We did not see them come the first time. Raven gathered us together the next morning and told us that they had come just after the stroke of midnight, and that they had taken one of the children away. We believed her, for she had a habit of being right about things.
Someone had also seen two figures head east in the mist. The taller one appeared hunched and was carrying a walking stick. The little one was holding the other hand and they did not look hurried.
It was almost noon before we discovered who had gone missing. It was little Pebble, who was always so quiet, and always playing on her own. Her mother had died at childbirth and her father ran away to god knows where, and so she was brought up with the other orphans in the long house. Nobody said anything much about her disappearance, but all secretly felt bad that we hardly knew her, and took such a long time to notice she was gone...
All, except little Matchstick. He didn't pay much attention when Pebble came quietly to him the night before after dinner, and passed him the book that she carried every second of her days. She didn't say a word, but just gently tapped his shoulder and left the book by his side. Matchstick was too engrossed in building his matchstick hut so he merely thought she was strange but that he would go return the book to her later. But he did not manage to find her.
And by the time he told us, none of us had any illusions that we would find her. We asked Raven why they took her away and what would happen to her, but she just shook her head. And that was how they came the first time - - silently, without fuss, like the autumn wind. In the weeks that came, we were all filled with a vague sense of dread, even though we gradually forgot about Pebble. And when I finally met her again, it was Pebble who recognised me. And I could only stare as she called out my name, again and again. That was after they took me away, too.
Pebble looked so different right now. Her often matted locks were now shiny and soft, and her eyes sparkled as the dirt from her face is now gone. She was beaming as she called me. "Pebble?" I finally found my voice. She nodded her head happily and came running down the long flight of stairs. I took a quick look at my surroundings and saw wondrous things which I did not know even existed nor of their names.
"My boy, I hope you don't mind the mess... I have not had much time to tidy this place up." I turned around in shock at the voice, and saw an old man smiling down at me. He was tall, even with his hunch, and his face was like a labyrinth of wrinkles. His smile, though gentle and kindly, seemed to hide an immeasurable sadness. And then I remembered everything, how he came, how he smiled as he stretched out his hand, how badly I needed to leave with him.
I took a deep breath as I tried to look braver than I really felt. There were fragmented flashes of memory but the rest was a blur. I don't recall any words exchanged nor could I recall how we ended up at where we are now. I was still trying to make sense of what just happened when Pebble appeared in front of me. And with her was an even tinier lady whom I had not noticed earlier because she was so small. Probably noticing the quizzical look on my face, the tiny lady said, "Oh hello there, didn't you already see me coming with you earlier? I must be getting real good at staying unnoticed! Good good, just the way I want it."
It was all too much for me. Ignoring the two strangers, I rushed forward and clung to Pebble's arm, begging her to tell me what was going on, what i was doing here. The wonder and amazement had faded off, replaced now by anxiety and confusion. Pebble embraced me tightly, whispering again and again that I was safe and everything was alright. I calmed down a little. Turning around, I saw that the old man and the tiny lady had backed away several steps.
They looked shocked, almost horrified at my outburst. The old man's hands were shaking, and the lady looked as if she might start to cry. We stood in this awkward silence for several minutes, until Pebble started giggling. I followed, laughing loudly, partly from embarrassment at having caused this mass panic, and partly from the sense of relief that these people probably meant me no harm. It took another moment before the other two could start smiling.
"Hmm, let's get this straight first." The tiny lady took out a handheld device and started scrolling up and down on its side. "Let me see, m..n..o...p..q...R! Ahh, found it! No wonder, I see they must have slipped up and not managed to deliver the letter to you in time. Christmas is coming, and the postmen must have been overwhelmed with all the letters to Clausy, as usual. That means little Remus probably would not have gotten the letter either..."
It still didn't make any clearer sense to me what was going on. But "Christmas and Clausy" were at least vaguely familiar to me. With cold fingers, I stuttered "er... erm, did you mean Santa Claus? And I still do not know what this place is and why I am being brought here..." My voice trailing off as I still felt quite intimidated by this strange turn of events as much as my heart was telling me everything was going to be ok.
The tall old man rested his hand on my shoulder and said kindly to me, "We are the dream-makers and we got your signals. All the daydreams you had? The dreams of what you are, what you want to be, and what you can be. We are here to make it happen for you, dear boy."
"Do you want to know where you are?" she asked. I realized that it had totally slipped my mind that I was in a place I had never seen before, with no clue how I even got here.
"Where are we?"
"Well," Pebble began, "we are in the Halfway House. I stayed here for a few weeks while they taught me how to remember my dreams, and how to make them real. And sometimes, when things go wrong, this is the safe place that we can all come back to. You can stay here as long as you like. I'll come by everyday too, it's so nice to see someone from our village again! Come, let me show you this place." She took my hand, and I followed.
***
The Halfway House was a place unlike anything I had ever seen. After winding our way through many dim passages, I found myself standing in a large hall, where the walls reached so high that I could hardly see the ceiling, if there was even one. It sparkled when I looked up but he could not tell if it was the sunlight or something else. The walls were of an odd translucent colour and I could have sworn I saw some shadows moving on the other side. There were numerous doors of all shapes and sizes lining the extremely long and wide hallway. But what amazed me the most were the strange and beautiful objects hovering above the colourful floor tiles. Some were still, others were bobbing gently or revolving slowly. I reached out to a goblet nearest to me and tried to pick it up. To my surprise, my fingers ran through air. It was as if the solid object I had seen wasn't real at all.
I looked up in wide-eyed wonder, and saw that the three others have taken seats around the fireplace. The tall old man gently nodded towards an empty chair, inviting me to join them. The tiny lady passed a letter to me and whispered with a smile, "This was what did not reach you my dear Ray. Perhaps it could help you understand more about why you are here today. "
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