Jon found himself fighting against Sarah's dream. Although he was outwardly acting as Jen, internally he was affecting how things played out. Immaterially at first, but more so as the dream went on.
Miley Cyrus walked onto the stage and began singing. Did Jen like Miley Cyrus? She wasn't sure. She probably did. But that didn't matter too much, because this didn't quite sound like a Miley Cyrus song. For one, the backing was just a single acoustic guitar.
While riding on a train goin' west,
I fell asleep for to take my rest.
I dreamed a dream that made me sad,
Concerning myself and the first few friends I had.
Jen knew this song. It was old. From the 60's. Where had she heard it before? Miley's delivery wasn't normal either. This wasn't her usual bubble gum pop: she was crooning like a legitimate country singer.
With half-damp eyes I stared to the room
Where my friends and I spent many an afternoon,
Where we together weathered many a storm,
Laughin' and singin' till the early hours of the morn.
Jen looked over at Sarah. She was confused, too. This wasn't a song she knew, even in her subconscious. Neither realized that this was Jon's contribution, just a mere subconscious portion of his own subconscious, but still making his presence known.
Another figure walked onto the stage, carrying with him a guitar and wearing a harmonica harness. As he walked slowly to the center of the stage he played a solo on the harmonica, and when he got next to Miley he began to sing.
By the old wooden stove where our hats was hung,
Our words were told, our songs were sung,
Where we longed for nothin' and were quite satisfied
Talkin' and a-jokin' about the world outside.
"Who's that?" Sarah asked.
"It's Bob Dylan," gasped Jen. "What's he doing at this concert?"
"Who?" Sarah asked again.
"Bob Dylan! He's famous!" Jen exclaimed.
"You know who he is? What's this song called?"
Suddenly it came to Jen. The name of the song. "Bob Dylan's Dream," she said. That was a trigger for a bit more of Jon to re-assert itself again. "Come on, you wouldn't be at this concert if you didn't like Bob Dylan." He wondered if he could use Sarah's own rules against her.
With haunted hearts through the heat and cold,
We never thought we could ever get old.
We thought we could sit forever in fun
But our chances really was a million to one.
Sarah was confused, but she looked around. The audience looked a bit different than it had before. It was still all-female, but it seemed like there were some older women in the crowd along with the sea of girls. But everyone was obviously into the music, swaying, eyes closed, some singing along. Jen was right. If Sarah was at this concert, then obviously it meant that she liked Bob Dylan.
Miley joined in, and the two sang the next verse as a duet.
As easy it was to tell black from white,
It was all that easy to tell wrong from right.
And our choices were few and the thought never hit
That the one road we traveled would ever shatter and split.
Jen looked at Sarah and thought about the things she'd tried to do to her last night. Who was really the bad kid? Sure, Sarah was self-centered, but all kids are. At least she hadn't tried to break someone's subconscious. Jen looked at the stage, forgetting for a moment that the bizarre pair was the result of a dream, and not even realizing that it was the result of two conflicting dreams, and thought that if a man who'd built his life on being just a normal guy telling stories and a girl who'd spent the last few years as the mouthpiece for glitter and posh could stand on the same stage together, then why did she and Sarah have to be so antagonistic.
Jon found himself struck by his own weapon. He hadn't been in control of his body since it changed gender, but it had been as if Jen was just a hollow shell that contained bits of Jon's psyche. He'd been trying to force more of himself inside slowly, hoping that eventually he'd be able to take back control and shift the dream world so he was a boy again. But Jen had started thinking on her own. Jen was no longer a just portion within Jon's mind. Now she had split into her own independent personality.
The spotlight dimmed over Dylan, and Miley took the last two verses by herself.
How many a year has passed and gone,
And many a gamble has been lost and won,
And many a road taken by many a friend,
And each one I've never seen again.
Jen found herself singing along, drowning out Jon's thoughts. It was nice, but Jen knew that Sarah was a little bored. And Sarah was her friend. So instead of trying to mold Sarah to fit the scene, Jen thought about what a Miley Cyrus concert should look like. As the song transitioned to its final verse, Bob Dylan walked off, and the canvas behind Miley Cyrus exploded into color. Drums blasted in through the speakers above her, heralding in the addition of electric guitar and synthesized accompaniment. The music shifted up in key and in tempo, and Miley began to belt out the final verse.
I wish, I wish, I wish in vain,
That we could sit simply in that room again.
Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat,
I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that.
Sarah smiled. She felt more sure of herself now. Miley pulled the microphone out of its stand and started dancing around the stage. She came up to the edge and leaned over, her smile shining straight at Sarah. She reached out her unoccupied hand, and Sarah reached her hands out in turn. The two touched fingers, and Sarah was in heaven.
Then the stage lights began to blur, and the music began to mix with itself and turn into noise, and then the world was gone.
