1 The Dream
By Lynne Stephenson
Malic pounced on the cone-shaped candy as it landed inside the wooden box. Snatching it up, she gobbled it down rapidly, foil wrapper and all. Her two brothers and her sister proceeded to polish off the rest of the cones.
When they were all gone, Malic sighed, feeling her stomach beginning to work its process of chemical conversion. Within a minute, she was starving again; one cone chocolate was not much sustenance. Moving to the front of the group with her brother Stripe, Malic and the other Mogwai set up a whining, begging chorus directed at the human lounging on the bed above them.
And still, the human refused to move. After a while, the group of Mogwai quieted somewhat, knowing he was ignoring their pleas. Malic, Suika, and Kinje curled into a fuzzy heap together, and Malic felt a slow, sleepy drowsiness wash over her despite the torturing pangs from her stomach. She closed her eyes and entered a fitful sleep.
She dreamed about Clorr. It was funny, that she should dream about him, though he had died not too long ago, she hadn't missed him or even thought about him much. Clorr was her unfortunate brother, a Mogwai with the extreme bad luck to have been exposed to the one truly dangerous element----light. Though none of the Mogwai had known how fatal light was at the time, Clorr's death had taught them an extremely important lesson, which none of them would forget.
Malic stirred in her sleep, her mind showing her images of Clorr wandering out to the back porch. She had been with him at that time, and when he'd gotten locked out, she hadn't worried about him; after all, the door would be opened again.
In her dream, Malic watched the event unfold once again. Before her wide black eyes, her brother had emitted a futile scream, while he slowly curled up and seemed to crumble. Within a matter of a few seconds, Clorr had been reduced to a sticky, fuzzy spread in a patch of sunlight on the porch.
Malic had immediately gone to her brother, Stripe, and informed him of the incident. Rounding up the other two Mogwai, Stripe had gone to see the remains of Clorr. After a moment of silence, Stripe's face had spread in a grin, as the realization of the first instinctive mystery became clear in his mind. Without a word he'd headed upstairs to talk to Gizmo.
In her dream, Malic watched as her siblings arrived out of the misty shadows of the house. Instead of standing outside the closed door, Stripe somehow went straight through it, coming to a stop next to the remains of Clorr in the patch of light. Strangely, it did not harm him. He stood there, his fur shining in the bright sun.
In her dream, Malic tried to go after him, but found the obstruction of the closed porch door in her way. Filled with a sudden desperation to get past the barrier, she pounded on the glass with balled fists. She saw Suika and Kinje slowly turn away from the door, and move off into the darkness of the house.
NO! Malic pounded harder, but to no avail. Stripe's ears were perked upwards, his large black eyes staring towards the gleaming sun in the sky, the dusty remains of Clorr at his feet. The veins in his ears absorbed the light from the sun, turning his ears blood red and nearly translucent. Gnashing her teeth, Malic struggled to go forward, to join her brother there, but her way was barred.
Malic awoke with a start, her eyelids flying apart as she felt someone roughly shaking her. Shaking her head to clear the dream images from her mind, she saw her brothers and sister beginning a last attempt at convincing the human on the bed to feed them.
Malic scrambled to her feet and joined them, but her thoughts were not on her stomach. Having never felt so trapped either in fantasy or reality as she had in that dream, she was a little subdued, even when the human finally did bring the food. She joined her siblings in bolting it down, and when the Mogwai were all finished, Malic almost immediately dropped off into a deep, dreamless sleep.one she couldn't know had been instigated by the food she had just eaten.
By Lynne Stephenson
Malic pounced on the cone-shaped candy as it landed inside the wooden box. Snatching it up, she gobbled it down rapidly, foil wrapper and all. Her two brothers and her sister proceeded to polish off the rest of the cones.
When they were all gone, Malic sighed, feeling her stomach beginning to work its process of chemical conversion. Within a minute, she was starving again; one cone chocolate was not much sustenance. Moving to the front of the group with her brother Stripe, Malic and the other Mogwai set up a whining, begging chorus directed at the human lounging on the bed above them.
And still, the human refused to move. After a while, the group of Mogwai quieted somewhat, knowing he was ignoring their pleas. Malic, Suika, and Kinje curled into a fuzzy heap together, and Malic felt a slow, sleepy drowsiness wash over her despite the torturing pangs from her stomach. She closed her eyes and entered a fitful sleep.
She dreamed about Clorr. It was funny, that she should dream about him, though he had died not too long ago, she hadn't missed him or even thought about him much. Clorr was her unfortunate brother, a Mogwai with the extreme bad luck to have been exposed to the one truly dangerous element----light. Though none of the Mogwai had known how fatal light was at the time, Clorr's death had taught them an extremely important lesson, which none of them would forget.
Malic stirred in her sleep, her mind showing her images of Clorr wandering out to the back porch. She had been with him at that time, and when he'd gotten locked out, she hadn't worried about him; after all, the door would be opened again.
In her dream, Malic watched the event unfold once again. Before her wide black eyes, her brother had emitted a futile scream, while he slowly curled up and seemed to crumble. Within a matter of a few seconds, Clorr had been reduced to a sticky, fuzzy spread in a patch of sunlight on the porch.
Malic had immediately gone to her brother, Stripe, and informed him of the incident. Rounding up the other two Mogwai, Stripe had gone to see the remains of Clorr. After a moment of silence, Stripe's face had spread in a grin, as the realization of the first instinctive mystery became clear in his mind. Without a word he'd headed upstairs to talk to Gizmo.
In her dream, Malic watched as her siblings arrived out of the misty shadows of the house. Instead of standing outside the closed door, Stripe somehow went straight through it, coming to a stop next to the remains of Clorr in the patch of light. Strangely, it did not harm him. He stood there, his fur shining in the bright sun.
In her dream, Malic tried to go after him, but found the obstruction of the closed porch door in her way. Filled with a sudden desperation to get past the barrier, she pounded on the glass with balled fists. She saw Suika and Kinje slowly turn away from the door, and move off into the darkness of the house.
NO! Malic pounded harder, but to no avail. Stripe's ears were perked upwards, his large black eyes staring towards the gleaming sun in the sky, the dusty remains of Clorr at his feet. The veins in his ears absorbed the light from the sun, turning his ears blood red and nearly translucent. Gnashing her teeth, Malic struggled to go forward, to join her brother there, but her way was barred.
Malic awoke with a start, her eyelids flying apart as she felt someone roughly shaking her. Shaking her head to clear the dream images from her mind, she saw her brothers and sister beginning a last attempt at convincing the human on the bed to feed them.
Malic scrambled to her feet and joined them, but her thoughts were not on her stomach. Having never felt so trapped either in fantasy or reality as she had in that dream, she was a little subdued, even when the human finally did bring the food. She joined her siblings in bolting it down, and when the Mogwai were all finished, Malic almost immediately dropped off into a deep, dreamless sleep.one she couldn't know had been instigated by the food she had just eaten.