TO REMEMBER

Andrea, Francis, and Penny broke free of the knotted, thorny vines and bolted past the run-down Reverie tents, past the Dream Clock and the hordes of weary-eyed Reverie children, and down the lane that would lead them to the Sandman’s private dream.

But there, where it should have been, stood a lonely stretch of empty, forsaken field.

The Sandman’s tent was gone.

Francis crumpled on the ground like a pile of dirty laundry. “Now we’ll never get home!” Tears brimmed in his eyes, spilling over and falling down his cheeks.

“This can’t be right,” Penny said, running into the empty space. “Where’d he go?”

Andrea bent down to comfort her brother, then walked to the place where the entrance to the tent should have been. Francis was devastated, Penny was confused. But something like a thrill surged through Andrea at this development. She wasn’t surprised that he knew they were coming. And if they weren’t onto something, the Sandman would have had no reason to hide himself away. She also knew the Sandman would never in a million years abandon Reverie, which meant he still had to be around somewhere.

“One of the Sandman’s first questions to me was if I had come to Reverie to remember or to forget,” Andrea said.

“He asked me that, too,” Penny said. “I said I wanted to forget my loneliness.”

Francis chimed in. “I wanted to remember the good times when we were all together.”

Andrea paused a moment. “I told him I came here to forget.” Her gaze landed on her brother.

He wiped the stream of tears from his cheeks, watching Andrea with a curious expression on his face.

“I’m so sorry, buddy. It hurt so bad to have you gone.”

Francis blinked, slow and thoughtful, before giving a slight nod. A quiet way to tell Andrea I understand.

The pressure inside Andrea’s heart rose up again, then pinched a little, as she remembered how the Sandman had tempted her to forget her brother altogether.

That had never been what she wanted. She had only ever wanted to forget the pain.

If they were onto him, he probably would have hidden himself somewhere he thought Andrea would never go in a million years. He already knew she would go into the nightmares. He wouldn’t have any reason to hide himself behind a good dream. She had gone into her memory of the night Francis disappeared, fueled by the fierce desire to find her brother, but the Sandman still thought she had come here to forget. Which meant that maybe the place he thought Andrea would never enter would force her to do the opposite: To remember. To enter a place so saturated with memories that she wouldn’t be able to escape her sadness and her pain at all they had lost. A place where their entire family was together.

“I think I know where he is.” Andrea knelt down by her brother and cradled his face in her hands. “Francis, do you think you can take us to the wish the Sandman created specially for you? The one with our family all together?”

A ripple of understanding passed over Francis’s expression. “Oh yeah!” he said. “Let’s go.”

He stood, and Andrea placed her arm around Francis’s shoulder. They walked in the direction of Francis’s tent, while Penny lingered a few steps behind.

“Come on, Penny.” Andrea turned back to her. She had left Penny behind enough. She knew now how it had made her feel, and Andrea was determined not to abandon her friend again.

Penny’s face lit up when Andrea stopped, her face reflecting the light of the moon before fading to a more serious expression.

“I think . . .” Penny said, slowing to a stop. “I think this part is something you and Francis need to do together. Just the two of you.”

Andrea’s chest deflated. “But, Penny, we need you. You’ve helped us with everything so far. I won’t leave you behind.” Andrea reached out her hand to Penny, but her friend stepped away.

“I know,” she said. “That’s the thing. I know you wouldn’t leave me. And we’ll meet again very, very soon. I still think there’s a way I can help. A way I should help. It just means I have a different job right now than you do.”

“We need to find the Sandman, Penny. That’s our job.”

“No. You need to find the Sandman . . . and I . . . I need to gather the others. We’ll meet you at the Dream Clock.”

Andrea shifted her weight, uncomfortable at the thought. “If we fail, you’ll have gathered all the children together for nothing. They’ll think you’re a liar. No one will ever trust you again.”

Penny smiled. “When you succeed, there won’t be much time. They need to be there, waiting. They need to see how it ends so we can all go home.”

As uneasy as it made Andrea, she realized that Penny was right.

“You’re very brave,” she said, wrapping Penny in a giant hug. It was true. Penny trusted Andrea and Francis enough to go off on her own to help them. She chose to believe that they would get the job done, so fully that she was willing to put herself on the line for it.

“I’ve decided that I’d rather be lonely in the real world than trapped in this fake one,” Penny said.

And she was willing to return home, in spite of once being so desperate to leave it.

“Besides,” she continued. “I got my wish. I found real friends.”

Penny mussed Francis’s hair.

He blushed and looked to the ground.

“See you later, alligator. Take care of your big sister.”

Francis nodded. “I will.”

“See you on the other side.” Penny pivoted away, lifted her chin, and marched forward alone toward the Dream Clock.

Andrea took a deep breath, an attempt to slow her pounding heart. She could never go back to the blind joy she had felt during her first moments inside Reverie’s gates, when she thought she could run away from her troubles. So many things had changed, and, one way or another, they were about to change again.

If they succeeded, Andrea wasn’t sure she was ready to return to a world where she might wake up without a brother. But for now, she just had to take the next step, which was to find the Sandman.

And to find him, they had to confront Francis’s perfect wish.