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“What about loved?” Will offered.
“Love…” The word trailed off as a picture of his father before he died, appeared. They were out on the boat, fishing, and there was love in his dad’s eyes. “Dad,” he intoned.
“Yes, Doug. Your father. Who else?”
His aunt and uncle’s faces joined in, and then…
Blackness, and the horrible visage of his mother once again intruded.
“Go away,” he yelled at her, but all she did was laugh, and reach for him with her evil hands.
“Nooo,” Doug screamed.
“Everything is okay, Doug. You’re safe.”
Will’s voice remained calm, and Doug gasped in a breath.
“She’s going to touch me,” he whimpered.
“No, she’s not, Doug. You have control. Take control.”
He’d never been able to do that before when the nightmares hit, but this time… He felt stronger. Doug didn’t know if it was Will’s hand clutched in his, or an inner strength coming through, but this time…
“Stop!” he yelled angrily, thrusting his hands out at the invisible demon.
“That’s right, Doug. Get rid of her. Put her someplace she can’t hurt you anymore.”
Doug pictured a glass bottle, and in his dream, he grabbed her by the neck and stuffed her into it. When it was done, and he’d stoppered the container, he dared glance at what he’d done.
Hah.Lotus’s ugly face was squished inside the glass. A fitting place for her.
“Is everything okay? Where’s Lotus, now, Doug?” Will asked.
“I put her in a bottle.” Doug stated, a satisfied hum beginning in his throat. “Can I make her stay there?”
“It’s your dream, Doug. You can make anything happen,” Will assured him.
He looked around, and out of the floating mandalas, the kitchen formed again. There was room on the window-sill for a bottle. He gently placed the container upside down against theglass because…she didn’t deserve to be upright. “She’s good and caught,” he told Will. “And she’s not getting out. Ever.”
The shapes were back, dancing happily around the room, and Doug danced with them. Around and around he twirled, enjoying his newfound freedom.
The sun was back, too.
“Doug. Doug.” Will called for his attention and Doug huffed.
“I’m here.”
“Yes, you are,” Will agreed. “But there’s something else I want you to do before you wander to your heart’s content. Can you picture your younger self for me, please?”
Doug wasn’t sure why that was important, now that he’d bottled Lotus up for good, but he followed Will’s direction.
He was suddenly hovering in the little closet that had been his bedroom. He liked the feeling of being above things in his dream. He lifted one spectral foot, then the other, and chuckled.
“I’m defying gravity,” he snorted.
“That’s fun,” Will answered. “But have you envisioned your younger self, yet?”
He glanced down again, and saw himself on the bed. “Yeah. In my room.”
