Jeb

'Promise me something,' Jeb said as he climbed back onto the bed, 'please don't call me Mr. Bear again.'

Grudgingly, Wall agreed.

'He's left the window open a bit,' Jeb respectfully changed the subject. 'This is so much better.'

Purposefully he tried not to act as if he'd had the upper hand against the wall. It was dangerous to annoy something that could conjure dreams for you, especially if it could kill you in them.

Actually, he was quite surprised that Wall hadn't threatened. She usually does. She knows she has the balance of power, that is if Wall is a she. She sounds like one.

'Wall?' Jeb thought about asking about gender, but changed his mind. 'Can you do me a favour?'

'Can you enhance my sense of smell for a while?'

Power struggle over, Jeb thought, Wall is back on top. 'It all looks so green and warm out there, I'd just like to experience the scent for a bit.'

Lie down and relax, Wall ordered and searched deep into the swirling darkness that was her perception of Chaos.

Jeb felt a pleasant tingling as Wall's consciousness located the rest of him.

Wall sped towards the small, light brown, shape. Its features more life-like than Jeb's earthly, stuffed toy-bear, form. His breathing was slightly quicker than normal in anticipation of experiencing the smells of the real world, his heart rate fast but steady. His eyes were closed and he kept them shut, the Jeb in the real world had use of sight. The Jeb that was floating in the void of this dimension of Chaos had no capacity, or the need, to see the nightmare that raged around him.

The creature that was Jeb was still, it's position the same as the Jeb in the bedroom. Any move that was made by the real-world Jeb was echoed by the more life like creature that floated free in the perpetual tempest.

Wall achieved a connection between the Jeb's which, considering that they were one and the same, was easy.

That should be sufficient for your needs, Wall said eventually.

Jeb raised himself up immediately filled with his own scent. The dusty, familiar smell of an old stuffed teddy bear. Comforting in its own way.

He put his face to the window letting the perfume of a summer evening come to him on the gentle breeze.

'Thank you, Wall,' Jeb started feeling better. 'This is wonderful?'

A sense of loss filled him as he longed for life. It was all he thought about these days.

Without warning a shudder ran through him as his borrowed olfactory ability vanished. He looked to Wall as if she could help.

Even I cannot control Chaos, she said with no sympathy.

The forces of the other place had ruined things for him again. Despair crept in like the old friend that it was.

'Old man Misery,' Jeb pined falling back to the bed.

You must be sick of the sight of him, Wall chuckled. Poor Mr. Bear.

If Jeb could cry...

'Yes,' he said. 'Yes I am.'

The time of resting was near. Jeb let the day end around him surrendering to the comfort that the bed gave. Thoughts of returning to the shelf were soon thrown away.

Sounds from the outside world lessened with the fading light. Owls and bats took their turn in possession of the sky as lights winked out gradually from all the houses below.

Wall's anticipation of influencing those who slept was almost too much to bear, but still Jeb lay there. Silent.