"Look who's got a present for sweet little you"

- - - - -

Waking up in the middle of the night is almost never good, nor is it fun.

Waking up from a particularly good dream, however, is downright evil. And tonight had been one of those particularly good dream nights.

A loud 'thump' jolted me awake.
“And I was having such a nice dream, too...” I thought sadly. I lay there, listening as best as I could for any clue as to what exactly had woken me up. My eyes slowly scanned my room, noting that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. My husband, Logan, was fast asleep beside me.

Sudden scratching and shuffling noises practically screamed in my alert ears, causing me to jolt straight up. Logan mumbled in his sleep and shifted around. I silently climbed out of bed, and crept towards the door.

The scratching noises out in the hall frequented in pace, and rose slightly in volume. I tensed up instinctively when I opened the door.

Slowly, I crept down the hall. I heard a tiny squeak come from the den. I peeked around the corner and saw Pepper, my black cat, darting around on the floor. I released the breath I'd been holding and wondered what she was up to now.

“Pepper, what're you doin', sugar?” I questioned as I flicked on the lights. That's when I saw it.

“Pepper!” I screeched, darting towards the cat. The tiny bird was hopping on the ground, attempting to escape. Its damaged wing made it impossible to do so. I picked up the cat and watched the bird struggle to fly.

Slow footsteps dragged on the hallway carpet, and Logan appeared with squinted eyes and ruffled hair.

“What's wrong, Marie? I heard you shrieking out here and-”

“Pepper brought in a bird!” I cut him of, giving him a sad look. Logan blinked a few times and adjusted his sweatpants as she glanced from the cat to the bird.

“So?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

I clutched Pepper tighter in my arms and gave Logan my best teary-eyed look.

“We can't take it outside, she hurt it...”

Logan sighed and looked at me.

“Marie... we can't keep it. We're gonna have to put it outside, unless you want it dead in here tomorrow morning."

I begged with him some more, but he just refused to let me keep it and take care of the poor thing. He eventually took the poor bird outside, and Pepper jumped out of my arms after him.

Logan came back inside, and to my surprise, lifted me up and carried me back into our room. I pouted jokingly and called him a meanie for not letting me keep the bird and nurse it back to health.

“You sound like a little kid,” he laughed, as he set me back down on our bed, and climbed in beside me.

“Goodnight Marie, love you.”

“Love you too.” I whispered back, as I closed my eyes.

- - - - -

It was daylight when my eyes slowly drifted open, then closed again. I felt a weight on my chest, and passed it off as Logan's arm.

The weight shifted, and I opened my eyes, only to come face-to-face with...



a dead bird, dangling from Pepper's mouth.

*END*