The large creature continued to gaze into the little girl's eyes, before letting out a big yawn. Chrissie shuffled forward on the creature's soft stomach, with an ear tickling grin. The creature's huge pink tongue appeared, as it licked its lips. It paused for a moment, before dragging its tongue over a highly amused Chrissie, who squealed in delight. Chrissie's heavy brown bangs were now sticking upright, and she caught her baseball cap, before it stumbled off her head. The creature continued to stare at the five year old, who was now laying on her front, as she returned the awe struck gaze. The little girl stroked the creature's earth coloured fur. The creature let out a series of low grumbles, as if he was speaking. Chrissie grinned, as if she could understand the creature.
"Well, if you don't have a name, then I'm gonna give you one," stated the little girl, as she continued to pet the giant creature. "Snoozle, because you're sleeping during the day time. Do you come out at bed time? Sammy told me a word that means only coming out at night time, but I've forgotten."
The little girl suddenly gasped, as she looked around frantically, her eyes becoming wide with worry and fright.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed, as she slowly slid off Snoozle's stomach. "I was supposed to be following my brothers, Daddy and Uncle Bobby, but I was silly and wandered away. Now I'm lost, and I'm stuck down here, forever."
The little girl burst into tears, and plonked herself onto her bottom, as she brought her fists to her streaming green eyes. Startled, and concerned about his new tiny friend, Snoozle slowly sat up, and shuffled over to the crying child. The gentle creature grumbles mournfully, as he then scooped Chrissie up onto his chest. The lost child clutched onto Snoozle's carpet like fur, when suddenly, the pair rocketed up into the air, before disappearing in a shimmering light. How Snoozle achieved this action was unknown, since it lived inside a large tree.
Before long, Chrissie was back inside the dusty old cabin, having materialized into the bedroom she was sharing with her older brothers. Baffled, the child scratched her head, wondering on what had just happened. She then gasped.
"Snoozle brought me back!" she exclaimed, as a grin spread across her face. "Snoozle is like a giant magic thingy."
The rest of the day saw Chrissie colouring numerous pictures of her and Snoozle, alongside Flopsy and Puffy, with her pens and pencils.
At around six thirty in the late evening, the males finally returned to the cabin. All were slightly startled, at the various strange pen drawings left around the cabin. John picked up one of the drawings, and smirked in adoration.
"Chrissie's been busy today," he said, as he could hear his daughter singing from the bedroom upstairs. He turned to Sam. "See, I told you she'd be fine. I thought you said she was upset when we left this morning."
The brothers gazed at each other, as they were surprised by their sister's sudden change in mood. Normally, if a stunt like this was pulled, then Chrissie would refuse to talk to anybody for the rest of the day, as she hated being left alone in strange places.
Dean quickly ventured upstairs, and wandered into the shared sibling bedroom. Chrissie was singing away, as she drew on a piece of paper, her tiny hands covered in ink. Pencil shavings littered the wooden floor. The little girl grinned up at her brother.
"Oh, Chrissie!" chided Dean, as he grumbled at the mess caused by his sister. "Look at the state of your hands. You better hope the ink washes off. And what have I told you about the pencil sharpener? Only a grown up can sharpen pencils. I don't want you to hurt yourself. I thought you knew better than that!"
The little girl's smile disappeared, and was replaced by her trademark wobbling pout. She threw the pens down, and shoved the picture away, making it tear slightly at the top. Dean instantly felt guilty about his reaction, as Chrissie burrowed under her bed sheets. The guilt increased, as Dean could hear his baby sister sniffling. As feisty as she was, Chrissie was very sensitive at heart. Sam then appeared, having stored the weapons away. He observed the scene, and sighed heavily.
"Lemme guess, you shouted at her about the pens and pencil sharpener, again" he remarked.
Dean felt like smacking his head against the wall, for making his little sister cry. He watched as Sam ventured over, and gently encouraged Chrissie to come out of her protective cocoon. The thirteen year old picked up the slightly ripped picture, as he cuddled Chrissie with one arm. He raised an eyebrow at the strange picture of what appeared to be Chrissie with an giant rabbit that crossed bred with a cat along the way.
"I want Snoozle to come back," sniffled the five year old. "I hate it here in this smelly old place."
Both brothers frowned.
"Who is Snoozle?" asked a curious Dean, as he joined his siblings on the bed.
Chrissie sniffed, as she then clambered onto her eldest brother's lap. Dean stroked her hair, still feeling mean about making her cry in the first place.
"He's a friend" answered the little girl.
The brothers exchanged a knowing look of adoration, which translated to: 'How sweet, Chrissie's got another imaginary friend. What goes on in that quirky little mind of hers?"
Chrissie simply stared into thin air, as she cuddled into her eldest brother. The child wondered if she would ever see Snoozle again. It was a sad truth that the child had no friends in reality, compared to her imagination, which was full of characters; from Cassie to Lolly. It would only be years later, as she was a stubborn teenager, that Chrissie would question on whether or not Snoozle and the gang were actually real, or just sad figments of a lonely childhood.
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