Unending Nightmares

Chapter 13: The Bear, The Fox and The Cat

As the Arctic sun rose, the three creatures stood up, patted the excess snow from their bodies, and disappeared without a trace.

"What a weird dream. What does that mean?"

I shook my head and messaged the group chat.

"I've got a new one, huddle up"

Three devices rang up at the same time.

My Mom, seeing the message, frowned.

Aether breathed out a long sigh

Only Micah seemed slightly too excited and replied, "See you!"

Seeing Micah beat her to it, Aether sent a message a few seconds after: "I'll be there. Don't run off, dummy"

Mom looked at the 2 messages and just sent a laughing emoji. Does she find it funny? I don't know.

—

"It was a world full of snow. I could see black patches scattered on the snowfields. The scene switched, and suddenly, I found myself in the middle of three creatures," I told the three women staring at me like I was a bag on display.

"Are they that scary? What did they look like? Were you okay?" Mom asked,  visibly worried.

Micah and Aether held each of Mom's hands and grabbed them tight.

"Hey girls, don't you think you're acting too familiar with my Mother? I'm the one suffering here." I looked at the two and got no response except a rolled eye. They rolled their eyes too far back; they might have seen their spines.

"Well, what happened next?" Aether asked, letting Mom go.

I looked at her and replied, "Well, the three creatures are not the beings inside my nightmares. They are different"

"How?" It was Micah's turn to ask.

"Well, they're not black, first of all. They're snow white. And I can describe the creatures. They're a bear, a fox, and a cat. The bear was shielding me from the snow, and the other 2 started patrolling the area, though they sometimes fight among each other when they come back for a full circle," I told Micah while I sipped my coffee. "You sure this was three shots of espresso, Micah? It's too bitter!"

"3 shots? Your text says 5, " Micah replied, showing my message. I didn't even notice that she saved my name on her contact list under "Petty Guy"

"Well, that explains it. Are you planning to kill me? It was clearly a typo!" I asked, flicking her on the forehead.

"Ouch! You psycho!" Micah replied and tried to flick me on my forehead, too. I caught her hand and told her, "Not a chance, brat"

Aether and Mom were clearly holding their laughter. Strange, as Aether and Micah quarreled less when the topic was about my nightmares. 

"Do you have any idea what that meant?" Mom asked.

"No," I replied. "But the bear was very protective, and I can feel a connection with her. Like I've known her all my life. Or him. Whatever. How do you even tell? It's not like real ones have a pink ribbon on their head like on TV." I replied, putting some water in my coffee to dilute it a bit.

"What about the fox?" Aether asked.

"Well, the fox was very cute. She also felt familiar, but she seemed too shy to approach me. It's as if something is holding her back." I looked at Aether, both her hands propping up her chin. 

"And the cat?" Micah asked.

"The cat? She keeps sitting on my lap after her patrol. It's like she's trying to provoke the fox, but the fox can't have the courage to approach me." I looked at Micah, who looked different. Not sure why, though. 

I suddenly stopped and asked, "Why are you asking in turns? It's always Mom first, you, then Micah. Did you pre-arrange this? Is this what it feels like to be in a beauty contest?" I looked at Aether, waiting for her answer.

"Well, it just appears that way. We can't ask you questions at the same time, right? You'll get confused more," Aether replied. "And besides, it's seniority"

Micah, hearing this, pouted.

"What seniority? I'm clearly older than you two. And Mom isn't a senior yet. You sure you've eaten breakfast?" I stared at Aether, and she just rolled her eyes.

—

Back at the Aether Studio Building. 

"Good morning," I told the boys and headed straight to my office. Oh, wait. I haven't really described what it looks like, have I? 

Well, it's at the other end of the floor from Aether's office. I painted the walls black and had a grey carpet beneath my desk. My dual monitor set-up adorns my vast desk, and a few action figures from Slime Datta Ken are on the side. A huge sofa is opposite my desk, with a drawer on its side filled with mixed nuts and other snacks I usually munch on when I'm stressed. 

"How was the family meeting?" Arthur asked, entering the room with Rick and Jake. 

"What family meeting?" I replied. I was too busy organizing the new department personnel to look at Arthur.

"Playing dumb, are we?" Rick chimed. "Basically, everyone knows you have meetings with your 2 wives and your Mom"

"Not wives. They're just friends, very close ones at that. Are you guys jealous?" I looked at Rick, and he just shrugged his shoulders. Jake was rummaging through my nut drawers, taking some bags of mixed nuts and throwing them inside his bag. 

"Hey, watch it. I took that from Mom's groceries", I told Jake, eyeing his actions while he just smiled and continued what we were doing.  

"Jealous of what? Your baby mustache? Hahahaha," Bamboo said "Argh, it still hurts, geez"

Bamboo has two band-aids on his nose and an ankle bandage from when he tripped over the day before.

"You better pay old Bamboo's hospital bills, old geezer," Rick said, "the Video Fx team is crippled, just like their department head"

"Shut up, Rick!" Bamboo shouted, throwing his crutches at Rick while the latter ran away.

—

When I opened my eyes, I was floating in space. I could see a black swirling mass of matter with a few streaks of white along its edges. Far out, one huge white mass and two smaller ones were in a triangular formation, seemingly battling the black mass. They couldn't stop it from swirling but were able to slow it down.

"What is that?" I asked myself as I was shocked by what I saw.