A 'SPECS'TACULAR SURPRISE | ONC 2021

4¦ What Goes Around

"Woof, that was so good," Aalo clapped as they landed back into the starry sky. The moon was still smiling from a distance and the dreams were twinkling in their vicinity.

"Where to next?" Pompom asked, pointing to the floating scintillations.

"That one," Aalo pointed to a glowing blue dream which looked interesting.

"Right then," Pompom clicked his long fingers and the bluish glow grew wider and enveloped them.

And they landed in an empty street. There was not a soul in sight. The streetlights flickered in and out, and the chilly gusts of wind tickled Aalo's fear.

"This is a bad dream," Aalo whispered to Pompom. "Let's get out of here."

"We can't jump out before a minimum of twenty minutes," Pompom stuttered, looking around. The hair on his arms and on his body rose suddenly.

"I don't like the look of this dream," Aalo whimpered.

"Because this is a nightmare. Don't talk. Follow me," Pompom shushed her. They started plodding along the concrete road. Their feet echoed in the night's stillness. The sky was pitch black with no moon and no stars.

Something scurried in the dark. Aalo whelped and grabbed Pompom's hand tightly. A few empty cardboard boxes toppled over suddenly and they jumped. Then they heard a little squeak and a tiny nose emerged. Its whiskers twitched.

"Phew! A rat." Aalo heaved a sigh.

"Eek a rat," Pompom screamed, hiding behind Aalo.

"You're afraid of rats?" Aalo adjusted her glasses, looking curiously at the Gyppie.

"Yes, one of them bit me when I was hiding under your bed," Pompom trembled like a leaf in a storm, as he clutched Aalo's legs from behind.

"I remember. It chewed my favourite cushion and one of my dresses too," she mused, taking a step forward.

"Bad rat, shoo." She waved a hand at the rat. It stood still, not moving at all.

Meow

A raucous screech broke through the night. A black cat dropped in from somewhere and gulped the rat. Only its tail swung outside the cat's maw, and it turned its head slowly to glance at Aalo and Pompom. The yellow eyes of the cat glowed in an unearthly light. It blinked twice and then jumped up on the wall, disappearing as fast as it had come.

"Serves it right, nasty creature," Pompom mumbled, coming out from behind Aalo.

"That is not fair." Aalo was almost close to tears. "Why did it have to eat the rat?"

"Because that is the cat's meal. Haven't you read about the food chain in school?" Pompom sounded surprised.

"But the cat can drink milk too. Why pick the rat?" Aalo said again, her body shaking from the suddenness of the entire hunt.

"Do you love chicken or fish?" Pompom asked.

"I do, but why?"

"Well, if you can eat a fish or a chicken and don't like veggies, why can't the cat eat the rat?" Pompom shrugged.

"Wait, but that is different." Aalo gestured weakly.

"How?" Pompom placed his hands on his waist, waiting for an answer.

"It is the same," Aalo sighed finally.

"Listen." Pompom gently dragged her down by her hand. "It is okay. The predator and prey system has been running before humans even evolved on earth. The strong prey on the weak and it is the way of nature. There is nothing anyone can do about it. It has to go on like this. The snake eats the rat, the bird eats the snake, the human eats the bird and something if comes after the humans in this evolutionary chain, can eat the humans too."