Participants:
| Scene Title | Wait! |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | What a strange dream. |
| Date | November 20, 2019 |
The world is big and full of so many interesting sounds and good smells. The air has a touch of a chill, which meant the cold season was coming.
Roxie is happy.
Roxie feels a sense of rightness, running around the yard with a pair of children. A boy and a girl. They laugh and she feels joy. She loves them so very much.
Crouching, the girl holds out her arm for Roxie. Oh! She knew what that meant! There is a surge of love as the girl hugs her and speaks kind words to her. Wispy curls seem to float around the girls head in a cloud. Roxie buries her nose around the girls hair, she smells of sweetness and treats.
The boy calls her, Roxie turns away from the with a grin. “Yes! I hear you! It’s time to play?” He was a kind boy, his eyes big and full of love. He never smelled as good, he smelled of sickness. Still, he was Roxie’s favorite. He always wanted to play.
In fact, a tennis ball is held up for her to see!
“Oh! My favorite game!”
Roxie felt a leap of excitement as the boy pulls back his arm and throws the ball. “I got it!” She shouts running after it, as it sails over her head. “You threw it too high! But I’ll get it! I got it!” He was getting better at this game, this pleased her. It means he was getting stronger. If he gets strong maybe the sickness will go away.
The ball bounces on the grass a few times, before it rolls under a bush. The boy laughs behind her. Good! He was having fun too. Roxie loves him very much.
Leaning down to look under the bush, Roxie can see it! She can see the ball. “I see it! I will get —”
The loudest sound assaults Roxie’s ears, she feels the pressure in her chest. She cries out as joy turns to fear. The world is reduced to a tone and the faint screams of the children. “What was that? That was loud! I do not like that!” Turning she can’t find the source of the sound, but the back door on the house flies open. The children’s mother comes out and shouts at them, waving them to her. She is scared. The kids are scared. They are running. Roxie is running, but she’s not as fast.
The door shuts before Roxie can reach the house. “Wait! I cannot get in.” Roxie is scared. The children were scared, they needed her. Scratching at the door, she cries out. “I am here! Do not be scared I will protect you. Let me in!” The girl is crying inside the house, the mother is shouting. Things are banging around. She can only sit on the back porch and listen a hand on the door.
“They will be here soon.” Certainty filled Roxie’s chest. They will come for her. She will be with them again. They will play and the children will be happy again. Roxie will be happy. She loves them.
In the distance there are more big sounds, they rumble the ground under her. Roxie is scared, huddling closer to the door. Watching it. Willing it to open.
“Please let me in?”
Huddled there, listening to distant shouts and the weird popping. Still Roxie waits until there is a new sound, a door. It is not her door, it is the other door. Fresh fear hits her. They had not come for her.
“Oh! They are leaving!” She hurries to one side of the porch looking at the fence. “Wait! Wait for me!” They must be so scared! Leaping off the porch, Roxie runs along the fence. “Wait! Wait!” The fence is not a problem for her, luckily, but it will slow her down. Roxie gives a small whine of worry deep in her throat. “They are forgetting me! The children need me!”
Roxie had to get to them! She starts to dig. She can hear the children crying and shouting, but their mom sounds angry. They are scared and need her. Roxie can keep the scary things at bay! Her arms feel tired as she digs, but she doesn’t stop or slow down… They are just on the other side, she can smell them. All she has to do is dig faster. Roxie loves them and will protect them.
The hole widens quickly. Roxie has always been a good digger. The car door are closing, she must hurry. Just a bit more dirt and she starts pushing through the hole. It is just big enough… and she is on the other side of the fence. Pride is what she feels.
She runs towards their voices and the sound of the car starts up. “Wait! I am coming! Wait!” Roxie can see the girls tear streaked face looking out at her. “Do not cry! I am here! I am here!”
Another explosion of sound slams into the her. It tosses her with an intense heat and makes her tumble. It scares her. She wants her family and cries for them. However, Roxie looks up in time to watch in horror as the car speeds off. No! “Wait!”
Roxie in on her feet in an instant and runs after. “Wait! I am here! Don’t forget me!” She isn’t fast enough, her legs can’t move fast enough. “Wait! Why are you leaving me? I love you!” The distance grows between her and the children.
Roxie doesn’t stop.
She has to —
Roxie wakes up, fear coating her like a blanket… or maybe it was just cold. It takes a few moments for her to not feel abandoned. A moment longer passes until she realizes it was only a dream, her eyes finally focusing on the cracked ceiling above her.
She was in an old abandoned house in the Safe Zone. Sheltered until Roxie could find food and sneak out of this god forsaken city. With no heat, she is able to watch puffs of her own breath ascend and slowly dissipate, while mulling over faded images.
What kind of fucked up dream was that.
A sudden movement and a whimper makes Roxie jump, but just as quickly she feels stupid. It was only Goober sleeping, his paws moving and jerking in his sleep. Dreaming. Though the various huffs and wuffs of sound stressed.
Reaching out, Roxie gently touches his fur side. Goober wakes instantly with a growl, head coming up and twisting back to look at her. To her, he looks confused with ears swiveling about like he was listening for something.
“Bad dream?”
Goober’s tail wags tiredly and his head drops down again with a heavy sigh. Sometimes, it felt silly to talk to him like he was a person. Doesn’t stop her though. “You’re okay.” With a shift of blankets, Roxie is able to drape them over the dog too and pulls him in close. Extra warmth on a cold night. “We’re okay.”
There is no protest at the extra warmth, Goober just gives another sigh and lets himself drift off again. He was safe. They were safe. It won’t take Roxie long to follow his lead, slowly sinks into unconsciousness again.
This time the dream will be better.
This time she will chase fat rabbits.