Dreams!

by Catherine Bloom

            “Catherine, be gentle with your brother,” a kind woman, with deep green eyes, called to her daughter.

“I know mom,” the girl called back as she poked the baby’s nose again. The baby boy crinkled his nose and swung his little hands uselessly at her, “Triton has a funny face!”

            “Cat, my darling, be nice,” her mother smiled as she pulled her daughter’s hair playfully. “Remember your brother is not one of your stuffed animal.”

            Catherine smiled widely.

“Neese!” a man with dark brown hair shouted in panic as he threw open the door.

The woman turned quickly, “What is it Thomas?”

“What’s wrong daddy?” Catherine asked grabbing hold of here father’s leg and looking worriedly up at him. Suddenly the ground shook violently sending them all to the ground. Neese jumped to her feet and grabbed the baby to her chest.

“They’re coming this way,” she said in horror, kissing the crying baby’s head and stoking his back. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…” she whispered over and over.

            “We have to get out of here,” Thomas told his wife as he picked up Catherine, who was sniffling over the knee she had scraped.

            “Daddy it hurts,” she cried as her father put her in the back of a carriage, which already held several other families.

            “I’m sorry honey,” he said, attempting a comforting smile, as he helped Neese, still clutching Triton, in. He jumped in behind, just as the carriage began to lurch forward.

            “Mom, can you kiss it and make it better?” Catherine asked tugging on her mother’s shirt; she was a little jealous Triton was getting all of their mother’s attention. Neese smiled and gave her daughter a little peck on the injured knee.

            “That better?” she asked as Triton gripped her hair.

            Catherine nodded with a cheeky grin before grabbing hold of her father as a bright light and loud crash was heard behind them. The loud noises were scaring her, Triton too by the way he was crying. She tried to bury her head in her father’s jacket and close out all the scary things. Why was this happening?

            “No!” someone in the carriage screamed and Catherine’s head jerked up.

            Light and sound flashed in front of them as screams began. Catherine felt hands on her waist before she was thrown from the carriage. She let out a scream as her body hit the hard ground and rolled. Triton was crying loudly next to where she came to a rest.

            Struggling to look up she screamed even louder as the carriage, still carrying her parents, burst into flame…

            Catherine opened her eyes glad to see the gray ceiling of her trailer.

            “Why can’t I ever have any good dreams about my family,” she sighed almost feeling the sting of tears in her eyes as she rolled over to fall back to sleep. There was a noise outside. It sounded like something knocking over some of the stools by the campfire.

“What’s that?” she wondered sleepily as she wiped her eyes and sat up to look out her window. She blinked again and again; was that a lion prowling around?

“Oh, no,” she gasped putting a hand over her mouth. “The lock finally broke.”

Quickly jumping out of bed and pulling on a pair of jean shorts and a tank top Catherine carefully stepped out of her trailer. No one was stirring so late at night and if they woke up and startled the wandering lions…

Catherine looked around. It wasn’t that the lions were mean, they were actually quite tame, but their roar scared people, and animals could smell fear and they reacted to it.

Jumping down from the steps she took another weary sweep of the area before running back to the trailer behind to her own.

“Trowa,” she called quietly as she knocked so not to wake others up.

No answer.

“Trowa,” she called again, slightly louder.

Still no answer.

“I don’t think he would have gone off again without telling me,” she thought aloud, biting her lip as she opened the door to let herself in.

“Trowa,” she called again closing the door behind her. “Troooowaaaaa!”

Nothing.

She walked past the small stove and frowned a bit. It didn’t look as if it had ever been turned on. She’d have to make dinner for him more often; he was a bit thin in her opinion. Walking back she frowned more wondering why he didn’t do anything to make his trailer homier.

Pulling the curtain aside to view the bed in the back Catherine smiled.

So he was here.

Half the bed was unused since Trowa was curled up in the corner. He was tangled in the covers; probably from a fitful night sleep.

“I wouldn’t have thought you were such a heavy sleeper,” Catherine said putting her hands on her hips before she reached out to wake him up.

The next few second blurred by too fast for thought.

Catherine felt her hand barely graze Trowa’s shoulder. His green eyes flew open and his elbow slammed into her midsection, sending her sprawling to the floor.

“Ow!” she squeaked in pain as her head hit the wall. Before she could blink Trowa was on top of her; one hand on her neck the other raised to strike.

“Trowa!” she yelled more from shock than anything else.

The boy blinked as if just realizing what he was doing. He jumped up, almost in horror at what he’d done. As an afterthought he helped her up and let her lean back to sit on the bed.

“What’d you to that for?” she said with a tinge of hurt in her voice as she gave him a slight punch in the shoulder.

“Catherine…” Trowa began not knowing what to say. Talking wasn’t his strong point, “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and rubbed her stomach to deaden the pain.

“It’s okay. Some people just don’t like to be woken up,” she said trying to decide which hurt more, her stomach or her head.

Trowa said nothing but watched her as she put her hand to the bump forming on her head and pulled it away checking for blood.

“Don’t worry,” she repeated noting the actual liveliness of the deep green eyes. Even if it was concern, and perhaps a bit of regret, she was thrilled to see there was life in those eyes. They looked so much like her mother’s; it hurt to see them dead.

“Why did you come in here?” Trowa asked as his eyes began to deaden again.

She sighed. Why did he have to be like that? People would like him if he opened up, she liked him even though he didn’t, and so did a lot of other people here at the circus. The lions certainly did.

“Oh!” she remembered, jerking a hand to her mouth. “The lions! The lock finally broke on their cage and I know at least one is wandering around.”

Trowa nodded as he stood up and pulled on his shirt.

Catherine followed him out and sat the steps of his trailer. She watched with interest as he approached the lions with no fear.

“Such an odd boy, but most are,” she sighed, shifting on the steps, her butt was getting numb. “I wonder if my brother would have been like him.”

She tried to imagine the little baby, whose nose she had constantly poked, as a grown up boy. She couldn’t. The only image that came to mind was Trowa. She let out a sigh; it was because he had the same eyes as her mother and looked a bit like her father.

“Maybe he’s my brother,” Catherine joked with a sad laugh, wishing it was true. But what were the actual possibilities?

Trowa herded the lions into the cage, with a gentle touch, and tied the cage shut. She watched him intently, wondering if the reason he’d reacted so badly to her waking him, was because of a nightmare.

“They’re all back in the cage,” Trowa said quietly as he walked toward her.

“Oh good,” Catherine smiled, moving so Trowa could go back into his trailer. “Trowa? Were you having a bad dream when I woke you? Was that why you hit me?”

Trowa froze and tensed more than usual before he continued into his trailer.

Catherine ‘hmphed’ and followed him, not willing to be put off by his anti-social behavior. He was such a nice boy if he’d just show it.

“Trowa,” she called to as she chased him all the way back to his bed. “I think you should be my little brother.”

Trowa looked up at her with slight curiosity in his eyes.

“Well, I think you need someone to look after you,” she said, poking him in the nose as he crinkled it a bit. She smiled, “and I wouldn’t mind having a brother to take care of.”

Trowa looked up at her and blinked. She felt a hot blush of embarrassment and a cold chill in her stomach. Had she just made an idiot of herself?

“If you want,” Trowa responded looking down.

Catherine smiled knowing that was as close as she was going to get to a yes, “well, I’ll let you sleep now. If you have any bad dreams come and tell me, okay?”

“Goodnight Catherine,” he said to her as she walked out of the trailer.

Returning to her trailer Catherine smiled at the star earrings on the dresser. They had been her mother’s pride and joy. She had been playing with them before the wild carriage ride, and so she had them in her pocket. Her only physical reminder of her mother.

Dropping down to her bed she beamed. She had a brother again and to that thought she drifted off the sleep. She smiled in her sleep. At last good dreams of her family.

“Whatcha got there Mom?” the young Catherine asked as she dropped the coloring book to the floor and bounded over to the green-eyed woman.

“This is your little brother,” her mother replied kneeling so Catherine could look at the little bundle in her arms. “Triton. Triton Bloom.”

“Can I hold him?” Catherine asked holding out her short little arms.

Neese looked back at her husband with and unsure glance. He simply smiled.

“All right,” Neese agreed. “Sit down and hold out your arms. Now support his head, he is a new baby.”

Catherine looked at the frail little thing in her arms, as her mother fussed over the correct way to hold him. She smiled and whispered to the baby, “you’re my brother forever; and I’ll always be your sister, okay?”

The end!