Cy’s Viking dream has gone wrong – dream and reality have started to mix. He’s on a school trip to York and takes a trip on the time-car exhibition at the Yorvik Centre.

Cy’s car moved on. The historical part was almost finished. Up ahead he could see the excavations display. The car began to turn the corner on the track.

And then it stopped with a jerk. It must have broken down, Cy thought, an electricity failure. He waited. There would probably be an announcement or someone would come to show him the way out. He peered into the gloom. The car ahead had moved on and was now out of sight. And the car behind …Cy twisted around … He couldn’t see any car following his, and all the lights had gone out.

Perhaps he should get out and walk to the exit sign. He half got to his feet. Just as he did so, the car shuddered and moved forwards. Cy clung to the guard rail as it jerked back along the track.

Viking longboat imageIn the town the thatches were burning, the livestock had scattered, and thick smoke plumed up into the sky. People were running and screaming, but they were trapped in the narrow lanes and alleyways with no way to escape.

Cv turned his head to see better. These special effects were magnificent. How were they doing it? It must be a large screen of some kind. He reached out, but there was nothing there to grasp.

And at that moment there came to him a sense of danger. Suddenly Cy knew that what he was seeing was real. Or had been real, and perhaps still was. Somewhere in time and space this had happened… was… is happening.

Celtic circle
He could only watch then as the raiders rampaged through the city. Right beside him a man was felled to the ground. Cy heard him moan as his jewelled pendant was ripped from around his throat. Further along the street a young child was caught and captured, tossed over the Viking‚s shoulder to be taken as a slave. Cy could do nothing, yet still hear and see everything that was happening. He was in it, yet not part of it. The fired thatches gave off dense clouds of grey smoke, screams echoed in his ears. The smell of fear was in his nostrils. He could sense the panic of the stricken town, taste the terror of the animals trapped in the burning building. In the distance two figures were fleeing: one smaller, younger… a girl, supporting an old man, both or them trying desperately to outrun their pursuers. And just as Cy realized who they were, he saw the old man stumble and fall…

‘Hilde!’ Cy reached out, but his hand passed through the scene before him as if it had no substance. This was just like a nightmare – it was a nightmare.

Cy slumped back in his seat. There was a bump and his car ground to a halt. A member of staff helped him out. She waved her hand in front of his face and grinned at him.

‘I can see you really enjoyed that,’ she said. ‘Your eyes are glazed over.’

Cy walked in a daze past the displays through to the shop area. He had to go back. He knew that now. After scenes like that there was no way that he could abandon this story. Later tonight, after the theatre workshop, would be a good time to unwrap the piece of dreamsilk and try. What he didn‚t know was whether he had to do it on his own, or whether his Dream Master would be there to help him sort out this Story………