The Dragon was at least 100 miles away. When we started walking the sun was up in the center of the sky and when we'd gotten partway to him it was – well another sun had started to come up in the sky. "It's always," Jess explained as we walked, "somewhere between dawn and dusk here. It's never true dark." She pulled a piece of what looked like beef jerkey from her pack and began eating it. "It's like hunger – you're never really hungry or completely full here. It's always – "

"Somewhere in between?" I interrupted. And she nodded.

"Tired, Cold, Sick – there's not really a perfect state of anything in this world. it's really annoying."

"So .. why stay?"

She looked at me as though I were crazy.

"There are dragons here?" she gestured ahead, "and gold? Also fighting. And there's no math. I don't know about you – but I hated math back in the real world. And some of the kids have super powers. I don't – but – maybe – one day," she walked a little faster. "Anyway. In the real world all there was was school and getting a job one day and maybe getting married and eventually getting divorced. All the things that sound super boring and predictable. But here?" she gestured around, then down at her outfit. "I can be anyone. Anything."

She laughed. "I'm sorry. That's a long answer. And really – oh look – we're almost here."

From closer up the dragon didn't seem menacing. He had kind grey eyes set into the largest head I'd ever seen. And even though his teeth were the size of school buses, they were tucked into the largest bowl of oatmeal I'd ever seen.

Jess ran up and gave him a giant hug.

I hung back a bit, running my fingers through my hair. Around us I started to notice kids falling into groups. each group had a member that wore all yellow, like Jess. Each had a member in brown leather that was starting to turn lighter the longer they were there. like mine. Each had a member in full on black, like a shadow, and then there was indigo, violet, flame, emerald, sapphire, rose, all the colors found in nature.

A group gathered near me and I felt myself drawn to them.

"Make friends, find gold."

"Hey there." the largest one, a red headed woman who seemed to be half human and half giant came up to me. she wore Emerald and seemed a lot like Christmas if Christmas were to come to life. "You're with Jess today?" I nodded, unsure if I was really with Jess or not. "All right!" she reached out, shook my hand and then pulled me into a massive bear hug. "It is SO good to have you with us!" while she hugged me I felt a few things plop into my bag and her smile grew wider. "Those are my welcome gifts – some gold and a book to help when time gets thick. It sometimes does."

"Thick?"

"you know," a boy looking person this time, but something about his face made him seem older than the twelve he looked, "like split pea soup, or molasses. Like when you can't breathe so you have to hold your breath and time seems to stand very very still?" he reached out a hand and took mine in it. his clothing was a myriad of blues and greens, sparkling gems and dizzying array of diamonte. "I'm Michael and that's Arya," More items settled into my bag, but it never seemed to get any heavier.

"So nice to meet you - " I stumbled over the words, and then I noticed the blue green at the edge of my leathers. I stared at it dumbly, but he just walked away. tousling brown curls and laughing to himself.

"He's well pleased with himself isn't he." She was wearing all orange, but in a thousand shades, as though she were the color of the sun at twilight. Threaded through out her costume were shots of gold and silver. She smiled at me and I saw her hair, which looked silver at first, was also red and yellow, brown and blue. All the color found in fire.

"Better find a mount and grab your things"
"My things?"

She pulled herself up on one of the horses I hadn't noticed when we arrived and nodded at me. "Over there silly. Put them in the saddlepack. Aren't you starting to get hungry?" she waited for me, but it was like having the sun itself watch as I dawdled my way through choosing a pack, pulling out a wrap and then clambering onto the horse.

"I've never ridden before." I told her.

"you don't say," she grinned at me, then slapped my horse on the rump so it took off before her. I thought I heard her laughter trailing after me, but I wouldn't have known. I was too busy holding on for dear life.

We rode the better part of an hour before I realized I hadn't thought of Jess. I jerked my head around to search – but I needed have worried. High up in the clouds, riding through the sky, swooping through clouds, was Jess. "Come on!" she called back to us. And we rode, our horses pounding against the dirt. After a while I noticed the other groups had fallen off or – and this hadn't occurred to me – they had never had horses at all.

"Where did they go?" I had pulled up alongside Arya who was eating an apple. One bite for her, one bite for the horse.

She looked at me. "Well they have different journeys Karo. Different places to be." She pointed ahead. "We are going there – do you see it?" and suddenly, as though her saying it had created something of nothing, I could see the place in the distance where we were heading. A tiny bit of fire burning in the middle of an ocean.

"How will we get there?" I asked. Looking around, as though we might be carrying boats. "What are we going for? Why are we going?"

She smiled and pulled out a map and as our horses rode through a dusk and a dawn, she told me the story of those who came through the Café. And those who came through the ocean.

And how we must exit through the Ocean or never exit at all.

To Be Continued...