"Matt's Dream" This story is not based on any Gunsmoke episode. It's just a story idea that came to me. (This is a really short story.)

Matt woke up suddenly, heavily breathing. That was the strangest dream he had ever had. To tell the truth, he was not sure if it was a dream or nightmare. All he knew was that whatever it was, it was very confusing. He looked over and was grateful to see Kitty, his beautiful red haired girl beside him. His sudden movement had woken her up.

Kitty turned and looked at him with concern written all over face. "Matt, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Oh, Kit, thank goodness it's you in bed with me?"

Kitty gave Matt a look. "Of course it's me in bed with you. Who else would be in bed with you?"

"Honey, you're the only one who's been in bed with me ever since I met you and you'll be the only who ever will be. I just had the strangest dream or nightmare. I'm not sure which. Part of it was a nightmare and then part of it was a dream."

Matt didn't really share with Kitty that he had dreams or nightmares. So the fact that he did told Kitty that she should inquire about it. "What was it about?"

"It's hard to explain. It was like I was traveling through different lifetimes or something. There were three different lifetimes. You, Chester, and Doc were also in my dream. The first two lifetimes I considered nightmares, compared to the third one."

Matt continued. "In the first one you, Chester, Doc, and I were there, but we didn't live in Dodge City. You actually lived in Phoenix, Arizona. In fact we all had different names. You were Amanda. Chester was Dennis. Doc was Milburn. I was James. We all lived different lives. That was a nightmare. The second lifetime was a little better than the first. We all lived in Dodge and had our normal names. However, our lives were controlled by The Powers That Be or TPTB for short. These people would not let you and me be together. They allowed us to flirt, but that was it. We couldn't even kiss each other."

"You're absolutely right. Those first two lifetimes are certainly nightmares. I can't imagine not having a life with you or not being able to kiss you. You said you had three lifetimes and the third one wasn't a nightmare. What was that lifetime like?" asked Kitty.

"That one was the dream part. That lifetime was controlled by these people called fanfic writers, but they let us live the life we are living now. They let us be in love with each other, kiss, and make love. Some even let us get married and have a family," said Matt.

"Hmmm, I think I like these wonderful fanfic writers. Did they have names?" asked Kitty.

"Yes, there were many great writers in my dream. Let me see if I can remember some of the names. There was broncomap, ParkerPal, lilyjack00, Zipitupcowboy, lostcowgirl, RunningFree93, and Violets and Lilies just to name a few. There were plenty of other great ones," Matt answered.

"Those seem like unusual names," said Kitty.

"Those weren't their real names. They used them when they wrote stories about us," Matt replied.

"These fanfic writers just wrote good things about us?" Kitty asked.

"I'm not sure. In my dream, it was all good. Who knows what would have happened, if I hadn't woken up. Maybe things wouldn't have been all good," Matt said as he gathered Kitty in his arms.

Kitty put her head on Matt's chest. "I would say that was a very strange combination of a dream and nightmare. Let me assure you that you are not dreaming now. This is real." Kitty then sought out Matt's mouth and gave him a deep and passionate kiss. Matt eagerly responded.

The End