Through his bedroom window, Augie watched a symphony of weeping clouds and deafening drums play their masterpiece. Nights like these usually gave him a sense of euphoric bliss. Dear old Dad and he always got together in the parlor to tell stories on a stormy night. But NOT tonight.
Augie closed the curtains and plopped onto the mattress. He lay with his feet on the pillow and his right arm on his chest, bounded in a cast. Augie had broken his wrist in a bad fall. It was a Friday afternoon. He was playing baseball with his friends while his Dad watched him. They were supposed to go to the county fair after the game. It was a daydream Augie savored. All he needed was one more home run. Fredrick, the pitcher, threw the ball; Augie struck it in one swift motion. As he headed for first base, a tall heavy bulldog named Rufus caught the ball and headed in his direction. Suddenly Augie felt a pull on his right arm and, along with Rufus, fell to the ground with a thud that almost made his heart stop. There was a slicing pain throughout his forearm. It was caught under Rufus's Gibraltar-like body weight. He demanded that Rufus get off him. When he attempted to lift his arm, the pain increased. To his horror, he discovered why. He gazed at his paw and saw that his forefinger barely touched his arm.
"D-Dad …!? Dad!?" he cried.
Doggie Daddy quickly escorted his son into the car and drove off. But it wasn't to go to any county fair …
Now here he was, restricted to his own bedroom on a rainy night. He had to wear a cast for three weeks. He was forbidden to partake in any activities that required use of both hands … and to top it off, no fair! OH, THE SHAME OF IT!
While he sulked over his broken wrist, Augie stared at the ceiling. Toy planes hung in a circular pattern. Among them was one he favored the most: his dirigible. What if it were real? he thought. Augie extended his good arm … and gazed into an endless scope of blue.
Wisps of white brushed Augie's cheeks while his good hand turned the wheel. Below him was an ocean of orange where green flowers and strange triangles rested next to a thick blue string.
"That must be Egypt!" he interjected.
In his newfound excitement, Augie fixed to make a landing. He'd finally get to see the ancient pyramids in person! What fun! But his excitement turned to a perplexed stare. He noticed that the distance between his dirigible and the land didn't change. Augie steered the dirigible three levels downward; still, it remained the same. Augie scratched his head. Was he getting anywhere near the ground? Then he noticed a sheen streak across the ground. It made the land look flat, like … PAPER!?
Augie shook his head in surprise. He was only staring at his poster, which presented a map of Egypt in bird's-eye view. Below his feet was a soft, maroon ground that left prints wherever he stepped. His own bed. His dirigible was back on the ceiling. Disappointed, Augie withdrew into his thoughts.
He lay back on the mattress as he pondered for a solution to his problem. And he noticed how comfortable his bed felt. He thought about his favorite adventures from "Little Nemo". What would the world be like from a bed? A sleepy Augie closed his eyes. When he awoke, he was in a bed of mushrooms.
"What!?" Augie exclaimed. "Where am I?"
Augie rose to his feet. Before him was a forest of mushrooms that looked as if the rainbow painted them. Each toadstool was tinted in bright colors (purple, red, green …). Some were spotted, while others were striped. Some were the size of his fist, while others towered over his head and canopied the sky. Now this was bizarre!
Nevertheless, Augie ventured through the Mushroom forest. During his journey, he ran into a Mushroom stairway. As his eyes followed its trail, he spotted a small black opening above. Did those stairs lead up to the sky? He hurriedly climbed up the toadstool steps to find out. And he was right. A black, diamond speckled satin blanketed above his head, endless and unshielded.
"Wow, what a view!" Augie cried in excitement. The stars seemed big tonight, as if he were no more than two feet away from them. In his curiosity, Augie jumped to reach for one. To his unexpected notion, his body rose more then five feet. And when he landed, he bounced back up. These strange, wide-brimmed toadstools were like trampolines! How exciting! Augie thought. And before him, a whole floor of mushrooms beckoned him to jump forward. And so he did.
Now this put a whole new definition of hop-scotch! From one mushroom to another, Augie bounced and giggled to his heart's delight. Who cared about the county fair this time?! He could do this for hours! Bouncing, bouncing … PLOP!
The bouncing came to an abrupt halt, followed by an uncomfortable wobble. "Huh!?" he uttered worriedly. Then he felt it again. What was going on? Slowly, his eyes lowered to gaze at the mushroom. It was heavily stained with brown spots. Then it occurred to him. Rotten! He carefully attempted to crawl to the next solid mushroom. But the toadstool crumbled under his knees. Augie quickly grabbed onto the other mushroom's brim with his good hand. He looked down as the giant fungus disintegrated and fell in moldy remains.
"Phew!" Augie sighed. But his relief didn't last when another wobble shook his body. To his horror, the toadstool he held onto began to rot. He scanned the other mushrooms and saw that they were also rotting. Before Augie could think of something else, the brim he held broken off.
"HEEEELLLP!!!"
To his surprise, his fall was short. He landed on his rump with a light thud. His eyes popped open. A section of linen was clasped in his paw, where the broken piece of mushroom used to be. He studied his surroundings. No Mushroom forest. Nothing but the perimeters of his own bedroom. Augie slapped his forehead with his good paw. How embarrassing! He had only been in his room for a half-hour and already he was losing his mind!?
Augie held onto the bed-frame and lifted himself up. He had to get out of his bedroom. Or at least find something constructive to do. He went to his closet and rummaged through some boxes of jigsaw puzzles. One of them was a picture of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Augie had read the stories of King Arthur more than once. He remembered when he once got dear old Dad to partake in a King Arthur mini-play he and his friends planned. It was Frederick's birthday party and the play was held in the backyard. Augie took the main role of King Arthur while his father played a dual role of Merlin and Sir Ector. The rest of the pack played Arthur's faithful knights, except for Scottie, who ended up playing the female roles of Queen Guenevere and Morgana (since there were no girls in the crowd). What a performance it was, especially his Dad's role! Augie lost count of the times his father's fake beard fell off during the performance. He thought it was funny.
Augie dumped the puzzle pieces onto the floor. Although he wasn't particularly in the mood for a jigsaw puzzle, it was something to pass time away. At least he didn't need two hands for this. Then the room turned black.
"What the …!?"
Augie dropped the puzzle pieces. A blackout! he realized. He inched his way to his drawers with his good paw guiding him. He hoped to find a flashlight somewhere. Augie couldn't afford to accidentally trip and land on his broken wrist. Or worst, break the other one. Then where would he be?
"Aha! Found it!"
Augie flicked on the switch and made his way to the door. Then he stopped. All of a sudden, a tornado of thoughts whirled in his head. Dirigibles, Mushroom forests, puzzles, blackouts … All were part of Augie's attempts to deal with his frustration. Yet he spent the whole time daydreaming. Discovering Egypt, only to find it's made of paper … Bouncing on Mushrooms that canopied the skies … Round and round that tornado went and Augie was stuck in it. A symphony of weeping clouds, a blackout in the middle of a puzzle … Fragments of stories in his head … Travels without purpose … Unbound …
"Wait a minute!" Augie cried excitedly. "That's it!"
"Augie?"
It was his father, Augie recognized. And just in the nick of time. The door opened; Doggie Daddy stood with a candle in his hand. The flame's light shone so brightly on his face, that it made him look like a ghost.
"Hi Dad!" Augie greeted with a bright smile.
"Your mood changes quickly," Doggie Daddy replied, surprised by his son's approach. "Before, you were mad about not going to the fair."
"Um, yeah about that," said Augie. "Well, I was daydreaming and I came up with this idea for a game."
"A game?" said Doggie Daddy. "About your daydreams?"
Augie nodded. "Here's how it goes. You pick an object, then create a scenario about it. Then I pick something else and continue from where you leave off. And we keep swapping turns, using different objects. Eventually, it all becomes part of a story."
Doggie Daddy scratched his head. "And what's dis game called?"
"Unbound Travels."
Doggie Daddy giggled. He thought he heard everything. Augie had a big imagination that often fashioned strange results. And this newly invented game was the strangest one he'd ever heard. Nevertheless, he was glad see Augie in a good mood in spite of his injury.
"Let's say we play dis new game after dinner?" Doggie Daddy suggested. "I just finished making it before da lights went out."
Augie willingly agreed as he felt his stomach growl.
The two dogs sauntered down the stairs, Augie clinging to his father's side. Their only guide was a candle in the dark. A wandering light that would pave the road … to travels unbound.
Author's Note:
"Little Nemo"--A comic-strip written by Winsor McKay about a little boy who sleeps and goes on journeys to the dream-world, SlumberLand. This is NO way, shape, or form, related to Disney's film Finding Nemo.