The Power of Dreams

Chapter 9

Sonic was enjoying a run in an open field, zipping past some flowers that were scattered around the field. The blue hedgehog smiled as he enjoyed his run, the wind brushing his face was relaxing. As he zipped past some white flowers, he moved so fast past them, the petals suddenly jumped off the flowers and danced in the air around him, as if they were trying to follow him as he continued to run.

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog spotted something in the distance. It appeared to be a house. That caught his attention, because this was somewhere out in the middle of an open area in nature. Sonic approached the house, slowing down as he got close enough, and when he began to walk, he could see that something else was changing.

The house was in the middle of an ordinary neighborhood. The blue hedgehog looked around, and he noticed that he was no longer in the open field he was running in. Sonic formed a confused look as he surveyed his surroundings, but that's when he heard the sound of two children laughing from the house he was approaching. It caught his attention, and he turned back to face the house.

Two little girls were sitting in the grass, on a picnic blanket. They didn't have any toys with them, but just each other. They looked like they must've been related, because they both had black hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. One of the girls had shorter hair than the other, and her skin was just a tiny bit darker than the other girl's skin. This one was wearing a white shirt and light blue shorts. The other girl was wearing a light blue shirt and regular pants.

Sonic didn't know why, but he approached the two girls, wanting to listen to their conversation.

"What should we play now? I'm a little tired from playing tag," said the girl with the longer hair.

"Hmm... how about hide and seek? And maybe your sister can join us?" said the other girl.

"I dunno. She's still too small, and she's still learning how to talk like us. But I think she'll be talking full sentences quickly. She's smart, just like you," said the first girl.

"You're smart too. My mommy said that you were running around at a young age. You're a fast learner, just like me!" said the second girl.

The first girl giggled and said, "Yeah! You and I, we're the cool cousins because we're so smart!"

"Agreed!" said the second girl.

"Girls, lunch time!" a woman's voice called from inside.

"Coming mommy!" the second girl called back.

The two little girls got up and started to head inside. Sonic wanted to try to follow them inside, but for some reason, he couldn't walk after them. He was stuck in place, no matter how much he tried to move. It felt like he was walking, and then running in place.

"I'm so glad you can spend the weekend up here, Katelyn. I wish I had a sister, like how you have now," said the second girl.

"Aw, it's okay. I'm always here to play with my favorite cousin!" said the first girl.

Sonic gasped when he heard the name of the first girl.

"Kate!" he called out.

He reached out an arm to her, but as he tried to call out again, the scene suddenly changed dramatically. A static formed, and Sonic found himself teleported out of the peaceful suburban area. Instead, he found himself back in the familiar doomsday setting he had seen previously in his dreams.

"Not again... what is it now?" he nervously muttered.

He could hear some shouting. Unsure what was going on, he hurried over to where the voice was calling. When he got close enough, he saw the familiar scene of Kate trying to talk to the hooded figure.