The Daydreamer Project: Teatime

"Is there anything we can do to make you comfortable while you're here with us?"

"I guess you ask if there's something it needs first, or something you can do to make it want to stay."

Kay nods. "Makes sense, but I'm putting it back in the box the second it starts looking for tribute."



You glance down.
"Hey, the're a six missing on this board."

"Nah, that's on purpose. The rules say that keeps the ghosts from writing evil numbers."

"Couldn't it just spell them with letters?"

"The rules also say you're not supposed to suggest that out loud once we start."



You and Kay sit with your fingers on the little plastic marker for at least three minutes, waiting for something to happen. She looks on with a certain bemused anticipation, unsure of what to expect.

Anticipation grasps you as well, and you hang onto that expectation that something might happen soon as a tool to bat away the encroaching exhaustion. As you and your exhaustion struggle back and forth, you catch the sounds of a nearly inaudible whisper echoing from somewhere behind Kay. She doesn't seem to notice.

You snap out of your dreariness just in time to find your finger beginning to slide the piece across the board as an almost unconscious action. Each letter you help guide Kay to feels like a natural progression of the one that came before.



I - T - S - M - Y - T - I - M - E

"Oh wow," Kay whispers. "That's freaky as heck."

You clear your throat. "Uh, is there something we can do for you?"



R - E - A - D - Y - F - O - R - B - E - D

Kay audibly groans. "Ready for bed? I didn't try to call a ghost for it to make me go to bed. I already have my mom for that."

The request brings you an all-too familiar chill. "Wait," you interject, remembering words whispered at your bedside during the strangest waking hours of the night. "What's your name?"



B - O - G - E - Y



Oh.

That's not a great name. It's a nasty creature from Dreamland - a thing like the cat, but from a place outside your tower - trying to freak you out before you fall asleep.

You know Bogeys can't do anything to you if you're not scared of them.

And you're definitely, absolutely not scared of Bogeys, right?