Chapter 6: Dreamscapes
"Okay! Here we go!" Stef and Ryo stopped, and she pulled a tiny statue of a seal balancing a feather duster with an old LP on it, on its nose out of her pocket. "See you later, Wildfire. G'luck!" With that, she threw the seal to the ground, and it made a tiny explosion. When the purple smoke had cleared, Stef was gone, and Ryo found himself standing in front of a big IMAX screen, with a little theatre area for him to sit in.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Ryo. "Hey, now I know why it was so darn cold out there. It was a movie theatre! Cool." He then counted seats until he was right in the very center of the theater, his favorite spot. He sat down, and noticed that they were like airplane seats, with a pocket in front of them. Ryo looked and found a pair of 3-D glasses in the seat pocket in front of him, along with a box of popcorn and a thing of Milk Duds. "How thoughtful. But... Milk Duds are so gooey. Oh, well!" He opened them up and started munching away. "Mmm...." He slid on the glasses, then, on impulse, looked in the seat pocket again. Now, there were two little scorecards and a pencil that read 'Fairlanes Bowling' on the side. He removed them and looked carefully. The first card said 'practice and note-taking card' and the second said 'final.' There was a little rectangular grid on each one, with the numbers one through seven going across the top and the names of his friends going down the side: Rowin, Sage, Sai, Kento, Mia, Yuli, and White Blaze. He readied the pencil above the sheet, and announced, "I'm ready!" Nothing happened. "Um... go! Show me the money!" Silence. "Um... okay! Roll 'em! Cue talent!"
Suddenly, the screen lit up, and the little 6-5-4-3-2 thing started rolling. Guess they were waiting for film terms, thought Ryo, proud of himself for paying attention during media. He opened his eyes up wide, rubbed them a few times, and prepared to witness the dreams of his friends.
Hey! Maybe I'll finally find out of Mia likes me or not! Joy!
* * * * * * * * *
"Think he'll make it?" asked Stef, from the projection booth.
In lobster-speak, Lulu clicked his claws, and made other various lobster noises indicating 'Like heck he will! That boy refused to eat my stew at first, and I'm a master chef! He's too... foooooolish to get it.' Then, he looked indignant... well, at indignant as a six-foot lobster can look.
Stef laughed. "Oh, did the human guy hurt your pride?" Lulu sniffled, again, as well as a lobster can. "I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelin's? Sorrryyyyyyy."
'What made you choose George Whent?' clicked Lulu.
"A few days ago, I saw that Animaniacs where the survey ladies are going around. You know... do you eat beans? Do you like George Whent movies? Do you like eating beans in George Whent movies? Would you like to see George Whent in a bean-eating movie? Have you ever eaten beans with George Whent? Does your..."
'Get on with it!' clicked Lulu, interrupting, as they heard Ryo yelling 'Show me the money' and stuff. 'I think Mr. Deny-Himself-Of-Foods-Fit-For-A-King is getting antsy.'
"Okee-dokee, here we go!" exclaimed Stef, looking out of the projection booth window...