Sylvie woke up with a whimper, her heart racing and her eyes searching the dark. Although she couldn't remember what the dream had been about, she felt the fear it had created.
She shifted, moving closer to
@Hymnal, not wanting to disturb
@Eljay and
@Maia for the second night in a row.
"Hymn," she whispered, squinting through the dark to see the faint outline of her sister.
"Y-You there?" Sylvie disliked inconveniencing her family, but right now she needed the support.
Her eyes fluttered open to darkness, and at first she wasn't sure what had woken her. There was stirring beside her and then her sister's voice; she called out to her, fear in her words, and Hymnal quickly sat up. Yes, I'm here,
she murmured, reaching over to press her head against Sylvie's cheek. What's wrong?
she asked with quiet worry. She wondered if her sister was woken by another bad dream. So far, their parents still slept near them, but she didn't need to wake them; she could comfort the other girl. In fact, she needed to comfort her. The way she had sounded when she called out made Hymanl's heart hurt. She hated to see any of her family distressed, but most of all her sister.
When Hymnal confirmed she was awake, Sylvie sighed in relief. ”I had a bad dream,” she said, wiggling closer to her sister. When they were touching, Sylvie laid her head on the ground between her paws and touched her nose to her sister’s forearm.
”Can you tell me a story?” she asked, looking up with puppy-dog eyes.
Hymnal felt for her sister. She wished she could do something to scare away her nightmares for good.
Sylvie wanted to hear a story, and she thought maybe their mother would be better for that. Hymnal had always been amazed at what mama could come up with. But her sister had asked and she would never refuse her.
Okay,
she murmured. She was quiet for a few moments as she searched her mind. Then she just went with the first thing that crossed her mind. There is a magical forest called Ancient Maple. It's wolves lived peacefully and in harmony. But there was a cave, deep in the woods that everyone stayed away from. A strange creature lived there, and it could be heard wailing at night. No one in Ancient Maple wanted to bring his anger on them.
she paused and looked to her sister to make sure she was still okay with the story.
please skip, just a cameo <3
Eljay woke up from whispers close to him. He opened his eyes only briefly, before he realised that it was his two daughters talking to each other. The father closed his eyes again, feeling relaxed to be in the presence of his family, and grumbled as he snuggled his head close against Maia's neck. He listened to the story Hymnal began to tell, a smile on his face and his heart felt blessed to have such a beautiful, compassionate, sweet and creative family around him; his eyes closed, seeming to have a good dream perhaps.