"Well your powers certainly saved us a lot of trouble. You were able to work out the most incredible switcheroo of dreams and reality. Fancy a world where people dream while they're wide awake, and experience reality while they're asleep,” said Ann.

"Yes, and when we were dreaming, I must have been able to read your thoughts, because you were still real relative to me, in the same state as I was. It must have been a side effect of my being in that strange dimension, with my dream sensitive powers."

"Yes I guess so. Perhaps we'll never know. I don't suppose we could have left the warp open."

"No, we had to close it. Could you just imagine all the chaotic things we'd have in both dimensions, if we had people and objects from each other's dimensions being pulled through a moving warp. We'd never sort it all out. We're lucky you and I found it long before conventional earth spacecraft from either dimension could reach it," said Arella.

"Yes. It's just as well you had a chance to figure it all out, instead of it being inflicted upon those astronauts from the United Continents Space Explorations alliance," said Ann, "Which reminds me. We'll have to watch the news tonight. It's ..... Arella, it's only three in the morning!"

Ann yawned suddenly, and Wendell felt the movement of her neck. It seemed more exciting than anything that had happened to them on Earth-D. He began to think about that.

"Well most of our adventure was like a dream, once we entered the warp world. We only had about twenty minutes of real time at the most."

"We'll be home by four o'clock. Then we'll sleep in," said Ann.

*          *          *          *

Arella Kayne slipped into her bedroom and was soon asleep. What happened in her dreams could only be explained as a lingering effect of the warp, combined with the dual effect of the powers of both Kaynes. In her dream, Arella could see the face of Ann Kayne saying,      "Thank you. It worked from our side. Did you close your warp side up too?"
"Yes," said Arella Kayne in her sleeping thoughts, "Thank you. Maybe somehow we'll meet again some time."

"Yes maybe," said Ann Kayne, "But even now you are fading away from my sight, and -"

"You're fading too. Goodbye dream twin," said Arella.

"Goodbye to you too dream twin," said Ann Kayne, and then Arella's dreams were of the usual subject matter, such as what she had done on her christmas holidays.

*          *          *          *

When she awoke at eleven o'clock, she ran to Ann's room and asked "Was it real, or was it all just a dream?"

"That's funny" laughed Ann.

"What is?"

"You asking me a question like that. You are the expert on whether things are real or a dream. You are the expert on dreams, and you asked me if last night was real."

Ann laughed again.

"But it seemed real. Did you fly up to the warp last night with me, or did I dream it?"

"It was real, Arella. I've been up since nine o'clock. I went out to the forest and saw Wildstar. When I boarded it, I found the transponder missing, and Butler One confirmed as much of it as he had experienced. It was all real, on our side of the warp anyway. What happened on their side was mostly like a dream, as you explained."

"So we did meet Arella O’Malley and Ann Kayne. Guess what. When I dreamt, I could see and talk to Arella Kayne just for a while, before we both knew we would fade out of each other's sights forever. We thanked each other. They closed their side of the warp too."

“We never saw another Wendell in that dimension,” said Ann.

“We never saw our own Wendell half the time we were there,” said Arella, “But that’s because people cease to exist in dreams, when you’re not thinking about them. Since we weren’t thinking about our Wendell, even subconsciously, then we wouldn’t have seen theirs. Besides, maybe there’s only one dimension with tiny people and its Wendell came to our earth, not earth-D.”

"Did you dream this in bed here, the real here?" asked Ann.

"Yes."

"How wonderful."

"Yes. I guess that ends it."

"Not quite."

“

*          *          *          *

Ann and Arella were watching the news:

            "Good evening. This is a special report about the cloud which was approaching

            our planet. All satelites recorded a disappearance of the yellow and white

            radiation cloud at two fifty five am, Sydney time, this morning. While the

            people of Australia were asleep, the cloud just vanished from existence. We are

            all to be made aware of the fact that U.C.S.E. , the special alliance set up to

            investigate the cloud, will now be disbanded. There will be more details in the

            late edition news."

Arella giggled at the word 'asleep' in reference to the people of Australia.

"After all that, how will you ever know when you're asleep again?" she asked.

"Better not let Wilma Reebil hear you giggling. The Freedom Fields orphanage staff is full of sensible adults, although I suppose there are no counterparts of Wilma, Peters and Reynolds here, because they were only imaginary characters in our dreams in that dimension."

"Fancy laughing oneself to death," said Arella, "Could you just picture such a foolish thing?"

"Possibly" said Ann "because you look rather close to it yourself."

The two girls sat alone in the Freedom Fields television room and enjoyed five uninterrupted minutes of continued giggling.

1996…

“Wendell grew to normal size on earth-D! I guess I’ve made the reverse transition, except that mine is permanent.”

“Even then I didn’t dream I’d be eating someone in my fifties,” said Ann, “I did have one more adventure that’s worth telling you before I pop you in and swallow you.”