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long time, but he’s still gone.
    Are prayers ever answered? I don’t know.
    A lot of people must have prayed when the invasion started. The Bugs are still here, so I really just don’t know.
    Anyway, that’s when tonight’s dream changed from the one I had most nights.
    Someone said, “Do you want this?”
    And I turned to see an old lady sitting right next to me. She had to be like a million years old. She had so many wrinkles I couldn’t even see her eyes. Dressed all in gray clothes covered in dead flowers and spiderwebs all over them. Really creepy.
    She had a bread plate in her hands, but instead of rolls and corn bread, it was filled with these little crystal eggs. I think they were eggs. They were all the same size, about an inch and a half. The size of crow eggs, but these looked like they were made from crystals. Smooth and sparkly. And it looked like they had little lights inside them. Not electric lights. I couldn’t see any bulbs. But they glowed.
    I started to take one, but the old lady said, “Be careful. I think they’re ready to hatch.”
    That’s when I realized who she was. It was the same voice I heard when I dream about the Witch of the World. It was her !
    I started to pull away, but then she said, “Go on. Take one. They won’t bite. Not yet.”
    And I took one. It was really weird. The egg was warm and soft. It looked like crystal, but it felt like skin. It made me sick to my stomach to touch it.
    The egg got brighter all of a sudden. Then it seemed to shut off and go dark. Not completely dark, though, because when I looked real close I could still see a little spark. But even that was creepy, because the spark moved. Wiggled, like a maggot.
    The witch said, “Now you’ve done it.”
    All the other eggs on the plate did the same thing. They all started getting dark.
    â€œThey’ll hate you for this,” said the witch. “That’s the only emotion they have left. They’ll hate you and they’ll never stop looking for you. They’ll tear up mountains to find you.”
    â€œWhat’s going on?” I said. “Why is this happening?”
    â€œThe world is broken,” she said. “The people of the sun—your people, my child—hammered in the first cracks. Now the Swarm has come from behind the stars to kill what is already dying.”
    I told her I didn’t know what that meant. And I told her that it wasn’t true, because even though I didn’t understand her, I didn’t want what she said to be true.
    â€œThe truth is the truth,” she said. Then she reached out and touched me. Her hand was cold and damp, like she was dead. So creepy. She said, “The world does not want to die.”
    That really scared me. “It can’t die!” I said.
    â€œIt can. But it wants to fight back. It needs an army, child. It needs champions.”
    â€œLike who? My mom is a good fighter.”
    â€œThe world needs a hero.” And the way she said it, I knew she meant me, which is stupid. I told her how stupid that was.
    The witch squeezed my arm. “You are a dreamer, child of the sun, but it is time to wake up and take a stand. Will you fight to save the world?”
    â€œYes,” I said, but just saying that scared me silly. I didn’t know what I was saying.
    Then she said, “The world is always half in shadows and half in the sunlight. That’s what makes a world. If there were only shadows, the world would die in the cold. If there was only sunlight, it would burn up. It needs both sunlight and shadow to survive. Do you understand?”
    I said no, I didn’t.
    She asked, “Would you walk in the shadows if it meant saving the world?”
    I turned away to find Mom and Dad, to tell them about this crazy old lady. But even though I kept yelling at them, they didn’t hear me.
    When I turned back to the witch, she was gone.
    That’s