How I Recover From Writer's Block

I yawned and walked a bit down the hall, but I felt a little odd and didn’t know why.  The doors that lined the walls around me, each one belonging to a Dragon Keeper, waved a bit in my peripheral vision and I spun on my heel, confused.
Kara came walking past me and she smiled lightly. “Hi Valli!” she exclaimed, waving at me.  I waved back, but my hand fell when Deck, the 17-year-old beacon, wings folded behind his back, walked toward Kara and she blushed at him.  He slowed his walk and grinned at her, and for a moment they stood there awkwardly.  Then Deck stepped very close to the young girl and put his lips near her ear, whispering something that made Kara giggle.  He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and a wink before skipping off down the hall.  Kara just walked into her room as though nothing had happened, and by this time I was utterly confused.
Walking down the stairs, I ran into Olist, one of Natasha’s students, who was standing next to Bella.  Since she was such a great friend of mine, I walked closer to say hello, but she acted as if she didn’t even see me standing there, so I just watched as Olist took her hand in his and said, “Well do you want to kiss me?” Bella just grinned and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as I stood there looking like a dimwit.
“I think we should go eat lunch instead,” she said in a strange tone of voice, as though she was patronizing him.  She rubbed her nose against his for a moment and then gave him a very light, soft kiss before walking past me. “Hey Valli,” she said nonchalantly, leaving Olist in her wake and standing alone like a drunk, waving from side to side on his unsteady feet.
Scratching at my head in confusion and utter loss for words, I wondered what other development would occur as I walked into the lunchroom.  The place was empty except for Silvertongue and Aduro, Judah’s dragon. “There’s some strange stuff going on,” I muttered to myself as I sat down beside the two dragons, who were oddly silent and just stared at me.  A strange taste started to come up in my mouth, so I clicked my tongue a few time against the roof of my mouth in annoyance, glancing over at Silvertongue several times.  His bright blue eyes bore into me, and it started to make me uncomfortable. “What are you staring at?” I growled, finally irritated enough with my mouth to get up and walk over to a mirror hanging on the wall.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!  My tongue was enormous!  It felt like it was growing right out of my mouth, hanging just over my bottom lip.
I screamed when I saw the reflection of both Silvertongue and Aduro appear immediately in the mirror right behind me.  I turned and shouted at them, clearly perturbed now, but the both of them just kept staring at me. Stop it! I demanded through the mind.
“You look ridiculous,” Aduro said, mouth moving up and down once in a creepy sort of way.  He just spoke!
ADURO?! I exclaimed, becoming very uncomfortable now.  The dragons didn’t speak like humans!  Since I couldn’t talk with my enlarged tongue, I just ran.  I ran toward the door of the lunchroom, but the faster I ran, the farther away the door seemed to be.  It was as though many nightmares were being realized in real life, and when I started to feel the icy sting of a roar on my heels, I began to run even faster.
I wasn’t out of breath and I wasn’t losing momentum; in fact, I was gaining speed.  I took in a sharp breath very quickly and all of a sudden the door was upon me and I was standing outside of it, ready to collapse from exhaustion that wasn’t present just a moment ago.  Looking behind me, I saw Aduro and Silvertongue sitting together in the same place they had been where I entered, their tails twitching as dragons’ tails often did when they spoke together through the mind.  It was a habit I had begun to notice.
“What the-?” I started, realizing that my tongue had returned to its normal size.  Scared now and very unsure, I turned and fled toward the steps, running up them two at a time to find someone, anyone, who might know what was wrong.
I ran headfirst into Natasha when I didn’t see her coming. “Whoa!  What’s wrong Valli?” At least someone sounded normal…
“I don’t know!  Silvertongue and Aduro were talking out loud, and then my tongue felt strange, then Olist and Bella were kissing each other and I’m just so-” She cut me off with a motherly look of irritation.
“Valli, you know the dragons have been able to speak aloud ever since Aeger has come to the Dragon Academy and started to help us,” she said with a slight laugh, as though I were foolish.  Aeger!  The evil prince!  What was he doing in our Dragon Academy?!
When I turned and fled once more from a bigger fear, the fear that the boy I was rapidly falling in love with was now here and very much accepted by the dragons and keepers, Elysmere, my own dragon, made a sudden appearance directly in front of me, as though she came out of nowhere.
“Elysmere!” I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around her neck in happiness and relief. “Thank goodness!  I’m so confused; you have to help me!”
“You shouldn’t hold so tightly to my scales,” she said aloud, a bit annoyed.  Her voice sounded so different than I had always imagined it.
“Why no-?” I began to ask, pulling away.  I was stuck fast!  Her scales slowly morphed into a thick mush that had the consistency of honey and pulled me down as it fell into a colorless glob onto the floor.  Crying out in terror, I pulled and strained against the unnatural force, fearing that I would be succumbed to it in this horrible nightmare.
My breath caught in my throat as my shirt was pulled up against me; someone was pulling me free!  When I got to my feet the goo that had held me down slowly dissipated, and I turned to face my hero.
“Aeger?” I asked, finding before me the very boy himself.
“Shh,” he whispered, putting his finger to my lips.  I found myself quieting and listening for his words, for I craved them more than anything, the comfort that no one could but him could offer me. “You’ve been having a terrible and unfortunate time, haven’t you?” he murmured, nearing my ear and kissing my neck ever so lightly, just under my left ear.  Somewhat afraid and still confused, I closed my eyes tightly, putting my hand up on his cheek.
Then he said, “Valli, wake up.”
“What?”
“Wake up!” His voice was louder now, and morphing into a harder, yet lighter voice. “Wake up, Valli!” I pulled away quickly, startled to see that the face I was holding was Elysmere’s.
“No!” I shouted, feeling myself begin a slow and steady fall through the air, my voice echoing around me in some unknown chasm of horror.
“Open your eyes!” came Elysmere’s voice again.

I came rushing up into reality all at once, pulling myself up with a shout of alarm, taking many deep breaths in the darkness.  Elysmere’s face was right in front of mine, and her eyes were wide with curiosity.
What happened to you?  You wouldn’t wake up! she said through the mind.  I sighed in relief at this development and fell back onto my pillow, which was slightly damp from my sweat.
“I had the most awful dream,” I murmured, running my hand through my hair. “So many strange things happened, and-” For the first time I looked over and saw Bella standing there.  She smiled comfortingly at me, holding up a burning candle.
“You woke up a few of us,” she said quietly, taking a step toward my bed as I took a few more calming breaths.  Then my door slowly creaked open and a shadow appeared in the dimly lit hallway.  Olist walked in and smiled at us, standing right next to Bella.
I made a face and stood up, walking between the two of them and pushing them slowly apart by about three or four feet.  I nodded, remembering the strange way they had acted in my dream. “Much better,” I commented dryly before climbing back into bed under the covers without another word.  I dearly hoped that I would sleep a little more soundly now.