Sleepwalking Misadventure

 

            Sleep clung to Brock as someone started shaking him awake. Without opening his eyes, he said, “Go away.” He turned over and reached down to pull the covers back over himself, but they weren’t there. Annoyed, he sat up and opened his eyes and found himself lying in a grassy meadow, the sunlight glinting off the morning dew. “What the…?”

            A scraggly horse was standing next to him. It lowered its head and nudged Brock again. Thoroughly bewildered, Brock looked around. The only thing he saw was grass. “Hello!” he shouted. Listening for an answer, none came. He started walking in a random direction, and the horse followed him. How had he gotten here? Where was his house? Feverishly, he tried to remember anything that would explain his current situation. He remembered going to bed, worrying about a science test the next day. The school year had just started, and ninth grade was turning out to be much more difficult than eighth grade.

            Despite finding himself in an unknown meadow, Brock smiled and said, “At least I won’t have to worry about the test now.”

            Behind him, the horse knickered. Brock stopped to study it more closely. It was black and looked like it hadn’t had a good meal for a while. There were no reins or saddle, but its eyes were deep and intelligent. Slowly, Brock reached out his hand to pet it. To his surprise, the horse walked right up to his hand and allowed him to rub his velvety nose.

            Brock felt a strange sensation travel up from his hand into his body. Suddenly, the horse no longer looked half-starved. It stood up taller, and Brock could feel the power in his strong legs. His fur was no longer dirty, but gleamed in the sunlight. Brock also felt a change in himself. Confidence filled him, and he now knew what he needed to do. He had never ridden a horse before, but he hoisted himself onto the horse’s back and said, “Take me where I need to go.”

            The horse immediately started running with Brock totally at ease. He began to see a destination in his mind and knew that the horse was taking him there. Sighing in relief, he realized that it wasn’t too far from his house, on the outskirts of town.

            As the miles vanished under them, he wondered how he would explain his disappearance to his parents. Would they be worried? He knew that he sometimes walked in his sleep, but he had never gone outside before. Surely this couldn’t have been a sleepwalking misadventure. Soon, trees appeared on the horizon – just a few at first, but then they grew thicker around them.

            In no time at all, they had pushed through to the edge of the forest and Brock looked at the familiar landscape ahead of him. Expertly dismounting, he gave the horse a grateful pat. “Thanks, boy. I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad you were there to save me.”

            The horse nodded his head and then spoke. “You’re welcome, Brock, but I’m the one who needs to thank you. You have released me from my lonely life of wandering. It was me who brought you out there in the first place.”

            Brock’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You know my name? How did I get out there? How come you can talk?”

            The horse gave a low whinny, almost like a laugh. “My name is Daniel, and I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Only someone with your talents has the power to bind me to them.” He whinnied again when he saw Brock’s look of confusion. “You’ll learn all about yourself in due time. I have a lot to teach you. For now, just know that you and I are now connected. I will find you wherever you are, and you will be able to find me.” With that, Daniel turned and galloped away.

            Brock started walking home, trying to make sense of what had happened. The first thing he noticed was that he could indeed feel in which direction Daniel lay, and knew that he would be able to call him if he wanted.

            When he reached home, he walked inside, wondering what he was going to say to his parents. The house was quiet, so he headed up to his room, and was surprised to see that his clock read 4:08 AM. How did that happen?

            Rushing over to peek through the curtains, Brock saw that it was very dark. Hadn’t the sun just been shining? Had he just woken up from some crazy dream?

            No. Brock could still feel Daniel and knew that it hadn’t been a dream. Was it magic? Wearily, he crawled into his bed and got comfortable. The last thought he had before he fell asleep was, “I guess I’ll have to take that science test after all.”