Gigi Dreams

The temporary dining room was very beautiful and cheerful and clean. The way Gigi liked things to be. The table was set with a white tablecloth; clear crystal cups (crystal wine glasses for the Mr. and Mrs.) white napkins, sparkling silverware, and clear crystal plates. The eight large chickens that Gigi had bought were perfectly cooked and lay on the table stuffed with fresh cilantro, onions, olives, and green pepper. And Broccoli.

"This is positively superb, Menni and Laura! You are excellent cooks!" Pop said, his mouth full of chicken.

"Yeah!" When everyone said it at the same time, (27 people not counting Pop, Menni or Laura) well, that makes a big sound. They all started laughing together at the raised eyebrows and ear-to-ear grins spread on Laura and Menni’s red-with-embarrassment faces.

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Gigi walked back into her room that she shared with 13-year-old Chelsea after cleaning and watching the sunset. She made her bed. She brushed her teeth and hair. She washed her face. She got on her pajamas. Then she got in bed to read.

“Oh,” Gigi said out loud. She’d remembered the ring that she hadn’t yet taken off.

Gigi took it off and looked at it. That was when she noticed the almost-but-not-quite microscopic black dot right in the middle of the diamond.

‘Hmmm,’ she thought, ‘was that there before? No. It’s probably just some mud or something. I’ll wipe it off.’ Gigi took the sleeve of her duck patterned pajama top and wiped the face of the natural shaped gem.

"Huh." the dot wouldn't come off-- not even one bit of it. Gigi examined the ring, tried to rub off the dot again without success, and sighed. 'I'll look at it in the morning,' she was thinking, but sadly, she did not know that her time would be out hours before the break of dawn.

In her nightmare (which she had not very often) a man in a dark suit and black sunglasses shook her violently awake and and shoved her towards a menacing burning light spiral that opened in the middle of the wall. And behind her, she heard the startled and petrifying screams of Chelsea: "HELP! HELP! SOMETHING TERRIBLE IS HAPPENING TO GIGI-- SHE'S GETTING KIDNAPPED OR SOMETHINGGGGG! HELPPPPP!"

Gigi remembered that the man was holding a ring that looked just like hers except the gem was the most intense, menacing, and sinister looking black. "Put this on," the strange man demanded in a strong attractive Australian accent, pushing a thick uncomfortable looking copper wrist-band with a tiny green bleeping LED light on it in her face. Once the strange piece of technology was tied awkwardly tight around her wrist, she was shoved into the whirling and never-ending depths of the blinding light of the spiral. But Gigi heard another voice, trying to sound couragous, yell "CHARGE!" and jump into the pit of light.

It all felt so real when a wind ripped the breath out of Gigi's lungs and she pummeled unpeacefully down a suddenly black tornado-like tunnel of air. She felt like a rag doll being fought over by two grumpy lion cubs. And Gigi didn't dare open her eyes any longer, fearing they would dry out so fast and so forcefully that she would go temporarily blind.So slowly, slowly, she began to get a throbbing headache and her limbs began to relax... and she passed out.