Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself for what was to come. He was alone and at the top of a tall staircase; the stone in the walls on the opposite side was cold and wet and slippery, and just to his left, a stairway descended toward him. To his right, in front of him, was a small landing that appeared to lead to a door. Quiggly was unsure of what was happening to him or where he was; however, after a moment, he realized he was in a basement. Quiggly wasn't sure what happened next. He believed that a hand came from behind him, gripping him by the shoulder. Suddenly, he found himself standing on his own two feet in front of a large blue car. He then heard a small voice say, "What do you think?" Quiggly looked around the car and saw a familiar brown figure standing by his side. "I need you to go to the front door and get the key and then drive the car," said the familiar brown figure. Quiggly didn't question it; he was just glad the hand was gone from around his shoulder. "Okay, I'll be right back," he replied. He then ran to the front door, let himself in, and looked around for the key; he found it and then drove the car back to the garage. "That was easier than I thought it would be," said Quiggly as he entered the car. "I guess it wasn't so difficult after all." "You want me to drive you home?" said the familiar brown figure. Quiggly was confused, "Why would I want to go home? I'm supposed to pick you up for a drive and drop you off, so why would I want to go home?" "I asked if you want me to drive you home." "No, I don't. No need, really," said Quiggly. "Then why did you say you'd go home?" Quiggly thought about the answer before responding, "Well, that's a good question," he said. "Well, I guess because I thought it was what you would want me to do. I guess I assumed you wanted me to do that." Quiggly was still not sure why he agreed to pick the familiar brown figure up or why he felt compelled to do what he did. "So, you want me to drive you somewhere?" said the familiar brown figure. "No, I don't," said Quiggly, now beginning to get angry. "I thought you said I should drive you home, but I guess not. No, I'll just drive home." Quiggly got out of the car and began to walk to his house. He soon found himself in the middle of the park where he first met the familiar brown figure. "I want you to tell me what I'm doing here and why I didn't go home," said Quiggly. "I know you're not going to tell me because you're really mean and you won't tell me why you're in my dreams." "Where's my tea?" said the familiar brown figure. "Oh, I see you went through the cupboard that's behind my chair." "I'm asking you what you're doing in my dreams and why you want me to drive you somewhere." "There you go again. I told you the first time I was here that I don't want you to drive me anywhere. I'll just let you drive me home," said the familiar brown figure. "Look, if you want me to drive you home, I'll drive you home, but I want you to tell me why you want me to drive you somewhere," said Quiggly. "Fine, I'll tell you why I want you to drive me somewhere," said the familiar brown figure. "It's so that we can be together. Then we can work on fixing you." "I'm still not sure what we have to fix," said Quiggly. "You're not listening. We're supposed to fix you, so we can be together. That's what I want you to do, fix yourself so we can be together." "Are you saying that you need to fix me to be together with me? That doesn't make any sense. There's nothing wrong with me, so what can I do that will make me better? What can I do? Can you fix me? I thought we were supposed to fix you?" "I've already told you, I'm not going to tell you what I need you to do," said the familiar brown figure. "Now, come back with me, because you haven't finished your tea. You'll get it next time. "Next time? So I have to come back here again? You're not making any sense." "Of course, you have to come back again. You have to see what you have to do and what you've done in the first place, so you can fix yourself," said the familiar brown figure. "Fine, I'll see you again tomorrow, but this time I'm going to drive you home, because if you really want me to drive you home, you should let me know." "Where are you going?" "To get some sleep. You can come visit me in my dreams, but I don't know when we're going to meet, and if I don't get my sleep, I won't dream and you won't be able to visit me in my dreams, so I'll do my best to get some sleep." "You're really going home?" asked the familiar brown figure. "I'm really going home. I don't know when I'm coming back. Good night," said Quiggly as he turned and walked toward his house. As he walked back, Quiggly suddenly realized that he would be going home alone, and he worried about that. "I still feel funny about how I'm going home," said Quiggly to himself. "There's got to be something I can do." Suddenly, he began to smile. "Yes, I can leave a letter for you." He turned around and headed back toward the familiar brown figure, only to find that it was no longer there. Instead, he found himself in the familiar brown figure's kitchen, looking into the cupboard. "Where did I put the tea?" said Quiggly. "How can you forget the tea? What kind of tea do you want?" said the familiar brown figure. "That stuff you get in those cans is disgusting." Quiggly was embarrassed and turned away. He started to walk out of the kitchen, but stopped and turned back. He didn't want to do it, but he had to ask. "Hey, you want me to make you some tea? Or are you leaving it up to me?" asked the familiar brown figure. Quiggly shook his head as he walked out of the kitchen. He had finally found something that was easy to do. He didn't know if he liked it or if it would work, but at least he would know where he was heading. ## Chapter 15 The next day when Quiggly went to work, he was ready to begin fixing the problem. "We're going to do our best to stop," said the familiar brown figure. "Okay," said Quiggly, "but what can we do to help?" "You'll know as we go along. Just think, and we'll know where you're going to fix us," said the familiar brown figure. "Just remember, you need to fix it." "You told me that before," said Quiggly. "Yeah, I told you that before," said the familiar brown figure. "So that you remember." Quiggly didn't like the way the familiar brown figure was making him say these things, but he knew he had to listen. He wanted to know what he needed to do and why. As he was thinking about it, he suddenly found himself in a room, listening to the familiar brown figure asking him if he would like a cup of tea. "What do you mean, you don't know?" asked the familiar brown figure. "You have to know if you're going to fix yourself." "I don't know if I like it, but I'll have some," said Quiggly as he started walking into the kitchen. "I'll have some, but I want to make sure it's the right thing to do." "If you don't want it, then don't have it," said the familiar brown figure. "If you have it, then we'll know you want to fix yourself." "What do you want me to do?" asked Quiggly. "That doesn't make any sense," said the familiar brown figure. "You just told me you wanted to have tea." "Okay, then, I'll drink the tea." "Just drink the tea," said the familiar brown figure. "That's all that we want you to do. Just drink the tea and I'll tell you what you're doing, because that's all that matters, getting you to do what we're asking you to do. It all depends on what we need to do and how we can fix it." "Is it the