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The small lynx rose up and lets out a shout of despair. After he takes seven breaths of air, much like what his doctor taught him, he began to calm down and looked at the LED lights radiating from his alarm clock. 3:02 AM. He sighed to himself and stared at the ceiling with the hopes of falling back asleep. Alas, a dry throat refuses to agree with his action. After another moment of restlessness, the child got off his bed and began to leave his room. From both the radiating glow of his nightlight and the moon outside, he was able to see parts of his dimly lit room. The shelf that his alarm clock rested on was home to a series of books, ranging from comics to small novels, a few figurines like his beloved Captain Scipio figure from his favorite show Adastra: The New Generation, and a silver necklace that had a cross on it. The lynx quickly put it on, always feeling that he's a lot more safer with it on, especially in the dark.
It took a few moments for him to get out of his room, fearing the dark would come and get him; but as he opened the door, he noticed a faint light down the hall. As he walked down the hallway, the lynx looked at the various framed photos that decorated the beige wall. One was a photo of a lynx and a fennec fox, mother and father, who looked much younger, wearing a cyan dress and a white suit. Another was of them with a very small lynx kitten that was only a week old when said photo was taken. Many of the pictures consisted of these three ranging from multiple ages. The young lynx on last year's Halloween, dressed as Scipio. His mother and father dressed as characters from one of the shows mother enjoyed watching in her 20's. The two of them together at this event, both wearing shirts that have pink purple and blue stripes on them. A photo of him and her, along with four of his uncles. As he left the hall and into the living room that was next to the kitchen, he spotted a taller lynx resting on his recliner with a dim light radiating onto him. It only took another step for the larger lynx's right ear to twitch.
"Christopher?" spoke the larger one, his voice slightly higher pitched compared to his uncles and teachers.
He jumped a bit as Christopher looked at his father, the taller lynx. The father's appearance radiated a sense of warmth and yet, mystery. Despite his age, the father always had a look of restlessness and stress, with the amount of wrinkles under his eyes. He was in a pair of pajamas and a simple t-shirt that had an obscure character on it. On his lap rested one of his cook books that he got as a birthday gift a few months back. Resting on his neck was a cross necklace, much like Christopher's. Compared to mother, the father looked... off. It had always been like this, even when he was a mere babe. The father would often fret about Christopher and his mother's well-being, to the point that if he spotted a little cut, he'd run off to get first-aid.
"What are you doing up so late, buddy?" He asked in a half-whisper.
"I had a bad dream..." the smaller lynx answered. He walked towards his father to take a look at the book his father's reading. A recipe for sweet baked potatoes was the current page he was on. "What about you, dad?"
"Couldn't sleep was all." the father answered before closing his book. "Do you remember anything about it?"
Christopher took a moment to recollect his dream. Water. He wasn't able to breathe, not because of the murky waters of the lake, but because his neck was being squeezed by two hands. The hands belonged to a young otter, whose face had the expression of a rock. No anger, no remorse, no emotion. Christopher tried to call out, but even if his vocal chords weren't being crushed away, the water would have hastened his demise. His vision became blurry as he could hear the sounds of bones breaking. Were they his own? The next thing the lynx could tell was that he was floating. Was this what death is like? As he floated to the blinding white light, he could hear screams and crying. One mournfully yelling out for someone named Syndey.
He took a deep breath and answered with a simple "I... I can't remember. Something about water."
The comment made Chris' father take a silent gulp of air. While Chris and his mother weren't really the types to go swimming or be at the beach, his father feared it. The only time he was ever even a few feet away from the pool was last year, at Chris' friend Cliff's birthday party. The sight of seeing some kid pretend to drown as a prank caused him to have a panic attack and had to be driven to the hospital. That was when his mother told Chris about why father was like that. It's why he's so hesitant about bodies of water, even if it was a small one like a tub.
Christopher noticed the nervous look in his father's eyes and asked "Is everything okay?"
The older lynx nodded shakily and answered with not so much confidence. "I-I think so. Would it make you more comfortable if you slept with mom and I for the rest of the night?" There wasn't much confidence in his tone, feeling both the need to protect his son from any more potential bad dreams, and fear of experiencing his own nightmares for when he does sleep. They made way into the parents' bedroom, where the glow of the moon outside gave some illumination on the sleeping mother. Christopher climbed into bed and his father followed suit. The younger lynx nuzzled up between his mother and father, and quickly fell asleep to their warmth. As for the father, all he could do was watch. It wasn't that there was too much on his mind to make him follow his son and wife into dream land, but instead fears of what he will see in his slumber.