A response to Nathaniel Lee's "Invasive Species" in Mirror Shards:
It sat on the kitchen table, a speck of dark light, shifting through an array of geometric shapes.
“I don’t know,” said Adie. “When I woke up, it was in my hand.”
“Were you dreaming?” asked Teri.
Adie blinked. “Yeah. There were… trees… or curtains… and I had to push through to get… somewhere.”
“Cockle-burr.”
“What?”
“Plant that puts its seeds in a shell with hooks. They catch on animals’ fur, and the animals spread them to new locations.”
Adie watched the thing morph into a pyramid, then slowly elongate. “Will it grow a dream?”
Teri shrugged. “Or a nightmare.”
Adie dropped her bowl of cereal on the table and milk lapped over the lip of the bowl spilling onto the cloth tablecloth. Adie asked, "Why a nightmare?"
"Well, it is obviously the stuff of dreams. Only a nightmare would want to follow you into the daylight world."
"But..." said Adie as she slid her chair away from the pulsing facets. "I'm a good girl. What if it grows a dreamy hunk like that new guy, Troy, from school?"
The girls giggled. "Oooo... I like that. Maybe we should move the seed to my room," said Teri.
"No!" yelled Adie. "I found it. He's mine." Adie's fingers balled up into fists.
"Be quiet or you're going to wake up mom," whispered Teri with a finger over her lips. Adie continued to pout. "Okay, it can grow in your room but it would've grown better in mine."
"Why's that?"
"My room is on the shady side of the house. You might not have enough raw dream stuff to feed it on your side. Your dream guy might grow deformed with wrinkled old skin."
"Ewww... you can have it," said Adie as she stuck her chin out and pointed at her chest, "but I get visiting rights."
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