dreamers series

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