Before I give you a little more insight into how wonderful life is on Manono, I’d like to return to Pete and Giovanni, who walked Lucy home before their afternoon soccer practice and then chatted on the way to the field.
\n\u201cSomething is wrong with Lucy lately. It’s like she’s ill\u201d Giovanni said, deep in thought.
\n\u201cShe has been pale for days and hardly speaks, even though she used to be the first to answer every question. There’s definitely something wrong with her. Shouldn’t we ask her parents?\u201d Pete asked, concerned.
\n\u201cOh no! You know how her mum is. She probably gets angry about the F-s, but that\u2019s all. And her dad won’t be back from the rig until the Christmas break in any case. I think Lucy just needs to rest,\u201c Giovanni said, kicking the football in front of him as he spoke. \u201cThat reminds me, what was in your sandwich today? That green thing looked so weird.\u201d
\n\u201cNothing, just a tomum… a cucumber. Mum likes to cut my vegetables into silly shapes like that because she thinks it’s funny.\u201d
\n\u201cIt is really funny,\u201d Giovanni laughed. \u201cLast one to reach the field is a knob!\u201d he shouted, as he started to run.” “Pete, as promised, went home immediately after soccer. As he approached the island, the real clouds were visible and the waves were rising, so he paddled quickly. He was greeted on the shore as always by his mother.
\n\u201cGuess what happened! A machine broke down at the dream shield factory, so Dad won’t be coming home until they fix the problem. So, I haven\u2019t even cooked dinner, let’s go to the Chubby Gnome instead, their stuffed parnion is to die for. Along the way, we could stop by the smilopractor, Dad will need to relax when he gets home anyway. He must be frustrated out of his mind by that machine.\u201d
\nThe owner of the Chubby Gnome was indeed a chubby gnome, and his cuisine would have been world famous if anyone had known about him and his restaurant.
\n\u201cSo, two stuffed parnions and two lavender spritzes in a coconut glass, anything else? Let me get that started for you. I\u2019m letting you know that we are out of the stardust balls, so if you want dessert today, I can recommend the peacock nest au chocolate,\u201d the gnome said before disappearing behind the counter, while Pete turned to his mum.
\n\u201cSomething is wrong with Lucy. I think she’s not well, but we don’t know what her problem is.\u201d” “Dad arrived in the evening very upset indeed, so he needed all the smiles that Pete and his mum had got at the smilopractor in the afternoon.
\n\u201cWe have no idea what the problem is, I think it’s a programming error, the system\u2019s dream image filter is simply not working. It could also be a virus, and that’s the worse version, because if a virus was able to attack our software, it means that someone has found out about Manono.\u201d
\n\u201cOh no, not the tourists!\u201d Pete exclaimed.
\n\u201cFor the moment, there is no reason to panic, but we must be cautious. Though I only have a hunch for now that it\u2019s virus, I updated the system to see if that solves the problem.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd Pete’s little friend Lucy has been unwell lately, hasn’t she, Pete? Darling, is it possible that these two things are somehow connected?\u201d
\nDad turned pale and turned to Pete:
\n\u201cTell me, what are the symptoms of the little girl?\u201d
\n\u201cWell, she’s pale, she can’t remember what she’s learned, she’s tired all the time, and says she feels as if she hadn\u2019t slept at all, despite getting plenty of sleep.\u201d
\nDad jumped up as if lightning had hit him.
\n\u201cI must go to the shaman immediately! Don’t wait up, I’ll be late!\u201d Dad said, as he stormed off.” “You should know that Pete’s father was a system administrator at the Manono Dream Shield factory. What are the dream shields there made for? It is very simple. These wonderful objects make your beautiful and sweet dreams possible. The shields, coated with invisibility nickel, ensure the children’s colourful, vivid dreams and also protect them from nightmares.
\nYou have no idea how much you actually owe to these hard-working islanders! For example, the smilopractor, where Pete and his mum went to cheer up Dad, is the one responsible for your laughs too, and the friendship welding factory is where friends for life are produced.
\nThe biggest kudos, of course, must go to the ghost repellent plant from Manono, which has kept the island and your world free from ghosts for a long time now.
\nThat’s how life goes on the island of Manono, and you had no idea! The streets of the island are lined with the most interesting shops on the planet, with the most extraordinary craftsmen and artisans working every day to ensure that you can sleep soundly, laugh a lot and, on the whole, have a happy and carefree life in the other world.” “Dad came home very late. He tried to sneak quietly down the corridor towards the bedroom, but Pete woke up to the noise, and what he heard afterwards shocked him.
\n\u201cThe situation is much worse than we thought,\u201d whispered Dad to Mum. \u201cAccording to the shaman, the dream thief is back. You may also recall that years ago, when he was banished from the island for acting out, he vowed to come back and wreak havoc. It\u2019s here: last week, he infiltrated our system at the plant and planted a nasty virus in the dream image filter. The shaman is now trying to cast a strong protective spell around the island, to see if that will weaken the virus enough for me to find and eliminate it. What\u2019s a bigger problem though is that the dream thief has already ventured to the continent and is now stealing the children’s dreams, which he can do with ease because of the system shutdown. All the symptoms of the little girl suggest that she is one of his first victims. She feels unwell because this monster is stealing her dreams at night.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1116,"template":"","class_list":["post-1118","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n