It was a semi warm summer day as Alfred giggled to himself. He stroked the soft fur of his pet rabbit, Usa, as it was nibbling furiously on a carrot that he held in his left hand. Normally, the maids or house keeper would have called him in to get washed up for supper, but they knew that even if they told him to come in he wouldn't have listened. They all knew that young master Alfred was waiting for his older brother Arthur to come home for a visit.
Alfred perked up when he heard the faint clatter of wheels on cobblestone. He hurriedly picked up Usa and quickly and carefully as possible placed him back inside his hutch. Brushing the grass and dirt from his trousers, he ran to the front entrance of the mansion. A few hundred yards away, he could see the carriage horses pulling the plain black carriage up the path. He felt his cheeks flush with excitement that he would finally get to see Arthur after eight months. Sure the maids and the house keeper where fun to talk with, but he wanted to talk to his big brother the most. Fidgeting where he stood, he watched as the carriage came to a halt a yard in front of him. The door opened slowly and revealed a travel weary Arthur.
"Arthur!" Alfred cried trying his best to withhold his delight.
Arthur stepped down from the carriage and closed the door before turning to face Alfred again. He knelt down to look the boy directly in the eyes.
"My, you've grown since I've seen you last Alfred. I trust you've been good while I was gone?"
Alfred flushed at the compliment, "I've been very good!"
Arthur grinned and ruffled his younger brother's hair. "Then why do you look like you've been rolling around in a rabbit hutch?"
Alfred opened his mouth to retort back, but the grin on his older brother's face stopped him.
"Come on, let's go inside and get washed up, shall we?" Arthur asked as he guided Alfred towards the front door of the mansion.
Later that evening, Alfred hurriedly pulled his night gown over his head and tied the neck shut before he ran to the library. He peeked from behind the door, Arthur sat in a larger chair next to the fireplace reading a thick book. Grinning to himself, Alfred scurried over to Arthur and clambered up into his lap.
Arthur put down his book on a nearby table, "What do you want, bed bug?"
"A bed time story!"
He laughed at his younger brother's antics.
"Do you have an idea of what you want to read?" asked Arthur.
Alfred placed a small hand on his chin as he scanned the large shelves of books all around him. None of them were picture books, and they were all too thick to read before bed. Frowning, he looked up at his older brother expectantly. Arthur laughed at his brother's sad expression. Reaching behind the chair, he pulled out a thin book. Alfred's eyes light up with joy when he realized what it was.
"I saw it in a book shop while I was in London, it reminded me of you, so I bought it for you as a gift." Arthur said as he turned the book's cover towards him.
Alfred leaned back onto Arthur's chest so that he could enjoy the picture book and still be comfy.
"The Castle of Dreams," Arthur began as he flipped open to the first page, "Once upon a time there was a castle.
It was a very special castle since it was made entirely out of dreams."
Arthur paused so that Alfred could admired the pictures before he flipped to the next page.
"One day, a young boy happen to come across the castle when he was playing.
"Come in," the castle called, and the little boy entered.
"Every room will be filled with toys and sweets and whatever else you want" the castle told him.
The boy checked every room he came to, and peeked inside.
It was filled with toys and goodies beyond his imagination."
Alfred reached out a hand to gently stroke the picture of the boy standing in front of the castle doors. He looked back up at Arthur, "He looks like me doesn't he?"
Arthur had noticed the similarity between the boy in the book and his younger brother, "Yes he does. Strange..."
Alfred turned the page himself this time.
"Play with us," the toys called.
And he played with the toys inside many of the rooms.
"Eat us," called the candies and cakes.
And he ate many of the different sweets."
Arthur turned the page and tried to stifle back a yawn.
"As time passed, the boy began to long for home.
"Why would you want to go home?" the castle asked, "When you could stay here play."
The boy thought for a moment, and chose to stay inside a little bit longer."
"As more time passed, the boy began to miss his family.
"Why would you miss your family when you have all of these toys to play with?" asked the castle, "Stay here longer."
The boy thought again for a moment, and gave his answer.
"I miss my mommy and daddy. I miss my bed and my teddy bear."
Alfred felt his jaw fall slack as he heard his brother read this part, "Why would he miss that stuff when he has all those toys to play with?"
Arthur glanced down at the young boy in his lap, "I don't know, why don't we keep reading and find out?"
Alfred settled back down and Arthur began to read again.
"Why would you miss those things? This is a castle of dreams, anything you want you could have if you stayed here." the castle said.
"Yes, but those are all the things I need. And they are not here right now."
"Is that all you really need? What about all of these toys?" the castle asked.
"Yes. I love them very much. No amount of toys or sweets could replace them." the boy replied."
"The castle then reluctantly open its great doors to let the boy out.
The boy grinned happily as he stepped outside again and looked back at the closing doors of the castle.
He then turned and ran home to his mommy and daddy, and his teddy bear."
The book shut with an almost inaudible thump. Arthur tilted his head to gage Alfred's reaction to the book.
"So what did you think?"
"I don't think that boy should have left the castle."
"Really?"
Alfred nodded.
"Well, off to bed with you now. Good night, Alfred"
Climbing into the softness of the downy feather bed, Alfred frowned. The pictures in the story book where really cute, but the story bothered him still. He just couldn't believe that the boy gave up a castle full of goodies just to be with his family.
He pulled the pre-warmed comforter up and laid back on his bed. Closing his eyes, he tried to go to sleep.
Sometime later, he must have fallen asleep, because a bright light flooded his room. Sitting up wearily, he looked for the source of the light. His eyes widened when he saw a pair of large glowing doors on the way directly across from the edge of his bed. He flung off the comforter and hurried over to the doors.
He could see that the light was coming through the grain of the wood itself. Reaching up, he clasped the door handle in his hand and pulled on the door. It swung open with ease. He was temporally blinded by the light that escaped from the door before his eyes adjusted.
Alfred felt his jaw drop open in shock, it was the castle from the picture book Arthur read to him earlier that night. Shaking his head slightly, he ran into the castle and the doors shut silently behind him.
"Welcome young master Alfred," a voice boomed from the ceiling.
"Is this the Castle of Dreams?" Alfred asked, his excitement could be heard in his voice.
"Yes, and every room will be filled with toys and sweets and whatever else you want."
He flushed with excitement and ran to the nearest room. When he flung the door open, he squealed in delight. It was filled with all the toys he could ever want, and a table at the center of the room was piled high with his favorite sweets. Rushing in, he immersed himself in the gifts.
Sometime later, the toys in that room became tiresome and his tummy was bulging from the amount of sweets he had consumed. Picking himself off of the floor, he waddled over to the door.
"Was that room to your liking young master Alfred?" the voice boomed again.
"Yes, very much! But I would like to play with something else now." he drawled.
"May I suggest the room to your left or your right?"
Alfred turned to his right and opened that door. There was many different toys in this room also, and it was piled high with more sweets. He grimaced, and placed a hand on him now aching tummy. He turned back to the hallway.
"Castle?" he called quietly.
"Is that room not to your liking young master Alfred?" the voice had a worried tone to it.
"No, no. I like it but... I want to go home to my big brother, and my rabbit and my bed." he said slowly.
"But why would you want to go home when you could stay here forever?"
Alfred's head began to spin.
"Because I miss them" he said shakily.
"Why would you miss those things? This is a castle of dreams, anything you want you could have if you stayed here." the castle said.
"Because they are my family, that is why I miss them," he replied.
"Is that all you really need? What about all of these toys?" the castle asked.
"Yes, I love them very much. None of these toys and sweets hold as much meaning as they do," Alfred replied.
The castle rumbled in response, "I see. So now you understand. You may go now young master Alfred."
The castle doors swung open silently again and Alfred hurried through the doors. He turned around to say good bye but when he turned to do so, the doors were gone, leaving his wall blank. He stood staring at the wall trying to comprehend what had happened, before an idea struck him. He slipped on his slippers and ran towards Arthur's room.
Once he reached the door of Arthur's room, Alfred paused. He knew that his brother was tired but he needed to tell him that he changed his mind. Reaching up he quietly opened the door and peered in. He could barely see the mound on the bed that was his brother. Tip toeing across the room, he stood next to the bed, before he slipped off his slippers and climbed into his brothers bed. Arthur murmured in his sleep and turned away from Alfred. Slowly, Alfred shook his shoulder to try to rouse his brother from his sleep.
"Mmm... 'ho is it?"
"Arthur. Wake up. It's Alfred," he whispered loudly.
Finally, Arthur was semi awake, he rubbed his right eye and turned to look at the bed intruder.
"What is it Alfred? Are you ok?" he asked sleepily.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Alfred asked quietly.
Arthur raised an eyebrow at his younger brother's request, but moved over in bed to make room for him.
"Just don't kick me alright?" he said as Alfred climbed under the covers next to him. He sighed as he tried to lull himself back to sleep when a small pair of arms wrapped around his left arm.
"Arthur?" he asked quietly.
"Yes Alfred?"
"You remember the picture book you read to me earlier?"
"Yes, I do. Why?"
The arms around Arthur's arm squeezed tighter, "I changed my mind about the boy. He should have gone home to his family."
Arthur felt his eyes open in shock, before he smiled wearily.
"I'm glad to hear that."
Alfred giggled softly before he snuggled even close to Arthur, "G'night, Arthur."
Arthur pulled his brother into his embrace and hugged him, "Good night Alfred, sleep well."
So how was it? Did'ja like it? When I got the idea to write the Castle of Dreams, I was like, "Hetalia crossover!" So that's how this story came into exsistance! Now that dear little night gown clad America is out of my head I can focus on Dream of the Past! Yay!
Please review! I want to hear what you liked about it or whatever else you want to say!
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