Chapter Two: Premonitions
The flames were blinding. The smoke
clogged his throat. His eyes stung with the flakes of fire and he blinked to
try and clear his vision. But when it was clear, he wished it wasn't. He saw it
again. The trees burned and fell into piles of smoke and flame.
Buddi covered his ears and closed
his eyes. He didn't want to see this again. He'd lived through it once, wasn't
that painful enough?
Then, the smoke overwhelmed him; he
collapsed coughing and gasping. He couldn't breathe. Then he heard that voice,
that evil voice,
"Light crashes to darkness as darkness tumbles back into light. The Phoenix rises from the ashes, the ashes part from the Phoenix. The ocean brushes the shore as the shore extends to touch the waves. Into and from. Create and Destroy. Everything's born. Everything dies. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Things come full circle. Evil took the world once as it will take it again…"
Then, the blood came. Rivers, oceans
that swelled and swelled until the hot liquid rushed over Buddi's bare feet,
burning them, melting them away like acid. He howled in pain and heart pounding
fear. Collapsing to his knees, the liquid rose to his waist and then his
shoulders until only his head remained. The voice repeated,
"Everything dies. Evil took the
world once as it will take it again."
Then, he saw her face, Celina. She
smiled, an evil smile and said softly,
"Soon."
Buddi screamed and screamed and
screamed until the liquid rolled down his throat killing him from inside out….
SMACK!
Buddi's howls of fear were replaced
with one of surprise and pain. But the dream still held him, still kept him
asleep. He screamed again.
Gritty slapped him again, harder but
not too hard. Ursa grabbed her child's shoulders and shook him hard,
"Buddi! Gum's sake, wake up!"
Nothing worked; her cub was sealed
in a nightmare. Finally, desperate, Ursa tried her last resort.
Yanking the child up, she turned him
over her knee and gave his rear a good smack. She slapped him twice more before
his screams were replaced by,
"Ursa! What're you doing?"
Ursa sighed with relief and turned
Buddi back over, and sat him down. He stared at her and then at Gritty,
confused.
Ursa grasped his cheeks in her
palms. She felt the cold sweat on his fur and the cold tears. The tears of
fear. His eyes were wide, afraid.
"Buddi?" her voice barely reached
his ears. "Buddi, what happened? You were screaming for at least fifteen
minutes. Tell me."
They came rushing back. The dream,
in detail. Buddi fought tears and leaned against Ursa, trembling. She hugged
him, a light squeeze. Normally, she resented nightmares as she had told Buddi
when he was nine that he would have to stop coming to her with nightmares and
face them himself. But whenever she heard him cry out in fear, she longed to run
to him, to gather him up into her arms. She had left him so he could conquer
some of his fears. But when she'd heard him cry out tonight, such fear and such
sorrow in his voice, she'd forgotten her vow and torn into his room.
Gritty put his large hand on Buddi's
tiny head. Once again, he was stunned by how small the cub was in comparison
with him. He felt the cold sweat that had matted the child's hair and stroked
the cub's cheeks with one of his fingers. Buddi buried his face into Ursa's
chest.
"S…sorry," he muttered, his voice
muffled by Ursa's nightdress. He was drenching it with tears but she didn't
seem to mind. Ursa let him cry a few minutes. She knew that sometimes it helped
to get it out that way. She never did it that way but Buddi had. So she just
let him.
"Okay, Buddi. What's wrong? We don't
scream from dreams unless it's worth the screams." She sighed as she saw his
stubborn face. But he did give her a general idea although it was said into her
chest and hard to decipher.
"I saw it burn again."
The two adults exchanged glances
before it clicked with Ursa. She lifted his head so her eyes met his young
ones. Softly, she asked,
"Barbic Woods?"
Buddi nodded and laid his head back
against her chest. She played with his hair, twirling it around her finger or
smoothing it out. Gritty sensed Ursa was of more help than him so he got up and
left the two alone.
"Hey, Buddi," she caressed his face
with her fingertips. "It's over now. It happened but it's over."
"But," he stammered, "It's…I know it
is but it still comes back and still hurts."
Ursa laid her cheek against the top
of his head and said softly,
"It will always hurt, Buddi. But you
have to go on."
"I try, Ursa. But every so often, it
conquers me."
She smiled and rubbed his hair
again. "I know. That's why you have me right?"
He smiled at her, "One of the
reasons I keep you around, yeah."
She gave him another smile and
rubbed his hair again. He was starting to be sarcastic. That was good. It meant
he was forgetting. She stayed with him a minute more. Then, slowly she got up
and told him, "Try to sleep well the rest of the night, huh?"
He nodded. "I'll try, Ursa."
But when she closed the door, he still felt that chill.
