I ran through the kitchen, clutching the last nutrition bar. I hated the tasteless bricks, but my lateness kept me from attempting anything fancier for breakfast.

Not that the synthesizer produced anything much better, now that I think about it.

“Better than nothing.” I bit off a hunk while rushing out the front door and into the bright sunlight of the new day.

I hated having to rush after my alarm failed to go off, but the sunshine did seem to help ease my tensions. Besides, last night’s dream almost made it worth being two minutes behind schedule.

I tipped my head toward the warmth; the remnants of the storm debris caused strange shadows inside our dome. The clean-up crews would have to work overtime today, not that I envied them their jobs.

Brekke used to tell me often about the strange problems with the domes they would encounter after an intense storm.

As the sun rose higher, the unbearable heat would instantly burn bare skin, made slightly less dangerous by the air-conditioned evac suits the workers wore to survive the inhospitable climate outside the domes.

Shivering, I imagined Brekke’s fear during her final walk outside. Hopefully, she experienced a peaceful passing from oxygen deprivation before the storm whisked away all traces of her body.

Today, I thanked my lucky stars for having my student status. My few worries consisted of memorizing data to regurgitate on the upcoming finals.

Laughter caught my attention, causing me to shift my gaze to the left, where I anticipated Alyssa, Drew, Marcus, and Violet appearing from around the corner. Right on cue, they showed up, Alyssa raising her hand to wave at me.

I rushed over to catch up with them. “Sorry, I forgot to set my alarm.”

“It’s no wonder with last night’s storm.”

I should’ve known Alyssa would understand. Having been friends since we were born, she knew how much the storms fascinated me. They always had.

I always stayed up much too late, lying flat on my back on the porch so I wouldn’t miss a single streak of lightning or flinch as particles of flying debris hit the dome particularly hard.

“You should’ve been in my room last night, Kat. I could almost swear something tried to get into my bedroom window with how hard the storm blew against the dome. You would’ve loved it.”

“You got that right. Why didn’t I think of asking my parents for a sleepover?”

“Maybe it had something to do with your dad’s inventory list.” Alyssa held out her hand. “Hand it over! I’m dying to know what’s coming to the barter booths!”

Chuckling at her enthusiasm, I dug my hand into my bookbag until I touched the slippery film of the plaspaper. With a flourish, I whipped it out and let her snatch it from my unresisting grasp.

“Ugh! Why so many new slaves?” Alyssa wrinkled her nose.

“I know, right? I asked my dad the same thing. Mom told me that Silas has plans to open up the new mineshaft with the hope of retrieving enough metal and materials to complete a new dome.”

By now, Drew leaned over my shoulder, reading the inventory sheet with as much interest as his sister. “Yeah, Violet and I are working on a new design plan for the proposed dome in our advanced engineering class. We wondered what they planned on using to construct it.”

Alyssa pointed to an item and glanced at her brother. “Do you suppose this carbonized silica is for your project?”

Drew shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe.”

Marcus pushed into the group. “What about new synthesizers? Did those come in?”

“Sorry, no such luck,” I said.

“That sucks. So Blair brings more mouths to feed but nothing to feed them. Figures.” Marcus groaned, letting his feet drag as he fell behind us while he sulked.

“Not so fast, Marcus.” Having already memorized the list, I shared the most sensational tidbit with the group. Knowing their excitement for my news, I paused for effect. “Viceroy Blair brought back several bushels of seed stock. All we have to do is plant them and see what comes of it.”

“Great! How long’ll that take? I could starve before then. Besides, it could all end up being something inedible.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so, Marcus. There were celery, radish, lettuce, artichoke, and wheat. All of them are categorized under the edible column.”

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“I wonder how soon we’ll be able to test them in the ‘ponics class.” Alyssa raised her brows with the expression I anticipated.

I knew how much she loved experimenting in the aquaponics class we shared. While more her forte than mine, I enjoyed sampling the fruits of our labor. Literally.

As a part of the curriculum, we needed to taste test everything edible to determine the proper harvest schedule. Some of us required more samples than others, if you know what I mean.

Any further conversation regarding the food supply came to an end when our other good friend, Natalie, came bouncing out of her house to join us. Her trademark smile made it nearly impossible not to want to be friends with her. That and her wicked intelligence.

Every day, since our first day of school, my core group of friends would walk together. We got caught up on any happenings from the evening before and discussed our plans for the day ahead. Of course, with all of our houses nearly identical in form as well as the streets aligning precisely to maximize the housing, it made it almost impossible not to run into one another.

Unfortunately, Anna’s early auchieball practice kept her from completing our group. With the tournament just around the corner, our practice times practically doubled. Not that any of us minded; the sports provided plenty of opportunities to beat the monotony of everyday life.

Nor did Anna particularly need more practice, the girl’s skill for the game bordered on magical. Rarely, if ever, did anyone manage to score against her when she played the goalie position.

Technically, I should’ve gone to practice today, as well, but without the aid of my alarm, that hadn’t happened. I’m sure the coach would have some uncomplimentary words for me later this afternoon.

As if she read my mind, Natalie asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be at practice, Kat?”

I quirked my eyebrow and shrugged my shoulder. “Yeah, I forgot to set my alarm.”

“Bummer. So what’s this I hear about you wanting to win all the trophies this year?” Natalie fell into step beside me, displacing Alyssa.

“Where’d you hear that?” Geez, I’d just thought of it yesterday afternoon. Sometimes the speed of gossip within the domes could boggle the mind.

“I might’ve mentioned something about it on my way home last night,” Marcus piped in from behind us.

Natalie nodded, and I sighed. “I think our dome could do it this year.”

“Sure, if only someone would lead us,” Natalie added pointedly.

Her unwavering gaze let me know exactly who she voted to take the lead.

Drew seconded, “Yeah, Kat. You’d make a great pusher; you’re so bossy already. I elect you, especially since it’s your brilliant idea. That way, if we fall short, then you’re responsible for it all.”

“Thanks, I think,” I answered, although I couldn’t stop the grin from quirking up the corners of my mouth. Drew spoke truthfully: I did tend to take the lead.

Marcus walked faster to come into line with us, his face lighting up. “I had the weirdest dream last night!”

“Me, too!” How strange. I glanced at Marcus, indicating he should start talking while he did the same back to me.

“You, first.” Considering his quiet nature, I wanted him to talk since he brought it up.

He grew more animated with the idea of sharing something new. A rare smile transformed his face.

“I dreamed we were all together, but we weren’t here on Heliok. It’s hard to explain, but so much greenness surrounded us like we were in the jungle. You know, like the ones we’ve seen on the vid screens during a research study on the living planets.”

The hairs on my neck stood on end as he spoke.

“And then, as we walked along, we heard a deafening screeching sound, and we all stopped to stare. You’ll never guess what we saw!” His gaze caught each of ours in eager anticipation of our theories.

I blurted, “A dragon!”

“How’d you know?” Marcus’s expression fell.

Ah, man! I’d messed up his moment of glory.

Natalie chimed in, “Duh! After all of Grandma Talya’s new stories last night, of course, you’d dream about dragons.”

Marcus scuffed his shoes across the pavement. “I guess that’s probably true. Anyway,” he sighed, “it was really cool.”

I threaded my hand through Marcus’s arm and held onto his forearm as we walked along. “Well, I guess since Marcus has already cracked the dome, I dreamed about dragons, too.”

I’d stolen his thunder, but I could still keep him talking about it. “What did your dragon look like?”

Marcus nibbled on his bottom lip and thought about my question. “I don’t know really; it flew in the air, backlit by the sun. But, you know, the sky was really blue and clear without any haze and, of course, no dome. The air was so fresh and clean it was just like—I don’t know—heaven, maybe.” He blushed and glanced away, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

I gave his arm a little squeeze. “My dream was exactly like that, too. But in mine, the dragon came to land beside us. She was huge, with the most beautiful blue scales, and she mesmerized me.”

Alyssa’s eyes widened. “Weren’t you terrified?”

“No. I was completely at peace like I instinctively knew I could trust her.” Even as the words left my mouth, I realized I’d known the same kind of security I’d once enjoyed with my sister. Could my brain be turning my sister into a dragon in my dreams to comfort me?

Marcus shook his head. “My dream didn’t seem peaceful; it scared me, and I wondered what would happen if the dragon decided that it wanted to eat us.”

We all laughed, just as Marcus intended. The closer we came to our school, the more kids left their houses to surround us. By then, we reached the edge of the study yard, and our conversations moved on to class assignments and summer plans rather than anything tournament or dragon related.

Even with the bustle of all the other kids around me, my mind raced. On autopilot, I threaded my way through the crowds toward my first class in the astrophysics lab.

Could my dream have been prophetic?

It wouldn’t be the first time, but undoubtedly it would have exciting implications if it came true.

I shrugged it off. Grandma Talya’s stories must have infiltrated the rational portion of my brain. Dragons didn’t exist, not ever.

Surely, evidence for their existence would have shown up in our history books. It seemed highly unlikely that creatures as big as dragons could simply vanish from our world without any explanation or evidence of their departure.

Yet, the realness of my dream made me wish for more. I wanted to stand beside the massive creature, its warmth on my hand as I stroked its silky scales. More than anything, I wanted the dragon’s reassuring voice inside my head again.

Wait! What?

I must really be losing my marbles. I can’t continue to fantasize about imaginary conversations with mythical creatures. How much farther would I slip into this delusion?

The coincidence between renewed thoughts of my sister because of the storm seemed plausible, but reimagining her as a dragon seemed a bit far-fetched. I needed to focus on my schoolwork, not some silly childhood fantasy.