Vivid Dreams

Chapter 3: Her Past

The room was small but covered with a large amount of straw, enough to fill the whole room. Sitting on a small patch of straw was Orphan, "Where are the others?" the one who told Joke to guard her was probably Oldest.

Still buried under a pile of hay, the twelve year old boy peaked out from under, "Hm? Oh, since the storm stopped they went outside to find food."

Orphan jumped at hearing that they left shelter in this unknown place and in the middle of the night, "Isn't that dangerous?"

The boy stopped moving from under the hay, "Dangerous? Who do you think we are? We've been doing this for years, we're used to it. I'm sure that they'd come in any minute now with food in their arms." his hand stuck out of the chaff to gather more on top his body, "Unless of course they would be the food in someone else's arms." again he started laughing insanely, "It's just a joke!"

Orphan's heart jumped at the thought of it, and it was not the good kind. White was out with them and the thought of him chopped up and sliced into mince mean in some maniac's arms scared her pale, "Okay..."

He stopped making any noise and motioned for her to come closer, "Awww, why aren't you laughing? It's a pretty funny joke." he pouted and seemed upset that she did not feel amused at his small 'joke'.

She lied down right next to where he was buried and frowned, still imagining the brutal things that could happen to White. Orphan decided to leave the idea alone in fear of it actually coming true, "So... you're name is Joke, right?"

He giggled from his place and said, "Yep, the funniest joke around these parts. Why do you ask? I told you about it already. Are you thinking about giving me a proper name?" his knowing eyes sparkled from underneath the hay.

He was right, that did occur in her mind, "Yes, how did you know?"

"I could tell from the look of your face. You're just as funny as I am!"

"So... do you want a name?"

Orphan already knew that names were not the fondest thing they had around, and it was all because of the eldest. She wondered why that teen did not even think about names, and instead gave them code names.

If she were to be the one to name the eldest she would surely name her Lucy, because it was by far the most annoying name she could think of.

Joke jumped out of his pile of straw to sit on Orphans lap, "I would love to have a name! But I don't think Oldest would be so happy about it..." she was a bit uncomfortable, he was twelve years old after all. He was already too big to sit on her lap.

Although the storm had stopped, it was still cold, "Don't worry about her, I'll give you one." now what should she name him? "How about... Johnny?" she asked, it suited him.

His eyes sparkled in happiness, "Johnny... Johnny boy!" he sprung from her lap and held out his hand to thin air, "Hello there, my name is Johnny! Johnny the funny!" he turned to give her a hug, "I love my name, thank you so much for giving it to me!"

"You're welcome, Johnny." she returned the hug, making her dress shift.

"Do you want to sleep with me? You are very warm!" the newly named Johnny said.

She followed his request. Johnny buried the both of them under the hay, where she spooned him with her body. Orphan could still hear his silent giggles, probably because of a random joke that he had thought about in his head, "Sweet dreams, Johnny."

The boy snickered, "Johnny... I'm Johnny!" after that, his breathes had evened and his body still. He was finally asleep.

Orphan refused to sleep, she knew that if she did she would wake up again in her apartment. She wanted to stay 'awake' and see what would happen next. If she stopped hugging Johnny, he would probably freeze to death.