When Dreams Are Scary

I aim to write these so that you can enjoy them as stand alone stories, or one after the other. If you'd like to do the latter (they're all very short):

1. A Cock About to Cro-

2. Cat and Mouse

3. Just Desserts

4. A Pound of Soul

5. How Much Cake is one Soul Worth?

6. Hungry Like a Wolf

7. Hunt For a New Toy

8. The Dreamscape

9. Of Bone-crushing Hugs and Healing Purrs

10. One Expensive Cat

11. The Worst Suit

12. Burning Bright

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The child was a natural. We'd left her dream, and I tried to describe how to find her mother.

The bond between her mum and I had been flimsy, but for her it pulsed strong. I don't think she really needed me telling her to learn what to do do, either. She had a knack.

Hannah, wait. I cautioned. She looked round.

Dreams can be scary, I said.

"So? I'm not scared," she said. She wasn't. I could tell.

And dangerous, I added.

"How can it be dangerous?" she shrugged, stepping forward, her hand outstretched.

I leapt, growing from pet cat to striped man-eater in one bound. Mouth open, teeth lengthening, a frightened snarl boiling in my throat.

I rested my tail against the dream, tasting it the way a snake tastes the air. My lips twitched when Hannah took another step forward, unperturbed by my display.

The dream was a dull one; the mother was working in an office, and her manager was an old schoolteacher. The most interesting thing in it was the purple jellybeans in the intray. There was nothing here Hannah shouldn't see. I shrank back, and beckoned Hannah to come with me.

Tread soft, I said. She doesn't know she's dreaming.

The woman looked up. "Hannah? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school?"

"I just came to see you, didn't I," Hannah spoke carelessly, putting a jellybean in her mouth. Her mother frowned. "And you're in your pyjamas," she said.

"Don't worry, Mummy," Hannah said, "I'll go back in a minute." In the moment her mother looked away, her nightdress became her school clothes. I paced the edge of the dream, watchful.

Something was wrong here, I could feel it in my fur. But everything was... well... normal. For a dream, anyway.

Hannah looked at me. "We could make her do stuff, couldn't we?"

Hannah, I warned, feeling the tingling all around me like static. I tried to get a grip on the dream, but it was slippery. I couldn't even get a claw in. I could feel it shift and slide around me, totally outside my control. It was an alien sensation. I hated it.

It's her.

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Word count: (excluding notes): 366

Submitted on: 12th April at 23:10

*Quick Author's Note*

First, and most importantly: thank you for reading!

A Year of Stories: I'm writing a story every day this year. This one makes an 103 day streak since the 1st January. I'm collating them all here.

Thank you

Thank you again! Especially if you are one of the people who has been staunchly reading these daily scribbles since the start of the year. I see you, and appreciate you 😁

I do my best to reciprocate as many reads as possible. If you leave me a comment, that makes it much easier.