Sara felt the plushness of the pillows as she yanked Peter Rabbit towards her and heard his frightened scream. Then she felt her eyes open. Her heart was pounding, mind empty. It was like a rush of adrenaline had been pushed into her body. She strained into the utter darkness, breathing rate beginning to steady.

Sara found herself in her own bed.

It was the middle of the night.

No Peter Rabbit. No tunnel. No Griffix. Or at least none she could see.

The room was dark.

Headlights from a car passing through the neighborhood illuminated her lights.

Sara lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, listening to herself breathe. Did she just imagine all of this?

Maybe it was a dream?

She didn't want that, though. She felt like she was on the cusp of discovering something amazing. Other kids bored her. Adults bored her too. Day to day life was boring, even when she managed to get into real trouble. This, though... seemed interesting.

Obeying a sudden impulse, the girl climbed down from her bed and checked for any holes that might be underneath it. Or a bag, or letters...

Sara got out of the bed, feet touching the cold floor. She got down on one knee and looked under the bed. There wasn't any hole. There wasn't any dead Griffix body.

But in the center of the floors underneath the bed, there was small note.  It looked like it was written on yellowed-parchment. In the corner, there was a flourishing, red ribbon attatched to the note. Even in the darkness of underneath the bed, Sara could see that it looked like whatever was written, had been done in stylish cursive.

She took it out and walked towards her desk. If it was still too dark to read, she had a desk lamp.

Sara sat down and turned on the lamp. She heard the crinkle of the paper as she unfolded the letter:

"Dear Friend,

It was such a joyous occasion to meet you last night during your first trip to Toy Land. Unfortunately, it was not as joyous as it could have been. Not only were we cut so short, but I had the unpleasant occasion to find the body of a small, child creature with wolfish features once you left. Please be advised that bringing any such thing to Toy Land is...well, not good. The toys at Toy Land are a happy, merry bunch. They would really be scared if they saw something like that again. I look forward to seeing you again!

Sincerely,

Peter Rabbit

P.S. Our visits will commence during your next dream"

"Griffix...?" Sara muttered quietly. That was what it had to be. Body meant he was dead, but maybe the toys were fooled or he wouldn't stay that way. Either way, she felt relieved. It wasn't all a dream. She turned off the lamp and went to hide the letter under her pillow, before returning to the bed herself.

And that was that. Just like that Sara went back to her bed. No sooner had her head hit the pillow when she heard something hit her window.

'Clang'

'Cloough'

She looked and saw a fluttering object from outside hit the window pane.

'Clang'

Someone outside was throwing something at her window.

Stifling a yawn, she went to check it out, moving carefully in case whoever it was intended to throw a brick or a firework next. She wasn't much for being on the receiving side of those shenanigans.

"Pssst!" A boy with glasses said from her front yard. He was about to throw another....whatever it was he was throwing at the window. But when he caught Sara's movement, his arm grew slack and it looked like he was about to drop whatever it was he was throwing.

"Pssssssst!" The boy said again at Sara's window.


It was dark outside. Maybe the middle of the night. Or maybe the early morning. It was the kind of time that Sara shouldn't be up talking to friends at. That kind of time. A time when good boys and girls would go to sleep.

"Hey....Hey.." The boy shouted but in a whisper at Sara's window, trying to get her to open it up.

Sara tried to remember if she saw the kid before... he looked kind of familiar, but... not strongly so.

Wait, wasn't that the kid who tried to hassle her on the way to the mailbox?

She opened the window. "What is it?!" she hissed.

When Sara peaked out the window to respond, the boy flinched. More than flinched, he nearly fell backwards out of fright.

"Hey." He said after regaining his composure.

"I know this sounds weird. But...I know you know that something weird is going on. And I know that you don't know that I know that. But I do."

Sara stared down at the four-eyes... then shrugged and looked past him. "What do you mean?" she asked, though she was pretty sure she knew exactly what he meant. It wasn't even much of a surprise by this point...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:53, Sun 30 Dec 2018.

"I know what's going on." The Four-eyed, frail and timid looking boy said.

"With all of the super-weird stuff that's going on with the neighborhood. And probably with you, if you're a part of it."

"It's been going on for a while. Come down if you want to know what's going on." He offered, voice sounding like he might be afraid of Sara, perhaps part of the boy didn't want Sara to come down at all.

Sara yawned demonstratively. "I don't think you know anything," she said. "Anyway, why don't you climb up here instead? Or you could find me tomorrow." She didn't feel like going outside right now. She was a little sleepy. And while she did want to get to the bottom of this, just what good was this kid? He'd probably just leave now, which was just as well.

"Climb?" Bradford said, as if the idea of climbing up someone's house at night was fearful.

"What about....can you just open the door downstairs and I'll sneak in?" He asked, timidly. "I...I won't make any noise." He clarified.

Sara frowned. Why was he so keen on this? Weird. Did he really just want to talk about it, or was he up to something...

"Yeah, right," she said, frowning, and then closed the window. Everything else aside, he didn't look particularly stealthy. But if he really neded to talk to her for any reason, he'll find a way or he'll find her tomorrow.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:47, Mon 31 Dec 2018.

Sara closed the window on Bradford, silencing the boy's whispers. The window made a slight 'snick' as Sara closed it, putting an end to the midnight conversation.

Sara waited a moment, as if in doubt, then went back to bed.

It was with a smile and a sense of relief that she lied down again. None of it was a dream. But what was next?

Sara Joins Thread:

OOC: Sara: Dad's Got A Job For You