The Book (standard:fantasy, 6472 words)
Author: Goodsharkey	Added: Aug 29 2003	Views/Reads: 4297/2835	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This is a story about time travel and love..

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

body. That same feeling you get as you're just about to fall asleep but 
wake again. His eyes instinctively flicked open and he had to squint as 
everything was so bright. As his vision came back into focus, he looked 
round. Christ! He was there. He was in his old classroom at school. The 
sun was streaming in through the windows. Instantly the smell hit him. 
That unforgettable smell of schools, just like hospitals. It must have 
been whatever the cleaners used. Probably to disguise the smell of 
vomit. Kids always seemed to be vomiting when he was at school, thought 
Daniel. You'd always see the tell-tale circle of saw dust covering the 
spot. Then you'd catch a whiff of the deed and you'd want to be sick as 
well. In fact, he decided, that was probably the reason why all kids 
were sick. It was a vicious circle passing from child to child round 
the school as each one witnessed another's puke. Suddenly his thoughts 
snapped back to where he was. At the front of the class was the 
teacher. Mr. Dobson! A large man with the tiniest amount of hair. It 
was like a little tuft on his forehead. However he had a large beard 
which was obviously meant to compensate for this. If you turned his 
head upside down he'd probably look quite cool, with lots of hair and a 
goaty beard. Daniel looked round the room slowly, taking in this 
incredible experience. He was back in school. It was so real. He looked 
down at the book in front of him. He was doing sums! Now he tried to 
remember why this day of all days had stuck in his mind. Then he 
remembered. In a minute Mr. Dobson would drop the large paper 
guillotine. The whole class would jump in surprise, except Daniel, 
because he had been day dreaming as usual and had watched the whole 
thing happen. For some reason he had remembered this and so here he was 
able to relive the experience. He looked to his right. Sat next to him 
was a young boy. What was his name? John or something. Although Daniel 
was right back in a place he knew so well, he only had memories from 
his present. What was this lad's name? He remembered sitting next to 
him. He used to hang about with him at play times. Then it came to him. 
Johnny Miller. He was sat next to Johnny Miller. Daniel looked down at 
what Johnny was writing. Sums! He looked down at his own book.... God 
his writing was so untidy. Thankfully that changed later on. So who 
else was in the class, he thought He looked slowly round the room. So 
many familiar faces. Just like an old photograph, but he was in it. 
Then he realised, across the room was a young girl. A blond girl. A 
girl he knew very well. It was Mandy. His own wife! There she was 
slowly working through her work. Her face screwed up in concentration. 
They had known each other all their lives and been at primary school 
together, then secondary school and finally the same college. 
Eventually they had got together and had married. At this age though 
she had just been another annoying girl. She was so pretty even at that 
age. At the front of the class Mr. Dobson stood up and carried the 
large flat paper guillotine across the room. He was going to put it on 
top of the cupboard, where it was kept. The whole class was oblivious 
as they continued to work. Daniel watched as Dobson lifted it up above 
his head and then suddenly lost his grip. The guillotine crashed down 
onto the floor making one hell of a noise. Everyone in the room jumped 
with fright. Daniel smiled to himself. He looked across at Mandy, she 
looked terrified. Bless her. "Sorry class!" said Mr. Dobson. "My fault. 
Carry on." He picked up the guillotine and this time slid it into 
place. Then he returned to his seat. Amazing, thought Daniel as he 
looked back down at his school book, why had that memory stayed with 
him all this time. Still if it hadn't, he wouldn't have been able to 
visualise it as a dream. Then he realised, if this is a dream let's 
make it a little more interesting. He looked up at Dobson and grinned. 
Then Daniel stood up. His chair made a loud grating noise on the hard 
floor. He could feel Johnny Miller looking up at him. "What's the 
matter?" asked Johnny. Daniel just continued to look at Mr. Dobson who 
was writing something in a book. Probably marking something or even 
writing a note about how bad Daniel's handwriting was, even for an 
eight year old. Then the balding teacher looked up. He almost did a 
double take as he saw Daniel stood up at his desk. "Yes Daniel, what is 
it?" he asked. At this, the whole room of children looked up to see 
what Daniel was doing. He smiled. "Sir." He said. Then he stopped. His 
voice! It was like a little girl's. He knew his voice had obviously 
changed over the years, but it had been so long since he had been pre 
pubescent that he had completely forgotten that he once sounded like he 
had no testicles. "Sir." He said again almost laughing at his own 
squeaky little voice. "You're a wanker!" It sounded pathetic coming 
from his tiny frame. Every child in the class seemed to breathe in at 
the same time, sucking the air from the room. At least that would have 
explained Mr. Dobson's expression. He had gone red as if he couldn't 
breath. He stared intently at Daniel. "What did you say?!" he roared. 
Daniel smiled. "I said... You're a..." Before he could finish, Dobson 
was across the room. His hand was up ready to make contact. Daniel 
never remembered him moving that fast before. Suddenly he felt the 
teacher's hand crash down on his ear. "Ow! Jesus!!" he cried." That 
hurt!!" It wasn't over yet. Dobson grabbed him by the collar and 
dragged him forward. This knocked Daniel's desk over and onto the child 
sat in front, nearly pinning him to the floor.  The child in question 
was Roderick Adams, a snotty little git with no personality at all. So 
it didn't really matter that he may have suffered a concussion in the 
process. As Daniel was being dragged from the room he looked back at 
Mandy, who looked quite scared at what was going on. In fact the whole 
room seemed to be stunned. Daniel had thought that his actions would 
have got a laugh, was it so different being an eight year old? Suddenly 
the world went black. For a moment he couldn't breath. He seemed to be 
surrounded by a rhythmic beeping. As he forced his eyes open the air 
around him seemed to flow again. He was lying down, looking up at the 
ceiling. His ceiling. He recognised the light fitting, which he had 
fitted himself in one of his D.I.Y. moments. He was totally 
disorientated. The sleep book was face down on his chest as he had left 
it. The beeping sound continued, only much louder. He looked across to 
his right and there on the side unit was the alarm clock and next to it 
the black & white photograph of Mandy. What a dream. It had all felt so 
real. Especially the whack he got from Dobson. He shook his head in an 
attempt to clear it then he leaned across and switched off the clock. 
Silence. It had all felt so real. The thought of seeing Mandy again as 
an eight year old, brought a smile to his lips. God, he loved her. He'd 
definitely be doing that again. He took the sleep book and placed it 
next to the photo. Then got up and went down stairs. 

Down in the living room Daniel couldn't stop talking. "It was
incredible, I felt like I was there! It was so real. You know there 
were things that I didn't think I could remember like all the faces of 
the kids in our class. Little things like that." Mandy put her magazine 
down. "That's great." She said. "You've got to give it a go! I'm 
telling you it's unreal. That book is awesome!" he paused for breath. 
"I will Daniel." "You were there." He continued as if he hadn't heard 
her. "We were eight. We were in Dobson's class." "Baldy Dobson?" "Yeah. 
I don't know why I remembered that particular day, but Dobson dropped 
that big guillotine of his and everyone jumped!" Mandy tried to 
remember. "Oh yes!" she beamed, "I remember that day.... That was when 
you went all weird and started swearing your head off!" "What!!" 
exclaimed Daniel, nearly falling off the arm chair. How could she know 
that? "You remember? You stood up and started mouthing off. I remember 
us all being totally gob smacked. You were the talk of the school." She 
saw the expression of terror on Daniel's face. "What's the matter? 
You've gone white. Surely you must remember that of all things. You 
were suspended for a couple of weeks!" "But... But that only happened 
in my dream." "Exactly! That's how you must remember it." "No!" he 
shrieked. Mandy was taken back by just how loud his outburst was. "Calm 
down Danny." "No! But that didn't happen until I dreamt it just now.!" 
"It did happen, I was there." "But it didn't!" "You must have 
forgotten, and blotted it out or something. Then by doing that 
relaxation thing, it's come back again." She stood and walked over to 
him. "It's okay." She said in a soothing voice. Daniel looked up at 
her. He felt so confused. It had been all too real. More than a dream. 
He had controlled the goings on. Hadn't he? "I'd read a bit more of 
that book if I were you." Said Mandy massaging his shoulders. "It might 
tell you that it can bring back memories that you've lost. A bit like 
hypnotism or something." Mandy kissed him on the forehead, picked up 
her magazine and left the room, closing the door behind her. What was 
going on, thought Daniel. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. If 
Mandy was right, then everything he thought had been real, wasn't. He 
suddenly realised he hadn't blinked for about three minutes. He 
blinked. That didn't help. Could it really have been a memory that he'd 
put to the back of his mind? Surely he didn't know the word 'wanker' 
when he was eight years old. Then again it would explain why he'd 
always remembered that particular day. There was only one way to sort 
this. He'd have to try again. He'd have to go to another time in the 
past. Something a bit more recent and change something that he did. If 
his actions once again changed the present day, well then...... This 
book didn't just give him a way of travelling in his mind. It was a way 
to physically travel in time. 

It hadn't taken long for him to decide where he wanted to visit next. It
was an event in his life that he'd often thought about living over 
again. Wishing he could change the outcome of that day. Now, could this 
be a chance to do it? When Daniel had moved on to secondary school, he 
had become even closer to Mandy as a friend as they both moved onto the 
same school. However Daniel made a new friend there. Craig Harton. They 
were inseparable. The three of them went through their teenage years 
together, bonding as they went. At sixteen they had all gone on to the 
same sixth form college to continue their studies. It was here that 
Daniel had first started getting 'feelings' for Mandy, although he was 
always too shy to do anything about it. It was also here that on a 
particular day Craig had died on his way home from college. He and 
Daniel always walked home together, however Daniel had decided to hang 
about for Mandy. This was to be the day he would finally ask her out. 
He didn't though. So Craig walked home alone. However he was hit by a 
car and died. Daniel never forgave himself for that day. He always 
thought it had been his fault. After the accident, Mandy and Daniel 
became even closer as they comforted each other and eventually they 
began the relationship which would lead to them getting married. That 
was the day Daniel would return to. He would then walk home with Craig 
and stop him from getting killed. If it worked, when he awoke then his 
friend would still be alive! 

Lying on the bed once again, he set the alarm clock for ten minutes and
placed it by the photo of Mandy. The book was on the bed next to him. 
It was strange but after the last go at this he had completely 
forgotten the incantation, and had to memorise it all over again. It 
was as if it had been wiped from his memory. He had had the horrible 
thought that perhaps memory loss was a side effect of the phenomenon, 
but he decided it was definitely worth trying again. He closed his eyes 
and began to meditate. Repeating the  incantation again and again. Soon 
he felt the comforting warmth sweep over his body and he began to 
picture himself outside college on that fateful day. He wanted to be 
there. He needed to be there. He was there.... He opened his eyes and 
he was outside the main entrance of the sixth form. Students were 
milling past him. He was leaning against the railings by the side of 
the steps up to the main doors. His bag was on his shoulder. He was 
back. Suddenly he realised he was looking through the doors and could 
see Mandy approaching. She was absolutely gorgeous in her uniform and 
long flowing hair. He shook his head. This meant that Craig had already 
set off for home. He turned and started running down the path to the 
gates. His heart was pumping. The bag on his shoulder kept banging into 
his side, so he grabbed it and threw it to the ground. This made the 
going easier. He dodged between the other students, making their way 
home. Soon he was at the gates. He stopped to catch his breath. There 
up ahead was Craig. He couldn't believe it. Was this whole idea stupid. 
He realised he didn't have time to think about what he was doing or 
even about where he was. He dived past the gates and ran flat out 
towards his best friend who was approaching the edge of the road. 
"Craig!" he screamed at the top of his voice. Craig Harton stopped and 
turned. He smiled. That wonderful smile. As Daniel reached him a car 
shot past the two of them at an incredible speed. Daniel grabbed 
Craig's arm, a little too tight. "Hey! Watch it!" said Craig, still 
smiling. Daniel looked at the car as it disappeared into the distance. 
That was the car. He'd never forget it. Although when he had last seen 
it, it hadn't been in such good condition. Craig had made quite an 
impression on it. He remembered seeing it up on the pavement, and Craig 
dead on the road. He'd had to look at police photos of the incident for 
days after. But it hadn't happened. "Bloody hell, that was close. I 
saved your life their mate." Laughed Craig. Daniel looked at him. 
Stared at him. He was alive. So this was to be the real test. Then 
everything went black. 

Once again there was no air in his lungs. He desperately tried to
breathe in but nothing happened. The constant beeping sound was back, 
this time he knew it was the alarm clock which had snapped him back 
form his dream. Try as he might, he couldn't open his eyes. Something 
was wrong. He felt panic start to take over. Had he been under for more 
than five minutes? He couldn't  have if the alarm was going. Then, just 
as he thought he was going to suffocate, air rushed into him. It felt 
like it came from everywhere, not just through his gasping mouth, as if 
it was entering his whole body. His eyes opened but still everything 
was a blur. He tried to focus. He was lying down, he could tell that 
much, but the room was spinning and seemed to keep changing it's 
dimensions as if the ceiling was rising and falling. Then it finally 
stopped and came into focus above him. He breathed out slowly, more out 
of relief than of control. He was back. Then he felt strange again. 
Something wasn't right. He moved his hand down to where he had left the 
book. It was still there. Thank God! Something was definitely not right 
though. Then it hit him. The ceiling.... It wasn't his. He sat bolt 
upright. He was in a completely strange room. He looked down to his 
right. There was a bedside table. The alarm clock was on it, still 
beeping. He reached out and stopped it. Where the hell was he? Ten 
minutes ago he had been at home. Hadn't he? Could he be mistaken? Was 
this all a dream? He was really confused now. He still had the book, 
which meant he hadn't dreamt the whole thing. But what was real and 
what wasn't? Had he been drinking last night? Was he at a friends 
house? "Hello!" he called. No answer. Looking round the room he could 
see a chair in the corner with some clothes on. There was a wardrobe 
and opposite the bed was a T.V. There were no pictures or photographs. 
He picked up the book and slid off the bed. If he had his book, he 
doubted if he would have just had a night on the town. He walked to the 
door and opened it. He was now in a kitchen. Again there were no 
pictures anywhere. He walked through to another door. Beyond was a 
lounge. In it was a sofa and arm chair, a cabinet and another T.V. and 
video. Looking across at the window he could only see the roofs of 
other houses, so he knew he had to be in a flat. Again there were no 
photos or pictures to give any clue as to who lived there. Then he had 
another attack of panic and darted to the front door. He found himself 
in a hallway leading to a staircase down to the outer door. He ran to 
it and flung it open. He was outside. But where? He looked round 
frantically, and suddenly he realised where he was. He was on Hanbury 
Street. He'd walked past these flats a hundred times. He wasn't far 
from home. He took a last look up at the flat he'd just left, strangely 
in the hope that someone might be looking at him from the window. 
Someone who might be able to tell him what was going on. Then he turned 
and ran down the street. Soon he was on Bucks Avenue and then his own 
street. There was his house. He ran up to the door completely out of 
breath, the book still held tightly in his hand. He knew that somehow 
the book would answer his questions if nothing else did. He tried his 
key in the lock but it wouldn't fit. What the hell was going on? He 
started banging on the door. He had to see Mandy, she was all he wanted 
right now. Then the door opened and there she was. Daniel felt a weight 
lift from him. The world hadn't gone completely mad after all. It 
couldn't have if his darling Mandy was here. "Oh thank God!" he sighed. 
"Danny what's wrong?" she asked, "You look terrible." "I don't know. 
I've just woken up in a flat somewhere!" "What?" "I'm telling you. I 
went upstairs and did my dream travelling thing and when I woke up I 
was in a flat on Hanbury Street!" "Very funny." She laughed, all 
concern leaving her face. "I'm not joking! You saw me go upstairs 
before. I used the book again." He showed her the book. "What book?" I 
haven't seen you since yesterday." "Mandy. I'm not in the mood for 
this!" He barged past her. What was wrong with her, he thought. She 
must realise he was upset over this. Suddenly Daniel was aware of 
someone else in the hall. Someone very familiar. He looked up and there 
at the other end of the room was Craig Harton. Daniel nearly fell there 
and then. So many thoughts were flying through his head, that he felt 
he was going to explode. Craig was here. That meant that the dream he'd 
just had was real. Only it couldn't have been a dream. It had to be 
more than that. He actually travelled through time and saved his best 
friend's life. Christ! Yet Daniel had no memory of a life that included 
Craig. All he knew was that he'd gone upstairs no more than thirty 
minutes ago and now he was completely lost. Unless, the dream state 
could move him through space as well as time. Could he somehow have 
moved to a new location as he slept. Bloody hell, let's face it, he 
thought, if he could travel through time why the hell couldn't he 
somehow move to another place. Maybe that was another skill he could 
pick up from the book. "Are you okay mate?" asked Craig. "Yeah! I think 
so..... Sorry. It's good to see you again." Daniel walked to him and 
hugged him. "And you." Replied Craig. Daniel walked through into the 
lounge and sat down. "I'll get you a drink." said Mandy, heading 
towards the kitchen. Craig came in and sat opposite him on the sofa. 
"Did you have a bad night?" he asked. Daniel smiled. He looked round 
the room, glad to be home. There on the fireplace was their wedding 
photo. Mandy looked so beautiful in her dress. Suddenly terror swept 
over him once again. Mandy was in the photo all right and so was he, 
but he wasn't the groom. Craig was! "What the fuck!" He stood up and 
grabbed the photo. Craig was there in the picture holding Mandy and 
Daniel was stood beside them both with a huge smile. He was the fucking 
best man! Craig was the groom. He had married Mandy. Craig stood up. 
"Danny, what the hell is wrong with you?" Daniel stared at him. Then 
looked down at his left hand. He hadn't realised before but he had no 
wedding ring on. Mandy entered again. "What's going on?" She saw Daniel 
holding the photo. "Danny?" she said softly. "You and him! My best 
mate!" He felt like he'd waked in on them having an affair. It was all 
too much. He smashed down the photo. "NO!" he cried and pushed past her 
into the hall. Before he knew it he was running back towards the flat 
on Hanbury Street. It suddenly hit him. On the doorstep just now Mandy 
had said he lived there. It slowly started to become clear. The book 
definitely worked. He had saved Craig from the accident. Then Mandy and 
him had obviously started a relationship and had married. This was 
ridiculous. Daniel's life, as he had known it, was over. He'd lost 
Mandy to his best mate. Yet he had four years of memories with her 
floating round his head. Even if he somehow tried to carry on with his 
life, he didn't know what his life was. He reached the door to the 
flat. He tried his key. The door opened. He ran upstairs and into the 
bedroom. There he threw himself on the bed and started to cry. 

When he woke up he realised he'd been asleep for two hours. He was still
in the flat and Mandy was still married to Craig. He looked at the 
book. The bastard book. It had to be destroyed. All it had done was 
bring him misery. All he had ahead of him was an empty life without the 
woman he loved. Unless. He sat up . Trying to get his thoughts 
together. If he could travel back one more time to a point before Craig 
and Mandy got together, maybe he could still be the one who asked her 
on a date first. No. That wouldn't work because he had no memories of 
the new life. How could he visualise a place to travel to. He would 
only now be able to go to a time before the day of the accident. What 
if, he thought. What if he went back to that day again and this time 
let Craig die? What was he thinking? Could he be that selfish? Why not. 
Craig had died after all. It wasn't Daniel's fault. Craig should have 
been more careful. He looked down at the book which lay on the bed next 
to him. He had to do it. It was the only way to get his life back. Then 
he realised, he couldn't remember the incantation. Why did he always 
forget it after sleeping? He reached down and opened the book. There it 
was. He read it to himself a couple of times until he could remember 
it. Then he laid back on the bed, closed his eyes and tried to relax. 
It was hard at first. He couldn't get the thought of Mandy from his 
head. Then he slowly started to calm down. He spoke the words again and 
again until that was all he knew. The warmth started to enter his body. 
His limbs felt heavier and heavier. Then the bed seemed to open up 
beneath him. He was sinking into oblivion. He began to visualise the 
same day as before. Stood on the steps outside college waiting for 
Mandy. The alarm clock! Shit! 

He opened his eyes. He was there. Outside the sixth form again. His bag
was on his shoulder and he was leaning on the railings. But he hadn't 
set the bastard alarm clock! How would he know when to wake up? First 
things first. He had to sort his life out. He looked up and saw Mandy 
heading towards the entrance. He would just wait and ask her out. For 
definite this time. But then his thoughts went to Craig. He would be 
crossing the road any moment. Could he let him die? Then a sudden 
inspirational idea crashed into his already hammered mind. What if? 
What if he saved Craig and then basically lived his life again. He 
needn't ever wake up. Would that work? He'd save Craig, then ask Mandy 
on a date and he'd get to live it all over again. A fresh start with 
Mandy. Maybe that was the danger of not waking after five minutes. 
Maybe you became trapped in whatever time you'd placed yourself in. 
Well that wasn't so bad. That's it, he decided. With that he threw his 
bag to the ground and started running again towards the gates and 
Craig. Sooner than he realised, he was there. With Craig. "Alright 
mate? Decided to walk home after all eh?" "Yeah." Replied Daniel, 
catching his breath. "We don't want you having any accidents do we?" 
"Cheers." They started walking towards the road. Daniel kept an eye out 
for the car. "Listen Danny." Said Craig , "I want to tell you 
something." He paused. "Mandy and I have decided to go out together. 
Awesome eh?" Daniel could not believe what he was hearing. This wasn't 
supposed to happen. This can't be the right day. "What?" he mumbled. 
"Yeah. I asked her out before we left tonight. I'm seeing her later." 
This could not be. Mandy was the woman he loved. The woman he'd always 
loved. He'd known her all his life. Rage flashed through his mind. I am 
not going to lose her, he thought. Before he realised what he was 
doing, Daniel grabbed Craig by the shoulders. In a split second he knew 
what he had to do. It all fell into place. On the day of the accident 
Craig must have asked her out. She'd said yes. Unfortunately he had 
died on the way home. After the accident Mandy had been devastated and 
of course had come to Daniel for support. He had always been her second 
choice! Daniel dragged Craig to the road side. It was all over so fast. 
The car was heading their way. Daniel actually lifted Craig and threw 
him into the road. He didn't stand a chance. The car smashed into him 
and he must have died instantly. He bounced across the bonnet, smashed 
into the windscreen and flew up into the air. The car lost control and 
mounted the pavement, before crashing to a stop against the college 
wall. Craig's lifeless body landed in a heap opposite Daniel. The world 
became silent. Daniel stared at the broken body of his best friend. He 
felt numb and suddenly extremely cold. The wind was the first sound to 
return to him. Then the soft sound of voices. Lots of voices all around 
him. He blinked. Then slowly realisation dawned on him. He was 
surrounded by students. Some friends, some strangers. In his moment of 
madness, the world had only contained Craig and himself. He had 
completely forgotten that he was in plain sight of everyone. Including 
Mandy. There she stood. Looking at Craig's body. Then she looked up at 
him. Huge tears in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes Daniel had always 
loved. Now she stared at him with horror and hatred. He took a step 
towards her but then as he realised everyone was looking at him in the 
same way, he decided to run. He didn't care where to. He just turned 
and ran. He had lost everything. Everything. The tears flooded from him 
as he rounded the corner out of sight. Was there any way back to 
normality? The book! Where was the book? It was with him in the flat on 
Hanbury Street. In the future. He had to wake up. How? He stopped 
running and wiped the tears from his face. Then suddenly he could hear 
a sound growing louder. A whining sound. Could it be the alarm clock? 
About to drag him from this hell. It wasn't the alarm clock. An 
ambulance had obviously been called and was heading in his direction, 
siren blasting. Then the whole world went black. 

Out of the darkness came the distant sound of a voice. It was calling
him. This time, although once again he couldn't breathe, he felt calm. 
He was returning. He didn't know how but he was coming back. The voice 
grew louder. Air once again entered his body. He opened his eyes. Above 
him was what seemed to be the outline of a person. "Mandy?" he croaked. 
"Mandy?!" came a gruff voice, "Who the hell is Mandy?" Daniel tried to 
focus, but the room was spinning again. Eventually it slowed and a 
large man with a beard came into view. Daniel was lying down, with the 
man stood over him. "Wake up." Said the man. "What?" "Grub's up!" With 
that the stranger walked away. Daniel sat up. Where was he now? Then 
the truth came to him. A sickening truth. It was like a kick in the 
head. His stomach felt like it was wrenched from him. He was in a 
fucking prison cell. Grey walls surrounded him. "No!" This was crazy. 
Or maybe he was crazy. What could have happened now? The book. Where 
was the book? Suddenly a prison guard appeared in the doorway. "Come on 
Pearson. Move it." "Where's my book?" "I said move it!" screamed the 
guard. As he slowly followed the guard along the bleak corridor, he was 
surprised at just how calm he felt. He had killed his best friend in 
plain sight of everyone. Obviously he had been arrested and sent down. 
His life had never happened. Mandy and he had never happened. There 
were just too many things running through his head to concentrate. If 
he was in jail how could he have taken part in the dream travel in the 
first place? Why did he still only have memories of a life that never 
happened? He obviously didn't have the book any more. His mind raced to 
sort out the facts. He knew that somehow there was still a way. 
Eventually he would be released. He would find the book. He had to find 
the book. That was the only thing keeping him alive. The book. 


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