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It was a dark, stormy night. The critters were all at DogDay’s house for a sleepover. The clock showed that it was 10:05 pm as it ticked away. In their sleeping bags, they were tucked in, ready to sleep. Unfortunately, they were unable to go into dreamland because the strong wind and thunder outside caused them such fright.
“The w–wind’s really scary…,” Bobby said nervously.
Little CraftyCorn hid further and further into her sleeping bag, as the sound of a broken tree branch startled her. “I–I can't sleep.”
DogDay, who sat on the couch, tried to reassure his friends. “Hey, we’ll be ok, guys. I promised.” His tail wagged slowly in an attempt to calm himself. “All winds blow away…eventually.” Though he didn’t sound too convinced. The thunder from outside spooked the 7 critters. They shivered and huddled closer to each other, all wondering: How were they to go to sleep in such conditions? How were they to get the energy they needed to play? There simply was no way for them to have a good night's rest with the storm outside.
A knock and creak could be heard. They all turned to look at the front of the house, observing how the door opened on its own. From the darkness outside, the dark silhouette of a figure could be seen. A flash of thunder and lightning briefly illuminated the figure, revealing CatNap.
The critters smiled and cheered as the final member appeared. They begged and pleaded for CatNap to help them sleep. Hoppy exclaiming ‘sleep’ over and over again, pulling at her ears. They needed him to send them all to dreamland. CatNap approached the group and released a deep breath.
Soon, the room was filled with red smoke, causing each critter to feel sleepy. They yawned and rubbed their tired eyes, and slowly, but surely, they each fell into a comfortable, restful slumber. On each of their faces was a soft, happy smile.
CatNap made his way around the room, tucking each critter in, making sure they were comfortable, before sitting on the couch watching over his friends.
DogDay and the others woke up to the rising sun. Everyone sat there for a few moments, just trying to process the night's events. The new episode’s script was formatted in such a weird way that it left them feeling very confused and a bit uneasy. Especially the part about the storm. None of them knew what the storm scene would entail, none had ever experienced a storm before, but they quickly shrugged it off. If that was what their creators wanted them to do, then they would do so.
DogDay had to say, though, that was probably some of the best sleep he had ever had.
“Man, I had the best dream last night,” he heard Kickin say as he recounted his dream. He had dreamt about winning a contest for best skateboarder to ever exist. This leads to everyone sharing their own dreams. Bubba dreamt about being Dr Frankenstein, Bobby dreamt of meeting a blue creature that loved to give hugs, and Crafty dreamt about a group of colorful ponies, while DogDay dreamt he was flying through the clouds.
By far the funniest were Picky’s and Hoppy’s. Both girls had dreamt of being on the moon, but what made it funny was the fact that they dreamt of each other as well. Hoppy had been hopping around and ran into Picky, who was EATING the moon.
“Turns out the moon is made out of cheese. Who would have known?” Hoppy comically shrugged.
“I did!” exclaimed Picky, raising her hoof.
They all giggled. After calming down, they began to discuss the script. It was strange, yes, but by far the strangest part was CatNap’s. Everyone was confused about what he had done. While they were all trembling and shivering—in very much real fear— CatNap would come in to calm them down and help them all sleep. Simple. Easy. Something that they had come to expect from the purple cat. But he didn't help them by normal means. No, in the script itself, it said: CatNap uses his poppy gas, and all the critters fall into a peaceful slumber.
It was odd, and even odder when they saw it happen. DogDay could feel many questions filling his mind as he fell asleep. But now that they were done, they wanted to know what that was. DogDay turned to find CatNap peacefully sleeping on his couch, curled up. He felt really bad waking up his best bud, but they needed answers.
He gently shook CatNap awake. This caused the feline to let out a small chirp, leaning more into DogDay’s touch. They all awed and cooed at this. DogDay was stuck between feeling giddy at the noise and guilty about waking CatNap up, but they really needed to know what happened.
He grabbed the feline’s face, rubbing and squeezing his cheeks, nuzzling him with his nose in an attempt to wake him up more. “It’s time to wake up, kitty. We need to talk. You can sleep afterward, ok?”
DogDay let CatNap go, once he was sure the purple cat wasn't going to fall asleep again. “Ok, CatNap,” Dogday began, “The poppy gas, can you explain what it is?”
CatNap sleepily nodded. Rubbing the last bit of sleep from his eyes, his wide smile and empty look returning. He explained that the poppy gas was an ability they had given him. The purpose was that anyone who breathed it in would get drowsy and eventually fall asleep. The dreams they had were a result of breathing it in. It was basically an alternative way for him to get them all to sleep.
“CatNap, how long have you been able to do this?” Bobby asked.
‘From the beginning,’ he signed, his wide smile present as always.
“From the beginning!?" they all shouted. If CatNap had been able to do this from the start, then why wait to do it till now?
“Wait, wait,” Kickin nervously said, “Hold on. If you could do this from the very start, does that mean you could have put all of us,” he did a circling motion with his wing, referring to all of them, “ to sleep like that the entire time?”
“That means that you didn't have to follow us, watch us, and basically study us to see how to help us sleep? That wasn't necessary.”
CatNap nodded. ‘No… I still had to do that.’
“What do you mean by that, CatNap?” Crafty shyly asked.
CatNap writes that while yes, he could use the poppy gas from the start, it wasn't the only way to help with sleep. His job was to help them all sleep, and to essentially showcase the importance of it, and if he just used it on them, it would ruin the point. He wouldn’t be helping, but quite the opposite. If he used the poppy gas all the time, then how would anyone know how to develop healthy sleepy habits?
“But that would have made things easier for you. I mean, we did kinda fight you about…well, you helping us sleep, before realizing that was what you were doing. So—um… why didn't you? Use the gas, I mean.” Picky wondered.
CatNap shrugged, ‘I wanted to try, but I was told no.’
No one said anything. They all sat there just trying to process the information they had been given. DogDay could feel a small headache coming up. It…It really was a good thing CatNap didn't use the gas. Picky was right about how they acted toward CatNap, and if they were annoyed by him then, he really didn’t want to think about how they would have reacted with the use of the gas on them.
DogDay had said trying to force others to sleep wasn't good, and this definitely fell into forcing. Even if they slept well, he doesn't think any of them would have appreciated the gesture. It would only freak them out more. But at least this answered his question from back then.
“ Hold up, wouldn’t it have made more sense for it to be lavender instead of poppy. I mean, that is your signature scent.” Kickin asked.
A shrug. CatNap didn't know why it had a poppy smell and not a lavender one. He honestly doesn't even know why he has it to begin with.
“ Well, this is quite the interesting ability you've been given, CatNap,” Bubba states, rather intrigued.
“Yeah, kinda like Crafty over here and her magic,” Hoppy says.
“Yay, magic buddies!” Crafty cheers.
This causes the others to laugh. CatNap just smiles at the unicorn.
After a few more questions and a discussion about the gas and the script, the subject was dropped. The gas was harmless anyway. It gave good dreams, great dreams really. There was nothing to be worried about.
So all's well that ends well, DogDay supposed. It was still odd that they decided to do this. It wasn't, as they hadn't showcased how CatNap helped them sleep before. Honestly, the entire script was just weird.
DogDay grunts as he feels something heavy fall on him. CatNap was lying on his chest, fast asleep. He places a paw on the cat's head, petting him, and another on his back.
“Hey, is anyone hungry? How bout I prepare us breakfast? Since we’re all up…” Picky spots CatNap asleep on DogDay “…well, most of us are anyway.”
“Yeah!!”, they cheered. The night might not start out the best, but they got a good night’s rest in the end. So it was important that they got a good start on the day. And that was by having breakfast made by none other than the greatest cook, Picky.