Kindle Edition
Amazon
amazon.com
amazon
Category:
Children
Publisher: Gary Val Tenuta
Type: Fiction
Pages: 219
Copyright: May 4, 2016
Price: $1.99 (eBook)
11-year-old twins, Josh and Jenna, are transported to the place where dreams are made and discover they are the keys to fulfilling an ancient prophecy.
Join 11-year-old twins, Josh and Jenna, as the mysterious Sandman sends them on an adventure into the world of dreams where that which is, perhaps is not; and what is not just might be. The Sandman promised them all kinds of fun. "The adventure of a lifetime," he told them. "Better than Disneyland," he told them. What he didn't tell them was that they are the key to fulfilling an ancient prophecy. The twins suddenly find themselves thrust into the adventure of a lifetime, alright. Just not quite in the way they'd imagined.
In this fast paced tale, with fanciful illustrations by the author, the twins come face to face with an assortment of bizarre creatures, encounter the strangest of strangers and hair-raising dangers on their quest to find the lost Dreamstone. It must be found and returned to its proper place before it falls into the hands of D'rath Kahn, the Dark Lord of Nightmares. If the twins fail in their quest, then all of us––you, me, everyone––will suffer horrendous nightmares every sleeping moment of our lives… for the rest of our lives. Can they do it? Can they save us from such a terrible fate? Or will D'rath Kahn and his army of Dreamons prevail? Find out in THE LOST DREAMSTONE.
Get it now on Kindle only.
Kindle - U.S. • $1.99 • https://amzn.com/B01F7EQGQU
Kindle - U.K. • £1.49 • http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01F7EQGQU
Excerpt
Jenna was nearly asleep now when she heard the sound again. She opened her eyes, her body tensed.
There it was again, a faint wispy noise like… like what? Something brushing up against something else. Fabric against fabric, maybe. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it but she thought she could feel the presence of someone in the room.
She yanked the covers up over her face and then scolded herself. C’mon, Jenna. You’re letting your imagination go wild again.
It was a good try, but unconvincing. After a moment, she lowered the covers to just below her nose and peeked over them. She let her eyes scan as much of the room as she could see without moving her head. A hazy swath of moonlight was streaming into the room through the partially shaded window. The light created several shadows on the wall but, even without her glasses, she recognized them all one by one: the big stuffed bear on the dresser… the lamp on the table… the tall jar full of pennies… the framed picture of Josie Jinx on the desk. She knew them all. Everything was fine.
Wait. What’s that?
She moved her head, ever so slightly, to get a better look. Near the corner of the wall she saw the silhouette of something. What is that? The coat rack? Is that my stocking cap on top of it? Of course. That must be it. She reached over to the nightstand, grabbed her glasses, put them on and looked again.
The thing suddenly moved.
Jenna shrieked, threw off the covers, flew out of bed, streaked across the floor, out the door, down the hall and into her twin brother’s room.
“Josh!” she screeched in a loud whisper. “Wake up!”
Josh rolled over to face her. He rubbed his eyes. “What’re you doing?” he muttered, half asleep. He turned over, buried his face in the cool, soft pillow and closed his eyes. “Go back to bed. We gotta get up and go to school in the morning.”
Jenna flicked the wall switch and the ceiling lamp lit up the entire room. “Josh! Get up!”
Josh groaned, propped himself up on one elbow and squinted against the light. “Are you nuts? Turn off the light. What’s the matter with you, anyway?”
“There’s something in my room.”
“There’s lots of things in your room. So what?”
“No, I mean something moved. I heard it breathing!”
“You were dreaming. Go back to bed.”
Jenna shook her head. “I’m not going back in there.”
Josh scowled. “Well, you’re not sleeping in my room. Go wake Dad up. He’ll chase the bogeyman away.”
“Are you crazy? He’s already mad at me for blasting my Josie Jinx CD all night. He said it was driving him crazy. Remember?”
“He’s not mad at you.”
“I think he is.”
“Oh, for crying out loud. Then go get Mom.”
“No! She’ll just get Dad up. C’mon, Josh. Please?”
“Oh, all right.” He pushed back the covers and stumbled out of bed. “Let’s get it over with.”
“Aren’t you going to bring something?”
“Like what?”
Jenna looked around the room and spotted Josh’s birthday present, a Louisville Slugger baseball bat. She picked it up and handed it to him. “Here,” she said. “This should work.”
Josh rolled his eyes, grabbed the bat and they headed down the hall. They stopped at the door to Jenna’s room. Josh peeked in.
“Over there,” Jenna whispered. She pointed to the corner where she had seen the thing.
Josh stepped in, flipped the light switch on. “See?” he said. “No bogeyman. Go back to bed.”
Jenna surveyed the room now brightly lit. She looked at the coat rack with her stocking cap on top of it. She lowered her head with a sheepish expression on her face. “I guess you were right. It must have been my imagination.”
Josh shook his head and yawned. “I’m going back to bed.”
Jenna took one more look around the room. “Okay. Sorry. You were right. But stay here by the door until I get back into bed, okay? Then you can turn out the light and go back to your room. And leave my door open. And leave the hall light on.”
Josh groaned. “Is there anything else I can do for m’lady? A plate of cookies, perhaps? A cup of warm milk?”
“No, thank you.”
“I wasn’t serious, you idiot.”
“Whatever.”
Josh waited until Jenna was back in bed then he turned off the bedroom light, left her door open, left the hall light on. “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” He chuckled and headed back to his room.
He didn’t get two paces down the hall before Jenna shrieked again. He spun around, went back to her door and leaned into her room. Jenna was scrunched down into the covers with the blanket pulled up over her head.
“Now what?” Josh asked.
Jenna slowly poked an arm out from under the covers and wagged a nervous finger toward the corner of the room.
Josh glanced in the direction she was pointing. He froze, wide-eyed, and dropped the bat. Something was moving in the corner of the room. He quickly flipped the light switch but the light didn’t come on. He tried again and then a third time but still nothing. He dropped to his knees to retrieve the bat but it had rolled into the shadows and he couldn’t find it. The door slammed shut behind him. He stood up and tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge.
Jenna let out a scream.
Josh yelled, “Mom! Dad!”
“Oh, stop with the yelling,” came a voice. It was a man’s voice, deeply resonant and reassuringly calm. “They can’t hear you. They’re in… how should I put it? A very deep sleep.”
Josh swallowed hard and backed up against the door. The shadow was becoming a little more defined. It wasn’t a typical flat shadow on the wall. It was a three dimensional shadow standing about a foot away from the wall. The shape was recognizably human. Or at least it looked human. “Wh-who are you? What are you? What do you want?”
“Me?” the strange shadow responded. The voice was warm, almost hypnotic. “Why… I’m the Sandman.”
|
