The Surviving Few - A DANDY'S WORLD FANFICTION

Chapter 6 - Cold Case

Cold. Cold. Dark. Days and days of darkness and I cannot hear them. I don't remember my name. All I know is anger. All I have is hunger. I don't know what I once was. Who I once was.

It seeps through my veins. It hurts.

It hurts so much but. It speaks to me. My blood, now blackened and cold, whispers to me. It promises me great knowledge. I don't want its knowledge. I don't want it.

What I want.. I want.. what I want. I don't remember. I can't remember. It's so dark..

There's someone. Someone I need to protect.. but. It's hazy. I have to-

"Rodger!"

My eye opened in an instant. Where was I previously..?

"Rodgerrrr..!" Someone was calling my name- Oh! That's right!

"Sorry Toodles I must have had a sleeping spell- these headaches." I cleared my throat with a light chuckle.

"You're way too sleepy all the time! Maybe I should use the squirt bottle Tisha uses on Scraps!"

I chuckled again. "That won't be necessary.. Now where were we?"

I looked back down to the book I was reading to Toodles. She sat down, crossing her legs eagerly.

"Alright. Dreams. Dreams or the REM stage of sleep have been long studied by scientists for ages."

I turned the page. I was terrible with storybooks, so I often just read Toodles, the books I read.

For a few minutes I prattled on about the theories behind dreams. The strange hypothesis people had come to over the years.

Toodles was deeply invested, leaning forwards as if I were narrating some grand adventure.

"While we may not fully understand the function of sleep in the human body, it serves us a great purpose even if we can't figure it out. Every species sleeps."

"Rodger!"

"Yes Toodles?"

"What's a human..?? Or a species?"

"Ah! I'm glad you asked. You know the toon handlers? The visitors we get?"

Toodles nodded piecing two and two together. "Those are humans?"

"Bright thinking Toodles! Yes!" I patted her on the head and she giggled.

"Now, humans are a type of species- You see, living things are organized into different categories. Some categories are really big, like the term animal. This is called taxonomy."

"Taxonomuh." Toodles repeated.

"Yes. Species are actually the smallest taxonomic rung, indicating a very specific type of organism. For example, a human is a species! So is a dog."

"I'm confused Rodger!"

"That's perfectly okay! I can barely understand it myself."

"But I want to know all the things Rodger! All the things!!!"

"Well that takes time. Everything takes time Toodles.. Toodles do you remember when you couldn't reach the sink?"

"Oh! Oh yeah! I had to use a stool!"

"Do you ever think about why you couldn't reach it?"

"Uhh not really!"

"Well it's because you were too short! Can you reach it now?"

"Uh uh! I don't see what this has to do with knowing all the things-"

"Toodles, you got taller! That took time, and you won't even notice it happening. It's just like "knowing all the things". It may take a while."