I've lived my whole life on Normal Street.
There's a lake at one end,
and a forest of shady trees at the other.
But what lies in between
is anything but normal.
Nightmares aren't real.
Only a coward or a big baby would be
afraid of something stupid like a bad dream.
[rumbling]
[water splashing]
[gasping]
If I keep telling myself that,
maybe I'll actually be able to sleep through the night.
Mother: Are you done yet?
Almost.
Did you find anything?
Ugh. I don't think I'll miss those.
Yeah, what about that?
I thought Gardner might like it.
Good job. Thanks, pal.
Hey, can you, uh, pack up that box?
Quick, quick, quick, please? I've got an appointment,
and then I'm gonna stop by Goodwill.
Meet you in the car.
Quick, quick, quick.
People are impressed
when you tell 'em you're a junior lifeguard.
Plus, you get a free T-shirt
that says "Junior Lifeguard."
And a trip to all-you-can-eat Sundae In A Bucket.
We also learn how to save lives.
Oh. Uh-huh. Yeah, that, too.
Mel, you already took CPR classes.
But not water rescue.
Half these kids are goners.
Drop out rate is 50 percent.
You know, they say Duke Whitmore
just missed the cut for the Olympics.
I heard he saved over 100 lives,
and can hold his breath for over five minutes.
You call this stretching, Ranger?
Um, it feels like stretching to me.
Yeah, oh, that's more like it, huh?
How about some laps?
Give me a 200 freestyle.
Don't forget. You also get a whistle.
[whistle blows]
"Bawang Merah Bawang Putih" is a Malaysian fairytale about two sisters.
One named Bawang Putih, that means garlic,
and the other sister is Bawang Merah,
that means onion.
We're lucky we didn't get named garlic and onion.
[laughs]
Hey, boys.
Hi, Mom.
Dad's in Malaysia again.
He's started to tell us a new fairytale
about two sisters named onion and garlic.
I know you miss him.
Yeah.
It's hard.
Divorce totally stinks.
But we're doin' okay, right?
Your dad, he's a good guy.
You know, he calls all the time,
he sends lots of postcards to you and-- and Gardner.
I should probably read the fairytale to Gardner again.
Yeah.
But if he starts calling me onion,
there's gonna be trouble.
[laughing]
So--
[splashing]
[gasping]
Press down on the chest 30 times.
Tilt the head back and pinch that nose.
Admit it.
Don't you want to be that guy in a restaurant
when someone starts to choke and you can jump up and say,
"I can save you."
I'm already that guy.
That's a good job, Mel.
Thanks, Duke.
- Does it have a name? - Yeah.
Do I want to pass this junior lifeguard class or not?
What's its last name?
Are you okay?
A little tired.
Are we keeping you awake, Gortimer?
Sorry, Duke.
Hi. I'm Ranger.
And I'll be giving you CPR today.
And by the time you get past introductions,
your patient has gone into cardiac arrest.
Okay, Ranger. Good effort.
So, for the next hour, we're gonna be practicing water rescue.
Now, it's important to remember that
sometimes your victims will panic.
Gortimer.
Aren't you getting in?
Has it always been this deep?
So you have nightmares. Big deal.
The other night I dreamed I was climbing Mount Everest,
and there were a bunch of yeti coming after me,
hundreds of them,
and they were all screaming, "Yeti, yeti, yeti."
Why would they shout out their own names?
It's a dream. It doesn't have to make sense.
Is your yeti nightmare supposed to make me feel better?
Freud said dreams are a representation of
unconscious desires, thoughts and motivations.
Then why am I dreaming I'm drowning?
Do you feel overwhelmed by something?
The junior lifeguard class? Are you afraid you won't pass?
Gortimer's the best one. Of course, he'll pass.
Not if I can't get in the water.
I'm not worried about anything.
Except my dreams.
Gortimer, are you sure it's the same pool?
Exactly the same.
I see the sub aquatic mural.
Except, everything's a little different.
How?
I'm not sure.
Maybe if you concentrate on who's drowning you.
I can't see him.
Just his arm.
Hey.
Why aren't you asleep? It's late.
I was reading.
You can tell me if you're worried about something.
Why would I be worried about anything?
'Cause you're a secret worrier.
You can't hide it. Mom's know.
I just want to do a good job at lifeguard practice.
Is that it?
Where did you find that?
In the Goodwill box.
I-- I made it in Girl Scouts.
A million years ago.
Kind of falling apart.
Maybe they'll take your dreamcatcher badge away.
Ha-ha.
Go to sleep, funny boy.
Goodnight.
[gasping]
Of course. It wasn't my dream.
It was my mother's.
Ah, you didn't have to make breakfast.
Thank you.
I was up. I didn't sleep very well.
Hm.
He wouldn't eat his cereal with milk again?
Stinker.
Why couldn't you sleep?
I've been having bad dreams.
About what?
Drowning.
Oh. That sounds awful.
Have you ever had a bad dream like that,
about drowning?
Mm? No, I-- I don't go in the water much.
You know that.
I, um, never learned how to swim.
So you've never had a dream like that?
[scoffs] No, thank goodness.
Come on, buddy.
I gotta de-cereal you and get you to pre-school.
All right, let's hustle up, everybody.
When I say everybody, that means you, Gortimer.
I'm not so sure I'm cut out to be a junior lifeguard.
Well, you're one of my best recruits.
Maybe I used to be.
Thought you wanted this.
I did.
[whistle blows]
It was great.
There was this kid at the bottom of the pool,
and they used a grappling hook to get him up.
It's called a life hook and rescue pole.
Okay, well, grappling hook sounds better.
Why did you leave?
I didn't feel like getting in the water.
You're still having nightmares?
Yeah.
Only they're not mine.
They're my mom's.
I saw her reflection.
Well, did you tell her?
Sort of, but she said she didn't know how to swim.
So, if she's afraid of swimming,
why does that make you afraid of swimming?
I don't know.
Hey, we're gonna go to Eggs.
- Wanna come? Mel's treat. - Hey.
Maybe I'll meet you guys there.
Mom?
[knocking]
- Hey. - Hey, pal.
How was practice?
Okay.
Why did you tell me you didn't know how to swim?
I saw your picture.
You were on the swim team.
[sighs]
I should have said something.
It's kind of embarrassing.
I never--
I never took you and Gardner swimming.
So why didn't you?
It's hard to explain.
Is it because you're afraid of the water?
I was-- I was training for a big swim meet.
I snuck into the pool the night before so I could practice.
I knew I wasn't supposed to be there.
The grate at the bottom was glowing.
It was unlike anything I had ever seen.
I should have told someone about it,
but instead, I--
Well, I-- I swam closer so that I could get a better look.
At first, it was beautiful.
But then it started sucking me in.
I was so scared.
And then...
it was someone or something,
something that was definitely not from Normal Street.
When I got out of the pool, I ran away as fast as I could,
and... I never went back.
Why didn't you tell me this before?
It all sounds so silly now.
I couldn't help thinking she was hiding something.
I needed backup.
Okay. Ranger and I figured it out.
All you have to do is go to sleep,
and see the drowning scenario again.
I'm not sure that's a good idea.
Do you want to be a junior lifeguard?
Not if I have to have that dream again.
But it's the only way to find out
what happened to your mother.
And who was trying to grab her.
A pool monster?
Did he have razor sharp teeth?
Or a dorsal fin?
Then you'll be able to get rid of
your mother's fear of the water.
And that'll help you get rid of your fear.
Makes perfect sense.
Okay, so fall asleep.
The key is to be cozy.
[muffled] You're suffocating me!
Last summer, we went to the mountains.
I remember listening to the sound of the wind in the trees.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Whoosh?
It's all about the pressure points.
And...
I think this is it.
That should make you sleepy.
Oh!
Clearly, not that one.
Soup, bananas,
yogurt and warm milk.
Guaranteed to make you doze off.
Or throw up.
All right, Mel, just talk to him about physics.
But then he'll be up all night.
When I learned that quantum mechanics is,
at first glance,
a mathematical machine for predicting the behaviors of microscopic particles,
I couldn't sleep for--
Oh.
[sighs]
[water splashing]
[gasping]
I saw him, the guy trying to hurt my mother.
It was Duke, the lifeguard.
Looks like your regular pool grate to me.
That glows?
It's like a pattern of lights.
Some kind of bio-luminescence.
What are you doing?
Gonna go check it out.
Are you crazy?
You're afraid of the water.
Suppose you sink like a stone.
Then your junior lifeguard training should come in handy.
Ranger's right.
Not about the sinking-like-a-stone part,
but...
this is a terrible idea.
- Let me do it. - No.
It's for my mom. It has to be me.
[water splashing]
Step off the pool deck into the water,
large stride,
and then sideswim to submerged victim.
What are you doing here? The pool's closed.
Um, we're your most enthusiastic students,
and we couldn't wait for practice,
so we decided to get a head start.
What do you think you're doing?
It is dangerous near that grate.
Is that what you said to my mother?
Claire Knowles, do you remember her?
She-- she used to swim here,
but then something happened and--
and you hurt her.
I saw you in my mother's dreams.
I've never tried to hurt anybody.
It's because of you that my mother won't go in the water.
She hasn't been swimming after all these years?
Duke: Claire snuck in one night,
and was swimming near the grate.
By the time I got there, she was in trouble.
The suction was too strong.
She didn't trust me.
She was panicking.
She didn't know what I was doing.
You weren't trying to hurt her.
You were trying to save her.
Sometimes in my dreams,
you had scales.
Like a fish.
Duke: A long time ago,
I heard a story about a kid who was about your age.
He showed up on Normal Street,
and nobody knew where he came from.
It was about the time the grate in the pool started glowing.
Back then you'd hear people say that
the kid was from the other side of the grate,
and that the grate was really a portal.
A portal to another world.
The kid was sent here to guard the portal,
and he had to leave behind everyone he knew and loved.
But the job was an honor,
and he swore he would do his duty
no matter what.
Take this.
Your mother needs to have another dream.
- Hey, guys. - Hey, Mrs. Gibbon.
You must be proud of Gortimer.
Top junior lifeguard.
- That's quite an honor. - I know.
Hey, does anyone want anything from the snack bar?
I'm pretty sure we're gonna get some freebies now.
[laughing]
Congratulations, my junior lifeguard.
Hey, um--
I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you the truth
about being afraid to swim.
That's okay.
No, it's not.
We shouldn't keep secrets from each other.
Yeah, I know.
I should have told you about the nightmares
when I first started having them.
You know, it's funny being afraid of something.
You end up being afraid of being afraid.
Like, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself.
Gardner: Oh, no.
- I got it. - Oh.
Keep an eye on your brother.
My mother was right.
Being afraid of being afraid.
What a waste of time.
It might be scary,
but it's easier in the end
when you face something head on.
And you sleep better, too. tStyle="italic"> something head on.