Chapter 14

 

“When I’m asleep it’s like I’ve escaped from the

Devil’s Element,” Miley told Ned.

  “Huh,” said Ned. “Except you haven’t.”

  “And if I close my eyes during the day, the match factory disappears,” Miley added.

  “And then you lose count of your matches,” Ned said.

  “I can still count them, in my head,” Miley insisted.

  But she couldn’t. With her eyes closed, she kept going off into happy little dreams of Hippo Banks, parapluies and Mama’s story nights and she lost count of her matches, quick smart.  

  Dreams are like stories, thought dreamy Miley, and stories are words; words that follow one another in a crocodile file, like children going to soap or sweet factories on school outings.

  Sometimes words are like water, flowing, cool and refreshing. Other times they’re like stepping-stones over a stream, but they can’t always take you across dangerous spaces and get you home safely, no matter how many words there are.

  “Keep counting!” Bacon suddenly yelled, right in Miley’s left ear.

  All the words in Miley’s head were instantly flooded away.