Free The Mask That Sang by Susan Currie

house,” Degan said calmly. “So…”
    He gestured toward the shopping area.
    â€œBut it was a place with stars all around, blinking on and off.”
    He looked at her from under that dark fringe of hair, eyes calm. “Just keep an open mind. And if it turns out this doesn’t lead anywhere, what have you lost—besides your mask?”
    She took a deep breath.
    â€œOkay. Let’s go that way.”
    They passed a pizza place, a convenience store, a secondhand shop. They walked slowly, looking everywhere for something that might resemble stars. But everywhere were ordinary shop windows, ordinary people going in and out of doors, carrying bags.
    Cass said, “I think this is a mistake—” She stopped, and caught her breath.
    Ahead of them a neon sign blinked on and off, some of the bulbs burnt out, but enough still glowing. Animated stars seemed to spin around with a jerky motion. Cass could scarcely breathe as she read the words: STARLIGHT DINER. Our food is stellar!

chapter thirteen
    Cass stared at the sign. It was rusted, practically falling apart. There were certainly stars surrounding the flashing words, but they were flimsy ones that were partially burnt out.
    Surely a shabby restaurant sign could not also be a signpost in a dream?
    She stared up and down the street of shops, suddenly seeing everything in a new way. Could ordinary, mundane things also be something else?
    â€œIs this it?” Degan asked softly.
    She stared up at those blinking lights, that rusted and shabby billboard.
    â€œYes. Maybe. At least, I think so.”
    Degan squeezed her arm, his eyes dancing. “You see? This is working!”
    She grinned back, catching his excitement.
    Now, what had come next in the dream? Would she find that too?
    Cass half-closed her eyes. Something about red rock. She remembered darkness, feeling her way through.
    â€œI think we need to look for something red,” she whispered to Degan.
    It didn’t take long to locate the hardware store, made of brownish-red brick. It was next to a barbershop of the same kind of brick. In between the two buildings was a wooden wall connecting them, decorated with posters and advertisements. Inside the barbershop people waited for their haircuts, reading magazines and checking their phones and looking perfectly ordinary. As if the most incredible thing wasn’t happening to Cass. As if she wasn’t beginning to see how something could be ordinary and part of a dream place at the same time.
    â€œI went through…red rock,” she said, remembering. “I…think it was a tunnel. It was dark. I didn’t know what was coming.”
    â€œCome on.” Degan led the way across the road, till they were in front of the red brick hardware store. He walked along the front of the store, running his hand across the brick, looking for a place where a tunnel might be disguised.
    Cass hurried to the barbershop and walked closely in front of it too. The people inside looked out at her curiously. A little boy put his hand on the window from the inside. Cass matched her hand with his. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Everything felt so hopeful all at once.
    â€œI don’t see any tunnel,” Degan said, coming up beside her. “Maybe there are some other red buildings.”
    But as they looked up and down the street, they could see only the gray of cement and glass windows.
    â€œMaybe that star sign was just a coincidence,” Cass said softly.
    Just then, part of the wooden wall between the two buildings opened inward. A woman emerged, walking a dog. She closed the door behind her, turned right, and clicked away.
    Cass and Degan stared at each other.
    Cass waited till the woman had gone far enough. Then she walked over to the wall. When she was close enough, she could see the hinges. She hesitated, then pushed gently on it.
    The door swung inward to reveal an alleyway. It was flanked on both sides by