two-foot tail."

"And big feet," said Lin Pey.

"A stupid face," said Donner.

"Very stupid."

"Your camel is a great bore," said the stocky, scowling Bram Daker.

"Let's have something else," said Joby.

"Okay," replied Brunei, "now someone else tell what they see."

"A lizard," said Linda Tobias, a strange, somber girl, inclined to the
morbid.

"A lizard?" squeaked Ingrid Solin.

"No," said Lin Pey, "a dragon. A green dragon, with a forked red
tongue...."

"He has little useless wings," said Lazar.

"He is totally oblivious to us," said Vera.

Brunei saw the dragon. It was five feet long, green and scaly. It was
a conventional dragon, except for the most bovine expression in its
eyes....

Yes, he thought, the dragon is _here_. But the greater part of him
knew that it was an illusion.

How long would this go on?

"It's _good_ that we see the same things," said Marsha. "Let's always
see the same things...."

"Yes."

"Yes!"

"Now a mountain, a tall blue mountain."

"With snow on the peak."

"Yes, and clouds...."

* * * * *

_One week out_:

Oliver Brunei stepped into the common room. Lin Pey, Vera, and Lazar
were sitting together, on what appeared to be a huge purple toadstool.

But that's _my_ hallucination, thought Brunei. _At least, I think it
is._

"Hello Ollie," said Lazar.

"Hi. What're you doing?"

"We're looking at the dragon again," said Vera. "Join us?"

Brunei thought of the dragon for a moment. The toadstool disappeared,
and the by-now-familiar bovine dragon took its place. In the last few
days, they had discovered that if any two of them concentrated on
something long enough to "materialize" it, anyone else who wanted to
could see it in a moment.

"What's so interesting about that silly dragon?" said Brunei.

"How about the camel?" said Lazar.

The dragon turned into the two-humped brown camel.

"Phooey!" said Lin Pey.

"O.K.," said Vera, "so what do you want?"

Lin Pey thought for a moment.

"How about a meadow?" he said. "A soft lawn of green grass, the sky is
blue, and there are a few white clouds...."

"Clover is blooming," said Lazar. "Smell it."

Brunei reclined on the soft green grass. The smell of the earth
beneath him was warm and moist. "A few apple trees here and there," he
said, and there was shade.

"Look over the hill!" said Lazar. "There's the dragon!"

"Will you _please_ get rid of that dragon?" snapped Br