The sun shone brightly, pouring through the green canopy in golden beams to land in a dappled pattern on my back as I lay on my stomach in the cool grass of the park. Danny was sitting, cross-legged, by my side, his mane of hair flowing slightly in the gentle breeze, eyes soft and sparkling every time he smiled. He was relaying some story or other to me. I couldn't make out any specific words but I seemed to understand it nonetheless and laughed along. Why couldn't I hear him? Maybe this was a dream. Ah. That was it. As I thought about it, I couldn't recall how we'd got here. Or when. Or even what we'd been doing beforehand. But that didn't matter. I crossed my arms in front of me and lay my head on them, still turned towards Danny, enjoying the sun and his company, even in this celestial landscape.
It happened without warning. It was as though the colour around us was drained like from a fountain pen. I felt an immense wave of impending doom and the sky seemed to plunge into darkness. Danny's face changed, frighteningly. One second, happy and laughing, the next, contorted in terror. He seemed to be looking over me at something in the distance and I scrambled to sit up and turned on my knees to look in the same direction and discover what had terrified him so.
But all I could see was the vague edge of the park. I looked back at him, questioningly. Oh God! His eyes were goggled, his mouth open, horrifyingly wide and now he was shaking, still staring straight ahead. He was getting scary to look at. Still, this was my Danny. I swallowed and steeled myself. I shuffled over to him on my knees and put my hand, gently on his shoulder.
"Danny?" And that's when he started whimpering, moaning and yelping, still in the same, transfixed state. His voice sounded almost inhuman. Animal.
Shit!
I woke with a massive jolt and scrambled to turn on my bedside light. I missed first, Danny's face still scorched into my mind and I could see it in front of my eyes. I needed to burn that image away! I made another, panicked lunge for the switch. There it was! Click. I sat up, shaking. I stared around me at the dimly lit room as the energy saving bulb took its sweet time to brighten up a little. Ugh! No. No no no! That was horrible. I grabbed my Toothless the Dragon toy I'd got from Build-A-Bear from down beside my pillow and hugged him to me, sniffing in the scent of strawberries he had infused in his stuffing. He always helped me feel better on bad nights. I sat with him curled into me for a moment or too and the bulb finally decided to play ball.
It was only then that I noticed it. The moaning and whimpering sounds that Danny had been making hadn't stopped! I could still hear them. And I don't mean I could hear them in my mind. I could still physically hear them (albeit, slightly muffled). They were coming through the wall behind my bed. Danny?
Not so scared now, I got up, the legs of my PJs dropping down to my ankles. I hadn't even realised they'd rucked up. Still with Toothless clutched to me for emotional support, I carefully opened my bedroom door and peered down the hallway to the door to Danny's room. The muffled cries were issuing loud and clear from the gap where his door wasn't quite closed. I stepped carefully, making my way down the landing. I'd just reached the door when a movement in my peripheral vision made me look up. Barry had popped his head out from his own bedroom, looking ready to come and deal with the situation himself. However, on seeing me, he pointed with a questioning face.
"Yeah, I got it." I mouthed back with an affirmative thumbs-up. Barry nodded and withdrew to him room again.
I pushed the door to Danny's room open. His whimpering didn't sound scary now. Just pitiful. Despite my fear of the dark, I made my way cautiously to his bed and clicked on his own bedside lamp.
Just as I'd thought. Danny had fallen asleep on his back. I could see a book open, pages down on the floor. He must have fallen asleep reading. Danny was still in jeans and his T-shirt, twitching slightly with his eyebrows knitted, little yelps and whimpers escaping him every couple of seconds. I sat down, slowly. I didn't want to jolt him awake and terrify him. I put my hand on his shoulder and, didn't so much shake it as stroke it vigorously with my thumb.
"Hey." I murmered. "Danny. Wake up, sweetie." He was breathing heavily and, although he'd jumped slightly at my touch, he didn't wake up. "Danny. Hey. Wake up, darl, it's just a nightmare." I really did give his shoulder a little shake this time. Without warning, he flailed slightly, arms coming up to defend his face, head turning away into the pillow. I backed away to avoid an elbow in the face but I didn't stand up. His eyes opened and he looked around, blearily, face still full of fear, still panting. "Ssh." I said, quietly. I put my hand back on his shoulder as he came round a little. He glanced around him before his gaze fell on me and he just looked at me for a few moments before his face screwed up and he turned onto his side, curling up against me as I rubbed his shoulder. Now I had access, I rubbed his back with one hand and stroked his hair with the other.
"Sssh. It's ok. I'm here." He was shaking slightly and I could tell from a damp patch forming somewhere in the region of my knee, that he was crying quietly to himself. I leant down, trying to enclose more of him into me, surround him a little more so that he felt safe. "Hey. You're safe. Ok? You're safe." He nodded, almost imperceptably. "You want me to sleep here tonight?" Another tiny nod. "Ok. C'mon. Sit up a second. Take your jeans off at least." He did as he was told like a frightened child and kicked them onto the floor where they slithered into a heap. I tugged at the duvet and he shuffled backwards, getting in and laying, curled up on his side. I got in and lay next to him, manoeuvring him so that his head was resting just under my chin and I ran my fingers through his wild hair. His breathing slowed as he finally calmed down properly.
"Sing to me." He whispered after a time.
"What? Danny you know I have a terrible voice." I protested, quietly.
"No you don't." He said, simply. "Please." I sighed, softly.
"Alright." Thinking fast, I started warbling a song from Pocahontas. Sure, his favourite movie was 'The Last Unicorn' but I could never have done that song justice, not when he'd covered it so beautifully. I'd just got to the last verse when I saw Danny's brown eyes flutter shut as he lay, still enveloped in blankets, Toothless at his back... and me.