The end is near 1

Maria's dream

A grandfather clock sounded the return of midnight once again as a gust of wind rattled the windowpanes of an already battered old house. Apart from the ghastly wind the night was dead, not even the sound of a fox padding atop the crisp leaves of autumn could be heard. A moon, large and fully circular, cast a vivid light through the scratched up panes of the confined house. Inside the architecture moved a person, a girl, to be more precise. The silhouette of this girl tiptoed softly through its hallways, avoiding all the wooden floorboards that would announce her location. She navigated her way to some stairs which she noiselessly descended only to emerge in a dull living room. The curtains in this room were shut tight allowing almost no light from the moon outside to enter. The girl saw otherwise, because just by her feet danced a radiant magenta glow. Overcome by curiosity, she moved forward and tugged at the fabrics to investigate it's source. All of a sudden she stumbled back in awe, still ogling at the huge spaceship suspended in the sky. The sound of distant gunfire echoed over the hills that surrounded the house. They were so loud the girl's ears began to ring. But through the moment of panic, she noticed the atmosphere around her become humid and a rush of feverous air hit the back of her neck. The girl wasted no time in turning around, but her gaze was met with 3 olive eyes glaring back at her from the shadows, followed by a profound growl. In terror she jolted back and shuffled across the wooden floor until she hit the wall beneath the window. With nowhere else to move, she focused her attention back onto the beast, who was now looming over her. What looked like its mouth opened to reveal 4 sharp, yellowish incisors. The girl screamed at the top of her lungs overcome with fear, only to find herself moments later sitting up in bed.

Sweat cascaded down from her forehead as her vision came into focus. It was clear she was no longer in the living room, and the moon had returned to hiding behind the clouds where it usually stayed. Once she had come round, she noticed a familiar wailing from outside her room. Maria knew without hesitation the noise belonged to her baby brother Theo whom she was left to look after whilst her parents were out. She remembered them talking about going on their honeymoon earlier that day, they planned to go to a fancy restaurant just on the outskirts of town and that her dad was going to take her mother somewhere very special afterwards. So basically they were going to be gone all night leaving their two children home alone. Maria had nothing against it considering how little time they actually got to spend with each other, but caring for Theo was proving to be quite a challenge for her. He was only a baby after all, and babies require constant attention from their carer/s (something she was struggling to provide given how preoccupied she was with homework). Maria always wondered how her parents coped with caring for Theo since they were busy at work most the time. But whenever something came up that required both of them, their grandma would pitch in and offer to stay a few nights to help with the babysitting. This time though, she could not, because she was in hospital with a broken leg. With her grandma no longer an option to assist with Theo, Maria herded her blanket off of her and marched lazily to her brothers room. Theo's little nursery Was filled with building blocks but mostly stuffed animals, the usual thing you'd expect a baby to play with. He was still too young for Lego's and figurines since he'd probably straight up attempt to eat them but he seemed pleased with what he was gifted last Christmas. This included a small stuffed rabbit that he refused to sleep without, a huge brown teddy bear that was placed next to his cot and a large bag of baby books which were currently strewn across the nursery floor. Maria made a very cautious attempt to avoid these as she advanced towards her screaming brother. She scooped him up lightly and rocked him from side to side, the crying continued still. It was only then that she noticed the little white rabbit that her brother could not sleep without, was not in his cot with him. She placed him back down as gently as possible and got on her hands and knees. She had a concern that perhaps it had fallen through the gaps between the wooden bars of his cot. She still could not find the white rabbit. With no other choice, she left her brother to further search for his beloved stuffie....