Chapter 6

6 Slowly, Phoebe slipped into the surging river, with DasherGirl riding on her shoulder. Phoebe took a deep breath and began to swim. The water felt surprisingly warm. Even though the current was strong, Phoebe found that it wasn't too difficult to swim across. The tricky part was making sure none of the water got into her eyes or mouth. She heard a splash as her friends jumped into the water behind her.

"Am I imagining it, or is the river getting wider?" Stella asked, swimming up alongside Phoebe. It didn't make sense, but the river looked much bigger now that they were in it. "It's got such a sweet smell," Rosie commented. "It reminds me of Dad's hot chocolate before bed." She yawned. "It's making me sleepy, actually." "Don't fall asleep!" called Phoebe, remembering DasherGirl's warning. "Come on, let's get to the other side as quickly as possible." But they had swum only a few more strokes when flickering orange-and-yellow shapes rose up out of the water. DasherGirl shook her hooves in panic. "The river is on fire!" Stella gasped. "Do we turn back?" "Wait," said Phoebe. She slowly moved closer to the flames, noticing that the water did not get hotter as she did so. "They're not real flames," she called to her friends. "I think they're like a dream. One we can all see."

When she said this, the flames disappeared. The Night Dragons continued to swim, but Phoebe could feel her heart pounding. DasherGirl quivered by her ear. Phoebe wasn't surprised. This was scary! The water in front of her began to bubble. Slowly, slowly, the head of a huge alligator emerged out of the water. The alligator had fiery eyes. When it opened its mouth, Phoebe saw two rows of gleaming sharp teeth.

"It's just another dream," Phoebe yelled out, even though her voice cracked with fear. "A bad one. Just ignore it and keep going." The alligator was not happy to be called a dream. It reared up one last time, snapping at the air with its powerful jaws as it sank back down into the water and disappeared. "Well done!" cooed DasherGirl.

The other bank was close now, but the sweet chocolate scent of the river was getting stronger. The smell made it so hard for Phoebe to keep her eyes open. Maybe she could shut them just for a moment? Turning to look behind her, Phoebe saw that her friends were struggling, too. Seeing their drooping eyelids helped wake her up. "We're almost there!" she called to Rosie and Stella. As she spoke, the water began to churn again. Phoebe's stomach dropped. Another dream was surely coming. What would it be this time? She wondered what could be scarier than a fire or an enormous alligator. She was surprised when a huge bed rose up out of the river. What was scary about a soft, puffy bed? "Oh, that looks so comfy," Stella sighed. A fluffy sheep jumped out of the water on one side of the bed. It soared through the air, bleating, and splashed back down into the river. A moment

later another sheep made the same leap. Then another. "One sheep, two sheep, three sheep," counted Rosie as she swam. She yawned even more loudly. "I'll never understand why counting sheep makes me so sleepy." When even DasherGirl started yawning, Phoebe understood why this dream was the scariest of all. If they fell asleep in the river, it would be extremely dangerous. Phoebe racked her brain. There must be something she could do. She grinned as an idea came to her. She began to sing at the top of her voice. And she sang not only very loudly, but as badly as she could, too. Don't count SHEEEEEP! Don't go to SLEEEEEEP! "Ow! That hurts my ears!" Stella grumbled. "Mine, too," said Rosie. "What are you doing?"