George was dreaming.  He knew it was a dream because he could hear himself snoring, and his eyes were closed.  Yet somehow he was still able to see through his eyelids. 

He was walking in a fluffy, pink valley.  In the distance he could see Flibbets kicking a golden goblet back and forth to each other, while at the same time singing ‘You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog!’  (Their singing was off key).

Suddenly several Grak jumped out of the ground.  They came slowly toward George, snarling and baring their teeth, and he could feel his heart pounding.  Behind them, in the distance, George could see his father, who had a sad look on his face. 

Then all of a sudden, the Grak peeled off their skin, and became fluffy teddy bears.  They rushed up to George and started to tickle him like crazy.

He woke up laughing, and saw the Protector looking at him worriedly.  The light where he was lying was so dim he couldn’t see much.  The Protector seemed to be on a little table next to where George lay.  

“How can you laugh at a time like this?”  Asked the Protector.  “Are you feeling o.k.?”

“It was just a dream I was having,” said George.  He looked curiously all around him.  The light was so dim that he couldn’t see much.  But from what little he could see, it didn’t look like they were in the teddy bear’s spaceship anymore.

“Where are we?” asked George. 

“I don’t know,” answered the Protector.  “I only just woke up myself, before you did.  Emberly is still asleep.”  He pointed at Emberly lying nearby on the little table, her eyes closed.

George tried to sit up, and found that he was covered with a blanket of some kind.  It felt just as if he was lying in his own bed at home!

“This is weird!” said George.  “We need some light.”  He fumbled around in the dark, trying to find a light switch.  To his surprise, he felt what seemed to be a lamp on a lamp table.  He pulled the string, and the dim area was suddenly flooded with light.

Once again, George was completely unprepared for what he saw.  The teddy bears’ spaceship was gone, and there were none of the furry little creatures in sight.  He was in bed in what looked like an ordinary bedroom, although it was not his own room in his own house. 

But most peculiar of all, one of the walls of the room was missing!  Instead, the entire wall was made of transparent glass.  On the other side was a walkway and several signs, written in a language George could not read. It was still dark out, but a dim glow in sky suggested the coming of dawn.

“What is this place?” said George in wonder.

“I have no idea,” said the Protector, also looking around curiously.  “There’s a door over there.  Let’s go see what’s on the other side.”

The Protector jumped from the little table to the bed, then ran over and hopped into George’s pocket.  It was only then they noticed that George was wearing pajamas—a pair he had never seen before!  How had he been changed into them?

“None of this makes any sense!” said George unhappily, as he went over to the door of the room.  The Protector did not reply.

The next room was completely dark, but there was a light switch by the door.  When George flipped the switch on, they saw that the room looked like an ordinary living room, even though George had never seen it before.  It had a couch and a TV set and a chair and lamp.  But once again, one of the walls was clear glass.  The glass wall was on the same side of the house as the one in George’s bedroom.  He could see more of the ridiculous signs posted outside on a walkway. He could also see that it was starting to grow lighter and lighter outside, with the coming of morning.

“That door must lead to the outside,” said the Protector, pointing to another door at the other end of the room.  But when they went through it, they were disappointed to find themselves in an ordinary looking kitchen.  Once again it had one entire glass wall on the same side as the other rooms.  It had one other door in the far wall, but this door was locked.  No matter how hard they pushed against it and shook the doorknob, they couldn’t get it open.

There were no more doors, except one back in the bedroom, which led into a tiny bathroom.  Fortunately, this little bathroom had no glass wall and was private.

“This is bizarre!” said George through clenched teeth, as he sat down on the bed in the bedroom again.  “Where are we, and how did we get here?” 

“I don’t know,” said the Protector.  He shook his head sadly.  “It’s all my fault,” he said.  “I should have been more watchful, instead of lecturing you about not keeping an eye out for trouble.  And I should have at least brought a weapon with me from the car when we went to the field to play ‘Kick the Can.’”

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“But how could you have known we’d be attacked by teddy bears?” asked George.  “They’re such laughable creatures, too.  How were we to know they were dangerous?”

The Protector just shook his head.  He was pacing back and forth on George’s pillow.

“Do you know anything about these creatures?” asked George.

“Nothing,” replied the Protector.  “I need my View All, back in my house in the Volkswagen.  If I had it, I could do a search and look them up in a second.  It’s awful being trapped like this.  And in a transformed condition, too!  It looks like Emberly and I will continue to be Flibbets until we can escape!”

George got up and walked over to the window.  He hit his fist against it, but it didn’t even shudder.  It was as solid as rock.  “How long have we been gone?” he asked worriedly.   “Mom’s probably called the police and the national guard by now!  Maybe even the Marines.”

“Your mother is the least of our worries,” said the Protector from the pillow.   “The main concern is what they intend to do with us.  We could be in serious danger!”

Once more, George didn’t know what to say.  It felt like there was a knot in the pit of his stomach that even a magician couldn’t untie. 

Thinking of his stomach made George suddenly realize he hadn’t eaten in—how long?  It felt like it could have been days.

“Let’s go see what food there is in the kitchen,” he said suddenly.

“Good idea,” said the Protector.  “And while we’re there, I’ll have another try at that locked door.  Maybe there’s a way I could jimmy the lock, and get it open.” 

The refrigerator was the obvious first place to look for food.  George was glad to see that it was quite full, with plenty of milk and juice, yogurt cups, sliced meat, a loaf of bread, butter and salad, and several pizzas and frozen dinners in the freezer, as well as a big bucket of ice cream.  He was in food heaven!

“There’s lots of great stuff in here!” called out George excitedly.  He pulled out the gallon of ice cream, and rummaged around the drawers for a spoon and bowl.

“Darn lock,” said the Protector, who was perched on the top of the doorknob.  He leaned precariously over it, peering into the keyhole.  “I can reach inside with my tiny Flibbet hand, but the tumblers are very complex and solid.  It won’t be easy to pick this lock—if it’s even possible at all.”

George was too busy scooping ice cream to reply.  Although worried about the fix they were in and what would happen next, he was ravenously hungry.  The ice cream was caramel swirl, and looked delicious.

“Want some?” asked George, turning to the Protector.  “I could scoop you out a bowl.”

“No thanks,” said the Protector.  “I’m too small to eat a bowl anyway—I might drown in it!  All I could have would be a spoonful.  Maybe I’ll try some later.”

George put a big spoonful of the ice cream in his mouth—and grimaced.  It didn’t taste like caramel swirl at all!  In fact, it tasted more like glue than anything else.

“This is awful!” he cried, going over to the sink to spit out the ice cream.  “I’ve never tasted ice cream that bad!” He poured the contents of his bowl into the sink to melt, then turned back to the refrigerator.

“I’ve got to have something else to wash that horrible taste out of my mouth.”  He rummaged around for a moment, then pulled out a carrot.  He loved carrots.  When his sister Janet was younger, she used to tease that he was actually a rabbit who had somehow changed into a boy.  Of course, that was in the days when she could stand the sight of him.  These days, she would just say that he had the brain of a road kill rabbit--if she said anything to him at all.

George bit off the tip of the carrot—and nearly choked.  It tasted exactly the same as the ice cream!  Quickly, George went over to the sink and spit out the carrot, then washed it down the sink disposal.

“That was disgusting!” he cried.  “All the food here tastes like glue!”

“Really?” said the Protector curiously.  He had his little Flibbet hand halfway down the doorknob keyhole.

George was about to reply when he glanced up at the window wall and saw something that made him stop in his tracks. 

There were teddy bear creatures out there.  Hundreds of them.  And they were all staring and pointing and laughing at George and the Protector!