The room was quiet, still, and dark, in the really early hours of the morning. Canard was sound asleep on the top bunk, Danielle on the other hand, was tossing and turning in her bunk. She was re living the Saurian Invasion.
It started out like any other day. Danielle had put her school books inside and decided to watch her brother and his kids play hockey. "Come on, kids! Let's see if you can get your pucks past me!" Then all at once the three ducklings came at their father. "Get him!"
Watching her beloved mate and darling children, Rose let out a small chuckle. Then, she turned to Danielle. "Danielle, you want to join them?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, n-no thanks.."
"Danielle is everything alright?"
"I just have this awful feeling Rose, like something is about to happen."
Rose wasn't sure what to say, at first. But knowing her sister-in-law, maybe she was just worried about an upcoming test or something.
"Maybe it's just pressure from college Danielle. Why don't you go inside and have a warm drink?"
But Danielle wasn't listening, she was looking at the sky. She could see streaking lights. "What do you suppose…?"
It wasn't just Danielle who saw these lights, one of the boys whose name was Benny, saw these lights too. "Hey Dad, look!"
Derek looked where his son was pointing at. "Woah…" The other two kids, Timmy and Snowdrop, skated up to their father and brother. Snowdrop asked in wonder. "What are they?"
"I don't know…" Derek replied.
When suddenly the streaking lights turned. How is that possible. Could they be piloted mechanisms? They seem to be getting bigger...which must mean they're getting closer. And closer. And closer. They were piloted mechanisms. And then, huge shots rang out! This was an invasion!
Without waiting a second, Rose led Danielle off the porch, then pushed her down the sidewalk.
"Come on! Go, go! Come on!"
Suddenly the mother heard a voice. One of her babies was calling out to her. And she knew that voice.
"Mom!"
"Timmy!"
The family was skating as fast as they could, to escape the approaching ships. Suddenly, Danielle looked up and saw a laser beam coming right for her brother! She attempted to push him to safety.
"Derek, look out! "
But it was too late, for both of them.
Danielle jumped awake, panting. Once she realized where she was, she was overcome with emotion. Choking back tears, Danielle climbed out of bed, taking her pendant with her, she walked the end of the room, and entered the bathroom. Which was no bigger than a broom closet. Danielle tuned on the faucet and splashed her face with cold water, while taking deep breathes, trying to calm down.
The sounds of running water creaked through the old piping of the base, and Canard's eyes shot open in panic, before realizing what it was he was hearing. Wiping the last of sleep out of his eyes, he took a look at his communication unit and frowned at the time.
When the water didn't shut off after a minute, worry won out and he hopped out of the bed, walking up to bathroom door and knocking lightly. "Danielle, everything all right?" he asked quietly.
Danielle gasped. She opened the door and was greeted by the Captain, wearing a concerned expression. "Canard. I-I was too loud. I-I'm terribly sorry..."
"Calm down...', he replied gently. Then he noticed something. 'What's that?" Danielle looked at her hand. "It's just a pendant..."
He studied the item in her hands for a moment, before glancing back at her. "Seems like more than just a pendant if you're holding it in the middle of the night in the bathroom." He had said it lightly, as a joke, and Danielle gave a soft smile as she returned her gaze to the item in question.
"It belonged to my grandmother."
"Oh really?' The tan duck replied with interest. 'How long have you had it?"
"Since my first hatch day. My pendant can play a lullaby, and Nana taught me the words to the song. And, well, when I get scared or sad... I listen to it, and it helps me relax."
"It's beautiful," he commented. "But why would you need to relax?"
Danielle shifted uncomfortably, placing the necklace back under her shirt. "It was just a bad dream."
Canard watched her, his head tilting slightly when she did not elaborate right away. "Do you ... want to talk about it?" he finally offered.
"It was about the invasion..." Danielle replied quietly. "I know we all went through it, but it was just horrible."
"I know...' Canard replied.'It was horrible." Danielle scooted past him to go back to bed. And she gestured him to sit next to her. "I was with my family when it happened, I ran back to get Timmy and we all fled. I looked back to see a laser beam come at us... I know I pushed Derek to safety as it struck, but in the nightmare... it...i-it took us both."
"Dreams like that ... they hit hard." The drake placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But that's all it was. A dream. Nightmare. You're fine, and I'm sure your family is too." He squeezed her shoulder affectionately, offering her an encouraging smile. "Why don't you try and get some more rest? My shift starts in less than an hour, so I'm going to go ahead and get up."
Danielle's eyes widened as she looked at the nearby clock. "Canard, oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Really, it's nothing," he said as he stood up. "Saurians get all of us in our dreams," he admitted with a small smirk.
Suddenly, Danielle remembered something. "Oh! I-I should...take a look at your arm."