Sticks and Stones

2

Dream POV

It has been about a month since the villagers made their way to the tree to try and start a village. Thankfully, they didn't just outright start a village around the tree after Night sent them to a location away from the tree. If they did that, then we wouldn't have been able to do anything since we're children. That didn't stop them from coming around, though.

About every day, some parents come over with the village children so they can play around and stay out of the way of construction, which was very grudgingly understandable since it was children from ages newborn to 9 years old. They weren't quite old enough to know when to stay out of the way, and we didn't actually want the children harmed. This meant that the kids and parents were around every day.

It was exhausting and scary, of I was honest. Having to play around with a bunch of kids to keep them away from the tree and not being able to just sit down with Nightmare had me passing out a lot soon after the children left. It didn't help that I could feel the parents watching me, judging me. Probably trying to plan on how to get the apples through me.

On the nights I don't immediately pass out, I'm cuddling up with Nightmare as he tells me random stories. They honestly all reminded me of Nightmares' future gang a bit, somehow. Their always so interesting, and I end up wanting to hear more, to the point Nighty only tells me 3 stories a night.

Night hasn't played with the children like I have, despite me wanting him too so I don't suffer alone. However, he refuses too, which I don't blame him for, if I'm honest. Still, it would be nice not to be the only one distracting the children. Though if you think about it this way, one of us is able to watch the adults and the other distracts the children so the apples are safer this way. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

I've also still not spoken the last month or so since the villagers came despite the children and adults trying to get me to speak. I don't know why they want me to speak, maybe because it's easier on them? Or maybe they want me to feel indebted to them? I don't know, but I tend to hide behind Nightmare once they start, and the day gets cut short.

Nightmare always seemed worried afterward, which makes me feel guilty. I don't know why I haven't spoken still if I'm honest. Did me being a female somehow cause me to be mute? Or was it a psychological problem I'm not aware of? I wasn't sure and could only stay silent in my thoughts about it.

I came out of my thoughts as I felt a poking sensation on my cheek and came to the present to find myself looking down at one of the younger kids, a 2 year old human boy named James. He didn't talk either, which led to him being picked on quite a bit. H we usually hung out with Nightmare who actually liked James, or sometimes me if Nightmare wasn't in a good mood, like now.

I gave Jame a kind smile, causing him to perk up and smile back. He then grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the other children. I let him, curious about where we were going, until he pulled me to the small flower patch that was nearby, and we both sat down with James beaming a bit at me.

I couldn't help but smile at the young human boy, even though he was a villager, he was so... innocent and kind. He's so carefree and naive as well, and I couldn't help but actually care about little James even if he was a villager. James smiled back, and he started sort of playing with the grass and flowers, picking them.

Looking at the flowers, it gave me an idea. I started picking them and carefully started to weave them together, trying to make a flower crown. It was a bit difficult, as I had never made flower crowns before, but I think I was managing just fine.

Sitting in the little flower patch with James was honestly peaceful. Despite the screaming kids and adults that I could see out of the corner of my eye-sockets, I wasn't feeling dread. It was nice, and I decided I should do this more often. After a while, I completely finished my flower crown and had a small smile.

James looked at it curiously before looking at his many flowers he had pulled up, looking from the crown to the flowers he picked a few times. After maybe a minute of this, he pushed the flowers towards me before pointing at the flower crown in my hand. I couldn't help it, I smiled and hugged little James before putting the flower crown on his head with a small, barely audible giggle.

He stopped what he was doing and looked up at me with awe in his innocent little eyes, which caused me to blush. In order to distract myself, I started to make a second flower crown using the flowers James had 'traded' me. I was a bit embarrassed, to say the least, but I was also happy as well.

After a while, the older kids made their way over, along with some of the adults who were curious about what was going on. In the end, I ended up teaching a small group of children how to make flower crowns. I was nervous, and my previous peace was thrown out the window, but it was better than running around and getting tired, even if I wanted them to leave.

By the time the group was leaving, it was getting dark, almost everyone had a flower crown from the children to the adults. James ended up making me a flower crown, which was kinda falling apart, but I loved it anyway, thanking him with a hug when the other kids tried to tease him about it. I had to add a few flowers to make it stable, but then I put it proudly on top of my skull.

Once they were all gone, I made my way over to Nightmare, putting the second flower crown I had made on his skull. He found it funny or something and laughed, causing me to pout and turn away. I heard him laugh again, "Sorry Dream, I'm not laughing at you, I promise." I peaked over, and he had a genuine smile which made me smile back as we sat down in front of our Mother.

As we sat under our Mothers branches, Nightmare started to tell me a story about a group of friends who were rejected by the world. They had all gone through some hard times but had come together to form their own family. People from all over tried to arrest them for their past deeds, but the friends were never caught.

As Nightmare told me the story, exhaustion started to set in. I closed my eyes as Nighty continued on, listening to his tale. I couldn't help but notice how it sounded almost like the gang, and I wondered how it would end. Before I could hear it, though, I drifted off to sleep... I wanted to know how it ends was my last thought before sleep claimed me...