I didn't want to enter her dreams because children's dreams are difficult and wild. Truly, I feared more than that.
I had nightmares. Me! I hadn't had any for years. Now, every time I closed my eyes, I dreamed I am a cat-shape, silky and pale. I find the girl in the dreamscape. She clutches me. I abandon the dream to visit her bedroom in the physical world and stand guard over her sleeping form. He comes into her room and walks through me as if I'm a ghost. I can't stop him-
Night after night, I scoured the dreamscape looking for her. Both anguished and relieved when I didn't find her.
Weight fell off me. Everyone said how "well" I looked.
I tried to find her mother again, but our connection had been weak to begin with and had grown brittle with disuse.
By chance I was passing the local school at three-fifteen, and there she was! I waded over to her through the sea of just-freed children and harangued-looking parents.
My coffee invitation was rebuffed and I felt the last thread between us slip away. Desperate, I bumped the little girl hard as I turned to leave, sending her sprawling. Her mother swore. Crouching, I helped the child to her feet, feeling the warmth of her under my hands, her cry boring into my skull. I wiped her tears with a knuckle. I stood, my apology ignored by both, and turned away, licking a salty drop from my finger.
Maybe it's enough.
I'd never had so much trouble falling asleep as I did that night. I sifted through dozens, no, hundreds of dreams to find her.
Children's dreams being so hard to control meant it'd be hard to control my appearance, and I didn't want her to see me. I held tight to my chosen shape, blinking and purring. I didn't dare leave the dream to visit the physical world. Instead I stayed with her, dreading each moment that her form would dissolve into smoke. But nothing woke her. I dared to hope she was safe. Maybe I could relax, and savour the hunt.
++++++++++++
Word count (excluding note): 366
*Quick Author's Note*
First, and most importantly: thank you for reading!
Leave me a link to your own latest story, if I haven't already seen it!
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Pay no attention to the writer behind the curtain: This continues on from previous ones - I'll come back and edit to leave links to those ASAP!
A Year of Stories: I'm writing a story every day this year. This one makes a 66 day streak. You can find all of them in my Index post.
Thank you
Thank you again! I do my best to reciprocate all reads.
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Comments (13)
This is fantastic, once again. Looking forward to the next chapter.
What a compelling conclusion to the tale, delving into the difficulties of managing kids' dreams!
Looking forward to the next instalment!
Brilliant work, this inspire to write a story for me. 🥰
Not me thinking it was a pedophile 🤦♀️🤦♀️
Oh no. Don't relax.
I've not read the previous ones but this is atmospheric and spooky.
Wow, the story was great but all the 6s felt ominous. Between the date, the story count and the number of days in the year, and it had 6 likes when I opened the page. To top it off. I'm leaving the 6th message. 🤯 Probably means nothing but was definitely cool to discover. lol.
You’re so great at micro fiction. I don’t know how you do it. Well done
Cat and mouse? But who is the mouse? This is a disturbing tale with more than one potential take on it. Very disquieting. Superbly written!
A child's dreams could be difficult to navigate, indeed. Wonderful continuation, L.C.
It's interesting how she is struggling so much to find this girl's dreams.... she hasn't struggled like this before.... makes me wonder if there's another dark force at work like her? Great work LC!
Some topics are difficult to write about, but you're done an interesting thing with this one.