Midnight's Dream

Midnight's Dream: Chapter Three

Dream watched Shadow blankly, noting that he must have worn a track around the camp with his pacing. Papa hadn't come back yet, though he must have been gone for hours now. The shadows of the trees were getting longer and longer by the moment. Soon it would be dark. Each time Shadow passed Dream, she caught a few of his troubled words. "Why would they.........it's not fair..........have no rights............just do that..........we need Mama........" Dream stopped listening, but Shadow kept pacing. She thought about his last words. We need Mama. He was right. Treasure Pack needed Mama. Dream needed Mama. She couldn't imagine life without Mama by her side, helping to keep Papa and her brother in check. Involuntarily, Dream started remembering special times with Mama. She didn't want to remember, she wasn't sure her heart could take it, but the memories came anyways.

Dream's first memory was when she first opened her eyes. The first thing she ever saw were Mama's green, smiling eyes. Then her first time outside, Mama right by her side the entire time, only leaving when Shadow fell in a gopher hole. Dream took a moment to laugh at that memory, before more swamped her. Her first autumn, Mama teaching her how to catch leaves, then mice, then rabbits. Her first summer. She remembered her first summer particularly well: when she learned her mother's real name, Summer, and when she had jumped through a meadow and breathed in so much pollen that she kept sneezing yellow dust for the rest of the day. Without Mama, there would be no more happy hunts, nighttime stories, histories, and Treasure Pack would most surely fall apart. Life without Mama... It just wasn't possible.

Somewhere in her mental rant Dream must have fallen asleep, because she woke to the sound of rain pattering softly through the trees. Papa was wrong, Dream thought. It hasn't snowed yet. Then she heard the deep growl of her father.

"It started snowing in the night, there was no way I could track her scent" A sharp bolt of distaste and jealousy bolted through Dream, and she let out a long growl, despite herself.

"What's wrong with you?" Shadow's voice startled Dream out of her thoughts; she hadn't realized he was there.

"Of course Papa was right. Of course I was wrong. Isn't that how my life has seemed to work so far?"

"Wow, what's with all the sudden bitterness? And what's this about Papa always being right?"

"Never mind," Dream looked the other way, out from under the bush she had been sleeping under, though she didn't remember moving under it. "Who is Papa talking to?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Some hot-shot wolf from another Pack. Claims he used to catch deer all the time, by himself. It's all moose pie if you ask me," Shadow answered, one side of his mouth twitching up to reveal his sharp white teeth.

"You will not speak about our guest like that," Papa snapped, startled Dream. She hadn't noticed him approach. She was somewhat surprised that Papa would snap at Shadow like that, but then when she looked at him she could tell that he wasn't very happy about their unexpected visitor either. "Come," Papa growled. "Our guest awaits us."

The air was chilly outside, but the rain had stopped. Snow covered the ground, but it wasn't nearly as thick as previous snowfalls. Maybe spring was finally coming. Oh, if spring finally came then Treasure Pack wouldn't be so dreadfully hungry.

"Dream. Dream!" A sharp nip to the ear shook Dream from her imaginative daze.

"What?" She growled, staring at Papa.

"I said," he paused for emphasis. "Welcome our guest to the Treasure Pack camp," Dream thought this over for a second.

"How long will you be staying here?" She inquired, choosing to ignore Papa's earlier statement.

"A few days, at least. You should listen to your father, he's already told you. In my Pack, pups are taught to obey, not wander around in Rainbow Rabbit Land all day," at his last words, Dream barely suppressed a growl. It didn't help that Papa just sat there, looking rather pleased that this wolf would snap at his daughter. Suddenly a fierce emotion swelled within Dream, unlike she had ever known. Fear, rage, sadness, rebellion, embarrassment, and many other unidentifiable feelings swept through Dream at once as she started to bark.

"At least our elders have manners and don't throw their authority around, like you have any in this camp!" Even as she spoke, Dream knew it was false. Papa had total authority, and it seemed there was nothing he liked more than throwing it at Dream. "And you," she spat, turning to her father. "You no good, rude, commanding, useless rat! This skunk saunters into your camp, questions your ways and then insults your daughter, and you just look at him? I cannot believe I ever called you my father, Kra!" Dream had never called Papa by his real name before, but now she could hardly imagine calling him Papa ever again. Spinning around, Dream ran into the thick forest, ignoring the calling voices and leaving behind what was left of her family.