He feels the first tears break out, as he rest his little tired head on his propped up elbows. He just doesn’t get it! His furious thoughts shake the orange fish outside his window. This is the last time I’m going to let it happen, he tells him self, again. But this time it seems as if he means it, he walks to the edge of his room and jumps off the world. Temenalana wakes up furiously shaking, tears drenching her pillow. She runs downstairs.
She notices the worried crease in her father’s forehead, the almost permanent bags under her mother’s eyes as she tells them about her dream. They exchange the almost now familiar glance. They’ve heard it before.
Temenalana unsuccessfully tries to close her eyes and drift of into the wonderful technic-coloured world of dreams. She cannot peacefully sleep however, due to the nightmares that haunt her dreams, she dreams of a boy that was never born, yet who is older than what she is. She’s had enough; she pulls open her sketchbook and is also pulled into another dimension.
What happens when rainbow fish commit the perfect crime? Thinks he who has now landed at the bottom of the red ocean. The green cocoa bird always lays his eggs down here! -Any one can see he is insane. His sister visits him in her dreams.
The slithering sound of the lilac lizards awakes him from what he has now believed to be sleep. He faintly feels the vibration passing through his left leg as he stamps on the ground. He switches on his light, and he can now see the swirling dust that cascades into his nostrils from the musty carpet. He lays his head back down to sleep, but the constant ringing in his ears has returned and will keep him awake till dawn…
Temenalana is switched back into reality as she hears the irregular chirping noise coming from the birds, in the cages hanging from the trees outside. She looks at the digital clock next to her bed and sees it is switched off. Evidently it is early morning considering how light it is. She looks down at her now nearly full sketchbook. Pleased at her accomplishments. It had been a while since she’d had the sudden urge to draw, but last night was amazing; she’d felt a longing for the feel of the pencil in her hand.
“Rubbish!”
Temenalanas father is screaming at her from the top of his voice, spit rains down on her as he continues to rant on and on. About how her insomnia, from the night before would lead to self-destruction. Temenalana never understood how her father could have loved her mother’s art works nearly as much as her mother, the famous artist, yet despises Temenalanas attempts to be as great as her.
Temenalana looks at her older brother he is autistic. She leads him away from their parents and into his room. He doesn’t see feel or hear anything in her world. He doesn’t even know that they’ve been fighting. She looks around the room disgusted at the poor design on the walls and the childish toys scattered on his selves, by her parents. She bumps a small puppet hanging from the ceiling with her shoulder. The fifth floorboard of her brother’s room squeaks, and he turns to face her. She talks to him about her day and asks him what he’s done but he shows no interest to what she’s saying, the only way he seems to acknowledge her was by turning around.
Finally she cannot stand this, this torture, she’s almost positive he could hear her. She starts to cry while she tells him how much she misses him as her brother. She turns sharply to leave the room when she hears an almost frightened gasp escape her brother. She turns to see him watching the place where she had just been standing, and he has a tear in his eye. Temenalana leaves the room in an excited hurry, joyous of what just happened, her brother actually acknowledged her! She runs down the stairs to tell her parents…
He forces back the evil surge to cry, as the clown sneers down at him. He turns his back to it. It is merely a puppet, should it be able to control him as if he were attached to strings? What a ridiculous idea! Finally sleep grasps hold of him, as if he is indeed her puppet. His sister has not yet discovered he hasn’t heard her, she’s at the moment truly happy. Little by little she starts to understand and is thrown into a deep tunnel of sadness. She yet again cries herself to sleep. And finally she can approach him.