Up: Game 2  Up: Game 2 Outline

Home alone

Out of habit, you start for the fridge, but then realise that, for the first time in weeks, you're not hungry. You laugh bitterly at the irony.

Instead, you go to bed, cold and aching from your trip across the room courtesy of Fred's fist. You bury yourself in the covers...

...And you're running. Running in some vast gloomy room, impossibly huge. Everything is hidden by the shadows, and the sky is stormy. The awareness that this is a dream is swallowed by the ghastly recollection that something is after you. You can't remember what, only that it will kill you if you slow down. And it's getting closer. For what seems like hours you sprint (for you), exhausted, through endless labyrinths, until you see a light, with someone standing near it. Fred is there! He'll help! You run to him, panting "Fred, help, he's after me!" You stop. Fred looks annoyed. "Aren't you going to stop him?"

"When I want to." He replies angrily, "Get off my back!" With sudden, crushing dread you remember who you were running from. Fred's face contorts with rage and he starts towards you. You turn and run from the light, hearing him shout your name..

Your eyes snap open. Your bedside light is on, and you can still hear your name. You look up. Fred is there, sitting on the edge of your bed. He looks utterly ashamed, and his eyes are suspiciously bright. He starts, seeing that you're awake. "I'm sorry." he says in a tiny voice, "I didn't mean to get that angry." The light falls on your bruised face. "I, I didn't mean to hit you hard.." he trails away lamely. Gently, Fred reaches out to take your shoulder, but you flinch away without thinking, still half in your nightmare. Fred lets his arm drop. He looks like the bottom has fallen out of his world. He sits still for a couple of seconds, then says in that same, tiny voice, "I'll go now." He stands and slowly goes towards the door, his tail dragging on the floor. He suddenly seems a good deal smaller.

You feel as though you've just killed a puppy. As he stumbles through your bedroom door you call out "Fred.."


Written by Lupine

Back to the parent page