Sickened Minds

Chapter Four

July 7th, 1930

The twins woke up abruptly with a feeling of emptiness in their stomachs.

Axel started crying. "I'm going to go confront him right now!!! How dare he do that to Mommy!?"

Aeryn stood in front of the door. "No. We can't let him know we were in there. He wouldn't believe us, anyway. That was a dream, Axel. He would know if we were in there by now if it wasn't."

Axel wiped his tears away.

"Let's keep it quiet and wait for the next dream, okay?"

"O-Okay."

Just like Aeryn said, they went through that day quietly. Dwayne did, too. Something was strange in his face- he looked like he had seen something that made him upset. Florisse stayed in her room the entire day. Deonne was his usual, but began eating much more. Axel had stayed mute the entire time.

Aeryn looked up at her father during dinner. They were eating fish, which wasn't bad. "Father, are you alright?"

"Yes," he replied calmly. 

Axel was staring at his food. "Are you mad at Florisse?"

"Father," Aeryn said again. Her expression was suddenly curious. "Do you like babies? Children? Do they taste good?"

Deonne looked at his sister as if she was insane. "Are you suddenly taking an interest?"

"Perhaps," she replied. 

"I wouldn't eat a child, Aeryn," Dwayne grunted. Axel was mute.

"Really?" Aeryn asked. 

"Children are gifts. Food is a reward. They are two different things," Dwayne replied, then walked into the kitchen. 

"He's changed," Aeryn gasped, then grabbed Axel's hand and pulled him upstairs. His eyes were huge.

"Something has changed," Aeryn muttered. 

"Like what?" Axel asked her.

"In Father."

"I know, but why?"

"I have no idea. Let's get to bed and maybe we'll see."

He nodded in agreement and jumped into his bed.

Aeryn changed into a pink nightgown, then went into her bed. She set Minnie on her pillow. 

"Goodnight," Axel called.

"Night!"

They both drifted asleep. This time, they went into a dream that ended them up in their room. They were normal size, and everything seemed the same. There was something about the house, though, that seemed happier. 

"You guys won't want to wake up, this time," Minnie said. She was extremely small- not even half a foot tall. Axel picked Minnie up and propped her on his hip.

"I have a better idea," Aeryn said, then took Minnie and set her on her shoulder. Minnie hid behind her hair. 

"You guys should go downstairs," Minnie giggled.

"Why?" Axel asked.

Minnie just smiled. Aeryn walked downstairs skeptically. 

A muscular teenaged boy sat at the dining room table. His brown hair was nicely greased, and he had chocolate brown eyes exactly the same color. He was eating his food in silence. The house was extremely clean.