Epilogue
Dylan
I peer into the darkened aquarium, the thick glass catching my reflection in the dim light. Look, stingrays!” I say excitedly, tugging Ash’s hand.
Their sleek gray bodies glide gracefully through the water, their barbed tails ramrod straight behind their billowing fronts. Ash joins me beside their enclosure with a disgruntled huff.
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just…do they have to cram so many of them in so close together?”
I turn back to the stingrays, noting that Ash has a point. There’s a good dozen or more of them, their wide, flat bodies practically sliding over one another as they swim about. The enclosure shimmers, more than half of them vanishing.
I shoot Ash a grin. “There. Better?”
“Much.”
We watch the stingrays awhile longer before continuing on, the hallway curving into another exhibit, this one for tropical fish.
“I used to love going to the zoo and to aquariums,” I say as we peruse the different exhibits. “Marveling at all the exotic animals you’d never get a chance to see otherwise.”
I eye an enclosure for a massive orca, subtly shifting it with a focused thought to more than double its size. “Now, though, I’ve got to admit it’s lost some of its charm. Maybe it’s just poor reconstruction here in my dream, but they seem so crammed in and unhappy.”
Ash stops to watch the tropical fish, their bright colors reminding me of the proto-dream’s swirling whirlpool. “I dunno,” he replies, his eyes still glued to the fish. “I think I understand the magic young Dylan saw.”
“I wanted to be a marine biologist for a time,” I muse, recalling how excited I’d gotten when my mom bought me a book to help identify different types of fish.
“I tried to convince my parents to sign me up for scuba classes, but they said I was too young…which is probably true.” I sigh wistfully.
“Not that we had the money for something like that anyway. Besides, where would I even go diving near Banton?”
Ash is quiet as we reach the end of the exhibit, stepping through a doorway. I expect to emerge into another part of our imagined aquarium. Instead, I find myself suddenly inside a spacious submarine. Blinking dials and displays coat a console in the center of the room, but the rest…
“God, Ash,” I whisper, slowly stepping up to the edge of the enormous glass dome enveloping us and staring at the ocean outside. There’s no way it’s a structurally sound design or anything like what a real sub would look like. But who cares? In our dreams, we make the rules.
I glance over to find him studying me with a soft smile. “What?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Nothing. Just admiring how cute you get when you’re all excited like this.” I blush as he walks over, joining me by the window and gesturing at the view outside. “Better?”
I snake my arm around his back, gripping him. “Much. Almost like diving for real. Thank you.”
“We could do that too if you like.” He nods off to the right, where there’s now two sets of dive gear sitting beside an airlock hatch set into the floor.
I examine the gear, hesitating a moment before shaking my head. “Maybe another time. Right now, this is more than enough.”
Staring out into the dark, watery expanse, it’s easy to lose myself in it. The bright fish and sprouting coral make me think of some alien world, so utterly unlike my own lived experience in Banton.
“Did you know we’ve mapped more of the Moon and Mars than we have our own ocean floor?
” I murmur, staring with rapt attention at a vaguely arrowhead-shaped shadow in the distance that might have been a large fish…
or the flailing tentacle of a giant squid.
Here, anything is possible. “Only around 5% of the world’s oceans have actually been explored.
It’s kinda crazy when you think about it—how little of our own planet we understand. ”
“When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut,” Ash says.
I turn to him, giving him my full attention as he continues.
“It seemed like the perfect comparison to dreamwalking—venturing out into the grand unknown, exploring new spaces where no one else had ever gone before. I used to dream up these ridiculous adventures with my parents about… Oh, no.”
Ash’s exclamation catches me off-guard, and I glance about the sub. It doesn’t take me long to identify the source of his dismay. Our submarine has shifted, transforming itself into a spaceship. Not just any spaceship, however.
“Is this Neil Nebula’s ship from The Starward Logs?” I exclaim, taking in the plush seats and retro consoles. “I remember watching that old cartoon sometimes as a kid!”
A bright crimson flush colors Ash’s cheeks. “I…it…” He crosses his arms and scowls. “It was a great show.”
“Uh huh.” My lips twitch as I take it all in. “Sure, it was.”
“Whatever,” he huffs, turning to glare out the front viewport.
Still grinning, I walk over and kiss his cheek, watching as his tensed body relaxes. “You’re cute when you get excited, too,” I whisper into his ear.
He turns, his eyes sparking as he cups my chin to bring our lips together. The rest of the dream fades away. No matter how beautiful or surreal what we dream up is, it can’t compare to the reality of the boy right in front of me.
“Love you,” I say, my breath ghosting over his lips.
“Love you too,” he replies, sealing my mouth with another kiss before turning us toward the viewport and the dazzling nebula revealed beyond. “To the stars and back.”
I grin, my hands running along his sides and cupping his ass as I tug him against me. “That’s so—”
“Dylan! Dylan, wake up! It’s time!”
My eyes shoot open as I jerk awake to a bouncing bed. I blink back a haze of confusion. “What the hell?”
The bouncing stops, my mattress shifting as Patrick comes into view, his eyes wide and excited. “You promised you’d get up early! It’s time, Dylan!”
“Time for what?” I groan, draping my arm over my eyes. Already, I miss my shared dream with Ash, especially knowing what might have come next.
“For presents!” Patrick tugs on my arm until I finally relent and glare at him again, then bolts for my bedroom door. “Come on!”
Cursing my little brother half-heartedly under my breath, I grab my phone and text Ash and my friends Merry Christmas.
Then, I throw myself out of bed, toss on some clothes, and stumble into the hall.
I find Mom and Tommy already bundled up in blankets on the couch while Patrick peruses the labels on the presents under the tree.
“There you are, sleepyhead,” Mom says with a grin. “I thought we might have to knock Patrick out if you didn’t get up soon.”
My shoulders tense as Tommy glances at me, but he just bobs his head in acknowledgment. I return the gesture in kind. I doubt we’ll ever be close, but it’s a far cry better than the open hostility between us before our talk at Thanksgiving.
I settle down beside Patrick, grabbing the nearest box. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got.”
The rest of the morning passes in a flurry of gifts, breakfast, and clean-up, supplemented by eating way too many chocolates Mom had bought.
Then, there are preparations to be done for Christmas dinner, including honey ham to cook, vegetables to cut, and more potatoes to mash.
At least this time, Mom’s there to help, and to my surprise, even Tommy pitches in a bit before taking his usual spot on the couch in front of the TV.
We’re just putting the finishing touches on dinner when a loud knock comes from the door. “I’ve got it!” I call, rushing to the hall. My heartbeat quickens as I open the door onto Ash and his aunt, both bundled up in heavy coats. Ash carries a stack of packages in his arms.
“Hi, Ms. Brown,” I say, beckoning them inside. “Hi, Ash.”
“Long time no see,” he replies, smirking around the stack of packages.
“Hi, Dylan,” his aunt says, shucking her coat and hanging it on the hook beside the door. “And how many times have I told you to call me Claudette? You’re family now so far as I’m concerned.”
I flush. “Thank you…Claudette. Please, make yourselves at home. Dinner’s almost ready.”
“Let me see if there’s anything I can do to help.” She vanishes down the hall, and I hear her call out a greeting to Mom not long after. They’ve been thick as thieves ever since they found out Ash and I were dating.
As soon as we’re alone, I give Ash a quick peck on the cheek. “Here, let me help with those.”
I take a couple of the packages, and we carry them into the living room, where Patrick and Tommy are deep into a Super Smash Bros. match. Tommy tosses his controller aside in disgust as Patrick cheers, hopping up to perform a ridiculous victory dance. His grin broadens when he sees us.
“Ash!” My heart melts as he rushes over and hugs Ash as best he can around the packages. Patrick had taken an instant liking to Ash, and we’ve spent plenty of afternoons the past month hanging out here after school, kicking a soccer ball around or playing video games.
“Hey, kid,” Ash says. He sets his bundle by the Christmas tree, and I follow suit. “These are for you and the rest of your family.”
“Sweet, more presents!”
Patrick wastes no time diving into his gift, ripping at the wrapping paper.
When he reveals the new PS5 game console hidden within, his mouth falls open.
“No. Way. Oh my God, this is the best gift I’ve ever gotten!
” He hops up, giving Ash another quick hug before racing to the TV.
“We’ve got to set it up right now so we can play! ”
I narrow my eyes at Ash, my stomach sinking. “You know that’s way too expensive for a present, right? You’re going to spoil him.”
Ash shrugs, appearing unrepentant. “It’s the Ellingtons’ money, not mine. Let them do something good with it for a change.”
Tommy grunts when he opens his own gift to reveal a fully stocked toolbox. “Not bad, Ash,” he says, bobbing his head at him. “For a…” He trails off and clears his throat. “Well. For someone I doubt knows a whole lot about tools.”
Beside me, I sense Ash tense. The smile he gives Tommy has a noticeable edge to it. “No problem, Tommy. I wouldn’t have the first clue what to do with any of those long, hard objects in there, but I’m certain you will.”
Tommy squints, a slight furrow appearing in his brow. I can practically hear the gears in his head grinding as he tries to decide whether that had been an insult or not before he offers another grunt and turns back to the toolbox.
Ash meets my eyes and gestures to another of the gifts waiting on the floor. “Aren’t you going to open yours?”
The sinking feeling in my stomach intensifies, and I bow my head. “Ash…I, uh…I couldn’t really afford anything too exciting, so…”
Ash cups my cheek, and I look up to see his soft smile. “Just open it.”
I nod and retrieve the present marked for me. I also snag the package I’d left under the tree for Ash, holding it out to him. “Here. For You.” My smile is strained. “Just don’t go expecting a new PS5 or anything.”
“I’m sure whatever you got me will be as awesome as you are.”
That bolsters my confidence a little bit, even if I still feel woefully unprepared after seeing what he’d gotten everyone else.
“You first,” I say. Better to get my subpar gift out of the way before I open his.
As if he can read my thoughts, Ash purses his lips. Still, he sits down and tears at the wrapping paper, revealing the gift inside. He stares at it for a long moment, his face unreadable.
“It’s a dreamcatcher,” I say, gut twisting at his lack of a reaction.
“I didn’t see any at your aunt’s house, and I remember reading about them in that research I gave you.
Native Americans believe they protect sleepers from bad dreams. The black leather reminded me of Onyx, and I thought the green beads matched your eyes. ”
When he still doesn’t say anything, I stare down at my feet, feeling like an absolute failure of a boyfriend. “Sorry. I know you said you didn’t like any reminders of the occult, but I figured you might’ve changed your mind and—”
“Open your gift, Dylan,” Ash says, his voice oddly strained.
I glance at him, confused. “What—”
“Please. Just open it.”
Shrugging, I sit beside him and carefully unwrap my present, opening the box within.
I stare down at what’s revealed, my breath catching.
Nestled in my lap sits a dreamcatcher, nearly identical to the one I’d gifted Ash.
Except while mine had been black and green, his is an intricate mix of browns and golds with a printed-leather image of a tree woven into the center.
“Like the oak tree outside school where we used to eat lunch,” Ash says, his voice soft and full of emotion. “And the color of your eyes. I did the image myself based on one of my sketches and—”
My kiss cuts him off, warmth searing my skin as I tug him against me in a tight embrace. We stay like that for a span of heartbeats, each lost in the other until as if from a great distance I hear Tommy say, “You two want to get a room, or you up for a round?”
Breaking away from Ash, I glance over to see that he and Patrick have gotten Patrick’s gift hooked up to the TV, a new game loaded and ready to go. I glance at Ash, who shrugs. “We’re in,” I reply. “Just give us a minute.”
I turn back to Ash, shaking my head as I lower my voice. “I can’t believe we got each other the same gift.”
“I can. You know what they say—great minds think alike.”
Examining the matching pair of dreamcatchers, I chuckle. “I suppose maybe great minds dream alike as well. Speaking of, sorry about dipping early. I enjoyed our trip…even if we never did get to the grand finale.”
Ash smirks, running a covert hand up my thigh and over my chest. I bite my bottom lip. “Don’t worry,” he says, continuing his hidden exploration. “I can give you that part of your gift later once we have some alone time.”
Grinning, I shove his shoulder playfully, before standing and offering him my hand. “In your dreams.”
He takes my hand and stands, his emerald eyes sparkling. “See you there.”