After returning from the mission to save the Capitol Building and Congress, Ralph Hinkley, for now a green-haired and clawed superhero, was happy to be home.
Two nights later, in the middle of the night, the First experienced a lucid dream and began to growl in his sleep. His clawed hands raked and thrashed in the air as he tossed and turned, sweating profusely, causing his chartreuse hair to stick to his head. His sudden aggressive movements and growling sounds woke his wife, and she watched as he fought something in his sleep. He jerked awake and lay panting.
Looking concerned, Pam asked, "Ralph, what were you dreaming? You looked like you were in a fight."
He sat in bed and ran his hand through his limp, sweaty green hair. "It was so real. I could sense everything." And he told her the dream.
"I was a male little green guy fighting my cousin for a second female. We attended a clan gathering in a large cave. Despite being protected from the cold with various shades of green fur, the clan all huddled together to remain warm in the immense enclosure.
"The people of the clan watched the anticipated annual struggle of young males. No one tried to stop it. The fight was the way. Having played at clawing only a few seasons before, we now fought for real until one gave up.
"My cousin and I raked and slashed at each other with our claws. He sliced my face. I can still feel it. I continued with blood dripping off my chin. I was faster than him and got several critical swipes to his abdomen. He surrendered, and I won the fight. My battle erection, displayed to the clan as proof of my manhood, assured my uncontested right to choose a second female.
"I chose a second female I had had my eye on for a while. I pulled her by the hand, and she gave some resistance, as she should have. As the tribe scrutinized the appropriate activities, I pushed her against the smooth stone of the consummation wall. I picked her up by the waist, and she wrapped her legs around mine as she had witnessed during other clan gatherings several times before. I growled at the correct intensity to demonstrate my male power and control over the female and aggressively coupled with her as she cried out in ecstasy. It was her first time with a male. The odor of our coupling induced other couples to also want to perform the act, and soon, the wall worn smooth from generations of coupling, filled with males and females having intimacies.
"This action sealed our pledge before the society. After the pledging, my primary female came forward and took the new second female's hand, sealing her acceptance to our family group and witnessed by the clan."
Pam looked at the location on Ralph's face, where he rubbed his hand and said, "Ralph, you have red marks on your face."
He said, "I must be getting physical manifestations of the injuries. The other thing I got from the dream was an erection." She saw the wild look in his eyes. He rolled over on top of her and growled. They made frantic, aggressive love as they had when Ralph vanquished the intruders in their home. She was his primary female, and she loved it. Why did she feel this way?
The next night, the First experienced a much longer and more violent lucid dream. Ralph's tossing and turning again woke his wife. She marked his aggressive actions with concern.
Deep in his chest, the growls sounded angrier than those from the previous night. His hands and claws raked and thrashed in the air; he jerked and cried out as if lacerated several times in the dream. Pam could see the red marks develop on his skin. She moved the covers aside and saw welts forming all over his body.
Yelling and crying, he jerked with each new set of claw marks appearing on his body. He stopped clawing, shook, and stopped moving. Tears ran down his cheeks.
He shouted, "No! No!" and sat bolt upright, fully awake. He put his hands over his face and sobbed.
Pam shouted, "Ralph, what is wrong? Whom were you fighting in your dream?"
He lay down with tears still running down his face and told her the dream.
"Again, I was a male little green guy. I think I was the same one I dreamed of yesterday. Five large green guys attacked our family cave. They were at least a foot taller than me and much more muscular. As the family's lead male, I tried to fight them off. There were too many, and they were too strong. They ripped and slashed at me with their enormous claws. I got in some good swipes because I was fast, but they grabbed me, held me down, and took turns slicing and slashing into me. I was helpless and couldn't fight back.
"Slashed in the face, one of their claws caught my left eye and tore it out. Because their nails were much more significant than mine, the lacerations dug deep into my flesh, tearing skin and muscle. They severely mangled my manhood so I could never produce more children.
"My eldest son, barely old enough to hunt, tried to attack them, and was thrown against the cave wall, and fell unconscious.
"They continued to slash and rip at me until almost no part hadn't been torn and mauled. When they finished with me, they threw me into a heap in a corner, where I lay bleeding in agony from the pain and torment of my injuries, going in and out of consciousness. The large green guys repeatably raped my females with their massive erections from the struggle. My terrified children screamed and cowered under an animal skin.
"I pleaded with the large green guys to stop, but they laughed. When they left, they took all the food they could carry and left almost nothing for the family. My females tried to take care of me, but it was useless. If I lived, I would burden the family, and I wanted to die so they wouldn't have to worry about me any longer. I refused food and water, waiting for my time to end.
"My son stood beside me, and I told him, as was the custom, 'You are now the lead male; you must provide for the family.' He replied, 'Thank you, father. I accept responsibility.'
"I died, and my primary female took my memories and later transferred my life's song to a traveling Rememberer when one came through our area. He added my song to the clan song of life.
"My son lived, hunted and provided meat for the group. The family had a hard time that winter because, without enough food to develop a winter fat layer, some of my children died during hibernation.
"My son was still too young for his first season when he became the lead male; his season came earlier than usual because of it. He did not have a chance to win his females by combat and took over mine. His mother became his secondary female, and my secondary female became his primary female. The females taught him what to do during his first mating season. It should have been my place to teach my male children what to do with females, how to fight, and how to hunt. He was strong, led and provided for the family. He survived to an advanced age and produced children to continue the family."
Pam asked, "How do you know what happened after you died?"
"Because it is all part of the clan song. I remember parts of the clan song. I guess this must be like an ancestral memory. The tribe has Remembering days where each member remembers a section of their family's past, important events, and family members. So, few of the little green guys are left and with no Rememberers, their song will end unless something is done to maintain the clan song. The DNA enhancement contains the clan song of life. The junk gene activation started a Remembering day for me.
"The clan song of life must be saved, Pam. All we Heroes must save the clan song of life. It is all within us; it must be brought to the surface and retained. The clan song should be recorded. I can't sing it because human palates won't produce the sounds and words of the little green guys, but I can hear it in my head. Maybe I can find something on the computer that can reproduce it."