"Mummy?" Danny, five years of age, small and curly haired, clutching his Dog teddy, stumbled down the stairs. "Mummy..." There was a thump from the kitchen, and the sound of his mummy's voice. She sounded like she was hurt! Danny sped up a bit, taking the stairs one at a time then shuffling down the hall to the kitchen. He peered around the door, and his little mouth fell open.
His daddy was standing over his mummy, who was lying on the floor. Red stuff was on her face- red stuff like the stuff that came out of Danny's knee when he fell on the concrete patio in his garden. Daddy was glaring down at her, spitting words that Danny didn't understand but sounded harsh and mean. Danny blinked, holding his Dog tight to his chest, watching with a sense of fear that confused him- why was he scared of his daddy?
Daddy brought his foot down on mummy then; Danny scrunched up his eyes in time, but he couldn't stop himself from hearing the sick crunch that followed ,and he whimpered. He heard a small gasp,but kept his eyes closed, afraid to open them. Heavy footsteps sounded, then huge hands were on his shoulders-his daddy's hands. Noone's hands were as big as his daddy's hands, because he was bigger than any other man Danny knew.
A warm breath brushed across his face. Danny cracked open his eyes and gasped; his daddy's face was inches away from his small, round one. He was on his knees.
Danny tried to flinch away but he couldn't. "Hello, Dan." His daddy crooned, his breath rushing across Danny's face again. Danny's long eyelashes fluttered as he looked around for an escape, but none appeared, so building up all of the courage he had, he flicked his eyes up to his daddy's and mumbled, "H-hello Daddy..."
His daddy smiled, reaching down with one hand to poke at the Dog teddy Danny was squeezing. In the next second, he was stood up, Danny (and Dog) in his arms, Danny mumbling under his breath. His daddy carried him up the stairs, and in to his room, where he placed the trembling boy in his bed and tucked him in.
He turned to the TV for a second, where a movie was playing, left on from when Danny was still awake. It was the Emperor's New Groove. He turned back to Danny.
"Mummy was a bad girl, Danny; she had to be punished. Now, you're a good little boy, aren't you?" Danny hesitated before nodding. "Then I won't have to punish you. But if you're a bad boy..." He left it there, walking out of the room and closing the door, leaving the movie on (Danny liked that movie).
Danny watched the movie intently before his eyes fluttered closed, and he thankfully fell in to unconsciousness.
Tom peered in to Dougie's room, doing his nightly rounds before he went up to bed. The boy was sleeping peacefully; Tom left him as he was, closing the door behind him as he went to check on Danny. Opening the door, his eyes flicked to the TV- it was on again. He had never seen Danny sleep without the TV on; it was always a film, and always the same one (The Emperor's New Groove). Tom stepped over the clothes, picking them up and throwing them in the wash bin as he went, and placing stray guitars against the walls, before he came to Danny's bed.
Tom leaned over, pulling down the blankets slightly to get a look at Danny's face, checking for tears or bitten lips- clues for nightmares. There were, indeed, tears running down his face. Tom sighed deeply and shook Danny's shoulder slightly; Danny woke with a start, watching Tom with tired eyes.
"Nightmare, Dan" Tom murmured. "Go back to sleep now." Danny nodded slowly and sank back in to a (more peaceful) slumber; Tom watched the movie for a while before walking out.
He didn't know what the nightmares were about... but he did know that he wanted them to stop.