Ship: none
Fandom: The Walking Dead Game
Word Count: 753
This is an old one that I spruced up a bit!
XX
That's all Clementine was. A girl. She didn't deserve this life. Like every other little kid, she just wanted to grow up and do something with her life. Every Saturday, she'd watch cartoons. She'd want to stay up late every night, and she hated going to school. Her life was like any other girl's.
Then the zombie apocalypse hit. Her entire life was turned around. She his up in her treehouse, wondering when she's be able to get out safely. She assumed it would never happen. Every night, she'd peek outside, wishing that this wasn't real. But it was as real as it was going to get. So every night, she'd close her eyes. And when she closed her eyes, she escaped this horror that was becoming her life. When she'd close her eyes and drift off to sleep, she'd dream of her parents, of seeing them again. She was beginning to doubt it would happen. She'd dream that this whole thing was over and that she didn't have to live in her treehouse anymore.
She'd dream of the perfect life. She'd dream of the simple life that she used to have, the one that she wanted back. Even after Lee had found her, she would dream about these things. She wanted to go back to school. She didn't want to have to move every night. She'd barely get any sleep, but when she did, her dreams took her to another place. A place where she wanted to be.
With this new life came new responsibilities. New restrictions on life. She wanted to see her parents. There were new people all around her. Some of them fought all of the time, and she didn't like it. How could people fight when they knew that the only way to survive was to stick together? Even she knew it. She'd hold her wallow talkie close at night, hoping that she'd hear even the slightest indication that her parents were okay and alive. But she never did.
In this new world, she would cry a lot more than she was used to. People died. Her parents were never answering. It was all too much for a little girl to take in. And she shouldn't have to take it in. She should be able to live a normal life like all other girs should. That's why she loved to dream.
Lee would ask her what she was dreaming about, because she'd usually be smiling in her sleep. She didn't want to tell him that she was dreaming about her other life, to her it just sounded weird. "My parents." She would answer quietly, and he would pull her in. He truly cared about her, and she knew it. So at night, she would not only dream of her parents, but Lee as well. Sometimes she'd be out for many hours, sometimes even more so than most of her group members slept in weeks. But Lee told her it was okay, she needed her sleep. And she did. She needed sleep not only for rest, but so she could escape for a little bit, and fly into dreamland.
Every day, the world would get even more hellish for her. It would get harder and heavier. She didn't want to carry on. She felt that she couldn't. Not without her parents. But Lee reminded her to be strong. And she did. But they didn't stop her from dreaming when she slept. Sometimes, she would wake up thinking hey her dreams were reality. She'd hope they they were. But she would take one look around and realize that she was lying to herself. She was stuck in this hellish world.
Her life could only get better, right? She kept telling herself that it would, but every time she did, she would believe herself less and less. She wanted it to be better, but she knew it was all just a pipe dream. But she'd close her eyes, thinking otherwise.
Sometimes, she would talk in her sleep. Lee would hear her, and he'd smile at what she would say. "Hi mommy." and "Hi daddy." Were the most common ones. He loved watching her sleep sometimes, she often looked so peaceful. He'd move the hair from her face, wondering just what world she was in when she slept.
Every night, Clementine would squeeze her eyes shut as hard as she could. Going to sleep was something that she had once dreaded. And now, it was her only escape from this cruel reality.
