“Why are you here?” I whisper, sorry crickets. I think back to my theatrics, “Did you see all that?” I add quickly.
“Is there a reason I shouldn't be? And why are you whispering? And yes.” At first he sounded a bit offended but by the end he was laughing. He is so loud!
“Shut up!” I hiss. Even with the night doing its best to leach color out of him I can see his bright blonde hair. I can feel blood rising to my cheeks, I hope he doesn't see that.
“Hey, you’re the one dancing like a lunatic.” He throws his hands up, palms out like a policeman told him to freeze. I can see the shadow of one of fingers on my nose, startled a bit I shoot up and falter a bit before I retain my composure.
“At least whisper.”
“No.” He gives me an odd look, “What are you afraid of?” I start to say that the night is mine but he would probably make fun of me.
“Nothing.” Still, it doesn't feel right rising above whisper. He searches my face for a moment until finally he speaks.
“So, what brings you here?” Its not quite a whisper but he isn't as loud anymore.
“I can't sleep. You?”
“Don't want to.” It’s my turn to search his face, I don't know whether or not to broach the subject. “Nightmares.” He says before I find my answer.
“I guess no one is allowed magic around here.” I mutter to myself.
“What? Magic?” Might as well tell him.
“Good dreams, people say they're like magic. I don't remember the last time I had a good night sleep.”
“What, you don't dream?”He paused, “Well that's hardly fair.” He paused again, longer this time “Well, this is a time for dreaming, lets dream.” He started towards the sidewalk and gestured for me to follow him. I was unsure, I just stood there until he looked back. He rolled his eyes and took one giant step towards me, grabbed my arm and started towing me along.

When he was satisfied that I would walk he let go.
“What’s your name?”
“James, you?”
“Shea.”
“Okay then Shea, close, no don't close your eyes you’ll trip. Okay, so Shea is on the couch watching Spiderman.”
“Spiderman?” I scoff.
“No interrupting, so he is giving the Green Goblin a roundhouse kick when her eyes first fall shut, she struggles to open them and when she finally does Spiderman is sucking face with MJ.”
“Romantic.” I laugh.
“Hush, again her eyes close but this time she doesn't even try to open them because the real show is behind her closed eyelids. In front of her a city lies, 50 feet below. She thinks she must be on a ferris wheel, and not just any ferris wheel, The London Eye. She doesn't know why she knows that but she does, she grabs the railing and smashes her nose against the glass. Its night so all the buildings are lit up like Christmas. Shea stands on her toes admiring the view until she hears someone clear their throat loudly behind her. She whirls around and finds herself face to face with James. He watches Shea shrink into herself and blush, all docile and embarrassed but tell him to shut up.”
“Docile and embarrassed?” What the hell?
“I told you no interrupting,” I’m staring at him daring to look at me but instead he just continues talking. “ Shea twirls back around and James starts for the trap door. She hears him messing with the lock and turns curiously. He needs a lock pick so he asks her for the pin in her hair. She gives it to him and her hair falls slowly onto her face-”
“No,” I said. “He asks for her pin but instead she pulls her handgun out from its ankle holster and shoots the lock off.” I smirk, “ His eyes get watery and he clings to her leg, ‘You could have shot me!’ he cries-”
“But like the man that he is James quickly gets up, wipes his eyes and takes a swan dive through the trap door. Shea follows and together they fall into the River Thames. The impact hurts and they struggle to get their heads above water. One of James’s flailing arms hits something solid, he trys to hold on to what feels like a cheese grater. He looks around and sees Shea calmly treading water beside him. When the adrenaline fades his hand starts to sting, to burn. He cut himself and it feels as if he ground salt in the wound. London has disappeared and it left a ship covered in sharp barnacles. Their freshwater river turned into the salty sea.” He said quickly.

I decide to take up the story. “Shea stops treading water and starts swimming around the huge ship for a place to climb up. The anchor hanging off the side just low enough for her to try and climb up. A couple minutes later she comes back having circled the thing to find James just barely above water and holding his left hand in the air. Then she sees the watery blood flowing down his arm. ‘Are you alright?’ she asks. He doesn't reply so she half leads half drags him to the other side of the ship where the anchor is. Out of the corner of her eye she sees a fin emerge from the water. More fins pop above water in the distance. She quickly alerts James. Their only solace is that the closest one is a good two hundred feet away. They both stay as still as they can until Shea clutches the anchor and hoists herself up. Immediately the sharks descend. He doesn't even finish properly cursing her out before she grabs his hand and pulls him up. She almost falls in the water herself trying to save him. But it’s not good enough, they’re not even a foot out of the water and the sharks are fast approaching. She is stuck, she has no idea how to save them.”
I look to him to miraculously fix the situation. We could always just teleport again or become impervious to sharks but that would kind of pointless. A cop out, lame. I’m already breaking the rules enough, I’m pretty sure sharks can swim much faster than I give them credit for. He looks at me incredulously and I gesture him forward.
He looks at me for a moment before continuing the story, “James pulls a glass jar and a knife out of his pocket. He gives Shea the jar and tells her to open it, then slits his wrist and holds it over the open jar. Her hands shake but she doesn't say anything. The jar fills quickly but the sharks are quicker. Running out of time he takes the half filled jar from her and throws it as far as he can. The jar lands and the water runs red. The sharks smell the blood and turn around towards the blood. Shea lets out a choked ‘oh’ and James hands her another jar. This time he lets it fill completely before throwing it. Then they look up and start to climb. They use anything they can as a foot or handhold. They would have fallen if it weren't for the anchor chain and the canon holes sticking out of them. Eventually they pull themselves on board and flop on their backs. They were heaving at first but soon they were laughing. Shea remembers James’s severe blood loss and stops laughing. She takes out her own knife and cuts a few strips of fabric from her shirt. He asks her what she is doing and she points to his arm. She ties the fabric just below his elbow as tight as she can. She hopes that she tied it tight enough to cut off circulation. She cuts a bit off James’s shirt to make a bandage for his hand and wrist.”
I interrupt again, “Shea asks James why there aren't any people on this ship.” It feels really weird talking about myself in the third person.
“James wonders why you want people, he asks what good are people.” His voice took on an odd tone but returned to cheerful quickly, “They get up and look around and see a stereotypical abandoned pirate ship, the kind of thing you might see in a videogame, complete with barrels in the corner. They start towards the cabin, they look back as they walk through the door and when then turn around they see...” He trailed off, urging me to take up the story.

I comply a little too eagerly, “Money, stacks of money as high as Shea’s shoulders, and lines of safety deposit boxes covering every wall.” Honestly this was just so I can say I broke out of a bank vault. “At first they were excited but the situation lost its novelty after a while. Not before they made it rain hundred dollar bills though. Thats when Shea pulls out her trusty blowtorch and starts torching the lock. Suddenly a shrill blare fills the room. They both flinch but keep working, James decided that it was his job to panic and hurry Shea. Even with his ‘help’ she wasn’t able to swing the heavy door open fast enough to evade security. The vault opened into a hallway with thick security guards running towards them from both sides. She held her flaming blowtorch in the air and said that if the guards won't let them though then she would throw the torch into the vault, burning all the money they were paid to protect. They froze at the threat, Shea asked where the exit of the building was and one man pointed to her left. The men on the left moved to clear a path. She slowly stepped away from the vault but when one man moved threw the torch and ran through the throng of men. Shea and James took advantage of the panic and ran as fast as they could. Even though the other alarm was still going another one let off. At the end of the hallway that seemed a mile long there were two doors labeled stairs. James picked one at random and threw it open. They both flew up the stairs being chased by faceless security guards that honestly looked like they belonged in a mall scarfing donuts. Eventually they run out of staircases and are confronted by a door that James promptly kicks open. They find themselves on the roof with nowhere to go. The guards try to squeeze through the door two at a time and hold up their choice weapons. they have a large selection on their belts, they even have duct tape. Most raise their guns but a few opt for their tasers instead. Even Shea pulls out her gun. Before anyone gets shot the floor ruptures and the whole building explodes. Everyone on the roof is hurled into the air. The security guards land safely in nice cozy dumpsters. Shea and James…”
I trail off and James starts to narrate. “Don't fall.

The world falls away from them, they keep getting higher and higher. At one point they almost run into three geese, just three.” I give him an odd look, why three? But he just looks ahead and tells the story. “ They hear a loud rumbling noise and large passenger airplane is headed right at them. Before they figure out how to move in their zero gravity state the plane hits them and they clutch the wing as not to get eaten by the engine. They curl their fingers around the flaps and hold on for dear life. They struggle to get all the way on top of the wing. James tries to stand but as soon as his feet are flat and his hands are loose he flies backward. Shea sees James go so she gets her feet flat and jumps. The plane continues its course, five hundred plus miles an hour. They both find themselves in a cloud shouting for each other. The cloud clears and they find themselves standing next to each other with mulch beneath their feet. They're standing in a playground.”
I get my head out of the clouds and see the playpark like its always been. I look at James.
The boy is obtrusive, he takes my light and he takes the crickets noise in end I don't mind and I don't think the crickets do either.
He shrugs, “Sorry, the school bus comes in a half hour.” Half hour?!
“I have to go, see ya!” I say starting to run before even the sentence is finished.
“So, abracadabra? Magic?” He yelled from behind.
Magic.